Death of a Salesman

Why am I trying to become what I don't want to be . when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am. Willy Loman is an ageing travelling salesman haunted, driven and yet held back by empty dreams of prosperity and success. Justly celebrated as one of the most famous dramatisations of the failure of the American Dream, the play's moral and political purpose is perfectly counterbalanced by a powerful and moving human drama of a man trying to make his way in the world and of the human flaws that lead to the shattering of his family and of their figurehead. Death of a Salesman is Miller's tragic masterpiece and considered one of the greatest plays of the twentieth century. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1949, the play remains a classic work of literature and drama that is studied and performed around the world. This new edition includes an introduction by Claire Conceison that explores the play's production history as well as the dramatic, thematic, and academic debates that surround it; a must-have resource for any student exploring Death of a Salesman.

Arthur Miller (1915-2005) was arguably the greatest American playwright of the twentieth century. His most famous work for the stage includes Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, All My Sons and A View from the Bridge. Six volumes of his plays and a volume of his theatre essays are published by Methuen Drama. Claire Conceison is Quanta Professor of Chinese Culture and Professor of Theater Arts at MIT. She is a scholar, translator, and director. Her publications include the books Significant Other: Staging the American in China (2004); Ying Ruocheng's autobiography Voices Carry: Behind Bars and Backstage During China's Revolution and Reform (2009); the anthology I Love XXX and Other Plays by Meng Jinghui (2017); and the introduction to 'Death of a Salesman' in Beijing (2015), a new edition of Arthur Miller's 1984 book 'Salesman' in Beijing. She is a contributor to the volume Arthur Miller for the Twenty-First Century (2020). Susan C. W. Abbotson (series editor) is Professor of Dramatic Literature at Rhode Island College, USA.

Chronology Introduction Historical, Social and Cultural Contexts Genre and Themes Play as Performance Production History Academic Debate Behind the scenes - Excerpts from interview with Chinese actor/translator Ying Ruocheng about working with Miller in Beijing in 1983 Further Study Death of a Salesman Notes