Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Death of a Salesman

God, this was a lot. This play is such a well done dissection of capitalism and the American work ethic- through a hyper specific lense, but it is a classic for a reason.

Content Warnings

thevampiremars's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Here’s the thing: stories written by American authors that challenge the myth of the American Dream often don’t resonate with me, at least not as much as I expect they’re intended to. There’s a cultural disconnect. That fairytale isn’t entrenched in my culture and we don’t really have an equivalent that inspires that same fanatic hope. I haven’t been fed this narrative since birth, I haven’t internalised its message, I have no attachment to it and what it represents. Refutation of a belief I do not hold doesn’t shock me, especially when I find that belief to be, frankly, obvious bullshit. To be fair, Death of a Salesman was written for theatre-going audiences in New York in the 1940s, not some anticapitalist Brit reading the script in book form more than seventy years later.

The titular salesman, Willy Loman, is painfully sympathetic and unsympathetic. He’s a deeply flawed individual who still has value simply by virtue of being human. That’s the idea, at least, but without an actor’s charisma to sell the character, to make me care about him, he’s a little too unpleasant for my liking. Shifting moral standards have no doubt shifted perspectives on Willy. For example, him threatening to beat his kids may have been seen as harsh back in the day but now most people would call that outright abusive. It makes it hard to root for him, though I understand it’s not supposed to be easy to.

Perhaps if I’d seen Death of a Salesman performed instead of reading the script I’d have had a more profound experience. As it stands, I can give a noncommittal shrug and confess it said what Miller wanted it to say but it didn’t speak to me.

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james1star's review

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Pre-review note: I know this is a play and therefore is meant to be portrayed this way, and you obviously don’t get the seamless transitions and impact from reading it alone.

It is a well written and theorised critique of capitalism and the so called ‘American Dream’ where we follow the Loman family (Willy, Linda, and their two grown up children Biff and Happy) along with other characters. The main story takes place over 2 days starting with Willy coming home early to find his children have come to see him, he’s obviously tired and work out from his job as a travailing salesman but tries to hide this. He talks with Biff about his life and, with Happy, think up a plan to go into business together and the following day Biff will ask a former employer for a loan and Willy buys into this dream. The following day Willy goes to work asking to be a stationary salesman as the travelling is too tiering at his age (50-60s I think) but is instead fired. He then goes for dinner with Biff (who’s plan didn’t go to plan) and Happy and have another argument which is picked up on at home where Biff lies out that he isn’t - and will never be - the man his father dreams and wants him to be and that he’s always struggled in jobs and life because from a young age this notion of you will have anything you want has been driven into him but instead it’s made him unresponsive to orders and hence failure. He says she’s going to leave and for his family not to worry about him anymore. A LOT more happens and there are flashbacks and side plots/characters too but I somewhat summarised the plot.

This was good in how it shows the negatives of this ‘you are perfect’ notion we install in our kids and how nuance and real life is different and should be taught as well. Also Miller’s criticism of the ‘American Dream’ is done well and likewise capitalism and how the world is powered and centred on money, what we earn, what we can sell, these physical things not metaphoric ‘likeness’ or ‘respect’ which Willy seems to value more - at the end of the day they don’t pay the bills is the kind of ideal set out.

What I didn’t like is how we are meant to symphysis’s without these characters but I didn’t… because to do so, we are normally meant to like them, but I didn’t. The portrayal of women isn’t the best with Linda really not adding much, she seems like a prop in some sense but of course at that time her position was seen as lesser then her husband’s and sons. Willy is shown to stop her speaking abruptly and rudely and in other aspects is not the nicest person suffering from some of what we’d now call fragile masculinity such as not talking about his mental health, thinking he needs to be the breadwinner and provide, not wanting to take favours and other things. Biff and Happy are okay but how they talk of ‘having’ girls and their outlook is rather sexist - how they’ve been brought up thinking they are the shit does impact this and possibly not all blame can be on them. These are just some thoughts.

Lastly, despite being quite short (114 pages) it did somewhat drag on in some parts. As a beginner to plays I don’t think this was the best choice but all in all it did make sense and concluded in a understandable manner.

It was okay with some important points but lacked characters I could bring myself to care about.

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terrywho's review

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This play went down in the history books for a reason, but it's incredibly sad so if you're not the type of person that likes getting slapped in the face repeatetly maybe it's not for you...

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solouncapitulomas's review

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

oh no, he dies? who saw that one coming

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miiamatu's review

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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