Arthur Miller´s Death of A Salesman: A Commentary

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Recommended: Significance of the title Death of a Salesman

Arthur Miller

Born on October 17, 1915 in Harlem, New York. Arthur Miller was raised in a moderately household until his family lost almost everything in the Wall Street Crash of 1929. They moved from the upper east side in Manhattan to Gravesend, Brooklyn. After graduating from high school, Miller worked little jobs so that he can save up money to attend the University of Michigan. Arthur Miller took courses with playwright professor Kenneth Rowe. Rowe taught his students how to construct a play in order to achieve an intended effect. Miller moved back east to begin his career.

All My Sons achieved success on Broadway, and earned him his first Tony Award for best author. Working in the small studio that Miller built in Roxbury, Connecticut, he wrote the first act of Death of Salesman. It opened on February 10, 1949 at the Morosco Theatre. Everyone loved it. Death of a Salesman won him: the Pulitzer Prize, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, and the triple crown of theatrical artistry and a Tony. In 1956, Miller left his first wife, Mary Slattery. Soon after, he married famed actress Marilyn Monroe.

In 1961, Monroe starred in The Misfits, a film for which Miller supplied the screenplay. Around the same time, Monroe and Miller divorced. Within several months, Miller married Austrian-born photographer Inges Morath. The couple had two children, Rebecca and Daniel. In 2002, Miller's third wife, Inges, died. Miller took a fourth wife, 34-year-old minimalist painter Agnes Barley. The two planned to marry, but on February 10, 2005, surrounded by Barley, family and friends, Arthur Miller died of heart failure at the...

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...l infidelity. The rubber hose is a stage prop that reminds the audience of Willy’s desperate attempts at suicide.

In my opinion, this was a very pleasurable book. Miller incorporated a lot of emotions to reflex the life he had. Although, his life was not as bad as Willy, you can still see Miller in Willy’s shoes. I love the fact that he used the point of view from every character on this play. He wanted to capture the emotions from every character to emphasis Willy’s feelings.

Bibliography

The Book:

http://www.pelister.org/literature/ArthurMiller/Miller_Salesman.pdf

The cover photo:

http://www.usedyorkcity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/b_p_DeathOfASalesman.jpg

Author’s photo:

http://lkthayer.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/tumblr_llqhly6s6e1qjhgb4o1_500.jpg

Author’s information:

http://www.biography.com/people/arthur-miller-9408335#awesm=~oDJOSAgFR6RGJ6

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