It's often ranked right up there with classics like Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night, Thornton Wilder's Our Town, and Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. However, with Death of a Salesman, Miller's career was launched into a whole new level.ĭeath of a Salesman is widely considered even to this day to be one of the greatest American plays ever written. By this point in his career, Miller had already proven his chops with his hit play, All My Sons. It won Arthur Miller the Pulitzer Prize in 1949. When the play version appeared on Broadway, it was a total hit. His interest was renewed later on however, by an uncle who was a salesman. The idea for the play first manifested itself as a short story, which author Arthur Miller initially abandoned. The storyline features Willy Loman, an average guy who attempts to hide his averageness and failures behind increasingly delusional hallucinations as he strives to be a "success."
The play is a scathing critique of the American Dream and of the competitive, materialistic American society of the late 1940s. On the other hand, ambition can keep us from recognizing our own limits, trapping us in the delusional grandeur of imagined achievements.įor Willy Loman, ambition is the ultimate foe-the Darth Vader to his Luke Skywalker, the Voldemort to his Harry Potter, the Cruella to his Pongo.ĭeath of a Salesman is a tragedy about the differences between the Loman family's dreams and the reality of their lives. On one hand, ambition can motivate us to get out of bed in the morning and follow our dreams. It's one of those things that can be either your best friend or your worst enemy. It won the Tony Award for Best Play, Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Arthur Kennedy), Best Scenic Design (Jo Mielziner), Producer (Dramatic), Author (Arthur Miller), and Director (Elia Kazan), as well as the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play.Ambition. John Gassner said that “The ecstatic reception accorded Death of Salesman has been reverberating for some time wherever there is an ear for theatre, and it is undoubtedly the best American play since A Streetcar Named Desire.” The original play starred Lee J. It was regarded as one of the finest dramas of American theatre. Death of a Salesman first opened on February 10, 1949, and won great success.
It is considered to be one of the greatest plays of the 20th century.
The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949 at the Morosco Theatre, running for 742 performances, and has been revived on Broadway four times, winning three Tony Awards for Best Revival. It was the recipient of the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play. Death of a Salesman is a 1949 play written by American playwright Arthur Miller.
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