Summary Death of a Salesman complete A-level revision document
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Course
Aspects of Tragedy
Institution
AQA
A complete summary of Miller's Death of a Salesman for the A-level exam, explaining how to meet each AO as well as a comprehensive guide to the text. The document also includes a list of useful quotes, with an accompanying link to Quizlet flashcards to help you learn them for the exam.
Quizlet for learning quotes is available at: https://tinyurl.com/595d99m3
Password: Miller49
Themes (AO1)
Capitalism / The American Dream
-Ben, Howard and Bernard all achieve the American dream
-Only Bernard achieves through hard work
-Willy ignores the tangible achievements such as his family because of his investment in the AD
-Willy dies believing he is achieving the AD by giving his family the insurance money
-Willy's death represents the toxicity of the AD and how it traps those who believe in it, as they
become obsessed with finance
-At his death Willy comes to the realisation he is worth more dead than alive
-Willy, in his happiest moment, still compares Biff to Bernard to try and get one up on Charley
Nature vs city
-The skyscrapers make it difficult to see the stars and block sunlight that would allow Willie to grow
his garden. They represent the artificiality of the city blocking out nature.
-Willie would like to do as his brother Ben had and go and explore the wilderness and make money
the way his brother had. However he is too afraid and too late to do so, so he instead stays in the
artificial world selling himself rather than natural product.
-Biff works with nature as a farm hand, helping horses give birth. Happy schemes in a department
store. Biff escapes the oppression of the city while Happy embraces it.
-Nature would give Willy the satisfaction he craves. Biff works with nature as a farm hand, helping
horses give birth. Happy schemes in a department store. Biff escapes the oppression of the city while
Happy embraces it.
Ordinary man / the human condition
-Willy is portrayed as foolish but also respectable
-Willy is a normal man but is ennobled by the play to show how anyone's life can be a tragedy
-Willy's character inconsistencies show how people are pulled by different societal factors
-Miller uses Willy to ask fundamental questions about human's freedom
Masculinity
-The Woman that Willy cheats on Linda with is able to feed Willy's salesman ego by "liking" him. He
is proud of being able to sell himself to her.
-Biff when he was younger could easily get girls, but now still feels societal pressure when he doesn't
want to
-All the men in the play feel pressure to earn money, whilst Linda is more than happy with her family
-Toxic masculinity is portrayed as the men all feel a competition between each other and compare
themselves to others
Father-son relationships
-Central conflict in play is Willy vs Biff
-Biff and Willy's failure is a mirror of each other
-Willy taught his kids likeability, luck and personality over hard work and expertise
-This leads them to disappoint him and themselves later on
-The dream of grand, easy success that Willy passed on to his sons is both barren and overwhelming.
, -At the end of the play, Biff has his anagnorisis and realises that he will be free if he leaves Willy's
ideas behind
-In contrast Happy will never realise what was wrong with his father
Relationship with the past
-Biff, when he was young he was a great athlete and loved by women. He is older and now he clings
onto his high school day, now a thief and a drifter who has no real direction
-Willy sugar-coats the past and looks back fondly on memories that actually show the problems that
happened today
-Willy lives in the past as it is easier than dealing with the present
-All characters talk about the past apart from Bernard, who is embarrassed by it, showing how
Bernard is happy
-Biff and Happy also reminisce about the past when together in bed, the future only depresses them
Denial and failure
-Willy fails in his job and to be a good father
-Happy and Biff both fail as well
-However, only Biff can see that he is a failure, the others deny it
-When faced with a problem, Willy denies that it exists, such as the incident with the woman
-Willy finds it hard to accept reality due to his delusions of being the best salesman who slowly
creates the fact that he feels there is no escape for the lies that he has created over time
-Willy denies that the failures his children have had are because of his bad teachings
-Neither Happy or Biff want to accept responsibility for their father, a trait they learnt from him
-When willy hears Biff had failed he concentrates on the popularity he gained from mocking the
teacher
-Willy’s suicide is the ultimate form of denial, believes he is worth more dead than alive.
Abandonment and betrayal
-Willy death is ironic, as it is inspired by the love for his family, his absences is to give them stability,
but he still abandons them the same way his father abandoned his as a child.
-Willy's guilt from cheating on Linda comes from the feeling of failing her as her provider, he sees
giving the stocking to the woman rather than Linda as the ultimate betrayal because he sees life in
material items. He fails to see it is the betrayal of her love that is wrong.
Suffering
-Willy believes he suffers for his dream, but in reality he bring his own suffering
-Use of guilt, memories, deteriorating mental state conveyed by the invasive laughter of The Woman
-Linda is the archetypal ‘long-suffering’ 50s housewife
-Irony of her ending, ‘we’re free’, as she is free from suffering and financial worries but bereft
without Willy
Characters (AO1)
Willy
-An aging salesman. He suffers from depression and anxiety as a result of his dissipating career, his
estranged relationship with his oldest son, Biff, and his guilt over an extramarital affair. As the play
progresses, Willy loses the ability to distinguish between the present and his memories of the past.
-Is rude and aggressive to other characters, especially those that love him such as Linda
-Dreams of moving away to the country
-Is easily influenced, seen with Ben and Linda both controlling him
Linda
-She is Willy's champion and takes it upon herself to reconcile her family. She will protect Willy at all
costs, even if she must perpetuate his fantasies and deny his suicidal behaviour
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