DOAS: 1.1 Flashcards
(18 cards)
Mobile Concurrency
. Past and present are shown together on stage
. Audience sees both time zones at once - no flashbacks
. Willy has destroyed boundaries between past + present and attempts to live in a zone characterised by both to justify his choices
Time shifts
. No hope of fulfillment after death in secular society so Willy looks to the past for self-determination
. Isn’t influenced by God; instead, visited by memories of former acquaintances and previous experiences that shaped him
Staging
. Expresses Willy’s “divided consciousness” - reality of house walls can be crossed, not a realistic set
. Detailed stage directions typical of modern drama: insight into writer’s intentions
. Willy’s reality: consistency, “vault”
. Willy’s house: “small, fragile”
Staging - the American Dream
. “an air of the dream”
. “clings” - American Dream threatened by reality of modern apartment blocks, Willy isn’t wealthy, only has -
. Only the essentials “three chairs” “refrigerator”
. “silver athletic trophy” - past successes, live in past
Staging - past and present
. Transparent setting: Willy’s loose hold on real life
. Actors ignore imaginary wall lines when in the past - reality twisted
. Lighting physically implies space dissolving in scenes depicting the past
Music
. Dissolves time + distance
. Willy’s father sold flutes in Old West: flute melody at start evokes lost freedom and ideal of the past
. Flute associated with Willy: “plays on”when he enters
. Fades away when he claims he’s “tired to death” - ominous, foreshadowing grounded in reality
Miller on Willy
. Original title of play was “The Inside of His Head”
. “if the intensity… not present, there can only be an outline of a tragedy”, doesn’t matter who hero is
. “The salesman… nothing in life ‘comes next’ but everything exists together and at the same time within us” - hence mobile concurrency
Willy
. His commitment to the Dream kills him
. Willy is “at that terrible moment when the voice of the past… as loud as the voice of the present” - Miller
. Willy is old and exhausted: “burden” “soreness”
. “I see everything” - how’d he near drive off the road?
. Characterised by selective moral/spiritual blindness
Willy’s work
. Travelling salesman “I suddenly couldn’t drive”
. Linda says talk to “them”, impersonal collective pronoun shows distance from bosses
. Close with old boss Wagner, not with his new boss
. “Old man Wagner… a prince… a masterful man.”
Cult of Personality
. Willy’s belief, intro’d through description of Wagner
. Wagner was a good boss bc of his personality - Willy values this over hard work and ambition
. Hence relationship with sons
Linda Loman
. Typical sympathetic + indulgent wife. Loyal to Willy
. Glue holding family together
. Says Willy with “trepidation” - fearful for him
. Worries about the car - foreshadowing
. “Well dear, life is a casting off!” - sensible, accepting
. “You’re my foundation and my support Linda.”
Biff Loman
. Elder by 2yr, “well-built” with “worn air”
. His dreams are “stronger and less acceptable than Happy’s” - seen as a negative trait
. Willy is disappointed in him, sees him as a reflection
. “Not finding yourself at the age of 34 is a disgrace!”
Willy’s contradictions
. Becomes confused when talking about Biff
. “The trouble is he’s lazy” then
. “There’s one thing about Biff - he’s not lazy.”
. Values Biff’s “personal attractiveness” the most
. “Remember how they used to follow him around in high school?” brings on his first reverie
Happy Loman
. More successful than Biff but ignored by Willy
. Has Willy’s sentimentality but realistic: “All the talk that went across these beds, huh? Our whole lives.”
. Suffers despite success, “I don’t know what the hell I’m workin’ for”.
. Ideals w Biff about buying a ranch together
Happy inspired by Willy
. Hates taking orders from those he sees as “inferior”
. Judgement based on perceived physical superiority: “I can outbox, outrun, and outfit… I have to take orders from these common, petty sons of bitches”
. Manifests in his sexuality, “a crummy characteristic”
. Unable to lose American Dream that inspired him
Biff + Happy
. Desire self reliance, depend on each other
. Disrespect women, “there was a pig!”
. Disturbed by Willy’s mental state, “something’s -happening to him”, Happy laughs at Willy
. Both are victims of Willy’s ideals: H thinks B can still succeed bc he’s well-liked, both live in the past too
Biff and the American Dream
. Insecure Biff “Why does dad mock me all the time?”
. H suggests B’s rootlessness affects Willy’s mind
. Torn between desire to be true self + knowing he needs to be “makin’ a future”
. More realistic than Willy who claims to see everything
. H begs B to stay bc its “getting embarrassing” (Willy)
The Car
. Freedom and social status - American Dream
. Used ironically: traps Willy
. W metaphorically + literally drives off road - suicide
. American Dream is deceptive + destructive
. Past associations are joyful vs current ones of death
. W exhaustion due to driving “forgot I was driving”
. Religious icon: worshiped by boys cleaning it
