2. 
Chair Poet?
Poetry is not a turning loose
of emotion, but an escape
from emotion; it is not the
expression of personality,
but an escape from
personality. But, of course,
only those who have
personality and emotions
know what it means to want
to escape from these things.
T. S. Eliot

3. 
New Teams 4-5 members
Death of a Salesman
Themes and Style
Discussion
AGENDA

4. 
Style and Themes
Lecture

5. 
Style
Death of a Salesman is a drama set in 1949, in New York City
and Boston. The action of the play takes place largely inside the
Loman home in Brooklyn, but other places in New York and
Boston are used as well, including hotel rooms, Willy's office, a
restaurant, and Willy's gravesite. The play is grounded in
realism, which means that it depicts realistically what
happens in the lives of its characters, but it also contains
elements of expressionism, specifically when it depicts
imaginary sequences and portrays for the audience the
inner workings of the characters' minds and their emotions.
The play is largely a representation of what takes place in the
mind of Willy Loman during the last two days of his life.

6. 
Death of a Salesman presents the struggling modern characters who
live in the world of postmodernism but are oscillating between
modern and postmodern values. They find themselves broken and
isolated in the cruel world of post war values and consumer
culture.
The play deals with various postmodern elements:
 The fall of the grand narrative
 The disintegration of family ties
 The distance between illusion and reality
 A sense of isolation
 A lack of understanding
 The struggle to exist
Postmodern Aspects

7. Death of a Salesman
Discuss Themes, Questions, and QHQs
Five minutes!

9. 
Appearance versus reality
The American Dream
The Individual versus Society
The Individual versus Self
Themes

10.  What appears to be true to the characters in Death of a Salesman is
often a far cry from reality. Willy's flashbacks to past events—many of
which are completely or partly fabricated—demonstrate his difficulty in
distinguishing between what is real and what he wishes were real.
 Willy's imagined conversations with his dead brother, Ben, also show his
fragile grip on reality.
 Willy has fantasies about his own (and his sons’) abilities and
accomplishments.
 Biff and Happy share their father’s tendency to concoct grand schemes
and think of themselves as superior to others without any real evidence
that either is true.
Themes: Appearances vs. Reality

11. 
 Willy's quest to realize what he views as the American Dream—
the "self-made man" who rises out of poverty and becomes rich
and famous— is a dominant theme in Death of a Salesman.
Willy believed wholeheartedly in this prized national story.
 In the 1920s, a career in sales was hailed as a way for a man
without training or education to achieve financial success.
Pamphlets, lectures, and correspondence courses promoting the
skills of salesmen were widely distributed during this decade.
Willy would have begun his career as a salesman in the 1920s,
when belief that salesmen adept at manipulation and "people
skills" were destined for wealth and fame was widespread.
American Dream

12. 
 By the late 1940s, when Death of a Salesman takes place, the
job market has changed, and salesmen (and other
workers) required specialized knowledge and training in
order to succeed. Because he lacks such knowledge or
training, Willy is destined to fail in his business world.
Willy, of course, does not realize how times and
expectations have changed, and he continues to try to
strike it rich using his powers of persuasion.
Willy's personal representations of the American Dream
are his brother Ben and the salesman Dave Singleman,
and he views the success of these two men as proof that
he can indeed attain the success he is so desperate to
achieve. According to Willy's version of the American
Dream, he is a complete failure.

13. 
Discussion

14. Contrast Willy with Ben.
Willy seems to think that
he leads a life somehow
like Ben’s. Besides the fact
that Ben is rich and Willy
is not, what separates
them?
Did Ben ever really make it out
of the jungle?

15. Describe why Willy believes
committing suicide will
provide a better life for his
family. Will his plan work?
Q: Was there any other way that
Willy could have helped his son
make his own business? Or was
committing suicide the only way
for him to help his son out?

16. Explore the difference
between Biff and Hap’s
reactions to Willy’s
death.

17. 
QHQ
1. Q: What is the difference of the portrayal of the American
Dream in Death of a Salesman and The Great Gatsby?
1. Q: What purpose does Bernard serve in the story?
2. Q: Was Biff truly living to spite his father like Willy so
steadfastly believed? Or is Willy showing his guilt and
blaming himself?
3. Q: Why does Biff continue to keep his father’s affair a secret
even after his death?

18. 
Study for the
exam by
reviewing each
of the authors
and texts we
have discussed
so far.
HOMEWORK
Death of a Salesman
ina Loy