Introduction
Literary works are one way to draw people’s attention to social issues that have existed in society for many years. One of them is the concept of the American Dream, which implies an irresistible desire to achieve success and gain prosperity. For many individuals, this becomes the primary goal of life and can have a very negative impact not only on their perception of reality but also on their relationships with others and directly on their family members.
This event happened to the main character of Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman. The tragic story provides the reader with an awareness of what can happen to a person when he is entirely absorbed by false ideas about life, making him highly resilient. The study of the play through socio-economic and gender literary lenses provides awareness of the resilience of the characters of the play.
Socio-Economic Lens
The first literary lens through which the analysis of the selected work will be carried out is socio-economic. This approach implies considering literary work through aspects such as social hierarchy and structure. In his play, Arthur Miller provides valuable insight into how resilience can become the most prominent trait of a person’s character. The central topic of Death of a Salesman is the desire to achieve the American dream, which remains insurmountable for the main character, Willy Loman (Wei 2). By constantly following a particular picture of life, a man completely loses his identity, which leads to his disappointment with life and death.
Regarding resilience, it is important to note first that when following the plot of the play, it can be said that it has become an integral feature of the character of the main character. This circumstance is because it manifested itself in him from a reasonably early age. Even though Willy’s family was never well-off and had a relatively low socio-economic status, the boy always wanted to escape from this life (Miller 11).
Having devoted his whole life to the work of a salesman, the main character was never able to achieve the success that would help him realize his American dream. Because of this, throughout the play, there are constant digressions into the past, events that Willy considers the most significant and successful in his life. The situation is aggravated because, within the employment framework, America has a high socio-economic status. Thus, for Willy, acquiring this position is a desire for financial well-being and honor and respect from others. However, his desire to fulfill the American dream spoils his relationship with his family and the idea of the world around him.
Gender Lens
Death of a Salesman features several male characters with value for analysis. As part of this work, attention will be paid to such characters as Biff. This necessity is because this character, Willy’s son, has experienced the consequences of his father’s persistence and striving for the American Dream. Thus, regarding Biff, it cannot be said that it has grown resilient to the outside world.
From an early age, he experiences difficulties with obtaining success, which now, in adulthood, translates to his failure in professional activity. At the end of the piece, “Biff announces that he is finally going to be true to himself, that neither he nor Willy will ever be great men, and that Willy should accept this and give up his distorted version of the American Dream” (Panjaitan 11). Therefore, Biff is an example of a character to whom resilience Willy has made a negative contribution in achieving the American dream.
The work features two female characters: the main character’s wife, Linda, and the Woman. The second is his mistress, with whom, while still at school, Willy is caught by his son. First, it is worth paying attention to resilience, manifested in Linda’s character. Research indicates she is “a very loyal and patient wife, the only person who can understand Willy’s psychological condition” (Panjaitan 14). Throughout the story, she is the only person who shows concern for the main character. Even though Linda saw that her husband’s affairs had declined in old age, she did not put pressure on him.
Further, Linda showed resilience despite how disrespectfully her husband treated her. As mentioned, Willy had a mistress with whom their son saw him. In addition, the man constantly disrespected his wife, who supported him, by showing anger at the outside world and the circumstances around him. She remained faithful and always wanted to make her husband pleasant (Miller 14).
Chang and Kim stated that she “gives him warm comfort for his empty dreams with her kindness, love, and above all, intelligence” (1). However, with any attempt to please him, she was met with confrontation and discontent from Willy. Thus, resilience in Linda’s case is manifested in the fact that, despite the unpleasant and often disrespectful treatment, she remained on the side of her husband and was a good wife.
Within the framework of the gender literary prism, consideration of such a character as Willy’s mistress has value. The peculiarity of the presentation of this hero of the play is that it remains anonymous to the reader. The author does not disclose any features or traits of a woman; she represents all that she is called The Woman in her work.
The central role of this character in the play becomes the presentation of how the real world sees Willy. In other words, in the play, the Woman is constantly laughing, which is also evident in the male colleagues who can laugh at him for his personality (Miller 25). Therefore, from a gender lens, The Woman represents truthfulness as something that can break the resilience of the main character of “Death of a Salesman.”
Conclusion
In conclusion, Death of a Salesman is a unique work that reveals the theme of resilience in man. When considering this topic through a socio-economic prism, it was determined that this characteristic supported the desire of the main character to get out of a low economic status. However, this desire did not find the proper aspiration on his part and contributed to the complete loss of Willy’s identity. Regarding the gender lens, resilience manifests itself most vividly in such a character as Linda Lowman. She has been supporting and trying in every way to please her husband for many years, who is unfaithful to her and often treats her quite disrespectfully.
Works Cited
Chang, Xiao, and Taehyung Kim. “A Psychological Reading of Husband-Wife Relationship in Death of a Salesman.” Humanities and Social Science Research, vol 4, no. 4, 2021.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Dramatists Play Service Inc., 1980.
Panjaitan, Michael Jonathan. Analysis of Defense Mechanism from The Character Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s’ Death of a Salesman’. Diss. 2022.
Wei, Qingxia. “The Analysis of Death of a Salesman from the Perspective of Modern Tragedy.” US-China Foreign Language, vol. 17, no. 7, 2019, pp. 328-331.