Scene 1

Info

• page: 5-16
• place: the house of the Lomans in Brooklyn, New York
• time: evening
• people: Willy and Linda Loman

Content

• The first act begins, accompanied by flute music, by describing the Loman house. The family's home, which was once surrounded by nature, is now encircled by large housing complexes
• After the individual rooms in the house have been described, the focus is directed to the master of the house, Willy Loman, who has just returned home from a day at work
• Linda Loman, Willy's wife, is roused from her sleep by her husband's entrance. She loves her husband and especially appreciates him for his dreamy way of looking at the world as well as for his persistence in never giving up on goals and always pursuing them to the end
• In addition to his virtues, Willy's tendency to moodiness is also mentioned. His wife, however, has learned over the years not to take her husband's sometimes unpredictable moods upon herself as well as she has accepted him despite his flaws
• The unusually early appearance from work makes Linda suspicious and she asks her husband if something has happened at work. It turns out that the salesman had once again lost himself in daydreams and had to cut short the trip to prevent something worse from happening
• Linda tries in vain to calm her upset husband and remarks that it is time for him to stop working in sales and start working in the office. Willy, on the other hand, replies that his boss would never allow him to move to office work
• The conversation turns to their son Biff, who, despite being 34, has now moved back in with his parents and is getting by with odd jobs. Willy criticizes his son for his erratic and aimless way of life and praises him in the same breath for his talent for dealing with people. The father concludes his opinion with the words that his son is simply a tardy developer and will find his place in life
• While Linda and Willy are talking in the kitchen, the two sons Biff and Happy have also woken up in the meantime and are speculating in their room about what their father has done at work again this time

Scene 2

Info

• page: 16-27
• place: the house of the Lomans in Brooklyn, New York
• time: evening
• people: Biff and Happy Loman

Content

• Biff and Happy share their thoughts about their father and their current living situation. Both are dissatisfied with their mediocrity and dream of a better future, both at work and in their private lives
• While Willy talks to himself and his son Happy is worried about his father's habit of talking to himself. Happy observes, Willy talks to the absent Biff about his disappointment in Biff’s discontinuity
• Biff complains about his low earnings and feels like a failure. In his fantasy, he borrows money and buys a farm. He is disappointed in himself and in the discrepancy between his life and the ideas of worth and success that Willy indoctrinated him with as a boy. Happy encourages his brother by noting that Biff is "very popular" - popularity is considered a sure sign of success in the Loman household
• Willy and Linda's younger son, Happy, 32, works in a shop. Nevertheless, he is lonely and unhappy. He often behaves immorally, even though he is ashamed of it. He sleeps with the girlfriends and fiancées of his superiors and often accepts bribes to climb the ladder from his position as assistant to the assistant buyer in a department store and outmaneuver other colleagues

Scene 3

Info

• page: 27-35
• place: the house of the Lomans in Brooklyn, New York
• time: evening / night
• people: Willy, Linda, Happy and Biff Loman, Bernard

Content

• In the meantime, the son's Biff and Happy have gone back to bed. Willy sneaks into the kitchen where he continues talking to himself. Willy Loman reviews various scenes of his life, in which his sons as well as his wife and the son of his neighbor Charley, Bernard, appear
• The first conversation Willy thinks back to takes place between him and his sons Biff and Happy. Later on, Linda and Bernard join the discussion
• Since Biff and Happy are still young and going to school, this is probably a very far flashback into the past. Willy seems to have just returned from one of his salesman trips and his son Happy is cleaning his car. Biff, on the other hand, stands idly next to Willy
• As a reward for cleaning his car, Willy gives his sons a punching bag signed by a famous boxer called Gene Tunney. Biff and Happy are thrilled beyond measure at the successful surprise
• Biff admits to his father that he stole a ball from the gym teacher's locker to practice with. At first, Willy is angered by his son's audacity, but then his reaction abruptly changes to benevolence. He reasons that Biff's teacher should even be pleased that his pupil is so ambitious and wants to train at home
• Willy goes on to talk about his business trip and how he met the mayor of Providence and had an excellent chat with him over coffee. In general, he raves about the comforts of traveling through different cities in the course of his work
• The father's stories get a bit out of hand so that he tells his sons that he has numerous friends in the New England area, all of whom he would visit on his trips. The chat with the mayor also seems to have been invented by Willy rather than being the full truth
• The fact that he could park his car anywhere he wanted and that the police would single-handedly protect it like their own property from mischief like theft also sounded contrived
• The conversation between the sons and the father then turns to the subject of football. Biff is the captain of the football team and hints that the women would fall at his feet in rows. Willy fuels his son's inflated ego by telling him that he is far too young for a serious relationship and that he should live his life properly first
• Bernard, Willy's neighbor Charley's son, makes an appearance and is described as "an anemic" (p. 33, l. 20f) by Willy. The boy wants to pick up Biff to study, as Willy's son's grades are alarmingly bad and there is also an exam coming up that will determine whether Biff will be transferred or not
• First, Willy instructs Biff to go study with Bernard. Then, however, when Bernard points out that Biff's athletic talent is not a ticket to the sports universities, Willy's attitude towards Bernard changes to rejection and he sends the boy away
• After Bernard has moved away again, Willy badmouths the boy. He claims that Bernard's good grades are of no use to him in life and that Biff and Happy's athletic appearance would be worth much more. In Willy's opinion in real life, you don't necessarily have to have quality, but you should appear to have quality
• At the end of the scene, Linda Loman appears with a basket of laundry. Biff and Happy leave to hang up the laundry. In the protagonist's next memory, Linda and he have a conversation, which is, however, not explained further

Scene 4

Info

• page: 35-39
• place: the house of the Lomans in Brooklyn, New York
• time: at night
• people: Willy and Linda Loman

Content

• As before, the scene takes place only in Willy's imagination and seamlessly follows on from the previous conversation with his wife Linda
• The couple chats about Willy Loman's earnings on his business trip and the husband boasts that he earned several thousand dollars. However, he claims, his earnings would have been much higher if he had not had to return so soon
• Linda wants to recalculate the exact sums and find out the exact income from her husband. It turns out that Willy's income from the business trip was much lower because after asking him several times, he keeps going down on the originally soaring amount. Last but not least, it turns out that the alleged thousands of dollars amount to just $70
• Willy explains the very low income with the fact that most of the shops in which he had been able to make lucrative deals had already closed when he arrived
• Below, Linda and Willy Loman break down their monthly expenses. As it turns out, the sum of expenses is over 120 dollars, more than the father of the family earned on his trip. However, Willy claims to be able to turn out far more profit on the next trip to Hartford, as he already knows all the traders in the area and he would be well-liked there
• Finally, Willy complains that he is not taken seriously enough in his company. He feels that his colleagues laugh and joke about him behind his back and that he does not feel respected. Linda talks him down, but can't take away the bad feeling

Scene 5

Info

• page: 39-41
• place: the house of the Lomans in Brooklyn, New York
• time: at night
• people: Willy Loman, the Woman

Content

• In this scene, Willy's perception is once again dominated by his reverie. Whereas before he thought he was talking to Linda, now a slow transition takes place: Linda disappears and a woman appears, initially still in the dark, looking at herself in front of a mirror and laughing. The woman is referred to only as "the Woman" and is described by the protagonist as attractive
• Willy tells the woman that he suffers from not earning enough from his work and about his worries about not being able to support his family
• According to the woman, it was Willy's sense of humor that made her choose him among all the other customers. Willy seems to draw confidence from the woman's compliment, as he makes her repeat the words several times
• Despite Willy's protests, however, the woman wants to leave. But before they go, they agree to meet again in two weeks. Willy also gives her a pair of high-quality socks, which the woman is thrilled about
• The entire conversation between Willy and the woman is underscored by sexual allusions. In addition to this, they hug and kiss each other several times. The woman also laughs out loud a few times, which can sometimes create a somewhat unpleasant image - especially in the context of Willy talking about his existential problems

Scene 6

Info

• page: 41-42
• place: the house of the Lomans in Brooklyn, New York
• time: at night
• people: Willy and Linda Loman, Bernard

Content

• Willy still does not wake up from his daydream. The woman who appeared before slowly but surely takes on the features of his wife again. Willy apologizes to Linda, but not for the interlude with the strange woman, but the low income from his business trip
• While Willy apologizes, his wife tries to mend the hole in a sock. This upsets the husband, who is angry because no one in his house should have to mend a sock
• Bernard appears and asks about Biff, who he thinks needs to start learning. Willy replies that Bernard can tell Biff all the correct answers, but he also feels uneasy because he does not know where Biff is at the moment
• In Willy's recollection, Linda complains that her son Biff does not treat women fairly. The other mothers in the class had already complained to her about his inconsiderate behavior. The mother also thinks that Biff should bring the stolen ball back to school as soon as possible
• Bernard remarks that Biff has already driven a car without a license several times and if he does not try hard, he will soon fail the test
• Willy seems visibly tense as he finally shouts that there is nothing wrong with Biff and that at least he is not such a jerk as Bernard. Linda is close to tears and leaves the scene

Scene 7

Info

• page: 42-49
• place: the house of the Lomans in Brooklyn, New York
• time: at night
• people: Willy Loman, Happy Loman, Charley, Uncle Ben

Content

• After some time, Willy wakes up from his reverie and his son Happy appears on the stairs. At first, the protagonist finds it difficult to find his way back to reality and seems confused
• Willy tells his son that he almost ran over a child on his business trip and therefore returned from his business trip earlier than expected. He is also upset that he did not accompany Uncle Ben on his trip to Alaska. The uncle had once traveled to the jungle and returned as a rich man
• Happy gets a guilty conscience from his father's nagging and affirms that he would arrange for Willy to retire as soon as possible. The father, however, does not appreciate his son's goodwill, but makes fun of Happy's small salary and asks him how he is going to pay for his father's pension with his pittance
• Willy's neighbor Charley appears because he has heard noises and wants to check on things. Willy, however, tells his friend in no uncertain terms that he should leave
• Afterward, Charley and Willy play cards together. Willy is surprised that his neighbor is still awake and Charley says that he has often had heartburn lately. Loman then recommends vitamins to help him build up his bones faster. You can see that Willy is a salesman through and through and now believes in what he tells his customers every day
• Charley, on the other hand, is outraged that bone formation has nothing to do with heartburn and Willy reacts furiously because he feels that his honor as a salesman has been offended
• The neighbor, who secretly feels sorry for Willy, suggests a job to him. But Willy says that his job is already excellent and that he does not need Charley's help
• It seems that the boundaries between imagination and reality are slowly but surely shifting again for Willy. The protagonist suddenly imagines Uncle Ben would be there and he starts talking to him. Charley, who does not see his neighbor's imagination and is perplexed about it and does not understand who Willy is talking to
• Willy tells Charley about his brother Ben, who recently passed away. However, Ben had left him no inheritance, as this had been divided among his seven children. Loman believes that if he had traveled with Uncle ben to Alaska at the time, he might have inherited more and would now be a wealthy man
• When it turns out that Charley will win the card game, Willy suddenly accuses him of cheating and wants to claim the winnings for himself. That's when Charley gets angry, however, as he feels he has been treated unfairly by his neighbor. He storms out of Willy's home in a rage, leaving his confused neighbor behind

Scene 8

Info

• page: 49-55
• place: the house of the Lomans in Brooklyn, New York
• time: at night
• people: Willy Loman, Uncle Ben, Linda Loman, Happy and Biff Loman

Content

• Willy, who is meanwhile alone again with his imaginary Uncle Ben, reverts in his daydream to a scene involving a visit from Uncle Ben
• During the visit, Willy asks his brother Ben about how he became so rich. Ben reports that he once wanted to find his and Willy's father and therefore traveled to Alaska. However, since Ben only had rudimentary geographic knowledge, he ended up in Africa instead of Alaska
• Then in Africa, Ben found several diamond mines and this brought him some wealth. Willy, completely over the moon about his brother's success story, fetches Biff and Happy so that they can hear the report for themselves from Uncle Ben
• Now Willy asks his brother to tell him more about their father and Ben gladly fulfills his wish. Ben describes their father as a successful businessman who sold flutes and made it a lucrative business
• The restlessness that Willy's and Ben's father already had in him is something Willy wants to pass on to his sons, along with a good portion of stubbornness and popularity
• A small fight ensues between Biff and his uncle, which the boy loses because the uncle does not fight fairly. Ben tells Biff that he learned in the African jungle that one should never fight fairly against foreign opponents - otherwise one would always lose
• When Ben wants to leave again, Willy wants to demonstrate that his sons are brave young men. Therefore, he has them steal sand from a nearby construction site, which they are to use to build a terrace. Charley appears and advises the neighbor against it, as the police would notice and they would then get into trouble, but Willy ignores the neighbor's concerns
• It happens that a police officer catches Biff stealing the sand and chases him. Ben is impressed by the children's audacity and Willy wants to make sure that he is raising Biff and Happy right before he says goodbye to his brother
• Instead of confirming his brother that he would bring up his sons properly, Ben only says repeatedly "when I walked into the jungle, I was seventeen. When I walked out I was twentyone. And, by God, I was rich!" (p. 55, l. 16f)

Scene 9

Info

• page: 55-65
• place: the house of the Lomans in Brooklyn, New York
• time: at night
• people: Linda and Willy Loman, Biff and Happy Loman

Content

• The main character has woken up from his conceit and on his way out bumps into his wife Linda, who by now is already worried about her confused husband. Loman tells his wife about the enriching conversation with Uncle Ben, which, however, only took place in his imagination
• Willy then sets off in slippers, wanting to get some fresh air and Linda realizes that she can't stop him. The son Biff appears and anxiously inquires about his father. Linda reassures him that Willy is just having a bad day today and will be better soon
• The mother tells her son that although Willy always looks forward to seeing Biff before he arrives, there are usually arguments between the two when they meet in person. Linda blames the ambivalent relationship between father and son on Biff and his inability to grow up. She urges Biff to finally get a real job and settle down
• For Linda, it is impossible for Biff to love her if he did not also love his father. She justifies this by saying that Willy would mean everything to her and that her son should therefore adore him just as much
• Although his mother admonishes him to change his life for his father's sake, Biff does not change his mind about his father. In Biff's opinion, there is something wrong with willy and he remarks that other people have much bigger problems than his father and yet are more in control of themselves
• Loman's wife tells her son Biff that his father is not perfect, but he is also vulnerable. For example, Willy would be distraught because his salary was cut after 35 years of hard work
• Linda is also angry with Happy. She says that the two sons aren't there for their father when he needs them most, and only think of themselves and are ungrateful
• Biff relents in that he admits he needs to find a permanent job. However, he does not take back his anger at his father, calling him a hypocrite and a liar
• Linda tells Biff that Willy has already made several suicide attempts since the two sons moved out. Biff, who gives in under the emotional manipulation, affirms once more that he will help out more at home and stay there for the time being. When Biff says that it is more difficult for him than for others to find a real job, his brother says that this is not so much due to aptitude as to a lack of effort on Biff's part

Scene 10

Info

• page: 65-74
• place: the house of the Lomans in Brooklyn, New York
• time: at night
• people: Willy and Linda Loman, Biff and Happy Loman

Content

• Linda and her sons are abruptly interrupted in their conversation when Willy returns from his walk. As soon as he arrives, Willy starts to make fun of Biff again and makes fun of Biff's idea of becoming a carpenter instead of motivating his son
• Willy also claims that no one would make fun of him and his state of mind, that he has many friends and is very popular
• Linda and Biff's attempt to placate Willy by saying that Biff now really intends to stay at home and get a profitable job fails. It seems that Willy overheard the conversation between Linda and Biff at the end before he appeared, in any way he maintains his bad mood. As he goes into the house, he tells Biff that he can paint the living room ceiling tomorrow, unless he has something better to do
• But when Biff mentions that he wants to meet Oliver to borrow some basic capital from him to get into the business, Willy comes back. Just as quickly as Willy's interest flared up, however, it fades again when it turns out that Biff has not yet made any firm arrangements with Oliver
• After Biff and his father are at odds again, as Willy mocks Biff for his idea of seeing Oliver in the meantime, Happy intervenes. Happy presents the following business idea: He and his brother Biff each start a basketball team and a water polo team and become known as excellent athletes. Their enormous notoriety in turn enables them to advertise sporting goods and make a fortune selling them
• Willy is immediately enthusiastic about Happy's idea. He sees it as necessary to give Biff (well-intentioned) tips on meeting Oliver and thus once again incurs the wrath of his son
• When Willy repeatedly interrupts Linda and admonishes her not to ask questions, this further stirs up Biff's anger and he reprimands his father, who shortly afterward leaves in a huff
• Linda, as always understanding of her husband's very moody character, goes after Willy and the two are now in the bedroom. The two boys say good night to their parents and Happy also mentions that he is getting married soon. However, neither his father nor his mother seems to be interested in this news. Just before Willy falls asleep, he thinks back to Biff's high school days and how popular and talented his son was back then