Death of a Salesman
Arthur Miller
When Death of a Salesman premiered in February of 1949, it began a run that would last 742 performances. This classic of American theater focuses on Willy Loman, a traveling salesman grasping at illusions of his own success and suffering from his failure to achieve his vision of the American Dream.
Major thematic elements: the American dream, reality and illusion, betrayal
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IB Literature and IB Language and Literature Connections
Place of publication: United States
Language: English
Era: 20th century
Genre: Drama
Author: Male
Readers, writers and texts | Time and space | Intertextuality: Connecting texts
Identity | Culture | Creativity | Communication
Perspective | Transformation | Representation
Full text, basic summaries, and overviews
Death of a Salesman | Full text
This PDF of the play is great quality and perfect for printing. For best results, set printing to two pages per sheet.
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Death of a Salesman | YouTube | Vibe Audio | 1:26:32
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Death of a Salesman | Study Guides
Spark Notes and Course Hero provide thorough study guides for Death of a Salesman. Course Hero’s work also comes in video.
Spark Notes Study Guide | Course Hero Study Guide | Course Hero Playlist on YouTube
Death of a Salesman | YouTube | YouTube Movies & Shows | Feature Film | 2:16:11
Currently available to watch for free (with ads) on YouTube, this version stars Dustin Hoffman.
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Death of a Salesman | Wikipedia
This detailed article includes characters, plot, themes, reception, adaptations, awards, and more.
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About the author
Arthur Miller | National Endowment for the Humanities | Jefferson Lecture
In 2001, Arthur Miller delivered a Jefferson lecture: “On Politics and the Art of Acting.” This page includes his lecture text, an interview between Miller and NEH Chairman William R Ferris, two Miller appreciation speeches, and a biography of Miller.
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Arthur Miller + Death of a Salesman | The Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Center’s page on Arthur Miller intertwines his biography with the themes in Death of a Salesman through text and video clips.
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Arthur Miller interview on his Life and Career (1987) | YouTube | Manufacturing Intellect | 10:50
This video—our guess is from 60 Minutes—has an interview between Arthur Miller and Mike Wallace. It includes Miller’s most famous works, his process writing them, his marriages, and his experience being interviewed by the House Un-American Activities Committee.
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See Photos From the Day Arthur Miller Married Marilyn Monroe | LIFE
This page includes a short article written by Eliza Berman and seven photographs from the day of Miller and Monroe’s marriage.
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Arthur Miller | Biography | Various Sources
Two biographies are linked here: Britannica and Wikipedia. If you’re looking for something shorter, we favor the Britannica article. It covers Miller’s early years, plays and awards, and other written works.
Britannica | Wikipedia
Articles, essays, and videos about Death of a Salesman
BROOKLYN - Documentary /Travelogue of 1949 Brooklyn NY | YouTube | js4653 | 10:50
This ten-minute video is packed with footage from Brooklyn, NY in the same year that Death of a Salesman takes place.
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LIFE | Spring in Brooklyn, 1949
This gallery of photos from Brooklyn in 1949 includes children and adults, at play and at work.
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The Business of Direct Selling | PBS.org: The American Experience
This article highlights some of the direct-sales businesses America has seen, from traveling salesmen to Stanley parties, to Tupperware.
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Traveling Man | Humanities: The Magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities | Corinne Zeman | December 2011
In this short article, Zeman connects Willy Loman to the history of the traveling salesman. We suggest pairing this article or the one above from PBS, with this one: A Brief Compendium of the Traveling Salesman’s Vintage Sample Case, from MessyNessyChic.com. The page features color photos of a variety of traveling salesman sample cases.
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The Death of the American Dream | College of DuPage | Steve Braun | Spring 2006
This response to Death of a Salesman examines how the character traits of Willy Loman and his sons are exactly what keep them from achieving the success the dream of.
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The Tragedy of American Exceptionalism in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman | Forbes & Fifth | Nicholas Marcelli
In this essay, Marcelli asserts that American Exceptionalism, and not the promise of the American Dream, that drives the plot of Death of a Salesman.
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The Lost Father in Death of a Salesman | Michigan Quarterly Review | Charlene Fix | Summer 2008
Fix begins her essay with Daniel, Arthur Miller’s fourth child with Inge Morath, who has Down Syndrome and was essentially erased from Miller’s life. Fix connects Miller’s abandonment of Daniel to MIller’s treatment of fathers and sons in Death of a Salesman. If you’re interested in reading more about Daniel, check out this short article from USA Today or this longer article from Vanity Fair.
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Actor Wendell Pierce discusses historic role in Broadway’s “ Death of a Salesman” | YouTube | CBS Mornings | 6:59
“CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller speaks with the actor about being the first Black man to ever play the lead in the classic show.”
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Stars of ‘Death of a Salesman’ revival on how casting impacts story | YouTube | PBS NewsHour | 7:40
”A new production opening on Broadway offers a different window into one of the great classics of American theater.”
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Lesson plans and other teaching resources
Teaching ‘Death of a Salesman’ With The New York Times | The New York Times | March 2012
Scroll to the last third of the page for the bold category “Learning Network Resources.” That’s where you’ll find a list of 14 activities and lessons you can use with students while studying Death of a Salesman.
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A Teacher’s Guide to the Penguin Classics Edition of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller | Teacher’s Guide
This 24-page PDF includes pre-reading activities, activities for tracking the narrative and doing analysis, and post-reading activities.
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Death of a Salesman: The Artist’s Vision of the American Dream | Smithsonian American Art Museum | Jennie Bergman & Elizabeth Dale-Deines
In this lesson, students “identify and analyze how Mid-Century visual artists and writers portray, critique, and define the American Dream.” SAAM also has an article on Bergman and Dale Deines’s process of developing this lesson.
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Sample Lesson Plan - Poetry & Death of a Salesman | Ms. Stephenson | March 2015
This lesson connects poetry and Death of a Salesman thematically. The lesson suggests using Carl Sandburg’s poem “A Father to His Son.” We’d also like to suggest Seamus Heaney’s poem “Digging” and Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays.”
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Death of a Salesman: Dramatic Features | Mr. Henneman’s English Language and Literature
This page goes over the dramatic features of the play (building suspense, how tension and conflict is developed between characters, etc.) There isn’t an explicit lesson, but you could use Mr. Henneman’s list as a starting point for a lecture or activity where students find examples of what’s listed. At the bottom of the page, you’ll see links to additional related materials for the play.
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Death of a Salesman | Discussion/Essay Questions | Various Sources
These links will take you to pages that list out questions you can use as seminar prompts, essay questions, etc.
Resource 1: TeachLit | Resource 2: RaleighCharterHS |
Shopping List
Texts and other resources you may find helpful.
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Death of a Salesman
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Death of a Salesman (Bloom's Guides)
Hardcover on Amazon.com
Readings on Arthur Miller
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Timebends: A Life
Memoir by Arthur Miller
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Death of A Salesman (Viking Critical Library)
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Approaches to Teaching Miller's Death of a Salesman
Paperback on Amazon.com
Hardcover on Amazon.com
The Penguin Arthur Miller: Collected Plays
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Death of a Salesman (1966)
DVD on Amazon.comBack to Browse by Title | Browse by Author
