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E2 > DEATH OF A SALESMAN > Flashcards

DEATH OF A SALESMAN Flashcards

1
Q

‘I realised ________ was the ________ ______ a man could want’

A

‘I realised selling was the greatest career a man could want’

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2
Q

‘I’m the ___ _______ man’

A

‘I’m the New England man’ - Willy’s self definition is centred around his career

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3
Q

‘you end up _____ ____ ____ than _____’

A

‘you end up worth more dead than alive’

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4
Q

‘its the ____ _____ you can have’

A

‘its the only dream you can have’

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5
Q

What type of character is Ben?

A

Mephistophelean

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6
Q

Miller’s experience of the Wall Street Crash

A

Lost everything, forced to move to Brooklyn

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7
Q

Link American Dream and Willy Loman

A

American Dream promoted the idea that hard work would achieve success- we see how hard Willy works therefore Miller exposes the falsity of the AD

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8
Q

How does Miller contradict classical tragedy?

A

‘Tragedy of the common man’. Argues that tragedy wouldn’t appeal to the mass if it wasn’t applicable to all

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9
Q

When does Miller believe that the tragic feeling is evoked?

A

When we are in the presence of a character who is willing to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing- his sense of personal dignity’

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10
Q

When does Miller believe that the tragic feeling is evoked?

A

When we are in the presence of a character who is willing to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing- his sense of personal dignity’

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11
Q

Inevitable events can also be caused by the ‘_____ __ _________’

A

‘the wound of indignity’

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12
Q

Why does Miller think the concept of a high ranking tragic hero is outdated?

A

Concepts of Elizabethan justice are no longer interesting

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13
Q

What else does Miller believe tragedy derives from (particularly relevant to the common man)??

A

The fear of being displaced

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14
Q

‘his _________ nature, his temper, his _______ dreams and _____ cruelties’

A

‘his mercurial nature, his temper, his massive dreams and little cruelties’

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15
Q

‘she is ______ off his _____’

A

‘she is taking off his shoes’

Reminiscent of a servant

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16
Q

Linda’s decisive defence of Willy

A

‘I won’t have anyone making him feel unwanted and low and blue’

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17
Q

Ben is ‘_______ ________’

A

‘success incarnate’

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18
Q

Expressionism

A

Art form- uses exaggeration or distortion to depict inner truth

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19
Q

Features of expressionist plays (3)

A

Abstract setting
Intense style of acting
Episodic action

20
Q

Absurdism

A

Often uses contradiction

21
Q

Features of absurdism

A

‘Symbolic’ set
Fractured time structure
Non- rational events (eg Ben)
Disruption of language and meaning

22
Q

Psychological realism

A

Elevated acting into an art- detailed and psychologically credible approach to characterisation

23
Q

Mobile concurrency

A

Where the past and present are shown on stage (usually by coloured lighting)

24
Q

Symbolisms (3)

A

The stockings, the car, the rubber hose

25
Q

Willy’s reference to ‘making it’

A

Symbolic of his crushing sense of failure as he is unable to ‘make it’ as a salesman

26
Q

‘He’s not allowed to ___ into his ______ like a ___. ________, _______ must ______ be paid to _____ _ ___’

A

‘He’s not allowed to fall into his grave like a dog. Attention, attention must finally be paid to such a man’

27
Q

Miller’s use of lighting

A

Light effects used to undercut Willy’s optimism

28
Q

‘work a lifetime to pay off a house. You finally own it, and there’s nobody to live in it’

A

Futility of capitalist society

29
Q

‘In the greatest country in the world, a young man with such- personal attractiveness, gets lost’

A

Reiterates Willy’s view that personal attractiveness is what equates success

30
Q

Quotation for claustrophobia (capitalism)

A

‘boxed us in’

‘windows and bricks, bricks and windows’

31
Q

Theme of competition

A

A03 links to capitalist society- even Willy perpetuates this by comparing Biff and Happy

32
Q

Megalopsychia

A

Greatness of soul

33
Q

How does Linda shift blame for her avoidance ?

A

‘Biff, I swear to God! Biff, his life is in your hands’

34
Q

Mythical figures as a motif

A

Willy relates Biff to Adonis- contributes to his deluded understanding of the world

35
Q

The American West, Alaska and the African jungle as motifs

A

Represent potential to Biff and Willy

Alaska and the jungle symbolise Willy’s failure

36
Q

Seeds as a symbol

A

‘nothing’s planted. I dont have a thing in the ground’

37
Q

Stockings as a symbol

A

Symbol of Willy’s guilt, and of betrayal

At the time, stockings were highly prized and difficult to maintaim

38
Q

Diamonds as a symbol

A

Symbol of short term success

‘I see it like a diamond’

39
Q

The rubber hose as a symbol

A

Symbolic of Willy’s desperation to commit suicide

Irony that he is struggling to pay for gas

40
Q

Treatment of women in DOAS

A

‘the woman’ defined only by her gender therefore what she can provide for men
Happy and Biff see women as polar opposites, each to fulfil their needs

41
Q

Isolation in DOAS

A 
Expressionist setting ('bricks and windows, windows and bricks')
Willy's career isolates him
Willy is isolated in his delusions
42
Q

Power in DOAS

A

Willy believes he has power, whereas in actual fact he is at complete loss of power due to his social position

43
Q

Inevitability in DOAS

A

‘I’m tired to death’

‘I slept like a dead one’

44
Q

Why is Willy’s suicide so sad (but also so ironic)?

A

His suicide is just another deal with the insurance company

45
Q

‘He wants his sons…

A

…to destroy his failure’

46
Q

How does Biff describe the idea of being a salesman?

A

‘a measly manner of existence’

E2 (4 decks)

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