Aristotle's Theory

Mimesis is the idea that the specific tragedy is universal. There is a chain reaction due to the tragedy which could affect anyone, purely because 'that is the way the world operates'. As a result of this, tragedy causes fear as well as pity in an audience, as they could be part of the chain reaction so the tragedy could affect them.

The Incentive Moment is the beginning of the play, which causes the chain reaction of events. It must be dependent on something within the play.

The Dénouement is the time between the incentive moment, where there is the pivotal incident, to the point in which the incident is resolved.

The plot must be complete while being self contained. It must have no outside input, or Deus Ex Machina. Each point of the story must move to the next point while being bound together internally.

A catastrophe is a moment which changes the plot. Simple plots only have a catastrophe, whereas complex plots (which are deemed better) have a change of intention and a moment of recognition or realisation connected to or the result of the catastrophe.

First Impressions of Happy and Biff

Our first impressions of Biff is that he may have suffered some form of 'defeat', as suggested in the stage directions. It compares him and his brother, Happy, saying Happy 'is lost' like Biff, 'but in a different way, for he has never allowed himself to turn his face toward defeat'. This implies Biff has turned his face to defeat. Biff replies 'I'm going to sleep' immediately after Happy talks of his father's success. By Biff choosing not to further that conversation it suggests that he may be tired of hearing of his father's exaggerated success and ability.

It also seems as if Willy's downfall could possibly be linked to Biff, as Willy is often 'talking to' Biff when he is talking to himself. It also seems Biff is not content. He has moved from many jobs and still wants something different, comparing himself with a 'boy' as he isn't married and isn't 'in business'. He is searching for something more.

Happy seems a womaniser, as he cannot even remember who he lost his virginity to, as he says 'that was my first time - I think.' Even when Happy has what he 'always wanted', he still isn't happy. This suggests that he is searching for something extra in his life that he has not yet found. He also seems to think being 'well liked' is important, as it means you can have 'any babe you want', linking back to Happy being a womaniser.

Arthur Miller

Basically, I watched this Waybuloo thing but all they do is shout jibber jabber and I had no idea what was going on. I was much more comfortable doing the gangsta blog, you know, growing up in da hood and all. Anyway, I'm just going to write it normally. Soz.

Arthur Miller was a playwright, writing famous theatre dramas such as Death of a Salesman, The Crucible and A View From the Bridge. He began writing plays while at university and has won many awards for his work. He was convicted for not identifying writers who were believed to have communist views by Congress, but the decision was overturned a year later. He wrote 'The Devil in Massachusetts, a book about witch trials drawing parallels to convictions of communistic views in the US and 'McCarthyism', showing his works had a focus on real life problems and ideas.

One such idea he addressed was the idea of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman, with him even saying "The American Dream is the largely unacknowledged screen in front of which all American writing plays itself out.! This shows how important he believed the American Dream to be to Americans, audiences and playwrights alike.