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6. The End of the Play

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About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we focus on the final scene of the play – the major confrontation between Biff and his father – and the short ‘Requiem’ that ends the play. In particular, we think about: (i) the idea of responsibility and who is to blame for what; (ii) the father-son relationship; (iii) the extent to which the ending of the play is satisfactory; (iv) our final assessment of the figure of Willy in the light of his poorly-attended funeral; (v) the importance of dreams and the connection between dreams, credit and capitalism; (vi) the themes of truth and learning from the truth; and (vii) the meaning of Linda’s final words, “We’re free … we’re free…” – free from what?

Course

In this course, Professor Grace Ioppolo (University of Reading) explores Arthur Miller’s masterpiece, ‘Death of a Salesman’. We begin by thinking about the historical context in which the play was written, focusing in particular on the development of American theatre between the 1930s and 1950s. After that, we think about the opening of the play, the character of Willy Loman and the themes of capitalism and the American Dream. In the third module, we explore the relationship between Willy and his two sons, Biff and Happy, before turning in the fourth module to the treatment of women in the play. In the fifth module, we focus on the climactic scene of the play – the scene in which Biff walks in on his father with another women – before moving on in the sixth module to consider the play’s ending. Who is to blame for everything that has happened? Has anyone learned anything?

Note: We use the Penguin Modern Classics edition of play (ISBN: 978-0-141-18274-2). Students using a different edition of the play may encounter slight differences in both the text and the page numbering.

Lecturer

Grace Ioppolo is Professor of English at the University of Reading. Her teaching focuses mostly on Shakespeare and his contemporary dramatists, although she also has an interest in American drama of the 20th century. Her recent publications include the Norton Critical Edition of King Lear (2015) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (2018)