SparkNotes: Free Study Guides No Fear Shakespeare: The Bard made easy SparkCharts: Just the facts TestPrep: SAT, ACT, and more 101s: College texts condensed Subject Finder: Browse by subject SparkCollege: Get in! SparkLife: 100% study-free home_bottom home_top BN_link
 
◄ PREVIOUS
Important Quotations Explained
NEXT ►
Study Questions & Essay Topics
 

Death of a Salesman

 Arthur Miller
 

Key Facts

 
full title  · Death of a Salesman: Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem
 
author  · Arthur Miller
 
type of work  · Play
 
genre  · Tragedy, social commentary, family drama
 
language  · English (with emphasis on middle-class American lingo)
 
time and place written  · Six weeks in 1948, in a shed in Connecticut
 
date of first publication  · 1949
 
original publisher  · The Viking Press
 
climax  · The scene in Frank's Chop House and Biff's final confrontation with Willy at home
 
protagonists  · Willy Loman, Biff Loman
 
antagonists  · Biff Loman, Willy Loman, the American Dream
 
setting (time)  · “Today,” that is, the present; either the late 1940s or the time period in which the play is being produced, with “daydreams” into Willy's past; all of the action takes place during a twenty-four-hour period between Monday night and Tuesday night, except the “Requiem,” which takes place, presumably, a few days after Willy's funeral
 
setting (place)  · According to the stage directions, “Willy Loman's house and yard [in Brooklyn] and . . . various places he visits in . . . New York and Boston”
 
falling action  · The “Requiem” section, although the play is not really structured as a classical drama
 
tense  · Present
 
foreshadowing  · Willy's flute theme foreshadows the revelation of his father's occupation and abandonment; Willy's preoccupation with Linda's stockings foreshadows his affair with The Woman; Willy's automobile accident before the start of Act I foreshadows his suicide at the end of Act II
 
tone  · The tone of Miller's stage directions and dialogue ranges from sincere to parodying, but, in general, the treatment is tender, though at times brutally honest, toward Willy's plight
 
themes  · The American Dream; abandonment; betrayal
 
motifs  · Mythic figures; the American West; Alaska; the African jungle
 
symbols  · Seeds; diamonds; Linda's and the womon's stockings; the rubber hose
 
 
Help | Feedback | Make a request | Report an error | Send to a friend

◄ PREVIOUS
Important Quotations Explained
NEXT ►
Study Questions & Essay Topics
 
 
 
 
 
 
Message Boards
Ask a question or start a discussion on the community boards.
  • Death of a Salesman
  • Performing Arts
  •  
     
     
     
    Printable PDF
    Download a printable version of this SparkNote.
     
    Listen on Your iPod
    Download and listen to this SparkNote at audible.com
     
     
     
    SparkCharts
    A textbook's worth of information on an easy-to-read chart.
  • Literary Terms
  •  
     
     
     
     
    Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | About | Sitemap
    ©2008 SparkNotes LLC, All Rights Reserved.