Discuss the importance of dreams in the play Essay

Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and author. He was a prominent figure in American literature and cinema for over 61 years, writing a wide variety of plays. Miller was born into a moderately-wealthy Jewish family in New York City. His father, Isidore Miller, was a ladies-wear manufacturer and shopkeeper who was ruined in the Great Depression. His mother, Augusta, was a housewife who valued literature and education. His sister, Joan became an actress. Death of a Salesman is a 1949 play by Arthur Miller and is one of his most famous and commonly revived works. Viewed by many as the American Dream of achieving wealth and success, Death of a Salesman made both Arthur Miller and the character Willy Loman household names. Some of the other titles Miller considered for the play were The Inside of His Head and A Period of Grace. The American Dream is the faith held by many in the United States of America that through hard work, courage, and determination one can achieve a better life for oneself, usually through financial prosperity. These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed on to subsequent generations. What the American Dream has become is a question under constant discussion, and some believe that it has led to an emphasis on material wealth as a measure of success and/or happiness. The American dream is a dream of having 2 children and living in a perfect house with financial security. This ideal is closely related to Horatio Algerism. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/American_dream In the play Death of a Salesman, dreams are discussed and shown in many different ways throughout the play. There are dreams that happen during one’s sleep, hopes and ambition type dreams, day dreams, fantasies and national/cultural dreams. In this play all are explored, and the national dream focused on is The American Dream. Dreams in this play stimulate the characters reactions and actions; they also affect the way the play is structured and explain behaviour of both the past and present. The play is unusually structured; there are no scenes just three main sections, Act 1, Act 2 and the Requiem. Within Act 1 and Act 2, there are several dreams and possibly flashbacks but the audience is unaware of what is real or not. The American Dream features in the play but not informing the audience that The American Dream is what it is partly focusing on. On page 82, Biff says â€Å"We’ve been talking in a dream for fifteen years. † First of all the reader thinks he’s saying he’s been taking in the dream for 15 years but reading the sentence over we see talking. The reader thinks that it means the American dream, and at this point in the play Biff realises himself and his family has been trying to live this dream but are unsuccessful. The American Dreams is partly to do with status and having the best of everything. It also focuses on popularity, success, ownership, wealth and your house and objects within it. The American Dream is linked to capitalism and consumer culture, which is when we are sold items we don’t really need. This is a symbol of success and if you can afford these luxury items they are a fall back for your family. When someone dies their family receives insurance, not only life insurance but also insurance for the object used in the death, for instance a car. This is all part of Willy’s plan to make his family more wealthy. Willy is scared of becoming an ordinary man, which in those days was a man that can no longer afford the luxury items that Willy possesses, when Linda is talking to Biff on page 44 she says â€Å"Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He’s not the finest character that has ever lived. But he’s a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. † This shows the reader that Linda knows about Willy’s depression and that she knows he is becoming and has a fear of becoming a typical, ordinary man. This is not what Willy wants or wanted at all, Willy wanted to be well known around the country and great, successful. The depression that Willy held may have been caused by the lack of positive attention, his lack of progress in his job or his fear of becoming this ordinary man that he never wanted to be. Linda also knows that in his last months or weeks, herself and her son’s need to make up to Willy and give him the most positive attention that they can. On page 44 Linda says â€Å"Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person. † This is also evidence to suggest Willy’s want for death. Willy is not progressing at all in his job, his ex boss’ son is now at the top of his career ‘ladder’ but Willy, still near the bottom should have retired. But his dreams and passion to become rich and successful meant that he forced himself to carry on working and hope that one day these dreams will be fulfilled.