American Drama

American Drama

Introduction

Born on the 17th of October, 1915 in the city of New York, Arthur Miller showed a keen interest in writing since a very young age. By the time he completed his studies at the University of Michigan, Arthur had already become popular in the tows for his gripping and enthralling playwrights. In the year 1949, having returned from New York, Arthur published Death of a Salesman, a drama that was arguably destined to become his most famous work. Death of a Salesman was particularly interesting and popular during the time because of the fact that it was the perfect and most accurate rendition of the industry-driven society that was prevalent in the city in that era. The literary merit of the play was proved by the numerous awards that it received, such as the Pulitzer Prize for drama. A huge majority of critics are at a consensus over the opinion that Death of a Salesman is the most precise embodiment of the modern American drama. The play has continued to attract a lot of applause and appreciation from dramatists as well as literary scholars.

Discussion

It is an irrefutable fact that Death of a Salesman is indeed a drama. This can be judged from the fact that it was written in the form of play which is essentially a piece of literature that is performed in front of audiences with the help of actors. The drama revolves around the pressing needs and problems faced by the novel Loman family. The novel can be, in many ways, deemed a tragedy and it has all the ingredients that it prove its case - a misguided man seeks to achieve what he has always dreamed of achieving and is convinced that he is doing the right thing (Zhao, 2010). Ironically, as the play moves towards the climax, it becomes evident that the thing that is the goal of the person is also the very thing that causes him anguish and pain while also affecting the lives of the people whom he loves (Zhao, 2010). Arthur has masterfully added a wide array of themes to his play to highlight exactly what is wrong with society that we live in.

Of course, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is different from the ancient Greek version of drama and tragedy in many ways (Sterling, 2008). For instance, the complete absence of choruses is a very good example while the portrayal of the protagonist in the form of Willy Loman is also starkly different form the traditional tragic hero that the Greeks began to love so much. And this is what may have made the drama so popular. The fact that the protagonist is not a king but an ordinary salesman, an unsuccessful layman that many people in the audience would be able to relate to, helps Arthur to shed light on the social issues that were prevalent at the time (Murphy, 1995). In Death of a Salesman, the author sets out in the pursuit of creating what ...