Death of a Salesman Discussion with Lens (Deconstruction)

In the end of the play Death of a Salesman, Linda says to Willy in his funeral, "I made the last payment on the house today. Today, dear. And there'll be nobody home. We're free and clear. We're free. We're free... We're free...", as a conclusion to Willy's miseries. Throughout the entire Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is struggling with his tragic life. He is not free, because apparantly he is bound by so many problems like being fired, being hated by Biff, being unable to support his family, etc. As such problems arise, we see Willy then always fall into flashbacks and nostalgia, where he seeks comfort and temporary shelter. One of the significant example is when Willy starts a duologue with Ben, asking, "Oh, Ben, how did you do it? What is the answer? Did you wind up the Alaska deal already?", in p.83, immediately after being fired from his company, but without any knowledge of his previous anger. As shown in Willy's tone, escaping into Ben's shelter and nostalgia gives Willy happiness and frees him from his burden and sufferings in reality. However, it seems like Arthur Miller's design is not as simple as we think, that the words Linda says in the end contains deeper meaning. During Willy's duologue with Ben, as mentioned above, Linda joins the conversation of the two men, interrupting their discussion about venturing in Alaska, and says to Ben, "Don't say those things to him! (Venturing in Alaska) Enough to be happy right here, right now. Why must everybody conquer the world? ... Old man Wagner told him (Willy) that if he keeps it up he'll be a member of the firm, didn't he, Willy?" (p. 84). It is ironic that Linda would mention about Willy's prospect of becoming a member of the firm (that has just fired him in reality) in Willy's flashbacks, where he usually seeks comfort. From this sequence of events, it can be pointed out, that Willy, at least subconsciously, blames Linda for not letting him venture in Alaska, which results into him being fired finally by Howard Wagner. Willy regrets not joining Ben, and Willy gets upset even more, because of this comparison between how successful he could be and how bad he is.

Now look back into Linda's requiem. She mentions two things before she says she and Willy are free: she just made the last payment for the house, and nobody (but her) lives in that house anymore. As I pointed out in the previous paragraph, Willy is apparantly bound by his real-life financial burden and family disharmony which made him "not free", but Willy gets more troubles and pain in his flashback and dreams then due to over-expectation. As both reality and dream seem to have harmed Willy, we will never know what Linda mean they were free. Does she mean Willy is freed from his real-life financial burden because the mortgage is finally paid off? Or does she mean Willy is freed from his dream and expectations, since Ben, Biff, Happy and every else are gone? What does Arthur Miller intend to convey in this play?

February MOR--The Tempest

(Act 1)
I have longed for reading a Shakespearan's comedy, and now I finally get the chance! Thanks for reading The Tempest with me Patsy.
The Tempest was the last play written by Shakespeare; because of this special status, it includes both comedic and tragic elements. For example, Like many other tragic stories, The Tempest begins with a storm wrecking up a ship and a power struggle between royalties that results in exile and hatred. However, the play then develops in a comedic direction, where it is revealed that the exiled Duke of Milan, Prospero, actually knows magic and has schemed for the shipwreck mentioned above with his elf Ariel. Though it is told that Prospero hates his brother Antonio for exiling him on an island, Prospero does nor kill Antonio in that shipwreck. Instead, Prospero saves him, but mysteriously he sets up a relationship between his daughter Miranda and the Prince of Naples, Ferdinand. Apparantly Prospero does not like Ferdinand because of the past disputes between Milan and Naples, but Prospero still does it for some reasons that he does not receal to the audience. All he does is to let people know that he has a plan, but for the details of the plan, it is not explained.
So far I like The Tempest very much, because its adventure style arises my curiosity. Shakespeare really does a marvellous job in attracting readers to continue reading, with techniques like aside that bring suspense to the plot. Throughout Act 1 Prospero uses aside inumerously. For instance, in line 500, after seducing Ferdinand with Miranda, Prospero says to the audience with two simple words, "It works." This two words, though simple, contains unlimited meanings in it and allows readers to imagine what's going to happen themselves. As a person that favors interaction between actors and audience, I really like the technique aside a lot. What about you? Do you think aside functions positively in the story? And is there any specific line with the use of aside that you find significant to the whole play?

Quotes and Discussion on Death of a Salesman

"I just thought you'd like a change--"

"I don't want a change! I want Swiss cheese. Why am I always being contradicted?"(p. 26)

These two lines are from the conversation between Willy and Linda in the opening scene, where Willy blames Linda for not buying Swiss chesse, what he usually eats.

Although this quote may sound very daily, I think it exactly points out the prblem of Willy and the story: old people do not want to change. Everything was going so well in the 1950s, and Willy has already got his house paid off, and have two handsome sons and an obedient wife. These all should have satisfied Willy, but he is not. He gets irritated because of the change from Swiss to American cheese. He cannot accept that he no longer earns hige profits for his company because of his age. He still misses the old days of driving a brand new Chevy. Willy hates changes, and he does not understnad that changes in society are unavoidable. It seems to me that the only reason of Willy's sufferings is his stubborn attitude. But because I don't want to be stubborn like Willy, thus I want to know what you guys think about the reason of Willy's sufferings.