THE CRITICAL FORTUNES OF ARTHUR MILLER'S DEATH OF A SALESMAN ____________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University, Chico ____________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in English ____________ by Angela M. Metzger Summer 2009 THE CRITICAL FORTUNES OF ARTHUR MILLER'S DEATH OF A SALESMAN A Thesis by Angela M. Metzger Summer 2009 APPROVED BY THE INTERIM DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF GRADUATE, INTERNATIONAL, AND INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES: _____________________________ Mark J. Morlock, Ph.D. APPROVED BY THE GRADUATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE: ______________________________ _____________________________ Robert Davidson, Ph.D. Roger W. Kaye, Ph.D., Chair Graduate Coordinator _____________________________ Lynn Houston, Ph.D. PUBLICATION RIGHTS No portion of this thesis may be reprinted or reproduced in any manner unacceptable to the usual copyright restrictions without the written permission of the author. iii DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my parents Bob and Patti, my wonderful siblings Adelaide, Chelsea, Jake, and Alexis, and my brother and friend Thaddeus and his family. Without their love, support, and encouragement I never would have achieved my love of learning and dream of teaching. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work is a product of untold hours of study, research, and epistemological endeavors--none of which would be possible without my good friend Professor Roger Kaye. If not for his encouragement, patience, and investment in my future this thesis and my dreams would never have come to fruition. My deepest appreciation and love goes out to my friend Professor Lynn Houston who has been a light of optimism in my life. A special thanks should be given to Marcus Alaimo also, for his time and diligent work this past semester. I consider him a true friend. I acknowledge all of the English faculty at California State University Chico for their contribution to my education and life’s work. Here’s to the future, wherever it may take me! v TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Publication Rights...................................................................................................... iii Dedication.................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgments...................................................................................................... i Abstract...................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER I. Introduction................................................................................................. 1 II. The Reign of Tragedy on Readings of Death of a Salesman...................................................................................................... 5 Miller’s Writings on Tragedy.......................................................... 11 Steinberg’s Theory of Modern Tragedy.......................................... 14 Frye's Archetypal Approach to Tragedy......................................... 18 Moss’ Neo-Hegelian Interpretation of Tragedy.............................. 23 Conclusion....................................................................................... 30 III. Milling in the Garden: The American Adam and Planting the “American Dream” in Miller’s Death of a Salesman............................ 31 IV. Miller and O’Neil........................................................................................ 51 V. Conclusion................................................................................................... 83 Works Cited............................................................................................................... 87 vi ABSTRACT THE CRITICAL FORTUNES OF ARTHUR MILLER'S DEATH OF A SALESMAN by Angela M. Metzger Master of Arts in English California State University, Chico Summer 2009 This thesis undertakes the task of exploring Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman through various venues and critical interpretations. In particular, it will focus on the relevance and endeavors of Miller’s writing in its placement of 20th century American drama. Miller’s play serves as a pivotal work balancing on the cusp of the modernist and post-modernist era, embodying man’s search for meaning in the American culture and society around him. The first chapter will summarize key points, give a literature review, and address methodological concerns of this thesis. Opening with Stanley Kauffmann’s definition of “tragedy,” this serves as a springboard for the tragic philosophical contentions present in 20th century drama. This chapter lays the foundation of Miller’s vii play as a post-modern epic which seeks to explore man’s perilous situation in the progression of the modern age. The second chapter will then explore elements of tragedy by analyzing an amalgamation of critical sources which elaborate and examine modern tragedy found in both Classical theatre and that of the present day. To quote Miguel de Unamuno, ‘To cure the plague is not enough, it must also be lamented with bitter tears. Yes, we must learn to weep!” (21). The persistence of memory with the expansion of consciousness means that human beings must take time to “learn” again how to feel and register losses. This is Miller’s purpose in modern American tragedy, to make his audience experience pathos, the ability to feel again. Through a modern critical guise this chapter will look at the critical interpretation of Miller’s work and motives in writing Death of a Salesman, as a work that fuses classical dramatic tensions with modern themes crucial to our present age. The third chapter will look at the role of the “American dream” and its connection to the myth of the Eden and creation. The garden-or wilderness-was once a paradise, a symbol of wealth that embodies man’s creative possibility. But like Adam, Miller’s characters are fallen creatures in a fallen world. Their search for the garden is as futile as Willy Loman’s quest for wealth and riches in a world that does not recognizes who he is. Likewise the dream of a better life, the “American dream,” then becomes a myth that cannot be achieved on Miller’s stage. Chapter III will examine the biblical motif of the garden and the cultivation of the American Dream, both its hopes and viii failures in the Loman family. This includes an examination of the “American man,” his placement on the stage both literal and figuratively. It will delve into Miller’s idea of the tragic man as the common man, not king or prince, but the everyday American whose deeds are worthy of our attention. The fourth chapter will then be a juxtaposition of parallel passages from Miller’s Death of a Salesman and O’Neill’s play Long Day’s Journey Into Night. The comparative links between these two plays is not merely chronological, but focuses on two American families seemingly at the edge of ruin. Each family has the central figures of mother, father, and their two sons. Both plays examine the American family; flawed, broken, and hopelessly unable to rise above their circumstances; be it emotional, social, financial, or psychological. Each plays further suggest that the family is a commentary on the evolution of modern American society, strained between ideals of love and blind forces of oppressive economic determinism. This will be followed by the Chapter V, the Conclusion, thus completing the tragic work Arthur Miller has wrought with his play Death of a Salesman, demonstrating both the social and interior complexities of modern man and American drama. ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Sixty years ago this past April, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman opened in New York. The press notices registered positive reactions to its concentrated power, its bold use of intermixed time-frames, its two-tiered set and imaginative lighting, and its important themes. Not infrequently, terms like “tragedy” and “tragic” surfaced. No viewer could have doubted its emotional seriousness; as Stanley Kauffmann noted, “the play bristles with spears of pathos that no critical shield can deflect” (103). Some voices even suggested that this play would open a new direction for the evolution of American drama. Hindsight reveals curiously diverse consequences of the play. It certainly succeeded in becoming a staple of high-school English classrooms. Its dialogue pushes into the foreground overt assertions of multiple “important” themes; its subject-matter centers on no powerfully controversial attitudes; any targeted political positions or implications remain ambiguous; its language is free of blatant obscenities; and it continues to work very effectively on the stage, even when high-school students have difficulty casting the role of Willy Loman. On the other hand, American drama did not flourish in new directions or even seem to acknowledge Miller’s work; and today American drama seems to be nearly moribund. 1