Willy complains that Biff, his older son who has come back home to visit, has yet to make something of himself.

Willy says that he will talk to Howard the next day. His wife, Linda, tries to persuade him to ask his boss, Howard Wagner, to let him work in New York so that he won't have to travel. It was the recipient of the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play.Īs a flute melody plays, Willy Loman returns to his home in Brooklyn one night, exhausted from a failed sales trip. Willy and his boys can achieve order and success in their lives so long as they follow their own rules.Īnemia a condition in which there is a reduction of the number, or volume, of red blood corpuscles or of the total amount of hemoglobin in the bloodstream, resulting in paleness, generalized weakness.Death of a Salesman is a 1949 play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. Once again, Willy reinforces the idea that Biff is not answerable to the same social boundaries as others. Even though Willy instructs Biff to study, he does not emphasize the consequences if Biff fails, but instead stresses the fact that Bernard is not 'well-liked.' Willy denies that Biff could fail, so he does not communicate the possibility of failure to his son. The fact that Biff and Happy obviously outdo Bernard is significant because Willy has always felt threatened by and jealous of Bernard's father, Charley. They are 'well liked,' and therefore Willy is too. Their prowess functions as an extension of Willy, for he considers himself greater because of his children's abilities. Willy tells Biff to study, but he revels in the fact that his boys are superior in strength and popularity to everyone else. Although Willy teases Bernard, he does react responsibly to the news that Biff is in danger of failing math, as well as not graduating. Scene 4 is significant because it reveals that Biff has serious problems that may negatively impact his future. The description of Biff's theft in Scene 3 lets the audience know that Biff is not the perfect person Willy might hope for him to be. Biff then tells Willy that Bernard is 'liked, but he is not well-liked.' After Bernard leaves, Willy criticizes him and guarantees that Biff and Happy will be more successful than Bernard because they both have attractive physical features. Bernard informs Willy that Biff will fail math and not graduate unless he begins to prepare for his exams. Bernard enters and asks Biff why he has not come over to study with him as planned. Scene 4 is also set in the past and continues with Willy's reverie in the kitchen.

Death of a salesman script act 1