INTRODUCTION Arthur Miller has emerged as one of the most successful andenduring playwrights of the postwar era in America, no doubtbecause his focusing on middle-class anxieties brought on by a society that emphasizes the hollow values of material success hasstruck such a responsive chord. The recurring theme of anxietyand insecurity reflects much of Arthur Miller’s own past. Born the son of a well-to-do Jewish manufacturer in New York City in 1915,Miller had to experience the social disintegration of his family when his father’s business failed during the Great Depression of the 1930s. By taking on such odd jobs as waiter, truck driver, and factory worker, Miller was able to complete his studies at the University of Michigan in 1938. These formative years gave Miller the chance to come in close contact with those who suffered the most from the Depression and instilled in him a strong sense of personal achievement necessary to rise above the situation. He began writing plays in the 1930s, but it wasn’t until Death of a Salesman was performed in 1949 that Miller established himself as a major American dramatist. Winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1949, Death of a Salesman has to this day remained a classic. The play’s intellectual appeal lies in Miller’s refusal to portray his characters as two-dimensional — his refusal to involve himself in a one-sided polemic attack on capitalism. Even critics cannot agree as to whether Death of a Salesman is to be categorized as social criticism, a tragedy, or simply a psychological study. Of necessity, each person will have to draw his or her own individual conclusions. The fact that performances of Death of a Salesman have met with acclaim throughout the world testifies to its universality: the play’s conflicts and themes appear not to be uniquely American. --

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