Arthur Miller : The Crucible On Broadway - The Salem Witchcraft Trials brought to the theater

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ARTHUR MILLER
PLAYWRIGHT

Arthur Miller on His Life and Works
Written and Designed by
David Biele, Arts in Education Consultant
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On October 15, 1995, Arthur Miller took part in the National Theater of London's celebration of his 80th birthday, offering these thoughts about his life and his work:

I've never been able to make time real for myself. I can't remember whether something happened two weeks ago or three years ago, or when I was in England the last time. The calendar doesn't seem to exist in my head. It all melts together. It always has. It's probably a form of insanity. I thought I would try to write that way - simply melt the days, the months, and the years, because I really do believe that we move through the world carrying the past and that it's always alive in the back of our head. We are making constant references between what we see now and what we saw then. Between what we hear now and what we heard then. This face reminds us of a face long gone.

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WHAT DO YOU THINK?

1. Do you agree with Arthur Miller about the effect the past has on our present? Why or why not?

2. How do you see Miller's above statements reflected in Death of a Salesman?
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One of the impulses behind Death of a Salesman and its form was to carry the whole freight of a man's life simultaneously. You see, there are no flashbacks in the play: the action never stops. It's simply that Willy is looking at what he's looking at now and thinking about stuff that's long since invisible, long since silent.

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WHAT DO YOU THINK?

1. What does Miller mean when he says that one of the impulses behind Salesman was to "carry the whole weight of a man's life simultaneously?" How do you see that impulse reflected in the play?

2. Have you ever looked at something happening in the present but in your mind's eye see something that happened in the past? What sparked your vision and what did it see?
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Willy always made me laugh. I always said that writing Death of a Salesman, I never laughed so much in my life. The reason being that his absurdity - as painful as it is - is really very funny. He's contradicting himself all the time without even noticing it, and that's funny. He says things with great passion, and then simply negates them two minutes later with equal passion just like most of us.

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WHAT DO YOU THINK?

1. Go back to the play script of Death of a Salesman and find a few examples of Willy contradicting himself. Do you find these contradictions funny, as Miller does? Why or why not?

2. Do you agree with Miller that most people contradict themselves all the time, without even noticing it? Why or why not?
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Written and Designed by
David Biele, Arts in Education Consultant

Edited and Published by The Goodman Theatre
Richard Pettengill, Director of Arts in Education
Oscar Groves, Arts in Education Assistant