The Ethical Interpretation Of Death Of A Salesman From The Perspective Of Space Theory

Death of a Salesman is playwright Arthur Miller’s best-known play and won three international awards since its publication.As a playwright with a strong sense of social responsibility,he was particularly concerned with the social and moral function of theatre,and was adept at expressing his concern for the distorted ethical and moral values of ordinary people in a money-driven society.This thesis proposes to use the space theory to explore the spatial elements in the work and combine it with the theory of Ethical Literary Criticism,starting from the changes of the characters’ ethical identities in different space transformations,and elaborating on the ethical dilemmas and ethical choices of the characters in the play.This thesis is divided into six chapters.The first chapter introduces the research of this play at home and abroad and explains the significance of this thesis.The second chapter introduces the theoretical framework of the paper,including the origin and development of space theory and the origin and development of Ethical Literary Criticism.The third chapter discusses the ethical identity of the protagonist in physical and social space.Chapter four explores the ethical dilemmas faced by the protagonist in social and psychological spaces.Chapter five explores the ethical choices made by the protagonist when they faced ethical dilemmas in the different space,and the final part is the conclusion.This thesis found that different space in the play not only has ethical significance but also the relationship between characters in the play reflected the ethical function of space.The tragic fate of the protagonist has both ethical and spatial necessity,and the author hopes that this thesis could have implications for subsequent studies of the play.