Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Death of a Salesman

“[caged, wanting to escape]”

Because of the title, I thought this book would be like one of O’Henry’s short stories. Instead, surprisingly, it has the same desperation of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. But don’t get me wrong though, they speak of quite different themes. Miller is truly a genius.

Content Warnings

jlebon's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is an interesting text for me.

Despite being on my to-be-read list anyway, I decided to read this play for the purpose of comparing it to 'The Great Gatsby' for my English Literature A-Level exam this month. This was certainly a good idea with there being many parallel themes surrounding the failed pursuit of the American Dream. Furthermore, the resemblance between the final chapter of 'The Great Gatsby' and the requiem of 'The Death of a Salesman' are so similar that I implore anyone to read both texts and see for themselves.

With that being said, whilst I found the premise and ending of the play to be exceptional, I can't say that I enjoyed this text as much as I think I should. I attribute this to be in part down to the formatting of the text as a play. Whilst I can imagine that seeing a production of this text would be phenomenal, I found the sequencing of the narrative quite difficult to follow - reality and illusion, present and flashback all blending into one. This was likely intentional from Miller, trying to present a similar disorientation for the reader as that felt by the protagonist Willy Loman (due to his slow descent into madness). Nevertheless, I think as a play (or alternatively written in the format of a novella) the narrative may have been easier to follow, therefore allowing the reader/watcher to engage to a greater extent with proceedings.

To reiterate, this is not a criticism to rubbish the text as a whole - I feel very fortunate to have read this work by Miller and I think it is completely deserving of its place in the literary canon. However, this does not elevate the text beyond fault and I can't help but feel reader enjoyment would've been improved with a greater clarity in formatting.

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arcadering's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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literaryinluv's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

a haunting tale about a family's destruction at the hands of the american dream

2nd time reading

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menomica's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

WILLY [turning on him now in an uncontrolled outburst]: I am not a dime a dozen! I am Willy Loman, and you are Biff Loman!

This play is so weird. I definitely think it would’ve been easier to appreciate as a play itself and not just the playbook (the score is pretty prominent throughout). There’s a lot happening and it switches time pretty often, so it’s a bit confusing sometimes to keep track of what’s going on.

Willy’s a looser!

I know the play literally ends with him dying by suicide he has depression throughout but still: LEWSER. 🤪

like he has this whole thing where he has to project power and charm and influence to make up for the fact that he very much does not have that. Like idk, the way he kind of goaded his sons to be dumb jocks?

the fact that he literally cheated on his wife

major looser behavior! His resentment towards others for being more successful than him? Dweebo!!
Linda was kinda sad cause she kept making excuses for her (cheating) man and I think that speaks to how wifes (especially of that era) we’re basically stuck with their husbands so they’d try to justify all their actions or whatever.

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letiross's review

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sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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shieldbearer's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

God, this was a lot. This play is such a well done dissection of capitalism and the American work ethic- through a hyper specific lense, but it is a classic for a reason.

Content Warnings

brnineworms's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Here’s the thing: stories written by American authors that challenge the myth of the American Dream often don’t resonate with me, at least not as much as I expect they’re intended to. There’s a cultural disconnect. That fairytale isn’t entrenched in my culture and we don’t really have an equivalent that inspires that same fanatic hope. I haven’t been fed this narrative since birth, I haven’t internalised its message, I have no attachment to it and what it represents. Refutation of a belief I do not hold doesn’t shock me, especially when I find that belief to be, frankly, obvious bullshit. To be fair, Death of a Salesman was written for theatre-going audiences in New York in the 1940s, not some anticapitalist Brit reading the script in book form more than seventy years later.

The titular salesman, Willy Loman, is painfully sympathetic and unsympathetic. He’s a deeply flawed individual who still has value simply by virtue of being human. That’s the idea, at least, but without an actor’s charisma to sell the character, to make me care about him, he’s a little too unpleasant for my liking. Shifting moral standards have no doubt shifted perspectives on Willy. For example, him threatening to beat his kids may have been seen as harsh back in the day but now most people would call that outright abusive. It makes it hard to root for him, though I understand it’s not supposed to be easy to.

Perhaps if I’d seen Death of a Salesman performed instead of reading the script I’d have had a more profound experience. As it stands, I can give a noncommittal shrug and confess it said what Miller wanted it to say but it didn’t speak to me.

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