Abstract
Arthur Miller is an influential realistic playwright in contemporary American literature. Death of a Salesman, one of his representative plays, was an immediate success after its first performance in New York in 1949. It won both a Pulitzer Prize and a Drama Critics Circle Award. It also made him accepted as one of the three greatest American dramatists in the 20th century, along with Eugene O’Neill and Tennessee Williams.
Profoundly influenced by the Depression and the war that immediately followed it, Miller managed to use a more practical and vigorous way to portray the working class and their lives. Death of a Salesman successfully unfolds the social problems and family crisis in the period of the Great Depression, shows the common people’s problems, and arouses resonance of those Americans who have suffered from the Great Depression and the failure of the American Dream.
Death of a Salesman tackles large issues regarding American national values. It examines the cost of blind faith in the American Dream. Miller charges America with selling a false myth constructed around a materialism nurtured by the postwar economy. The American Dream under materialism misled individual ideals and morality of ordinary people. This play explicitly demonstrates that he, who is deluded by the materialistic American Dream, is bound to be sucked in and reduced to a victim of consumable merchandise and false values. The play examines the living plight of common Americans in modern society. It provides readers with contradictory conflicts and revelation of serious social problems in modern western civilization.
This paper consists of five parts. Chapter One provides a brief introduction of Arthur Miller and the researches on Death of a Salesman. Chapter Two describes the social background of the American Dream and the influences of Miller’s growing background on this play. Chapter Three demonstrates the origin and development of the American Dream together with its reflection in this play. In Chapter Four, the author analyzes the reasons of the disillusionment of Willy’s American Dream from different roles he plays in society. Finally, this paper confirms Arthur Miller’s position and his great contributions to American literature and summarizes the social significance of the disillusionment of the American Dream and its enlightenment to people.
Key words: Arthur Miller; Death of a Salesman; American Dream; disillusionment
摘要
阿瑟·米勒是美国当代文坛上一位颇具影响的现实主义剧作家。他的代表作《推销员之死》于1949年在纽约首演成功后，震惊了整个美国戏剧界，该剧一举获得普利策奖和戏剧评论界奖，也使阿瑟·米勒成为包括尤金·奥尼尔、田纳西·威廉斯在内的20世纪三位最伟大的美国剧作家之一。
米勒深受大萧条和战争的影响，从而他能够以更切实更生动的方式描绘工人阶级及其生活。《推销员之死》成功的展现了大萧条时期的社会和家庭危机，表现了普通百姓的普遍问题，激起了深受大萧条和美国梦折磨的美国人的共鸣。
《推销员之死》触及了美国价值观等宏大的问题，剖析了人们盲目相信美国梦所付出的代价。米勒控诉美国社会兜售了一个围绕二战之后兴起的物质至上主义建立起来的神话——美国梦。这种物质至上主义下的美国梦误导了美国普通大众的个人理想和道德观念。该剧警示世人：被物质化了的美国梦迷惑就会沦为商品和社会错误价值观的牺牲品。 《推销员之死》揭示了普通美国人在现代社会中的生存困境。它向读者展示出现代西方文明中存在的种种尖锐的矛盾和一系列社会问题。
本文主要由五部分组成。第一章是关于作者及《推销员之死》的文献综述。第二章描述了剧中美国梦的社会背景及米勒的成长背景对该剧的影响。第三章陈述美国梦的起源和发展及其在本剧中的反映。第四章从威利扮演的不同社会角色分析剧中威利美国梦幻灭的原因。最后肯定了阿瑟·米勒的文学地位和贡献，总结出剧中美国梦幻灭的社会意义以及对人们的启示。
关键词：阿瑟·米勒；《推销员之死》；美国梦；幻灭
Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Chapter 2 Backgrounds of Death of a Salesman 3
2.1 Growing Background of Arthur Miller 3
2.2 Social Background of Death of a Salesman 4
2.2.1 The Great Depression 4
2.2.2 Impacts of World War II 5
Chapter 3 The American Dream in Death of a Salesman 6
3.1 The Origin and Development of the American Dream 6
3.2 Willy’s American Dream 7
3.2.1 Willy’s past dream 7
3.2.2 Willy’s present dream 7
3.3 Biff’s American Dream 8
3.4 The Essence of the American Dream 9
Chapter 4 Reasons of the Disillusionment of Willy’s American Dream 10
4.1 Willy’s False Values 10
4.1.1 The philosophy of being well-liked 10
4.1.2 Willy’s dignity 10
4.2 Willy’s Failure as a Salesman 11
4.3 Willy’s Failure as a Father 12
4.3.1 False-teaching as a father 12
4.3.2 Biff’s failure 13
Chapter 5 Conclusion 14
Notes 15
Bibliography 16
Acknowledgements 17
