Death of a Salesman

The Delusion of Willy Loman Death of a Salesman tells the story of a man confronting failure in the success-driven society of America and shows the tragic trajectory, which eventually leads to his suicide. Willy Loman is a symbolic icon of the failing America; he represents those that have striven for success but, in struggling to do so, have instead achieved failure in its most bitter form. Arthur Miller's tragic drama is a probing portrait …

…writing about the death of a salesman, a seemingly mundane occurrence in twentieth-century society, was to express the playwright's own vision of American Society and the nature of individuality. Death of a Salesman may be interpreted as being solely a play about the failing America and the 'jagged edges of a shattered dream' but it does, nevertheless, engage Miller's belief that 'the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy as kings are'. Essays