Because the United States is classless – or at least perceives itself to be such, which is really the key point – you can have an Average Joe as your hero, and virtually everyone will be able to relate to him as the quintessential American. In many ways this is a peculiarly American invention. Tragedy becomes a critique on society, on some aspect of society that is perceived as evil or destructive, not just to this individual, but to thousands like him. Miller is aware of this danger, and so this is where it becomes of central importance that his tragic figures, such as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, are ordinary guys – just some American man trying to make a living, for instance – rather than something special. It becomes the entertainment for a kind of new aristocracy. Thus some commentators came to see tragedy as self-indulgent, and the happy plaything of the privileged few who could afford to sit around and feel pity for one man’s death on stage. Willy Loman, the protagonist of the play (and ‘salesman’ of the title), and his sons must find the courage to resist the temptation to act immorally in order to achieve ‘the American Dream’ (an ideal where anyone could be a self-made man in the world of capitalism and commerce). More specifically, the dramatic conflict arises usually from a moral dilemma faced by the individual that is related to some kind of flaw or corruption in the social order.ĭeath of a Salesman (1949), his most famous play, bears some resemblance to Miller’s earlier social drama: that is, the play represents the commodification of people in modern capitalist society (people become things with a financial value – or, too often, no financial value). That is, a social problem or issue in contemporary society is explored on stage. His early successes as a playwright were in the genre of social drama. He aligned himself with the leftist politics of the 1930s, namely socialism. The encounter prompted Biff to give up on his “American Dream” career track, as he had completely lost faith in his father and in the values he had taught them.This experience had a profound impact on Miller’s political standpoint, and this can be seen time and time again in his work for the theatre. Biff calls his father a liar, phony, and fake. Then, the woman comes out of the bathroom. He tells his father that he failed math and will not be able to graduate, and asks for his help. Willy then finds himself at the hotel in Boston with "the Woman" as someone knocks on the door. This time, he sees young Bernard tell Linda that Biff failed math and got on a train to Boston to find his father. When Willy arrives to meet them for dinner, he tells them that he was fired and Biff tries to tell him what happened with Oliver, but Willy goes off into another memory. Biff is upset because, after waiting for six hours to see Bill Oliver to ask him to finance their business idea, Oliver declined and didn't even remember him. Biff and Happy meet at a restaurant, where Happy flirts with a girl.