$$What is The American Dream?$$

"a man, in America, is a failed boy” John Updike

What do you think the following quote means? Why might it be true?

Being well liked At the time that the play was written (1949) many Americans were reading ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ by Dale Carnegie. The book demonstrated how human relations could be exploited for practical gain. This is why Willy believes it is important to be ‘well liked’, because people will then trust you and buy what you sell.

Willy - Act 1 a pitiful character?

Worn out confused

delusional about himself delusional about family

Linda: a pitiful character?

alone dependent

caught in the middle

Happy: a pitiful character?

women Has what he wants.

Not suited to the world he works in. dreamer

Biff: a pitiful character?

defeateddreamer

lost boy

"a man, in America, is a failed boy” John Updike

Can you add more ideas now that we are familiar with the opening of the play?

Selected Scene – Act One - Pg 8 - 12

From - Happy: He's going to get his licence taken away… to Biff: I'm tellin' you, kid, if you were with me I'd be happy out there.

Discuss in detail, how you would play the character of Biff in the selected scene.You will need to refer to voice, movement, gesture and facial expression as well as to how your chosen character responds to others on stage.

Willy's priorities Put these into the order that Willy would consider most important, based on what we have just read.

being well liked

academic success (at school)

building a home

being good looking and athletic that Linda admires him

that the boys admire him

Pages 15-24

Answer the following questions in full sentences.

1 Can you find any examples that perhaps show that Willy is not giving the right values to the boys? (page 17) 2 How much does Willy originally say he sold? and what did he really do? (p21) 3 What does Willy think is important in the business world (p20)? 4 What happens to Willy´s confidence on pages 22 and 23?

5 Can you find any evidence in the stage directions that distinguishes between the ´dream sequences´ and ´real time´?

Real time Fantasy

Divide the points list below under the 2 headings given above.

"the entire house and surroundings become covered with trees" (p14)

"goes through a wall-line of kitchen to doorway at back and calls down" (p21)

"from the darkness is heard the laughter of a woman" (p23)

"angrily taking them [stockings] from her [Linda]" (p25)

"the leaves are gone" (p26)

"apartment houses look down from behind" (p26)

Importance of the two characters.

Match the words below to the correct character.

proud

supportive

rich

sympathethic

judgemental

talkative

humble

Willy's desperation grows

Role of taperecorder

Figure of Dave Singleman

shows how out of touch Willy is with new generation

'they're only a hundred and a half'

well sixty five dollars a week, I could swing it

You're father came to me the day you were born

business is business selling was the greatest career a man could have

those days there was personality

if I had forty dollars a week

they're working on a very big deal

How else does Miller show Willy´s growing desperation at the start of Act 2?

Start of Act 2 > Past and present Page 50 to 73Make a flow chart diagram of the main scenes and changes in perspective between different events in the past and present. Spacing your ideas out well, note page numbers, events and detail of timing (if past when exactly)

Example

Page 50 - Willy at home with Linda, discussing their financial problems

P54 / Willy goes to visit Howard where he gets increasingly desperate

p61 appearance of??

Who says the following lines?

"I have never kept books"

"he likes to have a letter. Just to know there's the possibility of different things"

"but he's a human being and a terrible thing is happening to him"

"cause you gotta admit business is business"

"sometimes ...it's better for a man just to walk away"

"he don't have to - he's gonna do it"

"the only thing you got in this world is what you can sell"

Ben

Linda

Howard

Bernard

Charley

Linda

Charley

 Important questions at the end of Death of a SalesmanDeath of a Salesman – Questions on the ending Answer the following questions in full sentences, using your text to answer ? in detail. 1 What is the wider significance (importance) of Willy being out in the garden at the end of the play planting seeds? Why would he do this when he is thinking of killing himself? 2 On page 96 what is the "twenty thousand dollar on the barrelhead" that Willy refers to? What are the different opinions of this money that Ben and Willy discuss? 3 How does Willy's vision of his funeral (p97) tell us about his self perception and how does it match with ideas from earlier in the play about what is important to succeed in the world? 4 What is spite (use a dictionary to define) ? Why and how does Willy think that Biff has spited him (p99)? Do you agree with him?5 Ben says "you've got to be sure that you're not making a fool of yourself"(p97) In what ways does Willy not manage to follow his advice? Does this make Willy more of a tragic figure? Explain how.6 At the end of the play, which of the brothers, Biff (p101, 102 and 107) or Happy (p107), has understood their place within America better? Where do you see them 10 years from now?