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English - Death of a Salesman > Themes and quotes > Flashcards

Themes and quotes Flashcards

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1
Q

What quotes demonstrate suffering?

A

“I’m tired to the death”
“The man is exhausted”
“He won’t be alright”
“He’s dying Biff. He’s been trying to kill himself”

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2
Q

What context can be derived from the quotes of suffering?

A

Miller saw the everyday suffering of man an apt subject for tragedy. Many men suffered as a result of not being able to achieve the American Dream.

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3
Q

What links of AO4 can be made from the quotes of suffering?

A

Willy announces he is suffering at the beginning of the play but it isn’t truly believable for the audience until Act 2 when Linda reveals he is trying to kill himself.

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4
Q

What is a critics comment on Willy’s suffering?

A

Willy suffers from a lack of love, a loss of identity, a worship of the False God of Personality

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5
Q

What quotes demonstrate status?

A

“He’s liked but he’s not well liked” (Biff)
“The Death of a Salesman”
“I am known”
“Nobody’s worth nothing dead”

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6
Q

What context can be derived from the quotes of status?

A

The idea of being well liked is intrinsically linked with the American ideas of success. For example, if someone has a good reputation and is respected by others they are more likely to succeed

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7
Q

What links to AO4 can be made from the quotes of status?

A

Emotional inheritance is evident in the play in characters’ quest for status, both happy and biff have the goal of popularity like their father. The quotes “he’s liked but not well liked”

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8
Q

What are the main themes in DOAS?

A

The American dream
Abandonment
Betrayal

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9
Q

How is the American dream a prominent theme?

A

Willy’s blind faith in his stunted version of the American Dream leads to his rapid psychological decline when he is unable to accept the disparity between the Dream and his own life

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10
Q

How is abandonment a theme?

A

Willy’s life charts a course from one abandonment to the next, leaving him in greater despair each time. Willy’s father leaves him and Ben when Willy is very young, leaving Willy neither a tangible (money) nor an intangible (history) legacy. Ben eventually departs for Alaska, leaving Willy to lose himself in a warped vision of the American Dream.

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11
Q

How is betrayal a key theme?

A

Willy assumes that Biff’s betrayal stems from Biff’s discovery of Willy’s affair with The Woman—a betrayal of Linda’s love. Whereas Willy feels that Biff has betrayed him, Biff feels that Willy, a “phony little fake,” has betrayed him with his unending stream of ego-stroking lies

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12
Q

What do many critics consider death of a salesman?

A

The first great American tragedy

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13
Q

What quotes demonstrate pride?

A

“Im not going to pay that man”

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14
Q

What context can be derived from quotes on pride?

A

Pride is a key feature in tragedy according to Aristotle.

In order for Willy to be an appropriate tragic hero he has to have excessive pride

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15
Q

What A04 links can be derived from quotes on pride?

A

At the end of the play, Happy mirrors the pride evident in Willy, promising to carry on his dream - through willy and happy Miller illustrates how the perpetuation of the American dream occurs and destroys lives

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16
Q

What quotes demonstrate capitalism?

A

“You work a lifetime to pay off a home, you finally own it and there’s nobody to live in it”

17
Q

What context can be derived from quotes on capitalism?

A

America is known as the largest capitalist country in the world, making it an appropriate setting to explore the destruction of capitalism

18
Q

What A04 links can be derived from quotes of capitalism?

A

Willy aspires to capitalism throughout the play, but such characters such as Ben and Howard represent the successes and brutality of capitalism - helping Miller to effective critique American society

19
Q

What quotes demonstrate Isolation?

A

“I get so lonely”

20
Q

What context links can be derived from quotes on isolation?

A

Being isolated is a driving force in causing Willy’s death and creating him as a tragic hero.
In him thinking he is a lone the tragedy becomes for poignant as it increases the pathos experienced by the audience

21
Q

What A04 links can be derived from quotes on isolation?

A

Willy’s isolation becomes more extreme as the plat progresses, as his sons start to turn against him

22
Q

What quotes demonstrate patriarchy and gender?

A

“She is taking of his shoes”

“Straightening the bed for him”

23
Q

What context links can be derived from quotes on patriarchy?

A

Written during the third wave feminist movement the issue of a lack of women in the play is a key one. Lina represents the average women in the 1960’s

24
Q

What A04 links can be derived from quotes on patriarchy?

A

At the start of the play, WiIlly seems caring towards Lina, but we audience realise later on that this is not the case. As he has been cheating on her for years - structurally, this is significant as it limits the pathos for the audience

25
Q

What quotes demonstrate family?

A

“Biff is a lazy bum”

“May you rot in hell if you leave this house”

26
Q

What context can be derived from quotes on family?

A

Diseased family life is a key feature of modern domestic tragedy.

27
Q

What does Marxist Zaretsky assert?

A

That family is a safety valve from capitalism - accentuates Willy’s suffering

28
Q

What quotes demonstrate conflict?

A

“Then hang yourself! For spite, hang yourself!”

29
Q

What context can be derived from quotes on conflict?

A

Zaretsky asserts that family conflict in the family arises as a result of the exploits of capitalism - creates catharsis for the family as they suffer from exploitation

30
Q

What quotes demonstrate failure?

A

“Willy when are you going to grow up”

31
Q

What context can be derived from quotes on failure?

A

The high expectation placed onto workers during the 1960s drastically increased probability of failure - although willy has a family and a house and a job, he is unsatisfied due to the societal expectations placed on him to achieve the American Dream

32
Q

What A04 links can be derived from quotes on failure?

A

Willy never admits to the audience that he is a failure. It is only Biff who is able to understand himself and what he wants after admitting that he is a failure to his family. The fear and shame is perhaps what drove Willy to the grave

33
Q

What quotes demonstrate love?

A

“Theres more good in him than in many other people”

34
Q

What context can be derived from quotes on love?

A

Lina’s love for Willy is possibly the only true love in the play, reflecting patriarchal norms at the timer Miller was writing

35
Q

What A04 links can be derived from quotes on love?

A

Linda loves Willy regardless of what the other characters think however this perhaps makes her appear passive and weak

English - Death of a Salesman (3 decks)

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