The Static Quality Of Death Of A Salesman

Death of a Salesman is the masterpiece of Arthur Miller, one of the three greatest American playwrights in the20th century. Compared with boisterous traditional drama, Death of a Salesman is invested with a depressive atmosphere from beginning to end, revealing the static quality of modern drama. Illusions Willy sees in his driving home, fragmentary dialogues between Willy and Linda, flickering ghost of Ben and the WOMAN’s sharp laughter, all these strike the deep inside of human beings, reflecting modern people’s moral downfall, isolation, disillusion and helplessness. Therefore, upon Maeterlinck’s static drama theory, the present thesis attempts to explore the static quality in Death of a Salesman and its manifestation in the play.First, this thesis introduces in detail the motivation, approaches and significance of the research, related literature review at home and abroad and an overall introduction of static drama theory, including its background, proposer and later development. The next three chapters are the main body of the thesis, in which the author respectively focuses on the action of the characters, the dialogue and stage design to undertake a specific analysis of Death of a Salesman’s static quality. Chapter One aims at analyzing the static quality of action in Death of a Salesman. The play revolves around the simple and trivial life of an ordinary old man’s family whose intricate inner world is excellently reflected through the interweaving of past and present, reality and illusion, and soliloquy. This part gives a detailed analysis of this play’s static quality respectively from the paralysis of material action and the undercurrent of psychological action.Chapter Two mainly explores the static quality of dialogue in Death of a Salesman. Dialogue is the basic language of drama. Besides carefully articulated dialogue in this play, there are unpretentious dialogues and unspoken ones like ellipsis, pauses, and silence, which undoubtedly present the static quality of language in Death of a Salesman.Chapter Three expounds the static quality of Death of a Salesman in stagecraft. As an important part of the play, stagecraft plays a crucial role. Through the unique use of music, light and setting, Miller uncovers the complicated inner conflicts of the characters and creates a mystical and lyrical atmosphere.The last part of the present thesis is a conclusion. Employing distinctive drama techniques, Miller breaks through the tradition of emphasizing dramatic conflicts, external actions and speeches, making his play present a static aesthetic feature of trivialization and internalization.