Introduction
- written by author Arthur Miller, published in 1949
- the genre of the present work is a tragedy and one of the most outstanding works of 20th century English literature
- Arthur Miller is one of the most important and socially critical writers of the 20th century. He was born into a Jewish family in New York in 1915. At the University of Michigan, Miller initially studied economics and history, but then shifted his focus to drama and literature
- The atheist playwright does not limit his social criticism to the circle of literature, but also positions himself in politics, for example, against the Bush dynasty. In 2003, two years before his death, Arthur Miller received the Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society for his political commitment
- for Miller, "the theater is so endlessly fascinating because it's so accidental. It's so much like life."
The portrayal of reality and, above all, provoking food for thought and reflection in society, are Arthur Miller's greatest motivating factors in his work as an author - Death of a salesman is premiered at the Morosco Theatre in New York on Broadway on the 10th of February 1949
- after Miller had crafted his work in a time-intensive maturing process, he only needed six weeks for the final transcript
- for Arthur Miller, the Norwegian playwright, and poet Henrik Ibsen and the German theatre intendant Erwin Piscator serve as literary models. The influence of Henrik Ibsen can be seen throughout Miller's work. In his exile Piscator founded the Dramatic Workshop in New York in 1939, in which the young Arthur Miller participated as a student
- This tragedy tells the story of the last 24 hours of an American merchant named Willy Loman. After years of working as a traveling salesman, 60-year-old Willy is exhausted and worn out. Willy and his wife Linda have two sons, Biff and Happy. The two children, now grown up themselves, look back on a career just as unsatisfying as their fathers. After arguments between the protagonist and his son Biff, the resigned father puts an end to his life. The reason for the act is that Willy speculates that his family will benefit from his insurance premium when he dies
- Although a division can be made into 10 scenes in the first act and 12 scenes in the second act, the scenes cannot be clearly distinguished from each other. Rather, they are fluid transitions that are commonplace in modern theatre
- Arthur Miller received two awards for Death of a salesman in 1949. Firstly, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and also the Tony Award for Best Play