KO Q1-10

Question 1

When was the play first performed?

Answer 1

1949

Question 2

What are the characteristics of modern domestic tragedy?

Answer 2

Central characters are anti-heroes
Characters are ordinary people
Family life presented as corrupt or diseased
Characters manoeuvre for control
Psychological elements
Deaths not shown on stage

Question 3

What are Aristotle’s main conventions/elements of tragedy?

Answer 3

Main character = Protagonist
Hamartia = the protagonist is responsible for his fate in that he has a tragic flaw
Catastrophe
Play shows reversal of fortune (peripeteia)
Moments of discovery (anagnorisis)
Audience feel pity and terror
Sense of Catharsis

Question 4

Original Title

Answer 4

‘Inside of His Head’

Question 5

Where was the play set?

Answer 5

Brooklyn, New York, United States

Question 6

What kind of set does Miller’s Stage directions describe?

Answer 6

expressionist

Question 7

How is the Loman’s home described in the opening stage directions?

Answer 7

‘small, fragile-seeming’

Question 8

What is Willy’s first dialogue in the play?

Answer 8

‘It’s all right. I came back.’

Question 9

What are Willy’s first criticisms of Biff?

Answer 9

His earnings
Him being lazy

Question 10

How is Happy described by Miller in the stage directions?

Answer 10

‘He has never allowed himself to turn his face towards defeat’