Perplexity In Death Of A Salesman

As one of the greatest dramatists in the history of the American Theatre, Arthur Miller is also recognized as one of the best-known playwrights in the world. He is most famous for the play Death of a Salesman, which was put on stage in 1949 and won both a Pulitzer Prize and a Drama Critics Circle Award. At the same time, it successfully reflects the social problem and family crisis in the period of Great Depression, shows the average people's common problem and arouses resonance of those Americans who have suffered from the Great Depression and American Dream.In the play, the hero Willy Loman is in his perplexity—he loses himself when facing mental and physical burdens; he loses himself and makes efforts to regain himself, and he, in the search of himself, gives his most valuable life to it without fulfilling his purest and most innocent wishes. This thesis deals with this perplexity and further points out that Willy's tragedy is caused by his perplexity.The introduction gives a brief overview on Death of a Salesman, and its significance in world drama history. It talks about the social background and personal background of the play and introduces the idea that Death of a Salesman is a tragedy caused by human being's perplexity.The main body of the thesis includes four chapters.Chapter One discusses the perplexity shown in the plot structure. Different from the classic structure of ancient drama, this play has an external plot and an internal plot. Arthur Miller presents the hero's perplexity within Willy's consciousness as the internal plot. Additionally, the playwright especially uses...