Download Death of a salesman

DEATH OF A SALESMAN
By Arthur Miller
THEATRICAL CONTEXT
 Realism
• An artistic movement which began in France in the 19th
Century
• It sought to accurately portray everyday characters,
situations, and problems.
• The language used was as close as possible to natural
conversation
• Costumes were contemporary and sets were threedimensional and lifelike.
• The plays were usually about social problems
THEATRICAL CONTEXT
 Expressionism
• Was a reaction to realism and began in the 1900’s
• Sought to portray the inner psychological life of a
character, concentrating on a subjective view of the world
rather than an objective one.
• Plot, structure, and characterization were less important than
poetic dialogue (Example?)
• Lighting was used to create atmosphere (Example?)
THEATRICAL CONTEXT
 Miller was fascinated with Expressionism, but did not want to give
up the conventions of Realism.
 In Death of a Salesman he incorporates the two conventions
• We see the reality of events as well as the turmoil that Willy in
undergoing
 Sometimes, this takes form of Willy’s past experiences acted out.
At other times, it is in the appearance of characters from the past in
Willy’s present.
THEATRICAL CONTEXT
 Some call these events “flashbacks” but Miller did not.
• Miller said is it, “literally that terrible moment when the voice of the
past is no longer distant but quite as loud as the voice of the
present…there are no flashbacks in this play, but only a mobile
concurrency of past and present. Because in his desperation to justify
his life, Willy Loman has destroyed the boundaries between now and
then.”
TRAGEDY
 Tragedy: A serious play which represents the disastrous
downfall of a central character (protagonist).
 Some ancient Greek tragedies, a happy ending was possible, but
the more common ending is that the protagonist dies.
 Aristotle (4th Century) defined tragedy as an action which is
serious and complete, with the protagonist achieving catharsis
through incidents which arouse pity and terror.
 The protagonist is led to this point through hamartia, which often
takes the form of hubris.
DEFINITIONS
 Hamartia
 Hubris
 Peripeteia
 Anagnorisis
 Nemesis
 Catharsis
HAMARTIA
 Derives from the Greek hamartánein which means "to miss the
mark" or "to err”
 Hamartia as it pertains to dramatic literature was first used by
Aristotle in his Poetics
 In tragedy, hamartia is commonly understood to refer to the
protagonist’s error or flaw that leads to a chain of plot actions
culminating in a reversal from their good fortune to bad.
 What qualifies as the error or flaw can include an error resulting from
ignorance, an error of judgment, a flaw in character, or sin
HUBRIS
 From ancient Greek hybris which is extreme pride or selfconfidence
 Hubris is usually perceived as a characteristic of an individual
rather than a group, although the group the offender belongs to
may suffer consequences from wrongful act (Examples?)
 Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an
overestimation of one’s own competence, accomplishments, or
capabilities (Examples?)
PERIPETEIA
 In his Poetics Aristotle defines peripeteia as, “a change by which
the actions veers round to its opposite, subject always to our
rule of probability or necessity.”
 Ironic situation that is supposed to bring comfort, but is instead is
a reversal of fortune
ANAGNORISIS
 Aristotle defined anagnorisis as “a change from ignorance to
knowledge, producing love or hate between the persons
destined by the poet for good or bad fortune.”
 The discovery of one's own identity or true character or of
someone else's identity or true nature by the tragic hero
 Does tragic hero Willy Loman have true moment of recognition, or
anagnorisis?
NEMESIS
 Related to Greek word nemein meaning to give what is due.
 In ancient Greek religion, Nemesis was the spirit of divine
retribution against those who succumb to hubris (arrogance)
 Nemesis refers to an indomitable rival or an inescapable
situation that causes misery and death.
CATHARSIS
 From the Greek katharsis meaning “purification” or “cleansing”
 It is the purification and purgation of emotions, especially pity
and fear
 Think of pity as the experience of empathy and sympathy that
we feel for the characters engaged in the dramatic events. The fear
comes from our recognition of our own situation in the drama; we
could potentially experience these events and this knowledge of our
closeness to the events of the drama causes terror.