00001.tif

PDF

Download

Open document

Flip pages

Contact Us

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ARTHUR MILLER'S DEATH A SALESMAN BY MEANS OF DRAMATIC CRITICISM AND THE SERENO AND BODAKEN TRANS-PER MODEL by Ronald Lester Gold A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Communi cati on— Drama) June 19 77^ C op y r i g h t-RonaId Lester Gold-1977__ UMI Number: DP22916 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation P u b lis h in g UMI DP22916 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA T H E G RAD UATE SC H O O L U N IV E R S IT Y PARK LOS A N G ELES. C A L IF O R N IA 9 0 0 0 7 Pw;tL E> ' 7 ? Cx <o i 3 T h is dissertation, w ritte n by Ronald Lester Gold Ji5ol B under the direction of hJk§... Dissertation Com^ mittee, and approved by a ll its members, has been presented to and accepted by T h e G raduate School, in p a rtia l fu lfillm e n t of requirem ents of the degree o f D O C T O R O F P H I L O S O P H Y -e- Dean Date.A DISSE Chairman TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF MODEL DIAGRAMS . . . .................... I ! DEDICATION.................... ... .............. ! I I i Chapter ; I, STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM AND DESIGN OF THE STUDY Statement of the Problem Design of the Study Significance of the Study Limitations of the Study Review of the Literature Methodology An Overview of the Remaining Chapters i I II. THE DETERMINATION OF THE CRITERIA FOR J JUDGING MILLER'S DEATH OF A SALESMAN Plot Characteri z^tion j Language ; Thought I j III. GESTALT AND COMMUNICATION MODELS AND j THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE TRANS-PER MODEL . 1 IV. THE APPLICATION OF DRAMATIC CRITERIA TO THE j TEXT OF ARTHUR MILLER'S DEATH OF A SALESMAN . I V. THE APPLICATION OF THE TRANS-PER MODEL TO SELECTED SCENES IN ARTHUR MILLER'S DEATH OF A SALESMAN .................................. VI. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS . I iAPPENDIX . ■ BIBLIOGRAPHY iii iv 1 21 47 94 200 249 2 69 2 8 0 LIST OF FIGURES 1. Performance, Theatre, Script, Drama ........... 3 2. Gestalt....................................... 62 3. Gestalt............................................ 63 4. Gestalt............................................ 64 5. Shannon and W e a v e r .............................. 70 6 . Becker Mosaic Model ..................... 74 7. Berio Model....................................... 77 8 . Reusch-Bateson M o d e l .................. 80 9. Barnlund Intrapersonal Model ................... 81 10. Schramm Model..................................... 84 11. Dance Helix Model ................................ 85 12. Internal System (Sereno-Bodaken). ............ 87 13. External System (Sereno-Bodaken)................ 87 14. Intrapersonal Communication (Sereno-Bodaken). . 87 15. Interpersonal Communication (Sereno-Bodaken). . 87 For Nicole and Pierre. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ! In the Tulane Drama Review^ issue devoted to performance and the social' sciences, Richard Schechner I i stresses the need for greater interchange between the per- 2 formance arts and the social sciences. In the editorial commentary, Schechner speaks of performance as a type of communicative behavior and suggests common areas of i . 3 I investigation between communication and the dramatic arts. i ! He adds that while the Tulane Drama Review (TDR) issue is I --------------------- |an important beginning, further research in the areas com- i I i mon to drama and communication would be fruitful, i.e., the 4 application of communication research of Reusch to drama. The article by Schechner, "Drama, Script, Theater, 5 Performance," is an important initial step m the appli- cation of models to dramatic arts. The Schechner model, however, is not based rigorously upon communication theory jmodels, insofar as it does not detail specific functions, I processes and structures. 1 The Schechner model does produce a pictorial I representation of boundary relationships between perfor- Imance, theatre, drama and script as a series of four 1 concentric overlapping discs. The largest disc (perfor mance) is on the bottom; the others (theatre, script, drama) rest on the one immediately larger than itself, i.e., the theatre disc lies within the performance disc. (See 6 Figure 1.) "The increase in size is meant literally, in time and space, and conceptually in the idea-area covered. Generally, though not in every case, the larger disc con- 7 tains all those smaller than itself." Drama is the smallest unit disc based upon score, scenario, instruction plan or map; script is the domain of the enacted event; and performance is the event in its entirety which encompasses both spectator and performer. Schechner illustrates how the spectator's relation ship (performance disc) to the enacted event (theatre disc) may be altered in Shepherd's Tooth of the Crime production, by destabilizing the theatre/performance boundaries. This is accomplished by having the audience determine the establishment of public and private "spacial-emotional" areas. The theatre event remains the same regardless of what perspective (area) the spectators adopt. Instead of being in a pre-determined relationship to the theatre event, each spectator determines this relationship point by point. The determination is not thought out but is usually automatic. In moving from area to area, the spectator discovers his attitude regarding the play. He learns that he controls the performance even if the performers control Th«atr« Figure 1 Performance, Theatre, Script, Drama the theatre. By establishing the space he occupies, the spectator performance disc thereby determines his degree of emotional involvement with the enacted events (theatre disc). Robert Post's "Cognitive Dissonance in the Plays of Edward Albee" is based upon Leon Festinger's "A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance" and presents another investigation of the relationship between drama and communication. Festinger's theory states "x and y are dissonant if not x O follows from y." If one is aware that cigarette smoking causes cancer (x), one would expect a resultant of (y)--the cessation of smoking. If the opposite occurs, i.e., smoking, there is pressure to reconcile the discrepancy between knowledge and action. Specific to the character of Jenny in Edward Albeefs Everything in the Garden, one •has the cognitive dissonance occurring when Jenny attempts to reconcile the roles of housewife and prostitute. The decision she makes is between having enough money to compete With her suburban neighbors by committing an amoral act or staying home and fulfilling her moral role as wife and mother while doing without certain luxuries. When she chooses to work, her beliefs and her actions are in conflict, creating cognitive dissonance.9 Post indicates that Albee's characters (Nick and George in Who's Afraid of Virginia WoOlfe) , in their attempt to combat the dissonances of their lives retreat to a world of illusion. This retreat from reality, in turn, intensifies rather than diminishes the cognitive dissonance. While Post's article illuminates the application of communication theory to drama, it also suggests that additional insights could be gained by the application of both criteria to the same work, thereby adding a signifi cant dimension to the traditional criticism of the work. As a further extension of the application of both [methodologies, dramatic criticism, and communication jmodels, it is the intent of this study to apply both tra- jditional dramatic criteria and the Sereno-Bodaken Trans- i jper Communication model (see Appendix) to Arthur Miller's i jtext Death of a Salesman. f The applied dramatic criteria are based upon I jAristotle's plot, character, language, and thought, comple- i I mented by a consensus of opinion established by authorities j in the field of dramatic analysis and criticism. The I | !application of the Trans-Per model is based upon consensus iarrived at in conjunction with the review of communication i i jtheory and communication models: Becker Mosaic Model, Berio i jModel, Ruesch-Bateson, Barlund, and Schramm Model, i Arthur Miller's text Death of a Salesman, ' L0 is I jchosen for this study because this play has received great critical acclaim and also has generated a body of divergent criticism.'*''1 ' It is hoped that the application of i jboth methodologies would facilitate further assessment of 'some of this divergent criticism. As an example one -notes ;the basically divergent views of John Mander and Arthur ! i I 5 Miller. Mander states: If we take the "psychological motivation as primary, the "social" documentation seems gratuitous; if we take the "social" documentation as primary, the "psy chological" seems gratuitous. And we have, I am convinced, to choose which kind of motivation must have priority; we cannot have both at once.I2 !Arthur Miller, however, asserts there is a synthesis of the i jpsychological and the social: | Society is inside of man and man is inside of society, j and you cannot even create a truthfully drawn psycho- | logical entity on the stage until you understand his social relations and their power to make him what he is and to prevent him from being what he is not. The fish is in the water and the water is in the fish.13 i I Another reference to Death of a Salesman's psychological and sociological components is critic Eric Bentley's state ment that the play is psychological in nature, .if the 'central scene in Death of a Salesman is the Boston Hotel jwhere Biff finds his father Willy with another woman, and i sociological in nature, .if the central scene in Death of a Salesman is in Howard's office where, for all purposes, 14 Willy Loman is fired by Howard. By a careful analysis and application of the criteria of plot, character, language, and thought, it is hoped to assess whether Death of a Salesman is primarily j |concerned with plot, character, and the interpersonal Relationships of the characters. Interpersonal 1 relationships refer to the attempt to share meanings between people. Initial readings of the text and the transactions between characters suggest that concentration upon the interpersonal context in the 15 application of the Trans-Per model would be the most fruitful manner to proceed, because the essential aspect of the play appears to be the interaction between charac ters in an emotionally meaningful context. An inter personal context involves a communication setting characterized as informal and rather unstructured, in which two people attempt to share meaning with each other. While focxising upon the interpersonal context of the Trans-Per model it is important to note that there are three other communication contexts: intrapersonal, group, and organizational. The group and organizational contexts refer to group norms, task organization, roles, and coordination of groups within an organizational frame work, One may thus note within the play, if there is a preponderancy, or strong emphasis upon the "social” or business world within the interac tions occurring within the script, in order to help further resolve some of the critical issues related to Death of a Salesman. Again, although my emphasis within the communi cation methodology is upon the interpersonal application of the Trans-Per model, one must analyze the intrapersonal communication element. As Sereno and Bodaken indicate: . , . interpersonal communication can be better understood if we overview the [Trans-Per] model and ! communication in the intrapersonal context. We look at intrapersonal communication as the individual proc- ! ess of creating meaning.16 iThe syllables Trans and Per refer respectively to the transaction process and the process of perception. Trans action refers to the simultaneous process in which all elements in the communication process are interrelated and interdependent. Perception refers to the dynamic active process through which meaning is created by the mixture of internal and external stimuli: Perception suggests that the perceiver actively blends (i.e., selects, organizes, and evaluates) all internal stimuli (that which the person brings to a communi cating situation) with all the external stimuli of the present (that which is "out there" in the surrounding environment) to create m e a n i n g .17 Both Trans-Per and gestalt psychology are concerned with the component parts of a dynamic process, and the relevant gestalt concepts of field, pragnanz, and gestalt will be included as an adjunct to the understanding of dynamic process and perception. Field refers to component elements present, pragnanz to the factors influencing the manner of interaction, and gestalt to the resultant configuration. Gestalt terminology is also of value in assessing the organic unity of Death of a Salesman. A critical issue is the play1s unity of form. It has been referred to as both expressionistic and/or real istic in form. The play, according to Arthur Miller is seen through the subjective reality of Willy Loman’s mind. 8 Miller states: I wished to create a form, which in itself would literally be a process of Willy Loman's way of thought . . . in fact, The Inside of His Head was the first title.18 The style of the play, however, has been referred to as "flashback" by Eric Bentley, and as a "jumble of styles" by i ■ |Eleanor Clark. It is hoped that an assessment of the [play's unity, as well as use of light, setting, and sound can be made by means of gestalt process. As illustrative of gestalt application to the arts, the specific contributions of Rudolph Arnheim and Suzanne Langer will be noted. Specific to the dramatic arts, the tools of gestalt psychology have been noted as applicable to the work of Craig, Appia and Brecht. Craig and Appia i j will be noted because of their emphasis upon the non- ! :verbal aspects of dramatic productions while adhering to I the organic unity of a production. Brecht is treated relevant to his commentary on the non-linear discontinuous play structure. Limitations j The criteria for judgment are based upon I Aristotle's plot, character, language, and thought, and 'limited to those subsequent critical works indicated in the 'following section, titled Methodology. The communication model application is limited to the Interpersonal context of the Trans-Per model with necessary references to the Intra personal context. The determination that the Trans-Per model best meets the criteria applicable to Death of a Salesman and dramatic analysis has been reached in conjunction with an analysis of the play and a review |of the criticism. An interpersonal emphasis has been i i chosen because it has been noted that actions occurring I i during the play Death of a Salesman reveal the following interpersonal characteristics: (1) attempts to share meaning (i.e., Biff and Willy), (2) concern with the i i ipotentially most meaningful, significant, affective relationships (i.e., members of the Loman family), and I j (3) the dialogue and action are designed to simulate a ;free, informal structure. | With reference to gestalt as adjunct background I material, this study does not focus upon the physiological 'experimentation and data, or the qualities of objects which !elicit innate reactions, i.e., to the color red, both of jwhich have been major thrusts of gestalt research, but i [rather upon the concept of dynamic process within the con- !text of field, prognanz, and gestalt, as a preparation for i onefs'understanding of transactional process. One notes that j within the context of the Trans-Per model the meaning is I I not in the object, but is created by people. A further j application of gestalt has been to ascertain the organic unity of Death of a Salesman. Statement of the Problem On the basis of designing a study which would utilize two methodologies to resolve critical differences and offer new insights regarding Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, the research task has necessitated: 1. Developing criteria based upon traditional Aristotelian components found in Aristotle's Poetics; plot, character, language, and thought 2. Application of the Sereno-Bodaken Trans-Per Model to Death of a Salesman Significance of the Study Research on the development of the Aristotelian criteria of plot, character, language and thought, and the application of these criteria to Arthur Miller's text, Death of a Salesman as a total organic unity has not been done; nor have both dramatic criteria and the Sereno- Bodaken Trans-Per Model been applied to a dramatic text. Death of a Salesman has achieved critical acclaim and generated divergent criticism which it is hoped these two methodologies will resolve or illuminate. The information derived from this study could prove sufficiently flexible and open-ended as to suggest the application of these results to the body of Miller's work, or to the works of other playwrights. 11 Methodology The methodology utilizing dramatic criteria is based upon the relevant Aristotelian components found in Aristotle's Poetics; plot, character, language, and thought, as criteria for judgment. Aristotle's Poetics contains much that is germinal to dramatic theory; this, however, has been complemented by subsequent commentary by other authorities. Critical commentary is based upon a consensus of opinion established by authorities in the field of dramatic analysis and criticism including Horace, Ferdinand Brunetiere, Gotthold E. Lessing, Alan Downer, Denis Diderot, John Gassner, Gerald Eades Bentley, Frederick M. Millett, Lajos Egri, Gustav Freytag, William Archer, Brander Matthews, Bertold Brecht, and John Howard Lawson. Upon determination of the criteria applicable to plot, character, language, and thought, these criteria are applied to Arthur Miller's text Death of a Salesman. The body of criticism on Death of a Salesman is also evaluated. The methodology involving the application of the Trans-Per model follows this procedure. Preparatory to the selection of the Trans-Per model, a review of communication definitions, assumptions, and other communication models has occurred. Mortensen's five basic communication postulates are discussed: (1) communication is dynamic and transactional, (2) communication is irreversible, (3) communication is proactive, (4) communication is interactive, and (5) communication is contextual. These postulates illuminate our framework for the study of communication as applicable to the Trans-Per model: (1) communication is Systemic, (2) communication is Perceptual, ! (3) communication is Creating Meaning, and (4) communi- , cation is Processual. As indicated, this author has focused upon the j interpersonal aspects of the Trans-Per model with the I necessary inclusion of an intrapersonal overview and i J selected internal and external factors from the perceptual I ig system. These selected perceptual intrapersonal factors from the internal system (within the individual) are self esteem, dogmatism, and ego-involvement. The selected ! ! perceptual intrapersonal factors from the external system ; i ‘ I J (outside the individual) are character and dynamism. j The above selected intrapersonal factors seem most I i representative of the major characters in Death of a i ! Salesman, and offer a partial solution to a question I ; arising in Death of a Salesman: Why is it that Willy Loman j cannot give up his "success dream" whereas Biff can do so at the end of the play? It is hoped that by examining these factors within certain selected scenes, one can better iunderstand this issue. Self-esteem refers to the percep- I tion an individual has of himself, his feelings of self respect and confidence. One may examine this factor as it relates to Willy Loman's role as a father. Dogmatism 13 refers to a person's open or closed-mindedness and one may examine Willy's inability to accept Biff's "lack of success" as well as Willy's adherence to authority in the form of his successful brother Ben, or the newspaper advertisements, as well as his initial belief in his boss Howard's authority. Ego-involvement refers to a person's commitment to a topic, and ore may examine Happy's deter mination during the Requiem to prove that his father, Willy Loman, had the "right dreams," With respect to selected interpersonal communication factors, the internal inter personal communication factors are represented by empathy and acceptance, and the external interpersonal communi cation factors are represented by reinforcement and anxiety. In terms of external intrapersonal communication factors we have character and dynamism: character refers to our perception of an individual's honesty or trust worthiness. Again, Dse 'has Willy's insistence that appearance is the key to evaluation of character; Willy instructs Biff how to dress for his interview with Bill Oliver. He further instructs Biff not to pick up anything if it falls off Oliver's desk and not to whistle, but rather to act dynamically with vigor and energy in asking Bill Oliver for $15,000 to invest in a spotting goods venture with Biff. Willy elsewhere refers to Biff as "a young Adonis" who by just walking into a place is recognized as important. With respect to the interpersonal communication factors, the internal interpersonal communication factors are represented by empathy and acceptance, and the external interpersonal communication factors are represented by reinforcement and anxiety. Empathy is a form of under standing . One comes to know one person because one can see the world through the other person’s eyes, In Death of a Salesman Biff is able to perceive Willy's viewpoint, but Willy is unable to empathize with Biff. When Biff says "I know who I am, Pop," Willy is unable to accept this statement. He cannot offer Biff acceptance— the right for Biff to be who he is; Biff's right to his own viewpoint. Instead, Biff is seen as gaining stature and success by the use of Willy's $20,000 insurance money Willy expects Biff to receive as a result of Willy's suicide. Another example of Willy's inability to offer reinforcement of Biff's desires or approval of Biff's actions occurs in the cafe scene. One notes that Willy seeks reinforcement of his own desire for a successful meeting between Bill Oliver and Biff Loman. Whenever Biff attempts to confront Willy with the reality that Bill Oliver has not, and will not, meet with Biff, Willy retreats into the past. In the analysis of this scene, perhaps one can find the answers to Willy's actions, by the application of the interpersonal factor of anxiety as represented by Willy's need for self-esteem and his unresolved inconsistencies regarding Biff. By applying selected factors, it is hoped we can further illuminate the nature of some of the critical scenes, and compare these results with that achieved by means of the application of dramatic criteria. The following chapters adhere to this arrangement. Chapter II establishes the dramatic criteria for plot, character, language, and thought. Chapter III contains material relevant to gestalt. Chapter IV contains definitions of communication and communication criteria, selected communication models. As indicated earlier, this author;:;chose to apply the Trans-Per model to Death of a Salesman. In addition to the Trans-Per Bodaken-Sereno Model discussion, one is reviewing those aspects of other models: the Shannon-feaver Model, the Berio Model, the Schramm Model, the Dance Helix Model, the Becker Mosaic Model, the Barnlund Model, and the Ruesch-Bateson Model, which help to further illuminate the Trans-Per Model, Chapter V is an evaluation of Death of a Salesman by means of both dramatic criteria and the Trans-Per Model. Chapter VI is concerned with summary and conclusions. Review of the Literature Most significant for the establishment of criteria for judgment is Barrett H, Clarkfs European Theories of the 16 20 Drama. In instances where the text appearing in the Clark study is excerpted and incomplete, it was necessary , to complement the materials found in the Clark text by referring to completed works of the critics. The most important communication text referred to in this study is Edward M. Bodaken's and Kenneth K. Sereno-s text Trans-Per; Understanding Human Communication and the paper presented by Bodaken and Sereno to the Speech Communication Association, December, 19 76 entitled "Trans-Per: A Model of Communication." Other basic texts referred to in con junction with communication theory and models are: C. David Mortensen's Communication: The Study of Human Interaction, Kenneth Sereno and C, David Mortensen’s Foundations of Communication Theory, Ronald L. Applebaum, Edward M. Bodaken, Kenneth K. Sereno, and Karl W. E. Anatol's The Process of Group Communication, David K. Berio's The • Process of Communication,and Wilmot and Wenburg' s The Personal Communication Process. C, David Mortensen's text; Communication; The Study of Human Interaction is extremely valuable; it concisely designs a framework for human communication, and a proce dure for developing a communication definition. It also discusses popular misconceptions of communication, A critical va3-ue of Mortensen's text is its enumeration of model limitationsf and the various processes and structures which the models incorporate. Both the Wilmot and Wenburgr and the Mortensen text, devote a section of their texts to model evaluations, An important feature of the Wenburg-and Wilmot text is its application of models to various aspects of speech communication, referred to as speech arenas, i.e., intrapersonal, interpersonal, small group, public speaking, and mass media, The body of Arthur Miller's major plays have been read to investigate the possibility of applying the dramatic criteria methodology and the Trans-Per communi cation model to his other works. As a source of critical material about Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, the Library of Congress Subject Index Catalogue, the references in Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, the biblio graphies in publications of the Modern Language Associ ation , and Modern Drama, and the Tetsumaro Hayashi's bibliography Arthur Miller Criticism have been consulted. The Dissertation Abstracts, Speech Monograph, and the Education Theatre Journal have also been consulted for information on unpublished studies. 18 NOTES ^Tulane Drama Review 17 (September 1973). 2 Richard Schechner, Tulane Drama Review 17 (September 197 3) :3 5-48 ^Ibid., p. 48. 4 Ibid. ^Ibid., p. 50. 6Ibid. 7Ibid., p. 57. ^Robert Post, Edward Albee," Quarterly Journal of Speech 55 (April 1969): 38. - ^Ibid., p. 43. ^^Arthur Miller, Collected Plays (.New York: Viking, 1:LIbid. 1957) 12 ! John Mander, The Writer and Commitment (London: ■Seeker and Warburg, 1961), p. 151. i 13 Arthur Miller, "The Shadow of the Gods: A Critical View of the American Theatre," Harpers 217 (August 1958):35. 14 Eric Bentley, "Theatre," New Republic, December 1955, p. 22. 15 Edward Bodaken and Kenneth Sereno, "Trans-Per: A Model of Communication," paper presented to the Speech Convention Association, December 197 6 . 16 Edward Bodaken and Kenneth Sereno, Trans-Per: Understanding Human Communication (Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1975), p. 12. ■ 17 Bodaken and Sereno, "Trans-Per: A Model of Communication," p. 16. I 18 Miller, Collected Plays, p. 7 3. 19 Bodaken and Sereno, Trans-Per: Understanding Human Communication/ p. 84. 20 Barrett H. Clark, European Theories of the Drama (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1965), p. 63. 20 CHAPTER II THE DETERMINATION OF DRAMATIC CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING PLOT, CHARACTER, LANGUAGE, AND THOUGHT Criteria derived in this study have been determined through a consensus of opinion as to what constitutes effective plot, character, language, and thought. Criteria and standards of judgment, for these four traditional Aristotelian domains were supplemented by the consensus of established authorities in the field of traditional dramatic criticism. These authorities include: Aristotle, Ferdinand Brunetiere, Gotthold E. Lessing, Denis Diderot, Alan Downer, John Gassner, Gerald Eades Bentley, Frederick M. Millett, Lazio Ergi, Gustav Freytag, Jean Paul Sartre, Brander Matthews, John Howard Lawson, and William Archer. Plot Traditional authorities in the commentaries about the structure of the well-made play form the following consensus: traditional plot must contain a unity of struc ture incorporating (1) exposition, (2) foreshadowing, (3) rising action, (4) point of attack, (5) complication, crisis, and climax, and (6) denouement. Traditional plot 21 structure must meet the requirements of logic, probability, and plausibility for the audience. This author is now dis cussing the rules/process arrangement for the linear development of the plot. Exposition Several elements are considered critical in terms of exposition. Exposition must give information necessary for the progression of the story (plot), as well as inter est the audience affectively in the character(s), plot, and theme. Furthermore, exposition must reveal the environment and background of the play, as well as the motivations, conflicts, and personalities of the charac ters . With reference to information necessary for the play's progression, William Archer states: "We need to find an interesting theme, and state its preliminaries clearly and crisply."^ Exposition as a necessary foun dation for the dramatic structure must reveal this necessary past and prepare for the future. Clark in detailing Aristotle's plot structure (incidents of the fable) speaks of the necessary "previous . . . action," By incidents of the fable, Aristotle here plainly means all these actions or events which are essential parts of the subject or story, whether previous to the action, and necessary to be known, or included in it, and actually represented in the d r a m a . 2 That which precedes the play's beginning, must therefore be revealed through exposition, within the linear order of beginning, middle, and end. The coherence which exposition reveals about the play is akin to the Aristotelian linear sequence of beginning, middle, and end: A beginning is that which does not itself follow anything by causal necessity, but after which some- I thing naturally is or comes to be. An end, on the j contrary, is that which itself naturally follows i some other thing, either by necessity, or as a rule, | but has nothing following it. A middle is that which follows something as some other thing follows it. A well constructed plot, therefore must neither begin nor end at haphazard, but conform to these principles.^ Ergi has stated somewhat differently the sequential, continuous function of exposition: "Exposition itself is a part of the whole play and not simply a fixture to be used at the beginning and discarded."4 i As the present author stated, exposition not only gives necessary information, but holds the audience inter- | est as well. As Baker states, it is necessary "as promptly as possible to win the attention of the audience . . . to hold that interest steady, or, better, to increase it till the final curtain falls.This stimulation of interest, however, must not be sensational or melodramatic, but derive from an interest in and curiosity about the events of the play as well as an empathy for the characters portrayed. I This interest, according to Millett and Bentley, may be I j precipitated by "a striking bit of action, by the appear- | ance of a lively character, or by the adroit indication of g an interesting atmosphere or setting." Furthermore, interest is created by suspense, by an expectation of an 7 interesting development which is to follow. In terms of character, as Lawson states, one must know who and where the characters are and "what in the present and past relations of his characters cause the 8 story." Furthermore one must know wherein the conflict lies, "whether the problem is that of attainment of a goal, or a conflict between opposing forces within or without, or 9 the consequences of an act," Based on the consensus of opinion one may thus state the following criteria for exposition: 1. Exposition must give the necessary information for the progression of the story (plot) 2. Exposition must interest the audience affectively in the character(s), plot, and theme 3. Exposition must reveal the environment and background of the play, and the motivations, conflicts, and personalities of the characters Foreshadowing Foreshadowing is a special element of exposition, according to Millett and Bentley, which "may be said to concern specific instances of objects, elements, and motifs that are essential to the subsequent development and denouement of the piece.Foreshadowing renders 24 subsequent events logical and plausible; it creates coherence, continuity, and unity. Furthermore, fore shadowing can create audience interest by presenting a developing conflict. As Archer indicates, foreshadowing prepares the audience for what is to happen, it can unify 11 and cause continuity from one act to another. Ergi indicates the tensions and audience interest created by the suspenseful waiting; "foreshadowing conflict is not conflict yet, but we are eagerly awaiting the fulfillment 12 of the promise of it." This foreshadowing, according to Archer, creates emotional attitudes in the audience. Fore shadowing can also create audience interest by revealing character and creating interesting dialogue. According to authorities, foreshadowing criteria may be stated as follows: 1, Foreshadowing adds coherence, continuity, and unity by unobtrusively rendering subsequent events and denouement logical and plausible 2, Foreshadowing arouses audience interest and creates emotional attitudes Rising Action In the same manner as exposition functions through out the play, analogously, action is molded with reference to the entire play structure. Action is basic to the process of drama; as Archer notes, it is a doing or a 13 moving quality contained in the drama’s action. Action may represent a process which can be outwardly observed in a dynamic fashion or may represent an interior movement. Gassner defines drama as a ’ ’poetry of action, or of process, a form of dynamics which when set upon the stage must translate itself into movement.”'*'4 It is important to note that the interior psychic movement which may be represented within the play, can be of equal importance to the dynamic outward action. When speaking of action (praxis), Fergusson quotes Butcher: "The praxis that art seeks to reproduce is merely a psychic energy working outwards. When we try to define action 15 , , , we usually do so in terms of motive." Action must also be considered from the vantage point of sequence and interest. According to Millett and Bentley, in speaking of the events in which the actions are embedded: He [the nuthor] must modify and shape the raw material of his story until it exhibits a logical sequence of relationships between events A, B, C, and D, Not only must he interest the audience in the separate events, but he must relate each of the events to the preceding and following events, so that we shall regard the plot structure, when finally revealed as plausible and logical,16 Criteria of judgment relating to the rising action thus must take into account inner and outer movements, sequencing, and audience involvement; 1. Dramatic movement (action) may be dynamic 26 outer movements and/or inner psychic movements (motives) in a consistent and plausible structured pattern 2, Action must accelerate and intensify until the climax 3 * The play must make full use of actions to involve the audience Point of Attack The point of attack is crucially related to the rising action, for it serves as the catalyst for the rising action. As illustrative of the point of attack serving as a motive force for the rising action we note William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar. Cassius is apprehensive lest Caesar be crowned king. The point of attack occurs with the arrival of Cassius, for it is Cassius who will encourage the other conspirators to plot Caesar's death. As Preytag indicates, the point of attack is coincident with the "entrance of the exciting force of 17 forces." These forces precipitate a strong conflict. The point of attack is a point of decision or preparation, following which is a series of actions. The point Of attack introduces the exciting forces and the characters at a high pitch of excitement. It is important that the characters be sufficiently known to the audience to be involved in the point of attack. The location of the point of attack establishes a 27 18 ' point of view from which the play is told. Pertinent to f the point of attack is its effective location. There are several possible locations as Ergi indicates: A play may start exactly at the point where a conflict will lead to a crisis. A play may start at a point where at least one character has reached a turning point in his life, A play may start with a decision which will precipitate a conflict.1^ As example, in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman one learns quite early in the play that Willy intends to kill himself— the play therefore, as Miller indicates, concerns itself with the workings of Willy’s mind and the outer events which will lead to Willy’s death. As criteria for judging point of attack, one may therefore say: 1. The point of attack must be plausibly located in the dramatic structure, so as to provide the motive force for the rising action 2. From the standpoint of character and situation, the audience must accept the point of attack Complication (Conflict), Crisis, and Climax Complication, crisis, and climax are interrelated concepts, Ergi stresses the dynamic nature of conflict, climax, and crisis: Everything in nature goes on and on , , . , He, the character, makes a decision, starting a conflict which rises, changes as it goes, becoming a crisis, and a climax.20 28 A complication can be a minor conflict or obstacle as in Thornton Wilder's Our Town, where Emily reveals that George has become "stuck-up," and George reveals he cares about her, and respects someone who can tell him about his character; it is in this scene, as the stage manager tells us, that they discover "they were made for each other." The dynamic relationships between opposing forces, of varying natures, which can lead to a crisis are illus trated by Lawson: The essential character of drama is social conflict— persons against other persons, or individuals against groups, or groups against other groups, or individuals or groups against social or natural forces— in which the conscious will, exerted for the accomplishment of specific and understandable aims, is sufficiently strong to bring the conflict to a point of crisis.21 The audience must be involved within the context of the developing conflict and climax. Both sides of the issue must be seen. In traditional drama, the audience must be able to empathize and identify with the situation in which the complication, crisis, and climax are embedded. It must be consistent and plausible within the spectator’s frame of reference. As Freytag states relative to tra ditional drama: [The spectator] brings with him before the stage a certain knowledge of historical relations, definite ethical and moral demands upon human life, presages a clear knowledge of the course of events. To a certain extent it is impossible for him to renounce this purport of his own life; and sometimes he feels it very strongly when the poetic picture contradicts it.22 29 A crisis, even if minor, may serve as a means of involving the audience: [It may involve] the attraction of interest, the deepening of suspense, an increase in the number and variety of emotions felt by the characters and shared by the audience. . . , The playgoer , . , will get the maximum possible effects out of each crisis as it develops and wanes,23 Ergi elaborates the minor conflicts as focal points for character development: "Real characters must be given a chance to reveal themselves and we must be given a chance to observe the significant changes which take place in them. The audience must also be given an opportunity to accept the structure of the play as plausible and possible. An early model of the structure of the play, based upon Shakespearean plays, was developed by Freytag, as Millett and Bentley indicate: Freytag found a considerable number of Shakespearean tragedies could be described in terms of an isoceles triangle, resting on its base, with the exposition represented by a portion of one side of the triangle, and the denouement by the side opposite the expository side, and the climax or the turning point by the apex of the triangle.25 Millett and Bentley further indicate that in modern plays, this relationship no longer obtains: Structurally, the elements essential to the develop ment of the plot are the complication, and crisis? in some forms of drama the climax may fall within the limits of the development of the elements that have been presented to the audience in the exposition? in others, it is delayed until it becomes part of the denouement.26 30 The major climax according to Baker is "best 27 regarded as the crisis of maximum emotion and tension." The major crisis should have the sense of running a course. The various complications should cause tensions which progressively lead to the major crisis and climax. Lawson states the major crisis is a turning point "at which the balance of forces is so strained that something cracks, 2 8 thus causing a realignment of forces." This realignment, according to Gassner, has been effected by either a "strong 29 action or an evasive action." No additional forces, conflicts, or major char acters are introduced after the major conflict, for they would constitute the "subjects of a new play and are not within the scope of the theme which the playwright has 30 selected." Thus, the climax relates to the major char acters and the theme which has already been introduced. As example, Joe Keller in Arthur Hiller^s play All My Sons kills himself when he realizes he is morally responsible for the pilots killed in the defective planes he produced. There are several criteria which relate audience involvement, character development, and structural relationships to complication, crisis, and climax, 1. The crisis should be an integral result of complications and tensions 2, There should be a progressive development of 31 forces leading to an obligatory scene 3. Maximum emotional effect should result from the crisis 4. The major climax should be consistent with audience expectation (the audience must be prepared for the climax) 5. The climax should be dependent upon the action of a principal character and should embody the theme 6 . A new alignment of forces should follow the major climax Denouement The denouement refers to the "explanations of all secrets and misunderstandings connected with the plot 31 complications. . . « " The outcome or denouement must be a logical, plausible, inevitable development of the plot. While giving a sense of completion and under standing , the denouement must integrate prior events and thus serve the function of dramatic recall "which points back to objects, circumstances, or motifs which have been 32 prepared for in the process of foreshadowing." Millett and Bentley indicate the difficulty of justifying a character's suicide. Critics have found the suicide of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman credible, but such has not been the case for Joe Keller in All My Sons: The inevitability must arise out of one's sense that there was no other possible solution to the hero's difficulties, since the character of the hero would allow of no other solution.33 The denouement must also help the audience empa thize with the characters. A catharsis or purgation may occur "if the audience has shared at all deeply in the 34 sequences of emotions provoked by the hero's career." Criteria for judging the denouement of a play thus involves an empathic completion of the play: 1. It should unify and complete the course of action, and seem the natural result of previous events 2. It should contain dramatic recall 3. It should engender an empathic reaction in the audience C ha r a c te r i z a t i on Characters must be plausible and consistent. Archer indicates characters must be psychologically plau- 35 sible at all times. Lawson warns against character inconsistency, i.e., eleventh hour repentance for the sake 36 qf gaining character sympathy, Millett and Bentley speak of the careful character delineation. The playwright must create: ", . . it is the duty of the dramatist to make his character (s) and his traits and motives so clear that they will be almost if not quite intelligible to an attentive 37 audience," Freytag suggests that the playwright not reveal all of the character's thoughts in order that the 33 ' audience actively involve itself in the process of perceiving the character: 1 For the power to understand and enjoy a character is attained only by the self-activity of the receptive spectator, meeting the creative artist helpfully and vigorously,38 As Millett and Bentley elaborate, character consistency is related to the nature of his dynamic or static qualities: "The problem of consistency of motivation depends on whether the character is static or dynamic, whether he is 39 fixed or a developing personality," As example, Nora, in A Doll's House, undergoes startling changes, yet one findk them plausible. At the beginning of the play, Nora is referred to by her husband as Helmer's singing bird; at the end of the play, however, Nora is seeking to become an independent human being, and has decided to leave her husband Helmer, One can accept Nora's transformation because she has gone through shock, bewilderment, and the thought of suicide for her husband's sake, only to become aware that she must revolt and leave Helmer, Nora is strongly motivated and makes her choice. The strongly motivated major character who makes vital and/or moral choices is important to the drama, Brander Matthews indicates Brunetiere1s concept ", , . that drama must reveal the human will in action and that the central figure in the play must know what he wants and strive for 40 it with incessant determination," For Ergi, it is the 34 1 pivotal character, with something vital at stake, such as revenge, honor, or ambition, who is the driving force of ithe play. It is the pivotal character who gives the play momentum: There must be something to generate tension, some thing to create complication . . , we know what that force is: human character in all its ramifications.41 Lawson speaks of this strong action or inner psychic move ment which the character possesses: Drama cannot deal with people whose wills are atro phied, who are unable to make decisions, which do not have even a temporary meaning, who make no attempt to control their environment,42 Ergi states emphatically that "any living character is capable of doing anything if the conditions around him are 43 strong enough." An overwhelming drive is found in char acters such as Othello, Clytemnestra, or Agamemnon. A vital "larger than life” dimension is suggested by Millett and Bentley: "the supreme test of greatness in character ization is vitality .... He [the character] may be bully or consumptive, genius or ruffian, but he must be vital in 44 every nerve and sinew," Arthur Miller speaks of the moral choice the character must make, if he is to have a meaningful relation ,to his society. The character flaw, is thus man (char acter) rightfully asserting himself: The flaw, or crack in the character is nothing--and need be nothing— but his inherent unwillingness to 35 remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity, his image of his rightful status. Only the passive, only those who accept their lot without active retaliation are "flawless."45 Another dimension necessary for the character is that the major character in the play permits audience identification or an empathic response. As Lawson observes "Identification is more than sympathy with the character— it is a living in the character— what writers on esthetics 46 call empathy." Beaumarchais, in speaking of this sym pathy with the characters, states, "The nearer the suffering man is to my station in life, the greater is his claim upon my sympathy." In Death of a Salesman, the audience was able to empathize with Willy Loman because they "knew him." The criteria for characterization thus involve the dimensions of the character, and the audience response to the character. They may be summarized as follows: 1, The major character must be strongly motivated to make vital and/or moral choices 2, The major character must be plausible and consistent 3, The major character must be presented so that it is possible to empathize and/or identify with him Language The language of the play, the dialogue, must give the appearance of being authentic, yet being art it must 36 transcend the amorphous quality of ordinary conversation, |As Millett and Bentley indicate, "Prose dialogue, like every other element in dramatic technique, is an arti- 47 fice." Whereas ordinary conversation may be digressive, or non-purposive, dramatic dialogue has the appearance of spontaneity, but in reality is carefully crafted: . . . while there is an appearance of spontaneous movement underneath the whirls and eddies of the surface, a strong current is carrying persons and plot to their coincident goal* Good dialogue then is purposive, directed, and efficient.4 8 William Archer states that dialogue must give "concen tration and distinction to ordinary talk, while making it seem ordinary. . . . In prose dialogue is a sifting of 49 common speech." Millett and Bentley state the dual obligation of the dramatist, who must both create dialogue which seems real, and yet at the same time is efficient and involves the audience? in the play. Dialogue must not only interest the audience? it must also serve a utilitarian function in revealing character, environment and plot. A good illustration of dialogue fulfilling this utilitarian function is found in Ibsen. Millett and Bentley state Ibsen's dialogue: . , . is only apparently realistic, but in actuality [is] beautifully efficient, shaped and pointed, to the furthering of plot, and illumination of characters, and thus is a perfect expression of their natures* Dialogue must render clearly the conflicts, frustrations, and psychological dimensions of character: 37 In dramas of the more serious sort, indeed, a critical inspection of the dialogue will show at least one of the most important sources of our interest is its power to reveal a sequence of psychological states in response to events either directly represented or merely reported,51 This specificity of character revelation is stated by Gassner: The best lines of dialogue are those which are truest to the nature of the person, his station, his environ ment, his emotional situation, and the situation which he creates or in which he finds h i m s e l f . Dialogue must therefore meet several criteria of aesthetic and utilitarian dimensions: 1. Dialogue must reveal character, plot, environ ment, and exposition 2. Dialogue must be artistically authentic and utilitarian Theme The thought content of drama haa been variously referred to as theme, thesis, root idea, central idea, 53 goal, and driving force. Millett and Bentley elucidate the theme as the source of dramatic unity: The theme is the idea that gives the drama unity, that furnishes the dramatist's controlling purpose, that determines for him what is relevant, and what is irrelevant for his purpose,54 The theme, as a core, serves as a focus for the complete and integrated drama* This "Idea" theme, as a unifying element, is elaborated upon by Freytag: 38 The new unit which, arises is the Idea, gf the drama. This is the center toward which further inventions are directed like rays, , , , Through this are unity of action, significance of characters, and at last the whole structure of the drama produced,55 The theme, therefore, should determine the plot and the characters, which in turn clearly and efficiently reflect the theme. While there is an intimate relationship between theme, plot, and character, what is to be avoided is a strained tacking on of the theme— didactic drama: If the playwright concerns himself with his message too exclusively, the play is likely to seem an over simplification of life, or, at worst, the reduction of life to an almost geometrical demonstration of formula. What is to be avoided is the use of the character as a blatant vehicle for the author's message. The theme should be communicated by implication as part of an organic whole. The playwright who hammers away at the theme "is likely upon further acquaintance to seem to present a Sunday school fable, rather than either a representation 57 or a transmutation of life." The dramatist, through the vehicle of his play, must be sure to clearly articulate the theme for his audience in an unobtrusive manner. The audience must also find the theme clear and relevant. As Matthews states: The drama appeals always to the broad public and never to any self-styled upper class. A great poet may be haughty and reserved and ready to retire into an ivory tower, but a dramatist needs to have an understanding of his fellow' man: he must have toler ation, and above all sympathy. 8 39 : Then the dramatist’s theme, not only gives meaning and relevancy to a broad spectrum of his period's audience, , but also speaks to the general human condition, and transcends time and place; we may speak of it as universal. The criteria for theme are: 1. The theme must be clear, relevant, and uni versal 2, It must be an integral, unobtrusive dimension of the play Summary To sum up the criteria for plot, character, language, and theme: Plot 1, A traditional plot must contain unity of structure which incorporates: (1) exposition, (2) point of attack, (3) rising action, (4) complication, crisis, and climax, and (5) denouement 2, A traditional plot must meet the requirements of logic, probability, and plausibility Exposition a) Exposition must give information necessary for the progression of the plot b) Exposition must interest the audience affectively in the character (s) , plot , and theme 40 c) Exposition must reveal the environment and background of the play, the motivations, conflicts, and personalities of the characters For e shadowing a) Foreshadowing must add coherence, continuity, and unity to the play by unobtrusively rendering subsequent events, including the denouement, logical and plausible b) Foreshadowing must arouse audience interest and create emotional attitudes Rising Action a) Dramatic movement (action) may be outer dynamic movements and/or inner psychic movements (motives) in a consistent and plausible structured pattern b) The play must make full use of actions to involve the audience Point of Attack a) The point of attack must be plausibly located in the dramatic structure, so as to provide the motive force for the rising action b) From the standpoint of character and situation, the audience must accept the point of attack Complication (Conflict), Crisis, and Climax a) There should be a progressive development of forces leading to an obligatory scene 41 b) The crisis should be an integral result of complications c) The maximum emotional effect should result from the crisis d) The major climax must be consistent with audience expectation e) The climax should be dependent upon the action of a principal character and should embody the theme f) A new alignment of forces should follow the major climax Denouement a) It should unify and complete the course of action, and should seem a natural result of previous events b) It should contain dramatic recall Characterization 1. The principal character(s) must be strongly motivated to make vital and/or moral choices 2. The character must be plausible and consistent 3. The character must be presented so that it is possible to empathize and/or identify with him Language 1, Dialogue must reveal character, plot, environment, and exposition 2, Dialogue must be artistically authentic and utili tarian 42 Theme J.. The theme must be clear, relevant, and universal 2, It must be an integral, unobtrusive dimension of the play. 43 NOTES ^William Archer, Play-Making (New York: Dover, 1960), p. 117. 2 Barrett H. Clark, European Theories of the Drama j(New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1965), p. 10. 3 S. H. Butcher, Aristotle's Theory of Poetry and | Fine Art (New York: Appleton-Century, 1935), p. 31. I A Lajos Ergi, The Art of Dramatic Writing (New York: iSimon and Schuster, 1946), p. 235. i 5 George Pierce Baker, Dramatic Technique (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1947), p. 123. 6 Fred B. Millett and Gerald Eades Bentley, The Art of the Drama (New York: Appleton-Century Crofts, Inc., 1935), p. 183. ^Ibid., p. 182. I 8 ! John Howard Lawson, Theory and Technique of iPlaywriting (New York: Hill and Wang, 1960), p. 73. 1 I ! 9 I I Millett and Bentley, The Art of the Drama, p. 18 8 . , t ■^Ibid. , p. 189. 1 ^ ■ ■ ' ‘ Archer, Play-Making, p. 117. ! 12 ' Ergi, The Art of Dramatic Writing, p. 132. 13 Archer, Piay-Making, p. 15. 14 John Gassner, Producing the Play (New York: The Dryden Press, Publishers, 1953), p. 38. 15 Francis Fergusson, Aristotle's Poetics (New York: Hill and Wang, 1961), p. 8 . i 16 I Millett and Bentley, The Art of the Drama, p. 63. 17 i Gustav Freytag, Freytag1s Technique of the Drama i (New York: Benjamin Blom, 1883), p. 121. 18 : Alan S. Downer, Fifty Years of American Drama (Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1951), p. 97. 44 19 Ergi, The Art of Dramatic Writing, p. 183. 2 0Ibid., p. 229. 21 John Howard Lawson, Theory and Technique of Playwriting, p. 209. 22 p. 92 Freytag, Freytag1s Technique of the Drama, p. 108. 23Millett and Bentley, The Art of the Drama, p. 193. 24 Ergi, The Art of Dramatic Writing, p. 149. ip. 167. i 1 i j !p. 128. 23Millett and Bentley, The Art of the Drama, p. 26TK.„ Ibid., p. 189. 27 Baker, Dramatic Technique, p,. 215. 28 Lawson, Theory and Technique Of Playwriting, 2 9 _ Gassner , Producing the Play, p. 141. 30 Lawson, Theory and Technique of Playwriting, 31 . Millett and Bentley, The Art of the Drama, p. 32 Ibid., p. 197. 33 Ibid., p. 199. 34tk.^ Ibid., p. 203. 35 Archer, Play-Making, p. 123. 3 6 Lawson, Theory and Technique of Playwriting, 37Millett and Bentley, The Art of the Drama, p. 38 Freytag , Frey tag 1s Technique of the Drama, p. 39 . Millett and Bentley, The Art of the Drama, p. 194. 40 Brander Matthews, Playwrights and Playwriting (New York: Books of Libraries Press, Inc., 1923), p. 226. 41 Ergi, The Art of Dramatic Writing, p. 233. 45 42 Lawson, Theory and Technique of Playwriting, p. 285. 43 Ergi, The Art of Dramatic Writing, p. 8 . 44 Millett and Bentley, The Art of the Drama, p. 45 Arthur Miller, "The Tragedy of the Common Man in Barrett H. Clark, European Theories of the Drama, ,p. 537. i 46 I Lawson, Theory and Technique of Playwriting, |p. 285. ■ 47 : Millett and Bentley, The Art of the Drama, p. 48 Ibid., p. 223. 49 Archer, Play-Making, p. 135. "^Millett and Bentley, The Art of the Drama, p. ^^Ibid., p. 124. i 5 2 ! Gassner, Producing the Play, p. 30. 53 Ergi, The Art of Dramatic Writing, p. 28. ! 54 I Millett and Bentley, The Art of the Drama, p. I 1 ' ■ ' ■ -n ' r ■ --n - | r i . .m ' i I 55 Freytag, Freytagrs Technique of the Drama, p. ^Millett and Bentley, The Art of the Drama, pp. 174-175. 5 7Ibid., p. 175. I 58 . . i Matthews, Playwrights and Playwriting, p. 125 I ------------------------------- I 195. 228. 229. 175. 10. 46 CHAPTER III GESTALT AND COMMUNICATION Gestalt; Component Parts of a Dynamic Interaction; Process and Relati onship Gestalt psychology as a major area of investi gation, concerns itself with dynamic processes involving the relationship of component partsTraditional dramatic criticism also concerns itself with component elements; plot, character, language, and thought, as well as interrelated, sequential, plausible process. One also notes those gestalt terms relevant to our increased under- 2 standing of Trans-Per. Gestalt furthermore refers to isomorphism: similarity of process and/or pattern. This is of interest to, among others, non-traditional dramatic theoreticians, such as Craig and Appia, who have looked for corresponding patterns in non-verbal dimensions such as time, space, and movement, involved in the drama, and 3 the verbal elements of language. Concern with process and relationship is reflected in many of the criteria for plot, character, language, and thought, specifically those which are sequential and pro gressive in nature: 47 1. Exposition must give the information necessary for the progression of the plot 2. Foreshadowing must add coherence, continuity, and unity by unobtrusively rendering subsequent events and the denouement logical and plausible 3. Dramatic movement must be in a consistent and plausible, structured pattern 4. The point of attack must be plausibly located in the dramatic structure so as to provide the force for the rising action 5. There should be a progressive development of forces leading to an obligatory scene 6 . The crisis should be an integral result of the complication 7. A new alignment of forces should follow the major climax 8 . The denouement should unify and complete the course of action 9. The character must be plausible and consistent 10, The theme must be a source of unity for the play Suzanne Langeir, the aesthetician, has spoken of the gestalt aspect of the unfolding development of dramatic action, which she refers to as virtual drama: A resemblance of an action [is] so constructed that while individual pieces of virtual history are implicit 48 in it, as a yet unrealized form, long before the presentation is completed, this constant illusion of imminent future, this vivid appearance of a growing situation, before anything startling has occurred is "form in suspense,"5 Rudolph Arnheim, another gestaltist aesthetician, speaks of the totality of a text’s structure and the shaping of the elements within a text, until an apparent "simple" unified arrangement is observed. This overall form quality (gestalt-qualitat), has been developed and supported while extraneous elements have been removed: The final form of a work has simplicity, but not in the sense that it has few elements, even though the elimination of the superfluous is part of the process. A work of art is simple because it organizes its entire material in a transparent whole structure which defines the functions of all the parts by the large compositional overall features as well as minute details,6 It is important to note, however, that while traditional critics adhere to a progressive, unified structure, one does have the non-traditional critic, such as Brecht who stresses episodic plot structure, rather than Aristotelian structure in which one scene leads to a later scene and is the deterministic causation of that which follows it, According to Brecht: The episodes must not succeed one another in- distinguishablyr- but must give us a chance to inter pose our judgment, . « , The patts of the story have to be carefully set off against one another by giving each its own structure , . , in a contradictory manner, the individual scenes retain their own meanings, they yield and stimulate a wealth of ideas, and their sum, the story unfolds authentically.7 49 Gestaltists and dramatic critics, have thus both been concerned with component elements and overall structure. A pertinent gestalt question for dramatic analysis might be any of the following questions: 1, What process is involved in the individual elements of plot, character, language, and thought? 2, What is the relative weight of each component (plot, character, language, and thought), and how are they interrelated? Gestaltists are also concerned with analyzing component elements, however, isomorphism stresses the resemblance of pattern or process. Gestalt thus suggests not only the investigation of parallel analagous developments in plot, character, language, and thought, but also in verbal and non-verbal elements. The importance of these isomorphic relationships for drama, is suggested by the contributions of Gordon Craig and Adolphe Appia. A pattern of light and a pattern of movement, both non-verbal, may have affective dimensions for an audience. Gordon Craig thought of the theatre as a unified appeal to the senses, with meaning obtained primarily through the visual aspects of color, line, mass, gesture, and sound. Light was a direct means of integrating the three-dimensional actor and the three-dimensional setting, Craig’s designs for screens were another means of further unifying visual elements. The screens were to mold space in a manner consistent with, the meaning of the play and 8 the human shape. In gestalt terms, all visual elements are isomorphic: the actor, the lighting, and the screens are all part of the same dynamic process and therefore embody similar configurations of forces. Appia sought to reconcile the non-verbal dimensions of time, space, and movement with the text (music/ literature) , The gestalt term "figure-background" is helpful in expressing Appia*s reconciliation of time, space, and movement. Figure background indicates a relationship between an environment (background) and an object of focus (figure) which appears within this defined background. If the demarcation between figure and back ground becomes unstable, one no longer has a perceivable object. Appia indicates that movement unifies space and time in the following manner: "In space, units of time Q are expressed by a succession of forms, hence by movement. In other words, the form represents the figure moving through the "background" of space, thus conveying a passage of time. In the time arts (music, poetry) move ment, the correlative factor, which unifies the time arts and the space arts, according to Appia, is effected as follows: "In time, space is a succession of words and sounds, that is to say, by varying time-durations pre scribing the extent of movement,"^ The figures of aural forms (words/sounds) -akin to the figures of ..visual forms, and the movement of sounds in time akin to the movement of physical forms, convey the space background. Mobility, or movement, is therefore the determining and conciliatory principle which can so regulate the union of several art forms, so that they will converge, as it were, at a given point, and a given time, in dramatic art. Thus while traditional critics emphasize the text, including plot, character, language, and thought, Craig and Appia suggest the equally important non-verbal components of space, time, motion, light, and "setting." It is within the context of gestalt research that this author defines gestalt terms. Gestalt psychology was initiated by three Berlin 11 12 12 psychologists: Kohler, Koffka, and Wertheimer. They differentiated between gestalt psychology and the preceding associationist theories; defined isomorphism as a simi larity of process, derived specific laws such as proximity, and contiguity, and correlated cortical perceptual and cognitive states. It is important to note gestalt psy chology’s initial field of investigation; "wholeness" as a vital consideration of the physiological process and brain function and their theoretical extension to all forms of life, mind, and matter. This formulation was subsequently adapted by gestalt aestheticians, such as Rudolph Arnheim and Suzanne Langer. At its inception, gestalt theory offered a radical 52 ' departure from the associationists’ theory in their use of data. Whereas both gestaltists and associationists were aware of the complex nature of physiological function, they proceeded quite differently in their analysis of physiological phenomena. The procedural question at issue was: does one sort a complex physiological event into its component parts or analyze the complex total unit? The associationists separated complex neurological events into single neuron fibers, and measured the quantitative stimulus-response effect within the individual element. The gestaltists in turn opposed stimulus-response, one point focus. While not denying the importance of indi vidual facts, the primary emphasis of gestaltists was an analysis of the manner i.n which the whole complex unit is bound together. Analogously, gestaltists characterized asso- ciationist thinking as being overly committed to the study of the individual bricks, to the extent that a study of the mortar binding them together was precluded. Whereas assqciationist data were limited to quantitative measure ments, i.e., if one neuron discharged one unit of energy, then five neurons acting in concert discharged five units of energy, Gestaltist research insisted upon a qualitative 14 analysis, Kohler, by analogy, referred to qualitative chemical changes in the union of (Na) sodium and (Cl) chlorine, when chemically united in the compound sodium 53 chloride (NaCl), Sodium and chlorine as individual ele ments are poisonous volatile substances; however, the resultant compound, sodium chloride, is an inactive salt better known as common table salt, Associationist and gestaltist theory further differs in the.former's reliance upon machine process theory as the explanation of phenomena, whereas the latter refers to dynamic change, A machine process attributes change to simple cause-effect or stimulus-response phenomena, and measures the change quantitatively. Associationists analyze consciousness as the quantitative summation of sensations and reflexes, which in turn are dependent upon cell structure and thereby reduce consciousness to a 15 machine process dictated by cell anatomy, Kohler, in vehement disagreement with what he considered to be limitations restricting consciousness solely to machine process theory, ascribed human conscious ness to both machine process elements and dynamic processes, which included both quantitative material aspects of the cell, and qualitative integration of the non-material forces surrounding it, Gestaltist concepts of conscious ness derived from total field phenomena, Gestaltists metaphorically referred to associationists as being so preoccupied with individual trees, that they failed to 16 observe the ecology of the total forest. Dynamic field theory phenomena were confirmed by 54 gestaltists in their investigation of stroboscopic effect and gamma movement. Whereas associationists attributed stroboscopic effect and gamma movement to brain malfunction and concurrent "cognitive illusions," gestaltists viewed these as genuine phenomena correlating with events in the brain. Perceptually, the stroboscopic effect occurs in the following manner: If a visual object, for example a line, is shown briefly in one place, and almost immediately after ward in a second place, not too distant, an observer does not see two objects appear in quick succession at two places; rather, he sees an object moving from the first place to the second place,.17 In gamma movement an object rapidly expands when it suddenly appears and rapidly contracts when it suddenly disappears, Wertheimer's research confirmed perceptual cortical correlations in the brain, and refuted the "cogni- 18 tive illusion" theory of associationists. Related to the dynamic process is the concept of form-quality as a perceptually integrated unit produced through dynamic process. Musical melody is a form-quality unit, defined by Wertheimer as the total form which melody imposes upon the individual notes of which it is composed, and which is responsible for its "inner form"; specifically Wertheimer observes: We can transpose a melody, change all its elements, even some relations between them, but we still recognize it. It is the inner form that leads to our recognition,19 Gestalt-qualitat is the term coined by Wertheimer for this 55 inner-form quality. Further elaboration of "quality" and "wholeness" has resulted in three related terms: gestalt, field, and 20 pragnanz. Gestalt refers to a resultant perceivable form or configuration. For example, gestalt may be seen in the following patterns: a musical melody perceived as inner form and not as individual notes, a ball perceived as a round object, and not as a series of surfaces, and a face perceived as a total unit and not as a mouth, nose, and ears. The resultant pattern, the gestalt, is partially the result of forces converging on an object. Field is the term referring to these forces. In physics a field of forces upon a wooden block consists of the frictional and gravitational forces which determine the speed at which the block could move down an inclined plane. If then gestalt is defined as the resultant configuration, shape, or form, and field as the forces present, the question arises: What will determine that specific configuration will occur as opposed to other possibilities? Pragnanz is the term, referring to the mediating and unifying link, which determines the gestalt 21 form imposed upon the forces present. Pragnanz, the organizational principle, determines the formulation of a gestalt within the field, and is based upon the best possible understanding, structure, or configuration of forces. Pragnanz is the key which integrates all 56 perceivable features. Psychologically pragnanz is stated as follows: Organization will only be as good as the prevailing conditions allow; in this definition, "good" is undefined, it embraces such properties as regularity, symmetry, simplicity, and other features.22 Simplicity is not to be confused with simplistic. An example of pragnanz is the rule of organization appli cable to the radius of a circle, A radius is a simple constant, namely a line formed by joining the center of the circle to a point on its circumference; however, the number of repetitions of elements, or radii may vary, Pragnanz may integrate by means of minimal structures or principles as the radius of a circle, or maximal principles akin to consciousness and their relation to brain function. In sum, pragnanz is the organization of all dynamic forces present in a field, acting upon an organism, and the resultant gestalt. Isomorphism, a term referring to similarity of i pragnanz, was first applied to the gestalt physiological process and subsequently to aesthetics. Isomorphism seeks to unite all forms of life, mind, and matter, and insists upon basic similarities between organic/inorganic struc- 23 ture, and psychical/physical structure.“ Isomorphism refers to congruence of organizational patterns, inde pendent of the material components present. Stated otherwise, corresponding pragnanz exists as configurations 57 of dynamic forces, independent of varying matter which embodies these forces. Kohler specifically related iso- • morphism to physical and psychical phenomena: Any actual consciousness is in every case, not blindly coupled to its corresponding psychophysical process, but akin to it, in its essential properties . . . thus, isomorphism, a term implying equality of form, makes the assumption that the motions of atoms and molecules are not fundamentally different from thoughts and feelings.24 Kohler observed isomorphic relations between dynamic processes in the brain cortex, the retina, and concurrent figural after-effects, phenomena. The term figural after effects refers to the persistence of vision after an original stimulus has disappeared, processes of obstruc tion, and relational shifts. An example of figural after-effect is the visual perception of a straight line as curved: When we look for some time at a curve which is geometrically part of a fairly large circle, this circle gradually becomes flatter. , , . When after wards an objectively straight line is inspected which passes through the middle of the previously seen curve, this physically straight line looks curved, A shift in relationships also occurs when one observes a circle composed of large and small segments. A figure- ground relationship exists: one series of elements composes the ground, or background, and the other series of elements forms the figured object within the ground framework. The figure-ground reversal occurs in the following manner: at first, the smaller segments serve as figure and the larger 58 segments as the ground; after continued focus, the larger ' ’segments of the circle become the figure and the smaller 2 f i segments the ground. Observing the obstructions and reversals, with reference to a straight line perceived as curved, Kohler theorized isomorphic patterns occurring in the brain. His hypothesis required verification as follows: The cortical process in the brain causes an obstruction in the tissues through which it passesf cortical brain patterns are stronger at the boundary of the object, the process is global in the brain and not limited to the visual area 27 corresponding to the originally perceived object. In sum, Kohler's research revealed an identity of process which exists between figural after-effect, current flow in the retina, and current distribution in the cortical tissue. The term electrotonus, used in physics, affords a model for the above isomorphic relationships: namely, the current entering a cell encounters resistance in the surface layers of cells; this resistance and concurrent obstruction, reduces the electrical flow in the immediate environment and causes a shift in the current's flow, Kohler stated the necessity of additional experiments to establish the validity of isomorphic relationships similar to his observations of figural-effect, retina, and cortical tissue f Brain function is a critical component of 59 gestaltist theory of thinking and insight. For ge- staltists, thinking and insight are not a matter of previous learning and recall but rather, the process of the brain which transforms the data of experience into a newly 2 8 fused awareness of relationships. For example, one suddenly beeowes aware of a geometry problem solution, without conscious awareness of the intermediary steps causing insight. Insight, sometimes referred to as the "aha" phenomenon was the focus of an experiment Kohler per- 29 formed with chimpanzees. Kohler demonstrated the procedure required for obtaining a banana; it consisted of the combined effort of standing on a box with a stick, and then jumping upward to the height sufficient to reach the banana. One chimpanzee grasped the relationships and succeeded in obtaining the banana; the other simply jumped up and down with stick in hand, expecting to receive the banana. The second chimpanzee failed to grasp the essen tial relationships and was unsuccessful.in his attempt. Because gestaltists were investigating phenomena such as insight and consciousness, and these phenomena were not directly quantitatively measurable, gestaltists 30 were labeled mentalists or metaphysicians by asso ciationists; nevertheless Kohler and Wertheimer extended their investigations and explored primary perceptual functions as "native" phenomena, 60 Gestaltists affirm senses contain primary dynamic qualities which precede and shape experience. Acknowl edging the influence of learning and experience upon perceptions, gestaltists nevertheless cite a prior sense quality, "the primitive, the basic, the fundamental, which has little to do with later cultural derivatives^ Cultural experiences may dictate red be equated with violence in one culture and passivity in another; however, in its initial primary appearance, the color we label red is perceived as "the gay and the strong," Research in primary visual perception led to several gestalt laws: the law of proximity, the law of similarity, the law of closed form, the law of good contour (or common destiny), and the law of common movement. The law of proximity, or the distance principle, states groupings are facilitated when distances are small. Ele ments which are closest to each other, all other factors being equal, tend to form groups. Visual illustration of the proximity law are illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 by means of the spacing between circles; Figure 2 by reason of equal spacings facilitates one grouping, whereas the unequal spacings facilitate two groups or more of circles 32 rn Figure 3. The law of similarity states similar objects tend to form groups when more than one form is present; the principle is visually represented in Figure 4f by the Figure 2 Gestalt Figure 3 i ! Gestalt 63 Figure 4 Gestalt groupings of circles and, triangles. The law of closed form observes that lines which enclose a surface tend to be seen as a unit. The perception of a square visual object and not two sets of parallel lines, is an example of closed form. The law of good contour or common destiny states parts of a figure which have a good contour tend to form units. Figure relationships must also be taken into account insofar as what one observes must be visually separated from its surroundings. Visual unity is dependent upon our ability to perceive the figure within the ground. The law of common movement states elements are perceived as a unit when they simultaneously move, or move in a similar manner. Rudolph Arnheim initially trained as a gestalt 33 psychologist in Germany under the direction of Wertheimer, subsequently became an aesthetician, and applied his knowl edge of gestalt to the field of visual arts. Arnheim's indebtedness to gestalt theory is evident in the following areas of investigation: the innate nature of perception, perception as a function of total form or gestalt, the application of pragnanz and isomorphism to art, the relationship between cognitive and perceptual function, the interrelationship between the artist's values, the media, the object created, and the confrontation between 34 the theory of empathy and gestalt, Arnheim supports the priority of the innate qualities of sense perception, whereas he opposed expla nations derived from past experience or learning, which he considered secondary contributions. He abhors the down grading of immediate and direct sense experience, in the name of cultural acquisition of concepts by means of memory, learning, and association, A child in our culture’ ) 35 is sensually deprived; while learning to manipulate words and numbers, he is alienated from primary sense objects. We talk about an object i.e., a poem or a painting, rather than experience its qualities. Poetry is a medium rich in connotations and its meaning may shift. In applying the terms field, pragnanz, and gestalt to art, following Arnheim's lead, one might say the configuration of forces present in the rhythms and connotations of poetry form a gestalt, Arnheim, referring to art objects, though not specifically using the term isomorphism, suggests a simi larity of configurational forces inherent in all objects. The expressive quality of the object is determined by the tensions and dynamics the object embodies: All percepts are dynamic, that is, possessed by directed tension. The tensions are inherent compo nents of the perceptual stimulus, just like the hue of a color, or the size of a shape, but they haye a unique property not shared by the other components: being phenomenal forces they illustrate and recall the behavior of forces elsewhere and in general. By endowing the object or event with a perceivable form of behaviour, these tensions give it character, and recall the similar character of other objects or 66 1 events. This is what is meant by saying that these dynamic aspects of the percept express its char- ! : acter.36 i 1 In sum, the configuration of forces is present in the ; I object. One's senses enable one to attribute meaning to j configuration of forces* Pragnanz, or organizational ! I patterns are inherent in sense perception; patterning ( . explores, analyzes, and synthesizes incoming sensations. As Arnheim states, the senses are capable of unifying the 37 1 percept and the concept by grasping essential qualities, , i For the purposes of the Trans-Per communication model of Arthur Miller's text: Death of a Salesman the ! gestalt terminology by focusing upon the manner in which i the elements of the whole structure shift, yet resulting ini a dynamic "wholeness," is relevant to our understanding ! of the term transactional. Field refers to the available elements, pragnanz to the particular forces at a given ' moment, and gestalt to the specific resultant unity. Isomorphism is another important term, which indicates ' simultaneity or similarity of patterns which reinforce a ! 3 8 particular gestalt, Communication: Introduction and Models : A model may function as a means of representing 1 events, objects, and people. This representation mav be ; i either of a general or an abstract nature and may utilize | l visual, pictorial, verbal, and mathematical constructs, j f i i 67' A model’s chief function may thus be a means of organizing j . 39 and analyzing phenomena. Wilmot and Wenburg state a model may function to structure our thinking within the 40 i limits of a particular perspective (orientation). The 1 Corpernican system may be represented by a model which i has as its premise, a solar centered system. The under- | standing, prediction, and control derived from a model is j dependent upon its proper use and its avoidance of certain | I pitfalls: (1) over-extenSion, (2 ) over-simplification, j (3) use of false analogy, (4) premature closure, and (5) j 41 i model-behavior confusion. As a first consideration, an over-extension would I be the application of a model solely incorporating the i Freudian concepts, id, ego, and superego to all literary ; production. This would assume that all literature is the j product of these Freudian constructs, however, Jung's concept of a collective unconscious denies the usefulness of Freud's constructs. The critical issue raised by Bentley, with respect to Death of a Salesman is whether "Freudian" or "social” applications apply* The second caution, regarding over-simplification may be found in Berio's communication model, insofar as it has omitted a critical feature of communication: non-verbal cornmuni— I t cation. The third consideration, false analogy is the | equating of non-comparable attributes: we can compare a ; t brain and a machine in terms of certain transmission j principles, but as Mortensen indicates, we cannot compare them in all respects. Fourth, premature closure is the construction of a model before all necessary data have 42 been integrated, An example/ Broadbentrs model, which assumed that jamming occurred when two pieces of data were , transmitted simultaneously through one juncture, needed to be reevaluated when research indicated one can attend to more than one bit of information at a time. Last, Mortensen illustrated model-reality confusion by indicating the model is not the thing, i.e., Spain is not green 43 because it appears in that color on a map. In sum, a model is of value in gaining knowledge, insight, and per spective, within limitations. This author must indicate the components of the Shannon and Weaver^ model, not for its present usefulness as a present human communication model, but for the thought it has stimulated, and in order to introduce some basic structures that have been used in communication models: source, receiver, signal- The Shannon—Weaver model is a linear model which states that the signal (message* sent) is transmitted through a channel to a particular receiver (see Figure 5): The in formation source produces a message or a sequence of messages to be communicated. The trans mitter operates on the message in some way to produce a signal suitable for transmission over the channel. The channel is the medium used to transmit the signal from the transmitter to receiver? The 69 Information source Transmitter Receiver Destination Channel Signal Received signal Message Message (Decoder) (Encoder) Noise source Figure 5 Shannon and Weaver receiver which ordinarily perforins the inverse operation to that of the transmitter, reconstructs the message from the signal. Finally the destination is the person or thing for whom the message is intended.4 5 Its basic limitation for human communication purposes is that it is a linear non-transaction model which does not parallel human communication. The Shannon1 and Weaver mathe matical models designed for the depiction of information transmission, and intended as a machine construct, never theless did stimulate thinking resulting in the formation of the concepts: encoding, decoding, entropy, redundancy, noise, and channel capacity. It also developed the pre cursor of feedback, the concept of noise (message interference); noise refers to the difference between the message sent and the message received. Further investi gation led to the concept of feedback: "information which a communicator gets from others in response to his own 46 verbal behavior." Another advantage of models is their heuristic 47 function. As fan example, a conceptualization of id, ego, and superego does not prove the existence of these constructs within human beings, but nevertheless the assumption has led to the development of various forms of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, A further example of communication formulation, may consist of partial application of model components to a dramatic text: the source (origin) would be the 71 playwright, the message (signal) would be the text (script), the channel is either by means of the written text, or on a stage before an audience. The receiver is the auditor, which may be the reader or the audience, and/ or critics who render judgments of the play. In the transmission of the message (text), there may be a differ ence between the play’s intended (message) by the play wright, and the message perceived by the auditor (audience critic). Arthur Miller’s intended message containing the sociological aspects of Death of a Salesman was not per ceived by the audience, which identified with Willy Loman’s .. . . 48 situation. Other model terms relevant to communication models are encoding and decoding. Encoding refers to the trans- 49 mission by the source of the message. Reception of the message is referred to as the decoding process. Some terminology the .present author referred to are intrapersonal and interpersonal aspects. Additional terminology, verbal or non-verbal cues, refers to the form of the message. There are verbal behavioral cues (i.e., speech or written language), and non-verbal behavioral cues (i.e., pantomime). There are public cues from the environment (i.e., lighting), and private cues 50 (i.e., one’s personal orientation), 51 . The Becker Social.Mosaic Model, is introduced at „ _ y this point first, as an illustration of how a communication 72 model may be applied to a text, and secondly because one of the mosaic's major functions is. the interaction of events within space and time, (See Figure 6 .) The interaction of forces over space and time is an important:issue with respect to Willy Loman's sub jective point of view, and his construction of "reality." The Becker Mosaic Social Model, coupled with Mortensen’s suggested extension of an interlocking Becker 52 . Mosaic Personal Model, permits the analysis of varying contexts over space and time, and the accretion of meaning through the combination of various social and personal 53 events. The cube analogy of the Becker model highlights the complex nature of communication and the relatively limited strata of information drawn from the enormous funding of potential information present in a constantly changing mosaic. The source-receiver arrow piercing the mosaic, suggests the relatively small amount of information retrieved compared with the potentially avail able information. It should be noted that the blackened areas of the cube indicate permanent or temporary un availability of information. One can perhaps explain the selective information retrieval process by Wilmot and Wenburg's comments that there is selective exposure, retention, attention, and perception of data by indi- 54 viduaIs, The response to data may be strongly dependent upon the preservation of vested interest, in a personal, I Vgssage bits X/ Receiver Figure 6 Becker Mosaic Model 74 subjective, private world of thought. Pressures may even be exerted, as in the case of Willy Loman to perceive an ''unreal" world to the point that within the private mosaic, sensory data may or may not correlate with the "real" world. To illustrate the social mosaic, Becker details the coming together of various impressions, separated in time and space, to form the message comprising the meaning of Martin Luther King's assassination, Amongst these impressions Becker includes: retelling of the assassi nation, the effect upon possible fair housing legislation, snatches of conversation regarding Whitney Young, and implications of the Negro rioting, A characteristic of the mosaic is the repetition of certain elements as well as newly added bits and pieces whose sum constitutes the 55 message, In Death of a Salesman r one finds Willy Loman' s personal and social mosaic presented in bits and pieces which interact over space and time. As the play begins, the immediate situation is Willy's return from an un- successful business trip on the road. One learns that on this trip Willy's mind went back in time, and he imagined 56 himself to be driving his old Chevrolet, The fading of the present and crystallization of the past, results in Willy having difficulty staying on a real, present, road. One further discovers that Willy relives the past— a time when his son Biff was a football star. This is a past image which has never faded for Willy, and is not dispelled by the present reality of Biffls present, drifting, un successful existence. Before discussing the Trans-Per Model, for appli cation to Arthur Miller's text,: Death of a Salesman, we should like to further review several other models: the 57 58 59 Berio Model, the Schramm Model, the Dance Helix Model, 6 0 the Ruesch-Bateson Model, and the Barnlund Transactional Model,61 As indicated under "pitfalls," under the category of over-simplifications a limitation of the linear Berio model is that it is a static model which does not allow for feedback, (See Figure 7.) Nevertheless, it is im portant because it does take into account the various human components that affect the "information" sent. Both the source and the receiver are dependent upon the com munication skills, attitudes, knowledge, social system, 6 2 and culture of each. The message is a function of its organization, that is, the elements and structure consist of content, treatment, and code, The message code is any group of symbols that can be structured in a way that is meaningful to some person, i.e., English or another lan guage, The message content is the material in the message that was selected by the source to express his purpose. Message treatment is the decision which the communication source makes in selecting and arranging both code and Figure 7: Berio Model Source Communication Skills Attitudes Knowledge Social System Culture Elements-Structure Content Treatment Code -j 'j Source Seeing Communication Skills Hearing Attitudes Touching Knowledge Smelling Social System Tasting Culture content. The channel refers to the senses through which a decoder-receiver can perceive a message which has been encoded and transmitted by a source-encoder, i.e., seeing, £ i "5 hearing, touching, smelling, tasting. Whereas Berio j does not treat non-verbal communication, and his message j is composed of symbolic means, there is a suggestion of a | non-verbal modality, through his discussion of the senses. ] One may further note, for our purposes of the j Trans-Per model, that Berio stresses some of the compo- I | nents helpful in the present application of selected I | interpersonal and intrapersonal communication. One is I i j partially concerned with the Trans-Per model attitudes: ! "an internal element; the tendency to evaluate any object i i or issue or person in a favorable or unfavorable manner."64 j Berio refers to attitudes of the speaker toward i ! himself i.e., stage fright, and attitudes toward a ! i receiver. Of interest now also, is Berio's socio- j cultural system which is partially comparable to inter personal, group, and organizational contexts, in that it concerns itself with beliefs, values, and expected cultural behaviors.^ ' 6 6 ! One notes the Ruesch and Bateson model because it, ' like the Trans-Per model, has a delineation of contexts in ; some way similar to the Trans-Per's intrapersonal, inter- i 1 6 7 personal, group and organizational context. The I Ruesch and Bateson model contains four levels: Level I-- 78 intrapersonal, Level II--interpersonal, Level III--group interaction, Level IV--cultural. (See Figure 8 .) The Ruesch-Bateson model details the process con cerning the evaluation, sending, channeling, and receiving J aspects of models, rather than within a perceptual system j of internal and external stimuli as does the Trans-Per I j model. Nevertheless the Ruesch-Bateson model, as does the i ! Trans-Per model, places human communication within the j ! context of concrete events.®® 6 9 The Barnlund Transactional intrapersonal model assumes transactions are dynamic, continuous, irreversible, and complex. One is including the Barnlund intrapersonal model, although our emphasis is the interpersonal context of the Sereno-Bodaken Trans-Per model, because for pur poses of an overview, it is helpful to review how stimuli ; may be assimilated on an intrapersonal basis. (See Figure i j 9.) The Barnlund Transactional model as in the case of the Trans-Per model, has meaning actively assigned. The arrow emanates from P^ (person); the Barnlund model thus ; suggests its active attribution by the individual. I j The encoding and decoding, which are part of the spiral J encompassing the individual (P-^) form an interwoven ‘ simultaneous strand, which thus suggests the transactional : nature of meaning (as also suggested by the internal and ! 7 n external elements of the Trans-Per model). The selected 79 Level 3 Level 2- E: Evaluating S: Sending C: Channeling R: Receiving One Person Level 1 i ! I I Figure 8 Ruesch and Bateson Model i I i | | I I I i i 80 "1 ■pu ■pr ■pu- ■pu' - pu' Person Decoding Encoding Public cues . Private cues Nonverbal behavioral cues Cptj- Figure 9 Barnlund Intrapersonal Model 81 , Trans-Per model intrapersonal factors are self-esteem, j i dogmatism, ego-involvement, character, and dynamism, within the internal and external perceptions. While the rubric ; , of the Barnlund Transactional model does not label internal! i and external stimuli, it does consist of designations of ; ! . 7 1 public cues, private cues, and behavioral cues (signs), i ; I : Public cues (Cpu) are part of the physical world and are generally available for public inspection: as example 72 would be a view of the ocean. Private cues (Cpr) repre sent those cues usually only available to the individual I such as taste and touch. "What is critical is that they 73 are outside the deliberate control of the interactants," The third category of cues[behavioral and non- i i verbal (Cbehnv)] are deliberate productions of the indi- : f vidual. An example of behavioral non-verbal cues is Willy , Loman1s behavior in attempting to plant seeds in his back > yard. A further feature of the Barnlund model is the jagged lines 3j) which indicate a wider range of \ ■ possible cues available, then observed or performed, 1 Valence signs (-, 0, or +) indicate the positive, nega tive, or neutral nature of the stimuli as well as its strength. Barnlund gives the following example of a patient entering a doctor's office: I At the moment he is faintly aware of an antiseptic ; odor in the room, which reinforces his confidence in the doctor's ability to diagnose his illness (Cpu), As he glances through a magazine (Cpr0) he is conscious of how comfortable his chair feels after a long day on his feet, (Cpr+), Looking up, he glances at the Miro reproduction on the wall, but is unable to decipher it, (CpuO), He decides to call the nurse. As he rises he clumsily drops his magazine (cbehnv~) an(^ stoops to pick it up, crosses the room (Cbehnvo^ ' anc^ nings the bell firmly and with dignity (Cbehnv- ) *74 | 75 The Schramm model is of significance because of its elaboration of transaction and its introduction of "meaning," (See Fig, 10,) It infers human intervention \ i and a constant interaction between the sender and the ; receiver of a reciprocal nature. Coding and encoding J are activities which are simultaneously maintained by both the sender and the receiver. The use of the term 7 6 "interpreter" infers a dimension of meaning. Also in- ; I ferred is a common "field of experience," that is, a j psychological frame of reference. The interactants relate to each other; this interaction is part of the message. i 77 The Dance Helix model is not a systematized model. There are no specific functions indicated such as t source, receiver; however, it is a useful conceptual model of human communication in that it implies that com munication is continuous, unrepeatable, additive, and accumulative, (See Figure 11,) In a sense, the Helix model underscores the idea that the spiral process incor- < j porates all that has gone before. It suggests that we ; i bring with us a store of previous internal stimuli as does j Message Encoder Decoder Interpreter Interpreter Decoder Encoder Message Figure 10 Schramm Model Figure 11 Dance Helix Model 7 8 1 the Trans-Per model. Trans-Per: A Model of Communication is designed by Kenneth K. Sereno and Edward M, Bodaken. As indicated ; : in Chapter I Trans refers to transaction and Per refers . j : to perception; what one is emphasizing here is the inter- j | personal communication dimension of the model for I 1 I i application to Death of a Salesman, In review, trans- . action is an interrelated interdependent, simultaneous , process, involving two or more interactants. Perception, as was discussed in the previous 79 i section, is a resultant blend of the internal and t ■ external perceptual systems. The internal system basically. represents stimuli which occur within the individual and 8 0 external stimuli representing the ''out-there, " The i I specific internal system of concern now, within the selected internal attitudes are: ego-involvement, self— ; esteem, empathy, and acceptance:®"bnerecognizes that there ■ 8 2 * are many more potential internal stimuli available, > (Figure 12 represents the potential internal system,) The 1 t external system for purposes of this study are limited to character, dynamism and anxiety, again recognizing that there are many more potentially available stimuli, i,e,, style, space, and distancing. (See Figure 13,) The I emphasis is upon the interpersonal meanings created by the transaction; a result of the perceptual blend of the j Figure 12: Internal System Figure 13: External System Figure 14: Intrapersonal Communication ee ieie X. ii / ie\ V iel ei ei/ x xx Figure 15: Interpersonal Communication Composite Sereno-Bodaken Model_____ 87 internal and external system of each participant. It is necessary to introduce intrapersonal blending (unique meaning) in order to determine the common areas of inter lap between individual shared meaning. (See Figure 14, Intrapersonal communication and Figure 15, Interpersonal I ! communication.) j Trans-Per has been chosen because it seems to i g ^ have an isomorphic relationship with the interpersonal behavior that occurs between characters as measured by the dialogue and actions. i While one can only infer the shared meanings through one's knowledge of the intrapersonal communication, one can make some assessments as to influences upon them, that one would not typically be aware of via the application! 84 1 of dramatic criteria. Hopefully the application of both | methodologies (dramatization) and the Trans-Per model, will ;provide a useful tool which may be applied to Miller1s !other work as well as to other playwrights. This author takes up this issue again in our summary and conclusion 85 section. ! In terms of correspondence, oneM.is not recording |"actual" events. A play is at best a selective simulation !of "reality"; nevertheless, I think the application of the model will reveal the degree of skill which Miller has i :shown, in revealing "real" characters as analyzed by the 1 88 added dimension of the Trans-Per interpersonal communi cation model. Again one is seeking the manner in which messages link people. NOTES "''Max Wertheimer, "Gestalt Theory," Social Research 11 (1944):84. 2 Kurt Koffka, Principles of Gestalt Psychology | (New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc., 1936), p. 11. 3 j Adolphe Appia, "The Elements of a Work of Living j Art," Theatre Arts Monthly.16 (1932):673. i 4 Suzanne Langer, "Expressiveness and Symbolism," in Melvin Rader, Aesthetics (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1960), pp. 248-258. 5Ibid., p. 253. ^Rudolph Arnheim, Entropy and Art (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971), p. 164. 7 Bertolt Brecht, Brecht on Theater (New York: Hill and Wang, 1964), p. 160. g Dennis Bablet, Edward Gordon Craig (New York: Theater Arts Books, 1966), p. 171. 9 Adolphe Appia, The Work of Living Art and Man is the Measure of All Things (Coral Gables, Florida: University of Miami Press, 1960), p. 10. 1 0Ibid., p. 1 1. "^Wolfgang Kohler, The Task of Gestalt Psychology (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969), p. 54. 12„ ^Wertheimer, "Gestalt Theory, " pp. 84-103 14 Kohler, The Task of Gestalt Psychology, ; "^Koffka, Principles of Gestalt Psychology ■'"^Kohler, The Task of Gestalt Psychology, j 1^Ibid., p. 76. 18 Wertheimer, "Gestalt Theory," p. 84. 90 19 Ibid. p. 8 6. 20 Arnheim, Entropy and Art, p. 101. 21Ibid., p. 107. 22 Rudolph Arnheim, "Gestalt Theory of Expression from Towards a Psychology of Art (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966), p. 58. 23Ibid., p. 72. 24 Kohler, The Task of Gestalt Psychology, p. 55. 25Ibid., p. 127. 26Ibid., p. 140. 27Ibid., p. 137. O O Ibid., p. 208. 29Ibid., p. 159. 30 Wertheimer, "Gestalt Theory," p. 101. 31 j Rudolph Arnheim, "Eyes they have, but they |see not: A conversation with R. Arnheim," Psychology 1 Today 6 (June 1972) :38 (interview by James R. Petersen) 32 I Kohler, The Task of Gestalt Psychology, p. 18 7 l ! 33 Arnheim, Entropy and Art, p. 158. 34 Ibid., p. 177. i 35 I Arnheim, "Eyes they have, but they see not: A !conversation with R. Arnheim," p. 41 ! 36 Rudolph Arnheim, Art and Visual Perception J (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1954), p. 63. i 37 ; Arnheim, "Eyes they have, but they see not: A |conversation with R. Arnheim," p. 3 8 Koffka, Principles of Gestalt Psychology, p. 159. 39 Mortensen, C. David, Communication: The Study ! of Human Interaction (New York: McGraw-rHill Book Company i 1972), p. 33. 4 0 Wenburg, John R. , and, Wilmot, W., Personal Communication Process (New York: Wiley, 1973), p. 83. 41 Mortensen, Communication: The Study of Human Interaction, p. 42 Ibid., 33. P- 35. 4 3,., Ibid. , P* 36. 44 Ibid., P- 37. 45 Ibid., P. 36. 46 Ibid., P« 38. 4 7 , Ibid., P- 31. 4 8... . , Miller , Collected Plays, p. 37. 49 Ibid. 5 0 . , Ibid., P- 51. 51T, Ibid., P- 47. 52 Ibid., P- 48. 53, . , Ibid., P.* • 54 Wenburg and Wilmot, Personal Communication ; Process, p. 118. 55., i Interaction, p. 47. ^Miller, Collected Plays, p. 19. 57 Mortensen, Communication: The Study of Human Interaction, p. 30. 58,., Ibid., p. 41. 59 Ibid., P- 42. 60T, Ibid. , P- 49. 61 . , Ibid., P- 52. 6 2 , . Ibid., P- 30. 92 Ibxd. ^Kenneth K. Sereno and Edward M. Bodaken, "Trans- Per: A Model of Communication," University of Southern California, 1976, p. 1 . ^Mortensen, Communication: The Study of Human Interaction, p. 31. 6 6 . Ibxd. ^Ibid. , p. 49. 6 8 ,.. Ibxd., p. 50. 6 9 T, . . Ibxd., p. 51. 7 0 . . Ibxd., p. 52 . ^Sereno and Bodaken, "Trans-Per : A Model of Communication," p. 4• 72 Mortensen, Communication: The Study of Human Interaction, p. 53. 73 Ibid., p. 51. 74?, ,, Ibxd. 7 5,.. Ibxd., p. 41. Ibxd., p. 40. 77Ibid. p. 42. Ibxd. 79 Sereno and Bodaken, "Trans-Per: A Model of Communicationp. 3. 80T, . , . Ibxd., p. 1. 81T, 0 Ibxd., p. 2. ^^Ibid., p. 1 . 83 i 84 Ibid., p. 4. See Chapter VI. 93 CHAPTER IV THE APPLICATION OF DRAMATIC CRITERIA TO THE TEXT OF ARTHUR MILLER'S DEATH OF A SALESMAN Death of a Salesman will be divided into sequences reflecting the interpersonal/intrapersonal contexts which represent several points-of-view i.e., Willy-Biff or exclusive intrapersonal contexts reflective of Willy's intrapersonal point-of-view, as well as divisions which note both past and present time sequences. The sequences which reflect Willy Loman's exclusive, recontructed re experience include-"past," representative of his point-of- view because within this context Willy shares meaning solely with himself, i.e., Uncle Ben's continued appear ance after Charlie leaves, when Willy "converses" with his deceased brother Ben.1 This sequence also reflects Willy's intrapersonal point-of-view in a "present” reconstruction. Later, however, we have a "past" con struction sequence wherein Willy recreates and re experiences the events, in his mind, of the time when Ben advised him to go to Alaska, but Willy refused, believing 2 he was building a career with the Wagner firm. Since it occurs solely in his mind, it is intrapersonal in nature. 94 ; Another example of a reconstructed reexperienced intra- ; : personal sequence is represented by Willy *s memory of the ; events preceding Biff's football triumph in Ebbett' s ' ■ ! ■ field.3 | i The many alterations of time and point-of-view j from past and present as well as interpersonal (wherein \ ; individuals attempt to share meanings with others) and i i intrapersonal (where an individual shares meaning with ; | himself), are many facets which are operative in Death of A Salesman. In some sequences as shown above, there is a ; restriction and confinement to the intrapersonal view of [ ■ the "past"; in others both the intrapersonal "past" and ; the interpersonal/intrapersonal "present" coexist. Because of these interacting levels of complexity, Death of A I ' Salesman embodies nuances not found in Miller's previous ' work in terms of time sequence and intrapersonal, as well 1 \ ; as interpersonal/intrapersonal point-of-view. As one shall note in the time sequence, the intra- i 1 personal and intrapersonal/interpersonal point-of-view are vital elements in Death of A Salesman, and constitute an essential aspect of the action, for it is the mixing of the past, as reconstructed and reexperienced through : Willy's mind, in its recombination with the present action ; which constitutes the inside inner logic leading to Willy's1 death. As Miller indicated, he knew at the beginning of 4 ! the play that Willy would kill himself. The development of the play depends upon Willy’s compulsion to fuse i i reconstructed reexperienced past events with the present j action leading ultimately to his suicide. | i For Gassner action in Death of A Salesman appears | to be of one piece and develops steadily and incrementally i i I until it reaches its final major crisis: , No recollection is allowed to leave the play in a 1 state of stasis. Not only does the overall action | move forward a step after such episodes, but these j are both preceded and followed by bursts of conflict between Willy or the mother and the boys. Miller j has, in addition, overcome stasis by a steady climb ' of discovery and revelation.5 ! But what Gassner refers to as recollection, this author perceives as reconstructed reexperienced "past" events occurring within Willy's consciousness. Each step in the progression of recollection noted by Gassner is a result of an exhaustive reexperiencing of the past. Turning now to sequences in the present, the introductory sequence reveals Willy returning home ! exhausted and unable to complete his sales trip to New ; England; the boys' conversations, between Happy and Biff, ! 1 represent present interpersonal/intrapersonal contexts. : The final sequences, ending with the conclusion of Act Two, and preceding the requiem, also represent primarily an interpersonal/intrapersonal present sequence where ! there is an attempt to share meaning between Willy and j I Biff. It is successful in that Willy recognizes Biff's j love for him; it is unsuccessful in that Willy cannot give ! up his "success dream," which is one of the factors 1 leading to his suicide- ; The presence of constantly shifting present-past episodes, as well as the predominance of intrapersonal or I I intrapersonal/interpersonal contexts will necessitate in turn a delineation of the play into corresponding j sequences which will be analyzed by means of the Trans-Per j model, subsequent to our analysis by use of dramatic j I criteria applied to plot, character, language, and thought.' Death of A Salesman presents us (as just noted) with numerous examples of intrapersonal present, intra- personal past,' and interpersonal/intrapersonal present. There is also a third type of sequence which merges both : i the intrapersonal "past" and the interpersonal/intra- { personal present. This merging occurs, for example, when i Willy is playing cards with his neighbor Charley, while at ; the same time he is "conversing" with his deceased brother ^ 6 1 Ben, who, of course, is not observed by Charley. Another ! example of similar juxtaposition occurs during the Boston ' 7 Hotel scene which reconstructs 1) the past within the intrapersonal context, and 2) the present, which reveals the interpersonal/intrapersonal context where Willy is meeting his sons, Happy and Biff. I have identified twelve major sequences obtained by utilizing the intrapersonal and/or intrapersonal/ interpersonal context, in conjunction with the "past" and j I ; present distinctions. These sequences are: ^ Sequence one begins with a conversation between i Willy Loman and his wife Linda, and ends with a conver- ; g ' sation between Biff and Happy. Sequence two begins with ! the reconstructed reexperienced past, when Willy returns ! i home from New England with a punching bag for Happy and 9 ' ; Biff, and concludes with the entrance of Charley. i Sequence three originates with Charley's entrance and ends ; ; with his departure.10 Sequence four begins with the I reconstructed reexperienced past at the point when Willy ’ discusses a possible future in Alaska for him and his boys ! with Ben, only to disregard this possibility because he believes his sons can succeed here while Willy himself moves up as a salesman, and ends with Willy convinced he has given the right values to his sons.11 Sequence five, ■ which occurs in the present, begins with Linda and Biff discussing the rift between Willy and Biff, and continues ' with Willy's decision to ask his boss Howard for placement : i ; in New York, and ends with Biff's decision to ask Bill 12 Oliver for financial backing in a business venture. : This concludes Act One. Act Two begins with sequence six, in the present; it represents Willy's preparation to meet . with Howard, and then afterwards to meet with Biff and I ■ Happy at the cafe for a celebration. It ends with Biff's phone call to Linda as he indicates he has removed the gas • , 1 3 hose. : Sequence seven is in the present, and is composed j 14 1 ; of Willy's meeting with his boss Howard, Sequence eight J represents a reconstructed reexperienced preparation for . I Biff's football triumph in Ebbett's field and concludes 1 ! 15 ; with the reappearance of Ben. Sequence nine is in the ; ! present, occurs in Charley's office as Willy converses I i with Bernard and then Charley, and concludes with Willy's ' : realization that Charley is his only friend.'*'® Sequence j i ■ ten is a mixture of past and present, and contains both ; S the reexperienced reconstructed intrapersonal "past" ; ! Boston hotel scene and the present interpersonal/intra- i 17 ; personal Cafe scene context. Sequence eleven occurs in the present, in Willy's home, and concludes with Willy's ; 18 suicide. Sequence twelve, in the present, is an inter- j ' personal/intrapersonal context represented by the ; 19 : requiem. i , i ■ Sequence One ; When Willy returns home exhausted from his pro- i jected trip to Boston, we discover that Willy is unable to concentrate on driving and constantly goes off the road, j as he lapses into "memories" of the past. Linda, his wife, t is concerned about Willy's welfare and asks that Willy j obtain a nontraveling job in New York with his firm by , speaking to his boss, Howard Wagner, One also discovers i ’willy's disappointment in his son Biff, who has just ' ! returned home from the West, and whom Willy considers I "lost" and unsuccessful. One findsout that despite his i disappointment over Biff's lack of success, Willy has | mixed feelings regarding Biff, to whom he refers as having : I . potential "greatness," yet whom Willy views as a failure— 1 ; i i because at the age of thirty—five Biff has not found a ; ! "successful" place, but keeps drifting from one ranching ‘ ; job to another. : Neither does Willy's son Happy (Harold) afford ! much comfort to Willy, for he, too, does not conform to Willy's success image despite Harold's several achievements ■ as a minor functionary in a department store. Willy later refers to Happy and Biff as individuals upon whom he cannot depend for financial support when his boss, Howard, sug- I i gests that Willy might rely on his sons for assistance. | Other evidence of the lack of positive rapport between ! Willy and Biff is provided in the conversation between ; ' I Biff and Happy. One finds that Biff has not met the success i dream image so necessary to Willy, and one subsequently discovers . ’ in a "past" scene that Biff has been deeply dis- i appointed by the discovery of his father's infidelity. This past intrapersonal context hotel scene, where Willy's infidelity is discovered is crucial to the play, and i I ' constitutes the critical issue to which this study shall | i later return. ; Let one, however, now note that Willy considers j lOOl his son's failure as due to Biff's spiteful behavior, for ! in Willy's view Biff's lack of success can only be ex plained by spite, since Biff according to Willy, is a i person who lives by appearance. He was Adonis in high j school, was "well-liked," and captain of his high school ' l team, but his failures are attributed to spite, rather : i than Willy’s encouragement of Biff's immaturity. Biff refers to his father's success dream as phony, and to j I Willy himself as a fake. This in part derives from Willy's; i worship of the success dream, as well as the pursuit of j unrealistic goals. Nevertheless, Biff's viewpoint through out the play corresponds to Willy's, for he, too, is unable to give up his "success dream." In the last sequence, be tween Willy and Biff, prior to Willy's suicide, Biff says i ! "I know who I am." At that point he no longer has a success dream paralleling Willy's dream, but rather a life ; style represented by plans to return to the West, and earn j his livelihood on a ranch. Here, too, Biff reexperiences the deep love he has for Willy, and the bonds of affection between them are Reestablished. Willy, however, while able to accept Biff's love is unable to give up the success dream which he has planned for Biff. One becomes aware of this during Act Two in the cafe scene, when Biff tries to explain that he is not able to obtain an appointment with 1 Bill Oliver— the potential financier of a $15,000 loan to I i invest in a sporting goods venture. | 10l| ' Perhaps one could explain Biff's inability to ; penetrate the wall of Willy's unreality as a result of j ! Willy's terrible frustrations in his encounter with Howard i j Wager. Willy is fired by Howard from the firm where he hasj i worked for thirty-five years. During the cafe scene, j ; j 'which closely follows Willy's job loss, Biff and Happy J i leave their father in the cafe, when they discover they are; i I i i unable to communicate with him. Biff hoped to greet his j , father Willy with good news, of a successful meeting with Bill Oliver, but can't convey the fact that no meeting has j i . : taken place. Shortly after, however, Biff reaffirms the i ; bond of love for Willy who accepts it but still feels the j necessity of helping Biff become successful. Willy be- : lieves that his only means of helping Biff further is j j through the provision of his insurance money as the cash ! "start" for Biff's career. As one finds out in the requiem, ! i * this "success dream" is misconceived, for Biff, despite his affection for Willy, rejects the success dream as "the ; wrong dream." i Biff, nevertheless, remembers and responds to the human element in Willy, comprising all the things Willy did, and all the things Willy might have done. Earlier, during the cafe scene Biff refers to Willy as a prince of a father who always thought about his youngsters. In the requiem Biff also pays respect to his father's manual ' i skills, his work on the porch and home, and his love for 1 ; his sons— which represents the "real" Willy. Both Happy and Linda, as indicated in the requiem, do not "understand" ! Willy's suicide. Linda uncomprehendingly asks: "Why did he ! do it?" Happy still believes that Willy has the right ; dream: to come out number one. As the above analysis underlines clearly, one of j the crucial questions is: Why do all of the protagonists in Death of A Salesman display such desperate reactions to Willy, his person, and his dreams. It is hoped that by applying both the dramatic criteria and the Trans-Per ; model, one may find an answer to such questions. The central issues of the play and the conflicts are brought out within the first five pages of dialogue. One of the central issues of the play is the father-son ! relationship. Throughout the course of the play there is an unfolding of the roots of conflict and an illumination of the origin of hostile attitude between father and son, i until its eventual resolution through love during the final scene. This initial hostility, however, is revealed through exposition. Willy refers to Biff by stating: . . . There's such an undercurrent in him. He became a moody man. Linda: I think if he finds himself, then you'll both be happier and not fight anymore. ; Willy: Why did he come home? I would like to | know what brought him home. Linda: I don't know. I think he's still lost Willy. I think he's very lost.20 |This ill-at-ease feeling or hostile interaction which ; occurs between father and son is further illuminated in the' i conversation between Happy and Biff. Happy: What happened, Biff? Where’s the old humor, the old confidence? What's the matter? ] ; Biff: Why does Dad mock me all the time? . . . ! ! Everything I say there's a twist of mockery on his ! face. I can't get near him. i t Happy: I think the fact that you're not settled, that you're still kind of up in the air . . . I Biff: There's one or two other things depressing him, Happy. Happy: What do you mean? ■ Biff: Never mind. Just don't lay it all to me. ! I One' is confronted with a mounting line of tension. The 1 I ■ audience focuses quickly upon the problem, i.e., the 1 relationship between Biff and Willy. Then, a further : restatement regarding this central father-son conflict ; occurs when Linda speaks to Biff of Willy: I . . . And then the closer you come, the more shaky ; I he gets. . . . He can't bring himself to open up to you. Why are you so hateful to each other?22 , I While Biff is aware of Willy's unfaithfulness, Linda is ; ; not, and Biff, of course, does not disclose it to Linda. ; ; Biff may also be responding to Willy's phony success dream ! i ■ by use of the word "fake" which figures prominently in the Boston hotel scene. 1 Biff: I know he's a fake and he doesn't like anybody around who knows. Linda: Why a fake? In what way? What do you ; mean? j Biff: Just don't lay it all at my feet. It's between me and him--that's all I have to say.2 3 i The woman with whom Willy is unfaithful is fore- I i shadowed early in the play. Biff's love for Willy, while ! it finally resurfaces at the end of the play, is not yet ; i evident. Later Biff recognizes that the "real" Willy ! 1 belongs with Biff out in the country. [ Biff: They've laughed at Dad for years, and you ; know why? Because we don't belong in this nuthouse j of a city. We should be mixing cement on some open ; plain, or— or carpenters . . .24 I i I This is, of course, unacceptable to Willy who enters j 25 saying, "Why do you always insult me?" An interplay ; i occurs: Biff: Oh Jesus, I'm going to sleep. Willy: Don't curse in this house. Biff: Since when did you get so clean?26 1 Summarizing this analysis one can state that, within I I the first several pages of dialogue one'is introduced to ; I several conflicts or themes: 1. Willy is presently an unsuccessful salesman, 1 ) who, at the suggestion of his wife, Linda, plans to see > his boss, Howard Wagner, to obtain a position in New York. Willy must rely on straight commission money for his t support which is often inadequate to provide for the needs of himself and Linda; it is necessary for Willy, to borrow ; money from his neighbor Charley, in order to make the pay ments on his home, and his insurance. 2. A central theme of the play is the father-son conflict, to which the audience is immediately cued by means of foreshadowing. Willy has reached a turning point in his life; and the structure of the play will shift from present to past. One also discovers Willy's inability to be consistent in terms of his evaluations of Biff. Willy says of Biff: "The trouble is he's lazy . . . Biff is a lazy bum"— and later he says: "There's one thing about 27 Biff— he's not lazy." One discovers that Willy's wish for Biff's success, and his emphasis upon Biff's "personal attractiveness," is at times interrupted by Willy's realistic awareness of Biff's failure in the business world. One also discovers that Willy needs to be surrounded by his successful chil dren, especially by Biff, in order to feel fulfilled as a father. This is conveyed when Willy says that a man spends a lifetime paying for a house— and then there is nobody to live in it. Sequence one continues with the conversation be tween Happy and Biff and one discovers the two protagonists' mutual alienation. When Happy inquires if Biff is "still sour" about Willy, Biff answers with a negative, neutral 2 8 "he's all right I guess." This suggests Biff's basic conflict with his father. One becomes effectively involved with the characters while obtaining background for the progression of the plot. One learns that Biff has returned home from the West to please his father, Willy, and also because Biff does not earn enough money there to be a success. He returns in spite of the fact that to him, nothing is more beautiful (emotionally speaking) than to J be on a ranch during springtime: ; 1 • ' I In Nebraska when I herded cattle, and the Dakotas, i and Arizona, and now in Texas, It's why I came home now, I guess, because I realized it--this farm I ; work on, it's spring there now, see. And they've I got about fifteen new colts. There's nothing more | ; inspiring or— beautiful, than the sight of a mare I and a new colt. And it's cool there now, see? ■ Texas is cool now, and it's spring. And whenever j spring comes to where I am, I suddenly get the , ! feeling— My God, I’m not gettin' anywhere. What ' • 1 the hell am I doing, playing around with horses, ! 1 twenty-eight dollars a w e e k . 29 . One further learns that Happy is discontented in spite of the; i fact that outwardly he has the success which eludes Biff, : i.e., he has his own apartment, his own car, and many i ! women. I I And I know that's just what I would do. I don't < know what the hell I'm workin' for. Sometimes I sit in my apartment— all alone. And I think of the rent I'm paying. And it's crazy. But then— it's what I ; always wanted. My own apartment, a car, and plenty j of women. And still, goddammit, I'm lonely.30 : Sequence Two : The reexperienced, intrapersonal scene, occurring | within Willy's mind, reflects the "past" wherein Willy ! has a positive father-son relationship with Biff. Willy . has returned home from a trip to New England and brought I gifts for Happy and Biff— who are then high school teen agers. He promises young Biff that he will take him along ! on his later trips to New England. He has brought a punching bag with Gene Tunney's name on it for his young sters, and he states that in the future he will have a business of his own, so that he need no longer leave his ' sons alone at home. He insists that Biff will be praised by the coach for his initiative in "borrowing" a ball from : . [ school, but one later finds that this "swiping initiative" j eventually results in Biff's stealing suits as an adult and landing in jail. In this sequence one also discovers that Willy exaggerates his sales to Linda, by indicating 1 at first sales of $1 ,200.00 gross and then correcting them : to the actual figure of $200.00 gross. Furthermore, Willy i admits to his insecurities: j Willy: My God, if business don't pick up I don't j know what I'm gonna do, I Linda: Well, next week. j Willy: I'll go to Hartford. I'm very well liked ! in Hartford. You know the trouble is, Linda . . . : people don't seem to take to me. Linda: Oh, don't be foolish. Willy: I know it when I walk in. They seem to laugh at m e .31 ; In a following short segment which occurs in the J present, Willy meets Happy on the stairway and states that j i 1 i his deceased older brother Ben was correct in going to j Alaska and making a fortune. The function of this state- ! ment is to prepare the audience for Willy's subsequent "conversation" with Ben prior to his suicide, wherein Willy discusses the $20,000 life insurance he is leaving to Biff. Sequence Three j i The third sequence begins when Charley enters the 1 10 si house. He has heard Willy talking to himself loudly and j ; I : has decided to come over to determine what’s happening. While Willy and Charley are playing cards, Ben appears as j ! a construct of Willy’s mind-— his intrapersonal frame. ! i I I t This introduces sequence four.. The Ben motif, an important motif for the play, is also introduced; it is represen- j j tative of Willy's success dream. Ben personifies the ; J individual who has been successful in life’s jungle. Upon 1 i ! i Charlie's departure, Willy relives the past with Ben. Ben | 32 ! feels "one does not fight fair in the jungle," but does ! i not value Willy's salesman position. 1 I Sequence Four > Sequence four begins with Willy reexperiencing and I reconstructing Ben’s past visit to Brooklyn, and their ' conversation regarding the great opportunities available ; in Alaska and Africa. Willy, in response, indicates that ,his fine youngsters, Biff and Happy, will do well in j Brooklyn; nevertheless, he sets Ben up as a success ideal j for Happy and Biff. "This is your Uncle Ben, a great man! Tell my boys, Ben!"^ Ben's ruthlessness becomes evident when he "good- naturedly" trips Biff, and points an umbrella at his eye I stating: Never fight fair with a stranger, Boy. You'll never get out of the jungle that w a y . 34 In this sequence one; is also confronted with ' 109! Willy's condoning of his son's thievery, as he swipes j material from a nearby construction site in spite of the warnings of Charley and Bernard: | i Willy: You shoulda seen the lumber they brought home last week. At least a dozen six—by-tens worth all kinds of money. i Charley: Listen if that watchman— ' Willy: I gave them hell, understand! But I : got a couple of fearless characters there. , Charley: Willy, the jails are full of fearless characters.35 . : Perhaps the most important revelation in this ; I sequence, however, is the suggestion of Willy's need for permanency in a family relationship. One discovers that j I Willy was just a baby when his adventurous, flute-playing | father departed for parts unknown. Ben describes this i i pioneer father who took his family across the Western plains, inventing gadgets which he sold, and playing the i ! flute. However, Willy had almost no contact with his ' I adventurous father as suggested by the following speech to j i Ben: Willy: Please tell about Dad. I want my boys j to hear. I want them to know the kind of stock they ! spring from. All I remember is a man with a big I beard, and I was in Mamma's lap, sitting around a fire, and some kind of high music. Ben: His flute. He played the flute. Willy: Sure, the flute, that's right.56 The sequence ends with Ben informing Willy that both the old father and he, Ben, had the right idea: to walk into j i the jungle and walk out rich. This confirms Willy's j i success dream image, as Willy responds: j 110 That's just the spirit I wanted to imbue them with! To walk into a jungle! I was right! I was right! I was right!37 Sequence Five i Linda enters and after a brief conversation with i i i Willy encounters Biff, who is dismayed at Willy's i situation as revealed by Willy’s conversations with him- j self. At this point Linda asserts her love for Willy to j Biff, and states that he must respect his father or leave. She says: Willy Loman never made a lot of money— he's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a ! human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid.3 8 It is here that Linda introduces Willy's suicide attempts i in terms of finding a special rubber pipe on the gas line, | and of hearing of a witness who saw his attempt to kill ; himself in his vehicle: ' 1 She says he came to the little bridge, and then ! deliberately smashed into the railing, and it was 1 only the shallowness of the water that saved him.39 j Shortly thereafter the sequence concludes. Biff decides to help the family and Willy, by going to Bill Oliver and asking for financial assistance for a business venture, with the encouragement of Happy, Linda, and Willy. Before continuing with the sequences which I constitute Act Two and the requiem, this author will : i evaluate Act One in terms of the applicable dramatic cri- j teria for plot. The first act of Death of A Salesman does j I * ; make the transxtxon from point of attackr to rising action, i ; with subsequent complication which the second act completes1 ; in terms of complication, crisis, climax, and denouement. I : I In reviewing Act One, one should note that expo- i i sition and foreshadowing are masterfully rendered in the J first act of Death of A Salesman. The dramatic criteria j 1 1 I for exposition and foreshadowing indicates for exposition: J ! i 1. Exposition must give information necessary j for the progression of the plot J 2. Exposition must interest the audience af- ■ I : fectively in the characters, plot, and theme : 3. Exposition must reveal the environment, the ‘ i i background of the play, the motivations, and the person alities of the characters. Furthermore, traditional plot ! I 1 must meet the requirements of logic, probability, and , plausibility for the audience ! In terms of exposition the principal source of ! | information in the opening interpersonal segment between I i . Willy and Linda, and later between Happy and Biff, bring : us up to date on their present situations. We learn that Willy is on the verge of collapse, as a failing traveling i salesman; furthermore, we see the empathetic response of Linda to Willy's situation. By means of the conversation j ' between Happy and Biff, we learn that Biff loves to be f outdoors on a ranch, but is unable to maintain this way of • ' life because it is inconsistent with his desire to be a t 1 "success." This complements the earlier conversation j 3 : ' wherein we discover that Willy, too, desires his son Biff to partake of his success dream. Happy, ostensibly the ! I I successful one in the family, is an assistant at a depart- j , ment store, but is plagued by loneliness. It should be , understood that the scene between the boys is foreshadowed i I . in Willy and Linda's initial conversation. I Within the first three pages of the play, one un- | i : covers the necessary information for the progression of the j plot. There is foreshadowing of the scene between Willy ! ; and Howard, wherein Willy will attempt to resolve his j difficulty, being too old for the road, by requesting a ! job in New York; Biff's lack of success will supposedly be | I remedied, we discover, as the play progresses by an ! i i ! appointment with Bill Oliver, which is to provide the j means for a successful business-venture. The loss of love, or the inability to express love j i i .for each other, which is the essential problem of Willy and Biff, is foreshadowed by Biff's constant referral to ;Willy as a "fake," as well as by the two initial conver sations where Linda with Willy, and Happy with Biff, iattempt to discover the root of the animosity between father and son. I i There is also present in the first act the elusive j appearances of the "woman" while Linda mends stockings; .thus Miller has foreshadowed the Boston hotel event which 113 shattered the father—son relationship— represented by j Biff’s discovery of his father's infidelity. ! i In terms of empathy by the audience for the char- • i i acters, Arthur Miller has indicated that he has received i I . I | hundreds of letters from individuals stating that Willy, i ! or Biff, or Linda's life paralleled their own situation. j i I We shall further discuss such implications in the section on thought. In terms of the play itself, those in the j audience observe a failing, tired salesman and a lost son j j and cannot help but be absorbed empathetically by the J ! events. Were this not enough— one .has the most vital ' , issue at stake: a man's life. One discovers during Act One I that Willy has attempted to run his car into a bridge, and ' i later that he has a hose on the gas burner, ostensibly for ; ; j : the purpose of suicide. j j A structural element reveals the roots of the ; J ' present problems— Willy's expectation of a salesman's life, and his relationship with his son— by means of Willy's ■ consciousness: his intrapersonal recreated reexperienced ; past. Here one learns the positive aspects of the expo sition in terms of the environment and background of the t , play, and the motivations, conflicts, problems, and i ■ personalities of the characters, as well as foreshadowing ! of future conflicts. On the positive side one has discovered Willy's ■ desire to be with his sons, to serve as an ideal for them, . 114 to bring them sporting equipment which will develop their athletic ability, especially Biff-s football achievement. One has also foreshadowed Willy's vision of business as I the means by which a man will be known, respected, and j achieve success; one becomes aware of Linda's support of this perception as opposed to going to Alaska with Ben to ; make a fortune. I On the negative side one finds Willy's inability to j face up to reality as suggested by 1) his overstating how | I much he has earned at first (conversation with Linda), and j 2) by his stating he is well known in New England (conver- ; sation with the boys) and 3) admitting to Linda that "they I laugh at him" on the road. ; As Gassner indicates, the various reconstructions ‘ of the past are an integral part of the play, and provide ; 40 both exposition and movement forward into the action. In the first act one sees how Willy's reconstructions are leading him, how they represent his struggle to explore | and synthesize his present condition, as well as discern 1 the meaning of what has occurred. The reconstructions further reveal Willy's idealization of his sons which leads to his failure to curtail their shady activities. Biff swipes a regulation i football from the school with which to practice for the ! football game and "borrows" lumber for use in the Loman i home. The exposition provided by the "past" sequences, j ; in conjunction with the action of the present sequence, 1 ! i 1 provides a logic, probability, and plausibility, for ! Willy's eventual suicide. This author shall evaluate the ■ 1 interweaving of "past" and present by means of the Trans- : ! Per model. We shall also attempt to evaluate why Biff I is able to give up the "success dream," and why it is ; possible and plausible for Biff to seek a meaningful pattern for his life by "knowing who he is," despite his j t awareness that "he stole himself out of every good job." ! , Biff may. have been spiteful in the past, and have spent j most of his life prior to the final sequences — drifting j i out West while attracted to the success dream. 1 -One,can now consider the following elements perti- [ nent to plot: point of attack, rising action, compli- j j i I cations, crisis, and climax, as well as denouement. In I i the first act one can speak to all of the above with the ; exception of major climax and denouement. Rising action I i i xs referred to as: ! 1. Dramatic movement (action) which may consist of outer dynamic movements and/or inner psychic movements (motives) in a consistent and plausible structured pattern,, 2. The play must make full use of actions to in volve the audience. The reconstructions by Willy Loman do ' give us a unique opportunity to view Willy's internal I constructs. The scenes xn the present gxve one an oppor- j ! tunity to be involved in the current actions and conflicts . 116 i The rising action is intimately associated with the point of attack because that point forges a catalyst for complication, conflict, crisis, and climax. Further more, to determine the point of attack, one must become aware of what the problems of the play are which will precipitate the rising action with ensuing complication (conflict), crisis, and climax. For point of attack I have indicated the following criteria: 1. The point of attack must be plausibly located within the dramatic structure so as to provide the motive force for the rising action 2. From the standpoint of character and situation, the audience must accept the point of attack In response to the above criteria, Death of A Salesman has its point of attack located within the im mediate first four pages of dialogue. Willy is an unsuccessful salesman, Biff is a drifter, and the father- son relationship has been ruptured. Thus one has a mix ture of forces divergent enough; to necessitate rising - action to deal with the impending conflict. This author will defer the discussion of the following aspects of plot: complication (conflict), crisis and climax until the completion of the sequences in Act Two and the requiem. At that time there will be an evaluation of these aspects, in terms of the 117 I following criteria: ■ 1. There should be a progressive development of 1 ! forces leading to a necessary obligatory scene ; 2. The crisis should be an integral result of the j ! ! complications ; 3. Maximum emotional effect should result from [ the crisis i i 4. The major climax must be consistent with i . audience expectations: that is, the audience must be pre- , t f | pared i 5. The climax should be dependent upon the action \ of a principal character and should embody the theme j 6 . A new alignment of forces should follow the major climax I i 1 The reason for the deferment is that the obligatory; . scene, the Boston hotel scene, occurs in the second act, ; and the major crisis, the last scene between Biff and ! i ; Willy also occurs there. , f An evaluation of denouement is’ . ' t o be delayed until I after a discussion of the requiem because at that point ; one will have an opportunity to observe and comment upon I Willy's action as well as the manner in which they are perceived by Happy, Linda, Biff, and Charley, the "spokes- i man." It is at such a time that one can best determine if the play meets the requirements of denouement, namely: j * 1. It should unify and complete the course of j 118' i the previous events ; ' i i ; 2. It should contain dramatic recall I Act One prefigures and foreshadows the following i ! important scenes which will occur during Act Two: | I 1 1. The scene between Howard and Willy j 2. The cafe scene where Willy is to meet his sons | ; Happy and Biff i 3. The Boston hotel scene, a reexperienced past J ! event where Biff discovers Willy's infidelity Sequence Six I With Act Two, sequence six begins. Willy and ; Linda are content that Biff will see Bill Oliver, and Linda assures Willy that he will have a successful re- ( I sponse; in the case of Willy, his reassignment to New York , seems to be assured. Afterwards, Willy anticipates his : future by a celebration with Happy and Biff at the cafe. Qnealso notes Willy's nervousness when Linda mends her , stockings, which one Will find are reminiscent of an ; ever-present unconscious guilt in Willy's mind, especially regarding his infidelity in Boston. This author would like to point out that the stockings play a part in these ; later relived scenes, for Biff accuses Willy of giving the jother woman "mamma's stockings" (i.e., Linda's). I I The act begins on a hopeful note of anticipated success, but ends tragically. The anticipated success i relates to Willy’s meeting with Howard and Biff meeting with Oliver. As the sequence continues, objects are re ferred to as "being used up," i.e., a refrigerator. This foreshadows Willy being fired by Howard. Material goods are discarded objects. The refrigerator and car are used up and require repairs. Willy bought a well-advertised brand of refrigerator which, nevertheless, breaks down. The dialogue about material goods becomes a metaphor of Willy's life: "They time those things. They time them so when you finally pay for them, they're used up," says 41 Wxlly. It is suggestive of life closing in on Willy. The last payment on the house is coming up, but as Willy expressed earlier, none of his children wishes to live in it, and, of course, shortly thereafter Willy commits suicide. Sequence Seven Sequence seven begins in the present at Howard's office. Howard listens to a wire recording of his son's voice, and seems almost completely unaware of Willy's state of mind. As soon as Willy reminds Howard of his promise to try to find a job for him in New York, Howard says that he cannot do it. When Willy counters that he wants only a modest minimum salary, Howard maintains that 42 "business is business" and that Willy is not needed in New York. Willy tries again, unsuccessfully, to make his i ! point by recalling the promises made by Wagner Sr. to the j ; effect that Willy would be taken into the Wagner firm. One! * I ; ■ i also findsWilly's ideal dream expressed through Dave ! I Singleman— he represents the loved and successful sales- j | . man— who merely picked up a phone and obtained an order: I ^ — His name was Dave Singleman. And he was eighty- ; I four years old, and he'd drummed merchandise in : ! thirty-one states. And old Dave— he'd go up to ! ! his room, y'understand, put on his green velvet ! ’ slippers— I'll never forget— and pick up this phone ; and call- the buyers and without ever leaving his ' ( room, at the age of eighty-four, he made his living. | And when I saw that, I realized that selling was i ! the greatest career a man could want. 'Cause what ' could be more satisfying than to be able to go at the age of eighty-four, into twenty or thirty ' different cities, and pick up a phone, and be i remembered and loved and helped, by so many differ- i ent people? Do you know: when he died— and by the | way he died the death of a salesman, in his green ; velvet slippers in the smoker of the New York, New 1 Haven and Hartford, going into Boston— but when he | j died, hundreds of salesmen and buyers were at his ! funeral. Things were sad on a lotta trains for \ months after that. See what I mean? In those days ! there was personality in it, Howard; there was re spect, and comradeship, and gratitude in it. Today, ( it's all cut and dried, and there's no chance for i 1 bringing friendship to bear— or personality. They j don't know me any more.43 i None of this has any affect on Howard, other than ^ to fire Willy. Willy retorts that one can't eat the orange and throw the peel away— "a man is not a piece of 44 i fruit" whereupon Howard tells Willy to gain control of ! himself. A little later he tells Willy to "take a rest," ' i ! and returns his sample case— which in effect is his way of firing Willy. One shall later analyze this scene by means , of the Trans-Per model to determine if it is primarily 12l! ■ interpersonal in nature, or to the contrary, if it is ; i ; i primarily a model of organizational structure and/or a ; statement of theme. Willy, after Howard's departure, ; j relives the scene in which Ben had offered to take him to J i i I Alaska, but Willy had refused believing that he had a [ , future with the Wagner firm. When Charley offers Willy a [ ! position, Linda indicates that Willy is doing well enough 1 ; with the Wagner firm. j I Sequence Eight j In sequence eight, the firing of Willy by Howard j ! is the immediate event which provokes Willy's return to j i the reconstructed reexperienced past. Unable to find 1 the answer for his "failure" Willy asks: "Oh, Ben, how 45 ! i did you do it? What is the answer?" Willy and Ben then ; f ! converse about Ben's successful deals in Alaska. As Willy ■ ■ reenters the reexperienced past, he speaks of the un- . ; i : limited opportunities which await Biff, as exemplified by J ; the offer of football scholarships from three leading j 1 p universities. Willy feels that the Ebbetts1 field foot ball finale is of great significance to Biff's future , success. It is Biff's personality as the football hero, Biff's being well-liked, and Biff's future "contacts," j which Willy anticipates will guarantee Biff success. i ! i This scene is probably remembered and reexperi enced at this point in the play because of the subsequent I sequence which suggests Willy's belief in his own success i in ventures with the Wagner firm; in order to counter Ben's offer of an Alaskan venture Linda states: Linda: (to Willy) You're well-liked, and the boys love you, and some day (to Ben)--Why, old man Wagner told him just the other day that if he keeps it up : he'll be a member of the firm, didn't he? (Ben laughs) Willy: Sure, sure, I am building something, with this firm here, Ben, and if a man is building something he must be on the right track, mustn't he? < Ben: What are you building? Lay your hand on : it. Where is it?46 I Of course, during the Howard scene, Willy has discovered ■ that he truly has nothing--he is to be discarded. j Sequence Nine I In the present interpersonal/intrapersonal con- ! text, one findsWilly in Charley's office. Willy encounters Bernard, Charley's son. He feels Bernard's success as a ; lawyer is countered by what Willy considers to be Biff's ! failure— and, therefore, Willy clings to the hope that ! Biff will catch up with Bernard by being backed with j Oliver's money. In response to an inquiry regarding ' Biff's activities Willy states: Well, Bill Oliver, very big sporting goods man, called him in from the West, long distance, carte blanche, special d e l i v e r i e s . 4 7 Willy, however, is still trying to ferret out the I reasons for Biff's singular lack of success after the i i Ebbett's field game, following his failure in math. j Willy recognizes that this failure could have been made up j 123; in summer school; yet, Biff didn't attend summer school. . When Bernard refers to Biff's visit to Boston (fore shadowing the Boston Hotel scene), Willy becomes defensive,. I and the following dialogue ensues: * I Bernard: What happened in Boston, Willy? I i just bring it up because you asked me. ! Willy: Nothing--What do you mean, "What ; happened?" What's that got to do with anything? i Bernard: Well, don't get sore . . . ' Willy: What are you trying to do, blame it I on me? if a boy lays down is that my fault? i Bernard: Now, Willy, don't get . . . j Willy: Well, don't— don't talk to me, that ; way: what does that mean "what happened?"4 8 | In the ensuing portion of the sequence, Bernard ] leaves, and Charlie discovers that Willy has been fired. He offers Willy a job but Willy cannot accept a job from ; Bernard, because it would be tantamount to admitting his failure. Suggestive of his eventual suicide Willy states: 49 "A man ends up worth more dead than alive." Sequence Ten In sequence ten Happy and Biff meet in the cafe prior to Willy's arrival. Happy tries to pick up a date for himself and his brother, despite the anticipated arrival of Willy and Biff's evident agitation. Finally, Biff gets through to Happy and prepares to tell Happy about Bill Oliver: Happy: I told you she was on call! Biff: Cut it out, will ya? I want to say something to you.5 0 Biff admits to Happy that he was a shipping clerk, not a salesman for Bill Oliver, and, that furthermore, he had ; inexplicably stolen Bill Oliver's fountain pen, (probably in response to the realization that Bill Oliver would not see him). Biff, furthermore, anticipates a principal j problem of the play by making Willy aware of the reality | of the situation he is in. He cannot be financed by Bill ■ j Oliver. This attempt to communicate is further complicated ; i by Willy's immediate revelation that he has just been j fired by the firm, and his consequent deep,need for | compensatory "good news" for himself and for Linda. ■ Willy's rejection of the truth and his agitation is noted i in the following speeches: Willy: I'm not interested in any stories about the past or any crap [Biff's not succeeding with j Bill Oliver] of that kind, because the woods are , burning, boys, do you understand? There's a big blaze going on all around. I was fired today.... . Biff: How could you be , , .? ; Willy: I was fired, and I'm looking for a little good news to tell your mother, because the j woman has suffered. The gist of it is that I j haven't got a story left in my head, Biff. So don't give me a lecture about facts and aspects. 1 I am not interested.51 ; Of course, T'tfilly refuses to listen when Biff attempts to speak of his failure with Oliver, and in desperation, Biff reverses his story, and finally indi cates that he does have an appointment with Oliver, after having told Willy that he stole Oliver's pen. j Another reason for this change in position is j » j Willy's state of mind as indicated by the transition from i the present intrapersonal/interpersonal context to the i accompanying intrapersonal past where Willy relives Biff's i } j math failure and the Boston Hotel sequence. Biff's failure with Oliver triggers the reversion to the re- ! experienced recreated Boston Hotel scene. Biff has just i i indicated he stole the pen: [ 1 Biff, weakening: Dad, I just explained it to you. Willy: You stole Bill Oliver's fountain pen! Biff: I didn't exactly steal it! That's just J what I've been explaining to you!52 I The section of the following sequence will be used for the application of the Trans-Per model because it reveals a relationship between what is occurring during the cafe scene in the present, especially interpersonal i I relationships between Willy and Biff and the central char acters in Death of A Salesman. It clarifies what is happening in Willy's "unconscious" intrapersonal domain i : by revealing his reconstructions of the past scene at the i Loman home when Biff failed math and did not obtain a football scholarship. It sheds light on the crucial Boston Hotel scene from the perspective of understanding : what the basis is for Biff's earlier references to Willy , as a fake and a phony in terms of Willy's infidelity. I I The lines of dialogue which occur in the Cafe, which are heard by Biff and Willy, in the later analysis will be referred to as intrapersonal/interpersonal I 126 ■ because as indicated earlier, in our introductory chapter, ; : the dialogue is not viewed as static, but rather as a dynamic transactional process wherein one character is j actively engaged both in terms of the responses to his \ i ! dialogue and the internalization of the significance of ; ( ! the respondent dialogue. ; I Those lines of dialogue which represent lines heard by Willy alone, i.e., "Standish Arms, good | | 53 I evening!" are intrapersonal, despite the fact that Biff ; i is present as the dialogue is reexperienced and recreated in Willy's mind, and because Biff does not hear them. i However, those lines which belong to the "past" sequence, 54 i.e., "I'm not in my room!" exist on several levels of , context: they are intrapersonal for Willy who is recreating! j the event, and interpersonal for Biff who hears the dia- 55 logue, and responds, "Dad what's the matter?" In the 1 : Trans-Per model analysis of this sequence I shall indicate : next to each line in the sequence which contexts are meant., The procedure will incorporate the following notations: ■ present and/or past; intrapersonal/interpersonal (indi cating that both Willy and Biff hear the dialogue); intra personal (indicating it is solely heard by Willy); as well as the "location"— cafe, Boston hotel, or the Loman home. r r I A sample is shown now to exemplify the procedures: * Willy: (Tosses pen on table) My God, Biff! ! (Present. Cafe, intrapersonal/interpersonal context) 1 Biff: I never intended to do it, DadI (Present, ' cafe, intrapersonal/interpersonal) ! Operator's Voice: Standish Arms, good evening I 1 (Past, Boston hotel, intrapersonal context) ' Willy: I'm not in my room! (Present, cafe, \ intrapersonal/interpersonal and Boston hotel, past, , intrapersonal) Biff: (rises, frightened) Dad, what's the matter? ( (Present, cafe, intrapersonal/interpersonal)56 , The sequence continues with Bernard, as Willy j reconstructs and reexperiences both the past and present, . advises Linda that Biff has failed mathematics, and with Biff's responses to Willy's apparent non-sequitur remarks, ! i.e., "Math, math, math, No, No! you had to go and flunk ; 57 math!" which has no correspondence to the cafe reality. ; Biff tries to calm Willy. His method is to lie to Willy and to say he has an appointment with Bill Oliver and possibilities in Florida, with Happy "confirming" the ; i non-existent appointment. ! I Biff recognizes his father's deeply troubled | I state, but is overwhelmed by his own inability to cope with the situation. In speaking to Happy he says, after showing him the gas hose: Biff: He's going to kill himself, don't you know that? Happy: Don't I know it! Me! Biff: Hap, Help him! Jesus . . . Help him . . . Help me, help me, I can't bear to look at his f a c e ! 58 Happy and Biff then go out with the girls from the i bar, during Willy's absence in the men's room. Biff j leaves primarily because he doesn't know what to do for j his father despite deep compassion he feels for him. Biff j ! expresses anxiety and love a few lines earlier: i S ' - ' 1 Biff: Miss Forsythe, you've just seen a prince j walk by- A fine troubled prince. A hard-working,’ . unappreciated prince. A pal, you understand? A ; good companion. Always for his boys.59 I I I Willy returns from the rest room only to discover his sons : I , have left, and have left him quite alone. At this point i ; .there, is a reconstruction and reexperiencing of the Boston | ! ; Hotel scene through Willy Loman's intrapersonal per- i ; spective. t | Willy returns to the time when Biff, upon finding i that his math teacher had flunked him, travels to Boston ; to see Willy. Idealizing Willy, he believes that Willy can set things right again, only to discover the woman in , Willy's bedroom asking for silk stockings. Willy tries to . j overcome the situation by stating that she's just a buyer. : Biff, however, cannot accept his father's behavior, and it is here that the rupture occurs. Biff shows that he does not consider his father to be the kind of person he wants i to resolve the math with his teacher, Mr. Birnbaum; he 1 further announces that he is no longer interested in obtaining a football scholarship. Here the specific refer- : ences to "fake" and "stockings" which have been fore shadowed earlier are given in their original context: Willy: She's nothing to me, Biff. I was lonely, j I was terribly lonely. Biff: You— you gave her Mama's stockings! [ Willy: I gave you an order! [to reconcile the j situation in math or go to summer school] Biff: Don't touch me, you— liar! j 12 9 ! Willy: Apologize for that! Biff: You fakel You phony little fake! You fake!SO The sequence ends with Willy recontacting the reality of his presence in the cafe. He leaves to purchase seeds and to return home. The next sequence begins with Linda condemning Happy and Biff for leaving their father, who has just been fired, alone in the cafe, after having invited him out to dinner. Linda further attempts to intervene, intent oh clarifying and resolving Biff's relationship with Willy. Sequence Eleven Sequence eleven contains the major climax of the play. It is here, after Linda's denouncing of Biff and Happy, that Biff encounters Willy in the garden. Prior to the arrival of Biff in the garden, Willy attempts to change his "failures" into successes. He has been fired from his position, and, therefore, has no hopes of succeeding personally; and it is unacceptable to Willy to have his life "ringing up to a zero." Having viewed the Boston Hotel scene, one can understand Willy's feeling of responsibility and probable guilt towards Linda as he tells Ben "Cause she's suffered, Ben, the woman has 61 suffered." Willy also feels a need to "add up" fi nancially, and his life insurance appears to him as the solution. "Remember, it's a guaranteed twenty-thousand 130 ; g 2 ‘ ' dollar proposition," Furthermore, Willy has not gotten j i i I . . . . the respect and attention in life that he anticipates j . receiving posthumously from those who will come to pay i < ! j their last respects at his funeral, "Ben, that funeral j will be massive! . . . I am known, Ben, and he'll [Biff] j see it with his eyes once and for all. He'll see what I j 63 i am, Ben!" Thus, Willy seeks respect, esteem, and j 1 recognition posthumously from the world at large, and from • j Biff. i j i As Ben departs, we shift to the present, and Biff 1 j joins Willy in the garden. Biff again tries to confront i j i Willy with the fact that he is not having any appointment with Bill Oliver; he states his intention of leaving home, so that Willy will no longer need to be concerned about ! t 1 him. At this point, Willy refers to Biff's behavior in leaving home as "spiteful." The spite, according to j ! i Willy is probably attributed to Biff's reaction to the ; earlier Boston Hotel scene infidelity; Biff counters by confronting Willy with the gas hose representative ! of Willy's suicidal thoughts. Whereas Willy offers spite ' as the rationale for Biff's undoing and lack of business ■ success, Biff states the real reason is that he never , acquired the requisite perseverance, reality, and maturity. i 1 ; Biff states he now no longer wants to lie, but wants to i i tell the truth, and admit to who he is. ■ I The sequence begins with Biff admitting his J 1311 immaturity, and attributing it to the upbringing he received from Willy: Biff: You know why I had no address for three months? I stole a suit in Kansas City and I was in jail. (To Linda who is sobbing): Stop crying. I'm through with it. Willy: I suppose that's my fault! Biff: I stole myself out of every good job since high school! Willy: And whose fault is that? Biff: And I never got anywhere because you blew me so full of hot air, I could never stand taking orders from anybody! That's whose fault it is! Willy: I hear that! Biff: It's goddamn time you heard that! I had to be boss big shot in two weeks, and I'm through with it!63 At this juncture Willy still cannot understand his role in perpetuating Biff's immaturity, and still attributes Biff's behavior to spite. Nevertheless, Biff indicates that he doesn't want the "business world success." He doesn't want the office life that Bill Oliver's pen represents, but rather he wants to be himself: I stopped in the middle of that building and I saw, — the sky, I saw the things I love in this world. The work and the food and the time to sit and smoke . . . I am trying to become what I don't want to be'. What am I doing in an office making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me, the minute I say I know who I am!6 4 Biff attempts again to have Willy give up the success dream, indicating that both he and Willy are not "leaders of men"; Willy is referred to as a "hard- g working drummer," and Biff as "A buck an hour employee." Biff cries and implores Willy to give up "that phony ‘ 6 6 ' dream and burn it before something happens." Biff then ; i • leaves, and Willy recognizes Biff's true love for him; j i i - ! but wants to redeem himself by restoring Biff to his ■ i ! former magnificence, on a par with Bernard's success. • | ! i His suicide then represents his belief that Biff's love ‘ ; for him just needs a stake: the following combination ! ? I | of dialogue represents Willy's final thoughts: j : Always loved me, isn't that a remarkable thing? ; Ben he'll worship me for it! . . . Can you imagine 1 ; that magnificence with twenty thousand dollars in J i his pocket? . . . When the mail comes he'll be ; ahead of Bernard again! . . . Oh, Ben, I always j knew one wav or another we were gonna make it, Biff and l!°? , Prior to his suicide, Willy once again returns to the ] i recreated past, where he envisions Biff on the football ■ { i field in all his former magnificence. : I ! i I Sequence Twelve 1 I 1 The last sequence, the Requiem, constitutes ; i ; Willy's funeral. We discover that Willy does not have the I j \ ; wished for "Death of A Salesman"; for only his immediate ! family along with Bernard and Charley are present. Linda cannot understand Willy's suicide for they are now "free i and clear." The mortgage is paid and she just needs "a 6 8 little salary." Charley concludes that a man requires 69 ! i more than a salary: "A salesman has got to dream." He ' I I ; has to feel accepted and successful. Biff pays his last respects to Willy as a father but recognizes with reference to Willy that "the man never knew who he was"; Happy counters that Willy had just one possible dream: "He had a good dream; it's the only dream you can have. 7 0 To come out number one." Thus ends Death of A Salesman. Earlier, this study discussed the application of dramatic criteria to Arthur Miller's Death of A Salesman in terms of exposition, foreshadowing, and rising action, as well as point of attack. Now an assessment of Death of A Salesman will be made by means of the criteria for complication (conflict), crisis, and denouement, as well as climax. I shall study the unfolding of the three aforementioned sequences foreshadowed by Act One: 1. The sequence between Howard and Willy in Howard's office 2. The sequence in the cafe which reveals through exposition Biff's unsuccessful attempt to meet with Bill Oliver; the present action constituting Biff's confrontation with his father, Willy; and Willy's pri marily intrapersonal reexperienced reconstructed Boston Hotel sequence 3. The sequence wherein Willy and Biff have their last meeting. Here Willy recognizes Biff's love but opts for suicide. Biff professes his love for Willy, but gives up his "success dream" In review, the criteria for judgment with refer ence to complication (conflict), crisis, and climax are: ; 1. There should be a progressive development of , \ I forces leading to an obligatory scene | 2. The crisis should be an integral result of ! the complication | I I ' 3. Maximum emotional effect should result from I ’ the crisis I I | , , I i 4. The major climax must be consistent with ! J I ! audience expectation (the audience must be prepared) ; 5. The climax should be dependent upon the action i I of a principal character and should embody the theme 6 . A new alignment of forces should follow the ! major climax The criteria for judgment of denouement are: ; 1. It should unify and complete the course of 1 i action and should seem a natural result of the previous , i | events ; 2. It should contain dramatic recall There are a series of causal progressive develop ments which lead to the obligatory scene. The obligatory scene may be considered to be the final sequence which contains the major conflict, crisis, and climax. This i occurs in the sequence where Biff is leaving home to live , his own life. The series of events which precipitate this I I sequence are linked to the father-son relationship, and the preceding sequences. i There are a series of causal events which link the j t 135' i J ; minor conflicts of the first act to both the Oliver se- j i j i quence, which is revealed by Biff in the cafe exposition, | and to Willy's meeting with Howard. These sequences in . ! I | turn are dxrectly related to the conflict between Biff ; i j and Willy as seen, in the cafe scene, and with Willy's j i I Boston hotel sequence. The impact and consequences of j i i j the cafe and of the Boston hotel sequences prepare the ; 1 audience for the final scene between Willy and Biff. j 1 » , i To begin, at the end of Act One, Linda tells j \ ; Biff about Willy's suicidal tendencies, and states that ■ ! i ( Biff is responsible for Willy's life. Because of this j [ Biff decides unrealistically to see Bill Oliver in an at- ! tempt to fulfill Willy's desires, and to relieve Willy of some of the pressure caused by his concern over his i I : ; success as a father. Biff's anticipated success with Bill ■ , Oliver enables Willy to feel optimistic about obtaining a ■ job with the Wagner firm in New York, and furthermore, | I ■ Biff's action represents a reaffirmation of Willy's values; , through Biff's projected achievement. t Unfortunately all the projected events lead directly to further complications. Willy's failure to be ; placed in New York as well as his dismissal from the Wagner firm leads him to a greater determination to bring I i 1 good news to Biff. Yet, good news is, of course, im- j possible, for Biff discovers that Oliver will not even see him. Willy has now to face the pressure of having failed ' with Howard, the consequence of letting Linda down by | losing his job, and the need to continue to borrow money I ■ from Charley. He desperately needs Biff's accomplish- ; ! ; ment, the reassurance of having had the right values, and i of having been a good father. j Biff, recognizing his father's agitated state, ’ i I is unable to communicate with him, and a conflict ensues. Willy is unable to attribute any possible failure either j 1 i : to his own false values, or to Biff's modest capabilities; he can only take into account the rupture which occurred | between them during the Boston hotel sequence. Further- i ; more, Willy cannot permit himself to recognize the reality ! : | of the Oliver situation. Each of Biff's attempts at : communication projects Willy further into the Boston Hotel j ' events. Biff's awareness that his father is retreating j i further and further from reality causes a crisis for him- t | self and he "resolves" the situation by allowing Willy to ! : falsely believe that he has an appointment with Bill j ; I ; Oliver. One sees the origin of Biff's "spite" in the Boston Hotel sequence. Biff feels that Willy is a "phony" and a "fake," judging Willy in terms of his infidelity. As j Clurman has indicated, the hotel scene actually represents J i Biff questioning all of Willy's values. As a result, Biff refuses to make up his math grade in summer school, which would have permitted him to obtain the football : 137j scholarship he had been offered. For the next fifteen i years he drifts back and forth between Willy's dream of "business success" and his own desire,, for the values engendered by experiencing life out West. As a result of ’ lying to Willy about Oliver, Biff now is confronted with another crisis. He must tell Willy the truth about I Oliver, and he must also reassess his own values. : The last sequence of Act Two represents these j efforts, and precipitates the major crisis of the play. During the last sequence between Biff and Willy, Biff be- | i comes aware of Willy's suicidal attempts and pleads with i Willy not to hold on to his phony dreams, and to permit him to have his own dreams. Biff's emotional outbursts : I reveal his love for Willy. In this major confrontation j ! Biff squarely faces the facts of his petty thievery, of | ! his inability to behave maturely, and of his inability to i accept responsibility on a job. He attributes his need ; 71 ' to be "boss big-shot, in two weeks," and his immature j views to the "hot air" which Willy instilled in his i youngsters. Biff seems able to give up his "success dream" and to accept responsibility for who he is, and at tempt to live his life meaningfully. Willy, however, cannot give up his success values, either for himself, or for his son Biff. Because of this Willy decides to kill ; { himself in order to leave to Biff his insurance money, for j he still believes that all Biff needs to be a success is | 138 ! ' more money. Willy sums it up in his statement that "one j i way or another they [Biff and Willy] were going to make 1 72 i it." It is what Clurman refers to as the "Bitch J ! 73 ; j Goddess Success." | Thus, the major crisis has been directly linked to j ' I a series of previous minor complications, crises, and j climaxes. Maximum emotional effect is achieved because ■ i i , { the audience is aware of both Willy's state of mind and ; | Biff's situation. The irony is that Biff's love is the i motivational force which propels Willy into suicide in the ; hope of balancing things with Biff, and not "ending up a ,.74 , ! zero. ; < The major climax is consistent with audience ! expectations, for it is clear throughout the play that i ; Willy cannot change, nor can Biff tolerate the present situation of trying to please Willy at the expense of his I , own life choices. j Biff and Willy are the major characters in Death J | of A Salesman, and thus, the major climax does depend upon the action of the principal characters. It also embodies the major themes of 1) the father-sOn conflict, and 2) the - "success dream." These themes shall be further elaborated i upon in the section on thought. There is also a new align- 1 | ‘ ment of forces, after the major climax of Willy's suicide ■ and the ensuing requiem. Biff, during the requiem sequence, recognizes that 139! j ! ! Willy has had all the "wrong dreams." He is more than j ' determined to live his own life, having observed the ef- | fects of the "success" dream upon Willy. Happy, however, \ i ; still maintains that his father has had the only proper j 75 ^ i dream possible, namely "to end up number one." ( | Willy's resolution by means of suicide is prepared, j for throughout the play: 1. It begins with the opening sequence where ; i Willy indicates he is afraid of driving off the road, and j that his mind wanders ! 2. Willy's exhaustion and inability to continue : ; ’ I as a traveling salesman is also revealed here 3. In the first act Linda tells Biff that Willy I was seen purposely driving his car into a bridge wall I i ' 4. The rubber gas tubing that Willy has devised as a potential suicide device is shown to Biff by Linda ! 5. Willy's overwhelming need for "success" for i i ; himself and, on the other hand, the realistic necessity of | : borrowing from Charley stems from his inadequate means to ' provide for his family and lack of self-esteem 6 . Willy's statement to Charley that "You end up I worth more dead than alive," has suicidal implications 7. Biff's comment during the cafe sequence to i ; 76 Happy: "He's going to kill himself, don't you know that?" t ■ also foreshadows Willy's suicide j ■ ] 8. Willy's discussion with Ben about the pros andj 1401 , cons of the suicide insurance money almost immediately ' precedes Willy's death 9. During the final sequence between Biff and Willy: (a) Biff displays the gas rubber tubing to Willy, j telling him that there will be "no pity" if he kills him- j I self; (b) Biff asks Willy to give up phony dreams "before , I | something happens" i Thus, Death of A Salesman meets the criteria for j unifying and completing a course of action which seems a j | natural result of previous events, and containing dramatic I j recall. After the section on characterization which ! I ' follows subsequently, this study shall be in a position to evaluate the degree to which Death of A Salesman meets the i criteria for dramatic criticism with regard to character- j ; I i ization: namely; j I 1. The character must be strongly motivated to i • I make vital and/or moral choices 2. The character must be plausible and consistent 1 3. The character must be presented so that it is ! possible to empathize and/or identify with him Biff Loman is strongly motivated to make vital : and moral choices in terms of his decision to go out West, , and not remain in New York. There are many references to i I the conflicts which this has engendered, beginning with ; the first sequence of the play, where Biff contrasts his 1 ;■ I dissatisfaction with city life, where he is willing to i 141! ; work, however, because it spells a "future" success. ] ! I spent six or seven years after high school trying ] i to work myself up. Shipping clerk, salesman, , business of one kind or another. And it's a measly ■ manner of existence. And still— that's how you build ! a future.77 ; f ! ; In the cafe scene with his brother Happy, Biff j ! i once more states his dissatisfaction with office work, ' I I and appraises his lack of achievement in pursuing the ! i "success dream." He states to Happy that he was not a ! salesman for Bill Oliver, but a shipping clerk. ; i How the hell did I ever get the idea I was a sales- ' man there? I even believed myself that I'd been a I salesman for him. We've been talking in a dream ! ; for fifteen years. I was a shipping clerk.78 ; i , This is contrasted with Biff's love of being out j I , West in springtime, working with the colts. A final j resolution comes when Biff crystalizes his desire to give 1 ; up city life and "success." This occurs in the following excerpt from the final sequence between Biff and Willy. | 1 Why am I trying to become what I don't want to be? i What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous ; begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting the minute I say I know who I am. Why can't I say that?79 Biff, of course, does "say that"; he permits ; himself to envision a life out West. The decision is reconfirmed in the requiem sequence between Biff and Happy., I Biff: Why don't you come with me, Happy? [out i i West] : Happy: I'm not licked that easily. I'm staying j right in this city, and I'm gonna beat this racket. i ' (He looks at Biff, his chin set) I Biff: I know who I am, kid.80 I : The choice to go out West is further illuminated by i 81 ■ Parker. Parker indicated that Willy's situation and suicide, offers a concrete example of the dangers of i rushing after "success" and false values, for he indicates i ' I j that Biff makes the choice of going out West in contrast j to Willy's situation. He becomes what Willy might have ! I been. It is Biff's acceptance of new values which counter points Willy's disaster, and combines both in a single coherent experience. Carrying this thought further, ; Blumberg names Biff as the representative of an anti success dream, in contrast to Willy who accepted the , success ideology. Sociologist Blumberg contends that | Biff . , . saw the white collar world for what it was and \ despised it. He hated the routine of getting on the 1 subway on hot summer mornings, or devoting his whole ‘ life to keeping stock, or making phone calls. . . . To suffer fifty weeks of the year for the sake of a two-week vacation.82 . i A second major area of conflict, related to the j ; | .first, and thus enabling many in the audience to empathize j with Biff, as well as Willy, is the father-son conflict, which also constitutes a major theme of the play. This, partially the result of Willy's need to have Biff "suc ceed," will be discussed under the section related to jWilly's character. For now, however, it is important to I ; discuss Biff's character development in terms of the j ,father-son conflict. It also encompasses Willy's i 'infidelity and Willy's encouragement of Biff's immaturity. ; ; ' . 1431 As indicated earlier, Biff is disillusioned by his dis- J covery of Willy's infidelity in the Boston Hotel, where- i upon Biff decides then and afterwards that Willy is a j "phony" and a"fake." During the Boston Hotel scene Biff i also refuses to make up his math requirement which would ( have enabled him to receive a football scholarship. Later,| i in the final sequence between Willy and Biff, Willy con- I fronts Biff with what he considers Biff's spiteful ■ behavior assumedly based on Willy's infidelity. Biff j i counters with a more realistic appraisal; although he may j have been spiteful, he feels it is no longer the case, and j his lack of success is attributable not to "spite" but to j Willy's "success dream" and Willy's filling Biff with ! false personal self-estimations. In response to Biff's decisions to leave New York and go out West the following "spite" accusation occurs: May you rot in hell if you leave this house. . . . I want you to know, in the mountains, in the valleys, wherever you go, that you cut down your life for spite. . . . Spite, spite is the word of your undoing. And when you're down and out remember what did it. ! When you're rotting somewhere down beside the railroad tracks, remember, and don't you dare blame it on m e . 8 3 Biff counters by correctly attributing his failure not to spite, but to immaturity. Earlier in the play -there are intimations of Biff's "borrowing" the regulation football 3 to practice for the Ebbett's field game, stealing lumber 1 and construction materials, and leaving Bill Oliver's em- i ployment because he feared Oliver might discover he had j 144 I ' stolen a carton of basketballs, and fire him. This im maturity is further confirmed by Biff's taking Oliver's ■ pen. The roots of the stealing compulsion behavior are I | brought to light in the final sequence between Willy and ; I | Biff, where Biff admits to having stolen a suit in Kansas j City and being put in jail. This realization of the truth i | about himself includes a recognition of Willy's part in ! ' causing Biff's immaturity and is summed up as follows: j I Biff: The man [Willy] doesn't know who we are. i The man is gonna know. ; ! To Willy): We never told the truth for ten : minutes in this house . . . ■ To Happy): You big blow, are you the assistant buyer? You're one of the two assistants to the assistant, aren't you??? You're practically full of it. We all are. And I'm through with it.84 ! He relates to being pumped "so full of hot air" by : Willy that he had to be "boss big shot in two weeks." ; I Thus one finds that vital elements are at stake: his own : i decision to give up his "success dream" for a life out | I ; West, despite his knowledge of Willy's desperate need for j Biff's "success," and Willy's suicidal tendencies, repre- ; sent a vital decision. At stake also is the resolution of the father-son relationship as well as Biff's recognition of Biff's former immaturity. As Schneider indicates, Biff definitely j grows in maturity, for he achieves a number of insights j ^ 8 5 i ; which culminate in a new self-awareness. Because it is, j ;Biff, rather than Willy who receives these insights, ! Schneider considers Biff the protagonist. We shall return to this issue in our discussion of Willy's character. Siever presents a coherent argument for Biff being the protagonist, which we shall respond to when we turn to an I |analysis of Willy's character. Siever states that |Biff fulfills the role of the tragic hero in respect i to anagnoresis or recognition, for in his opinion, Biff I may be considered the protagonist whose values are trans formed . The protagonist of a drama must be the one who struggles most for understanding, who faces the ; most critical question, who achieves the most I transforming insight, and whose motives, decisions, and actions most influence the total situation. By these criteria, the main figure of Death of A Salesman is not Willy, whose understanding and values change not one bit from beginning to the i end; it is Biff Loman who is seeking to find him self and does so in making an anguished choice be- ; tween clear-cut alternatives— continued drifting or ; redeeming himself, achieving vitality at the sacri- | fice of his father and his father's values.85 I , To the contrary, Stambusky, while agreeing that Biff is 1 freed of illusion, and does opt for living his own life— ' 8 6 | thus implying the realization of a new set of values — j thinks nevertheless that the play is not the story of Biff's life, but rather of Willy's. For him, one must consider Willy the central figure in the play. In summation, Biff does meet the dramatic criteria i i j of being strongly motivated (both to change and to help i j his father gain understanding), or making moral choices I ! (in terms of accepting the responsibility for I 146 relinquishing a false sense of values), and of being j \ plausible and consistent in terms of the inner pressures ; and pressure exerted upon him by his father Willy, and ! | furthermore, he is Willy’s son. The magnitude of the : 1 problems facing Willy, and in particular the father-son ; I I relationship, becomes a powerful medium for empathy and i ! | identification on the part of the audience. ; A study of Willy Loman's character can and should , encompass many perspectives: 1) Willy Loman's values, 2) I Willy Loman's success dream, 3) Willy Loman's history, ; ' i 4) Willy Loman's relationship with his son Biff, 5) the , , impact of the present setting and circumstances upon Willy Loman's actions. Arthur Miller has indicated that he con- > siders Willy Loman as having values— a statement which on I : ! the surface may be difficult to grasp immediately, because j it does seem that Willy has surrendered himself quite early' in life to the "Bitch Goddess Success." However, if values; ; I I are the means by which a meaningful life can ultimately j i , be attained, even though one may not have yet reached such ' i a stage, this very recognition of an incomplete life represents in itself a value. We are here conceivably justified in considering values in terms of an unfulfilled potential— either in terms of relationships, or of one's ! . ' i personal self-expression and development, Arthur Miller i articulates this sense of unfulfilled potentiality in the j following manner: The trouble with Willy is that he has tremendously powerful ideals. We're not accustomed to speaking ! of ideals in his terms; but if Willy Loman, for instance, had not had a very profound sense that his life as lived had left him hollow, he would have died contentedly polishing his cars on some Sunday i afternoon. . . . The fact is he has values ' [my^ own j underlining]. The fact that they cannot be.realized j is what is driving him mad— just, as unfortunately, ; it's driving a lot of other people mad.8 7 | I Clurman speaks of Willy choosing a wrong direction I ! as shown by his giving up the possibility for manual work, : which he is best suited for and which could have provided him with great satisfaction. Unfortunately, one seesWilly speaking disparagingly to Biff of being a "mere carpenter.". In his search for success, Itfilly gives up the possibility i t of becoming a craftsman, and, in the process, encounters but a great emptiness filled with slogans; i Willy's worth lies in his natural bent for manual i work; he is a craftsman. If he had cultivated that ; side of himself, he might have retained his dignity. But Willy has been seduced by the Bitch Goddess , Success. . . . So he lives in a vacuum of meaning- | less commercial slogans.88 Willy, we find, not only has lost his dignity, but ; his human energy. As the play begins "he is past sixty ‘ years of age, dressed quietly . . . his exhaustion appar- , 89 ent." Willy, the "hard working drummer" has been a hard-worker for the Wagner firm in Brooklyn, earning no more than seventy to one hundred dollars a week, while I I putting in "ten, twelve hours a day." Willy anticipates ! I I comradeship and real personality, along with respect and success. This is suggested by the career of David Singleman. Singleman was able to sell merchandise at an ; } t advanced age, and when he died his funeral was well attended. Willy, rather than finding "respect" encounters i harsh reality when he is fired by Howard. Not only has ] Willy failed to find meaningful values or security for j 1 i himself, but he has also sacrificed potential family j relationships with his sons and his wife Linda. One ! explanation of Willy's infidelity on the road is his basic ; loneliness. Blumberg refers to Willy's spiritual suicide 90 as the theme of the play. Willy is presented as a pro- t totype of the alienated white collar worker who, imbued j i with self-hatred and destructiveness, loses his individual- j i i ity in the pursuit of success. This loss precludes his , commitment to true values, to the attainment of deep j l 1 personal family relationships: , Willy, a poor victim of a single-minded allegiance to J false and hollow values of material success, allows j what is most uniquely his, his personality, to be j molded, transformed and vulgarized in accordance with what others expect of him. Worse yet, the self- | hatred eating at his soul because of his failure to ' achieve goals leads him to destroy his most precious ! and once warm relationship with his sons. . . .91 1 r One, of course, does not perceive Willy as a vicious, uncaring human being, but as one who is misguided. Hogan indicates that despite Willy's shallow values, he, nevertheless, believed and died for his "dream." Willy's i chosen values are not attained, nor may one add, are they 92 1 attainable for Willy. We shall later return to the 1 issue of attainable success in the persons of Bernard and Charley, who do maintain a human and warm relationship, and are also successful— Bernard as a lawyer, and Charley 1 as a businessman. Hogan states the following regarding : Willy's values: Nevertheless, in their broadest sense, Willy's hopes and goals were pure, pity and sorrow arise for his agony when he does not attain them. Like Oedipus, I Willy made the wrong choice.93 One can feel pity and sorry for Willy's mistake, rather thari i i contempt. ! One empathizes with Willy because he has an under standable goal: he seeks success, even if it is a false kind of success— something understandable to all. Ivor Brown suggests that part of the audience empathy for Willy is derived from the feeling that he suffers too much for 94 his mistakes. One may add the same is true of Oedipus. Ivor Brown states: ; I It occurred to me that the New York emotional response j to the salesman . . . may be due to the wide sub- ! conscious feeling that the fate of failure is too hard.95 This destruction of individuality is re-emphasized by Blumberg, a sociologist, who indicates that self-respect for individuals like Willy is replaced by self-hatred in the following manner: ". . . the destruction of social i relationships [Willy is not 'liked' on the road], and one's, self-respect [Willy's conflict with Biff is a result of j socially induced values] arising out of the self-hatred I caused by the knowledge of failure to achieve a material success [the success dream]. ..." Perhaps this is exactly what Miller means when he states that Willy had 9 6 i "no right to life," as a product of economic law. That 1 is, his values became reduced to the achievement of the I success dream, "material success." If one adheres to j Blpmberg's interpretation, that Willy saw himself as a "failure" in relation to the business world in which he • * I functioned, Miller's meaning of "economic law" becomes j clear. Willy's success dream forces Willy into living a life which often is unconnected to reality. The ambivalent, feelings of Willy toward Biff, for example, are colored by : the success dream. On one level he perceives Biff as a ; thirty-five year old failure, and a few lines later as a potential hero. In reality Biff is neither of these. I t Willy speaks of the Chevrolet as a great car and a ; few lines later refers to it as "no damn good." Again I seemingly contradicting himself, Willy tells his youngsters that he has done very well in New England. Moments later he admits to Linda that he has exaggerated his gross in come, and that they actually can barely meet the family expenses. This ambivalence may be considered a conse quence of Willy's unrealistic success values, and an at- I tempt on his part to prevent unacceptable realities from j resurfacing. Gerald Weales summarizes Willy's ! rationalization mechanism as follows: i The play shows quite clearly that from the beginning ; of his career, Willy has lied about the size of his sales, the warmth of his reception. . . . Usually he j ! rationalizes his failures. His continuing self- ! delusion and his occasional self-awareness serve the i I same purpose; they keep him from questioning the ' assumptions that lie beneath his failure and his j pretense of s u c c e s s . 97 ! Willy needs to maintain his values structure, and ; f j his "success dream" in order to validate his life. The validation, if not achieved through Willy himself, must be achieved through Biff. This overwhelming need for success ; f according to Weales is what causes Willy to turn to a j i i : false reality: i By the time we get to him, his struggle to hold on to his dream (if not for himself, for his sons) has become so intense that all control is gone, past and present are one to him, and so are fact and fiction. Willy hears only what he wants to h e a r . 98 j A look at Willy Loman's history reveals the reasons for ' Willy's profound need for success. Willy is an average, , i ! 1 hard-working salesman. One learns of his lack of personal ‘ \ r relationship with his father who left the family when Willy was quite young in order to seek success elsewhere. The Alaska-bound father is perceived by Willy as the : embodiment of a "real man." It is quite possible that the ■ father's desertion has contributed to Willy's feelings of i deep insecurity, and to his need to be "successful" for j I himself and for his sons. | Nevertheless, Willy in the past has sought a warm I 1521 ; relationship with his sons and feels deeply indebted to , Linda, and guilty about his infidelity. Willy's frus trations cause him to demand that Biff conform to an un- ; realistic idealized image of success. Willy believes that | he has not succeeded as a father unless Biff succeeds in j business. While Willy is admirable in his assertion of I , personal worth- "I am not a dime a dozen. I am Willy 99 Loman and you are Biff Loman"; it is his confusion of : love and success, in his relationship with Biff, that is - instrumental in Willy's final choice of suicide. Stephen i j Lawrence expresses it in these terms: "Willy may be ; ' deluded, but his only delusion is that he thinks man is magnificent because they love. This is not the error of ..100 a petty man. ..." » ! Gerald Weales also underlines Willy's linking of love and success, and the substitution or confusion of one t I : for the other. i From the conflicting images that wander through his troubled brain are Willy's double ambitions to be loved and to be rich. . . .101 It is Dusenberry's contention that it is this confusion which destroys the Loman family relationship, 102 and separates Bxff and Wxlly. Clurman sees the Boston hotel scene as contributory rather than crucial. For I Dusenberry a relationship based upon false ideas causes i I the rupture between Willy and Biff resulting in the isolation we view in the first sequences. Willy's suicide is a ; 153 result of his continued disconnection. Dusenberry states that Willy's recognition of Biff's love serves a double I function; one is Willy's desire to make up things- to Biff. ; Loves me. Always loved me. Isn't that a remarkable | thing. Ben, he'll worship me for it. . . . Can you 1 imagine that magnificence with twenty thousand dol- I lars in his pocket. . . . Imagine? When the mail ■ comes he'll be ahead of Bernard again. . . . Did you see how he cried to me? Oh, I could kiss him, j Ben. . . . Oh, Ben I always knew one way or another we were going to make it Biff and 1.103 The other function of Willy's outburst, according ! to Dusenberry, is Willy's recognition of what might have j been— the dimension of love. This is akin to Miller's statement that Willy had values— or perceived unexplored potentialities. For Dusenberry the last sequences between ; Biff and Willy reveal a recognition of their separation: Separating Willy and Biff is an irreparable loneli ness, which is made all the more plain by a ! momentary revelation of all the love which could , have been between them [Willy and Biff]. He [Willy] 1 could have been a good craftsman . . . but a mis- guided idea of success led him to salesmanship. . . . Miller reiterates this theme, as follows: His one claim to existence was that he could sell, that the people on the road knew him . . . and that the firm needed him. And suddenly this uniqueness is revealed as merely his economic function. It turns out to be a mirage. In the meantime he has foregone in his life what he loved to do and what he was able to do.105 In the context of all that Willy has lost or failed to attain, and within his value structure, one findsWilly's I suicide believable and his actions plausible. Willy is : inconsistent, but as Aristotle indicates, one may have a ! 154! jcharacter who is consistently inconsistent; Willy's incon- J sistencies are in character, considering the nature of his conflicts. I. will now return to the earlier issue of whether Willy or Biff is to be considered the protagonist or main i character of Death of A Salesman. Despite the fact that I { | Biff achieves insights, Willy Loman is considered to be the jmain character. The reasons are numerous; one::should .take I i into account the complexities and conflicts inherent in I Willy's value-system, his success dream, his relationship with his son, and the fact that, throughout the play, I Willy's very life is at stake. Furthermore, it is Willy ; who pushes the conflicts to their utmost conclusion— as ! ! exemplified in the Howard-Willy office scene, the Oliver 1 interview (which does not occur), and the confrontation in I the cafe. Another reason for calling Willy the main* • I |protagonist is that one knows more about him than about any i ;other character in Death of A Salesman. It is the story | of Willy's life: his past and present. One perceives the unfolding action of the "present" as well as Willy's | intrapersonal "past" context. j The major characters in the play are Willy and I I Biff. It is important to comment upon other characters: I ; Linda, Happy, Charley, and Ben. Linda is approached ; critically from several vantage points: 1 ) she is the mother and help-mate, 2) she accepts Willy's values and 155 thereby contributes to the destruction of Willy and of her , children, 3) she serves to defocus the play's theme by means of sentimentality. According to Welland, Linda is j representative of the sentimental element and the "time- I less family." As a result she is too much "the mother" j and lacks individualized characterization: ! i Linda is the one character in the play who ought to have been developed more fully because of her importance in the scenes that do not take place ' inside Willy's head.10 6 I ! Bentley, too, concurs that Linda's mental relationship to 107 Willy is insufficiently explored. Miller reveals that in a sense we do know Linda, because she is a mirror of Willy's values. Linda is not objective. In an interview with R. Martin, Arthur Miller contends that Linda could not have comprehended Willy, I 108 1 Happy, or Biff, objectively. She shares Willy's per spective, i.e., she encourages his desire to remain with the Wagner firm in New York to be a successful salesman, • rather than go to Alaska with Ben. Arthur Miller sums up | his argument as follows: It is rather inevitable that she is the way she is. . . . She is also sucked into the same mechanism. . . . She's not apart from it. If she were apart from it, she couldn't very well have remained his wife for so long. That's what I mean by a self- reinforcing mechanism.109 ; i Dusenberry refers to Linda's support of Willy as a process ! which leads to a basic separation, "In the process she had developed an iron mastery of her objections to her husband-"110 This becomes a boosting of Willy's ego by ; ; his wife. Parker condemns Linda's behavior as stupid and ! immoral for "it is both stupid and immoral to encourage 1 the man you love in self-deceit and lies."111 Lois Gordon | agrees with Welland that Linda embodies the "eternal ' X X 2 I mother and wife," "from whom love comes," nevertheless ; 1 he describes her love as "lethal." Beliquez finds that i I : Linda provides the impetus which moves Willy further to- j 113 ; wards his doom. He is a victim of Linda's ambition ; : | . as well as of his own. Linda projects Willy as her own ; I I ; ideal of what a man should be, and it is this ideal, ; i which she must foster, protect, and "defend." Beliquez i further states that Linda knowingly accepts Willy as a ‘ 114 cheat, a liar, and a fraud. i I ! In addition, Gordon sees Linda as a negative influence upon her sons Biff and Happy: ! She attempts to reconcile father and son, but she ; attempts to do this in the context of Willy's false values. She cannot allow her sons to achieve j the self-hood that involves a denial of these values. > With reference to the requiem, both Hynes110 and Welland1 1 ^7 contend that Linda adds a sentimental motif which detracts ! from the play's basic theme. An emotional reaction to the 1 requiem, according to Welland, where Linda grieves un- i i comprehendingly for Willy, renders it sentimental. The Willy for whom she weeps is not worth her tears, for what he is,so much as for what he might have been, and although our vicarious experience of sadness | is a normal enough response to another's bereavement, : in this case, it obscures for us' the perspective ~ ; i that the play should have sustained.H 8 , Hynes refers to the requiem scene as containing a hall- i mark card flourish which adds to the uncertainty of the Linda, however, is a plausible and consistent ; i I character, in terms of her priorities, choosing always i the protection of Willy above her relationship with her j ; i sons. Her choices here are vital to her even though they j may not constitute proper moral choices. When Biff ap- 1 1 t j ! pears to upset Willy, she tries to get Willy to accept life as a "casting off." Linda perceives Happy as a , i philandering bum and upbraids her sons severely when they j desert Willy in the cafe. Her concern and loyalty for i ! Willy is also exemplified by her asking Biff to leave, in the event he doesn't love his father. | ! With Willy, Linda is gentle and kind, though mis- j ! I guided. Her empathy for him is evident when she describes j i ' . 120 : him as "just a little ship looking for a port," and ■ bursts forth in her famous "attention must be paid" speech: I don't say he's a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible j thing is happening to him. So attention must be ! paid to such a person. He's not to be allowed to j fall into his grave, like an old dog. Attention, attention must be finally paid.121 i ! In this passage, Linda recognizes that Willy is ! losing his balance, but pays him the respect due to a 1 t : hard-working individual, and she attributes his diffi- i I ! culties to his exhausting schedule and his inability to I i : I find the "old buyers" who helped him in the past. In ; i i summation, Linda states: I i I ] He drives seven hundred miles, and when he gets j ! there no one knows him any more, no one welcomes j I him. And what goes through a man's mind, driving j | seven hundred miles home without having earned a ! cent? Why shouldn't he talk to himself? Why? \ When he has to go to Charley and borrow fifty 1 dollars a week and pretend to me that it's his ' : pay? How long can that go on? How long? You see ; what I'm sitting here and waiting for? And you I tell me he has no character? The man who never j worked a day but for your b e n e f i t ? 1 2 2 ; Linda's unconditional love for Willy and the central place he occupies in her life is expressed further when she tells! Biff he is not permitted to make his father unhappy, even i though such interdiction implies that Biff might not be ; ( i » ! able to return home again: : i ; No. You can't just come to see me, because I love j ; him. He's the dearest man in the world to me, and | I won't have anyone making him feel unwanted and low and blue. You've got to make up your mind now, darling, there's no leeway any more. Either he's your father and you pay him that respect, or else you're not to come here.123 ■ It is Linda's love for Willy which explains her support of Willy's shallow values. One can empathize with her dilemma t > j ; ■ because she is aware of the stresses attendant upon Willy, : and is unable to help him cope with them. She turns in J desperation to Biff, in whose hands she believes lie > Willy's hope for life. She is plausible and consistent, I defending and protecting Willy at all times. In the last sequence, believing that Biff may have a harmful effect i upon Willy, she at first tries to prevent Biff from seeing : Willy, thinking it best that Biff leave. ■ I As indicated earlier, in sequence one, Happy ; p t Loman, while outwardly more "successful" than Biff, is j plagued with dissatisfaction and loneliness. He acquires • Willy's success dream values as reflected by his admiration! i of the manager who represents "$50,000 walking through the ! 124 door." It is difficult to identify with Happy because, ' i unlike Biff, he is not involved in the father-son conflict., i One also knows less about Happy ' s past and his actions. j Happy plays "second place" to Biff, and as is noted in the "past" sequence Willy is mainly concerned with Biff's football career to the exclusion of Happy, who attempts.in \ vain to draw his father's attention by interjecting "look ' pop . . . I'm losing weight," ; In the sequences which occur in the "present," one 1 is- confronted with a dishonest Happy, ready to take bribes. His competitiveness is negatively expressed by his seduction of the fiancees of executives. The girl Charlotte I was with tonight is engaged to be married in five weeks . . . the guy's in line for the vice—presidency of the store— I don't know what gets into me, maybe I just have an over- : developed sense of competition or something. But ' I went and ruined her, and furthermore I can't get i rid of her. And he's the third executive I've done | 16 01 that to. Isn't that a crummy characteristic. And to top it all I go to their weddings. Like I'm not supposed to take bribes. Manufacturers offer me a 1 hundred-dollar bill now and then to throw an order their way. You know how honest I am, but it's like ; this girl, see, I hate myself for it. Because I | don't want the girl . . . and still . . . I take | ' it and . . . I love it.125 • » i In his relationship with Biff, Happy half-heartedly; , accedes to the idea of going out "West," but as ±s seen in , i i the requiem sequence, he decides that Willy has the right i , "to be number one." He refuses Biff's offer to go with ! I him out West. Happy's shallow values are reflected in his i i : relationship with Willy. Despite the fact that he sent Willy to Florida, at times he appears uncaring when he leaves his father alone in the cafe. In the cafe scene, whereas Biff refers to Willy i | as a prince, Happy tells the girls they met there that i Willy is not really his father. In so doing, Happy shows I ' 1 the extent of his shame at having a father who is losing | j ; his grip on reality and is not "successful." This episode [ ! I ! occurs subsequent to Biff's relation of Willy's severe , problems: F Why don't you do something for him, Happy. . . . I sense it, you don't give a good godamn about him . . . he doesn't mean anything to you. You could help him— I can't. Don't you understand what I'm talking about? He's going to kill him- ■ self, don't you know that?126 • Further, in the same scene, when Miss Forsythe I enquires about Willy, the following dialogue occurs: ; Miss Forsythe: Say, I don't like that temper : of his. ! Happy: He's just a little overstrung, he'll be allright. Letta: Don't you want to tell your father [you're leaving]. Happy: No, that's not my father. He's just a guy. Come on, catch Biff, and honey, we're going to paint this town.127 Thus one finds that Happy as a minor character does not make moral and vital choices. He is plausible and consistent in terms of his value structure, but it is difficult to empathize or identify with him, because of the shallowness of his values. Charley and Bernard are minor characters and, therefore, I will not apply the criteria for major char acters to them. They are, however, important to the structure of the play because they 1) represent a counter point to Willy's "failure," 2) Charley represents the human businessman who can be humane, thus serving as a contrast to Howard's inhumaneness, 3) Charley, in the requiem, serves as a "spokesman" for Willy, and an ensuing confusion of theme occurs, and 4) Bernard forwards the action of the play. Willy mistakenly perceives Charley as never having taken an interest in his son Bernard, for Charley says: "My salvation is that 1 never took any 12 8 interest in anything." Such a statement, however, should not have been taken at face value, but should rather have been seen as Charley's way of allowing Bernard to find his own way in life, while continuing to provide 162 him with the necessary emotional support. Charley's handling of Bernard is contrasted with Willy's conviction * of. having been deeply interested and involved in Biff, but of having nevertheless failed. Willy's failure with Biff is thus contrasted with Charley's success with Bernard who indeed has become a successful lawyer. Charley is human; he knows pity and compassion. We find out early in the play (Linda's speech to Biff, first act,sequence ,5) that Charley has "loaned" Willy the sum of fifty dollars a week so as to help Willy meet his daily expenses. Charley has also offered several times to provide Willy with a job— the last offer occurring after Howard has fired Willy. Willy, however, cannot accept Charley's offer because, given his frame of mind, this would constitute an admittance of his personal failure as a salesman, as well as a collapse of his belief in "personal attractiveness," "personality," and "contacts" as the cornerstone of his value system. Charley tries to convince Willy that these attributes are unnecessary. He uses the example of J. P. Morgan, unrecognizable in a Turkish bath but known to everyone with "his pockets 129 on." Another indication of Charley's humaneness xs hxs attempt to get Willy to accept the reality of Biff's situation. Charley empathizes with Biff's emotional bankruptcy: "When a deposit bottle is broken you don't get your nickel back.""^® 163 Charley’s last tribute to Willy during the requiem further illustrates Charley's humaneness: Nobody dast blame this man. You don't understand; Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He don't put a bolt in a nut, he don't tell you the law or give you medicine. He's a man out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoe shine. And when they j start not smiling back— that's an earthquake. And I when you get yourself a couple of spots on your j hand and you're finished. Nobody dast blame this ' man. A salesman is got to dream boy. It comes with the territory.13l For some critics, however, the above speech is inconsistent with Charley's earlier position that salesmanship is not I dependent on personality. A closer inspection does suggest that, at least to a certain degree, salesmanship is dependent upon personal appearance and "contacts." | Charley, nevertheless, has reversed somewhat his ! ! I j position about the importance of personality, as well as I his appraisal of the impact of events upon Willy. In these instances we witness a certain confusion in j Charley's theraes--mainly a shift towards a more sentimental I appraisal of Willy, at the expense, perhaps, of a deepening of Charley's investigation of the success dream (with all j of its social implications and ramifications), and of the | father-son relationship. i Uncle Ben may not technically be a "real" char acter in the sense that he is exclusively seen through | Willy's intrapersonal context— Willy's mind. Neverthe- I !less, he plays an important role: 1) it is through him 164 that many details of Willy's background are communicated again, 2) he represents the embodiment of success, and 3) he serves as a sounding board for, and a possible "confirmation" of Willy's values. ! j It is by questioning Ben that Willy finds out j whether their mother is still alive. But, more im- | portantly, Willy learns of his father through Ben. Ben is I | instrumental in exposing to us many of the facts of Willy's I j early life. It is learned- that Willy has only a vague personal memory of their father, who left the family to go I to Alaska when Willy was very young; nevertheless, Willy will do all he can to reinforce his image of himself as the descendant from adventurous pioneer stock. Ben is also, for Willy, the embodiment of success; | he is the one to have offered him the opportunity to go to \ Alaska; he is the one who has taught him that the "jungle j is full of diamonds" for those who can "screw on their I fists." Willy points to Ben as a "great man" before his Sister Bettina states that Ben symbolizes success: Willy dreams of being an important businessman, greatly admired by his two sons. He has mis construed the ideal of fatherhood, confusing it with the ability to confer wealth and prestige— because of this misplaced idealism— and his related commitment to the economic delusion known as "the American dream."133 One can relate Ben's "success" as one of the factors responsible for TVilly's eventual suicide. 165 In the end, Ben's last territory— Death— earns Willy Loman's family $20,000 insurance money, and a chance for them to finally accomplish his dream: a dream of which they have never been capable, in which they can also be buried: the old "million" dream.I34 Ben serves as a sounding board and reaffirmation of Willy's values. Ben praises Biff and Happy as "manly j chaps" despite their petty thievery. Willy declares that I j Ben is right in pursuing wealth, even if it requires ruth- ! 135 lessness: "Never fight fair in the jungle . . ." says j Ben. Willy concurs: "That's just the spirit I want to | imbue them with! To walk into a jungle! I was 136 right!" It is Ben with whom Willy discusses the propo sition of suicide. One of Willy's last speeches to Ben, just prior to Willy's suicide is "We'll do it here, Ben! 137 You hear me? We're gonna do it." Our criteria for language states: 1) language I I must be artistically authentic and utilitarian, and 2) 1 dialogue must reveal plot, character, environment, and exposition. The authenticity function of language is ful filled in Death of A Salesman. As Moss indicates, language here is totally revealing of a class, a gener ation, and a specific way of life— that of the Loman 138 family. Parker further elaborates upon the authentic nature of the language, seeing it as most evocative of ' 139 ; "modern, urban, middle class life." "Miller documents I | a world of arch supports, aspirins, spectacles, subways, j time payments, advertisements, Chevrolets, faulty ! 166 refrigerators, life insurance, and mortgages^ Popkin extends this list to include "arch supports, saccharin, Studebakers, Chevrolets, shaving lotion, silk .stockings, washing. . . . It is the only play that could i 141 I stock a mail order catalogue. . . ." j Lois Gordon extends the meaning of this language I . 142 i as to create Willy Loman. The imagery is drawn from the hard, cold facts of the life of a particular Willy I Loman. It grows in meaning by association and juxta position . i i Mottram concurs that Willy's language in itself constitutes a barrier to any true self-awareness, because I of its embeddedness within the "success dream." The lan- } guage itself blocks understanding through terms such as \ "create personal interest," make an "appearance," "knock | them cold." i Other expressions relevant of the "success dream" image are "well-liked," "personal attractiveness," j "appearance," and "contacts." Willy says to Ben ". . .a ! man can end up with diamonds on the basis of being well ■ 14 3 ; liked"; Happy responds to Biff "you're well liked"; i 1 when Ben invites Willy to Alaska, Linda responds, "why 144 must everybody conquer the world? You're well liked." ; The phrases referring to personality, attractiveness, I I | contacts, and appearance, occur in several contexts: 1) I When Willy asks Howard for a New York position he speaks 167 of Singleman and adds "I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want. , . . There was person- 145 ality xn it, Howard"; 2) when Willy seeks validation for passing on the "success dream" to his sons; after admiring Ben's Alaska venture Willy says: "It's not what you do, j Ben. It's who you know and the smile on your face. It's . contacts, Ben, contacts." For Willy, "appearance" or i j "personal attractiveness" are the keys to success in the \ business world, "Because a man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, 1 4 f t is the man who gets ahead." Despite the many cliches us^ed such as "keep your | pores open"; "bottoms up"; they dorepresent a subjective i ! authenticity for Willy Loman and a type of vitality. His ■ expression to Happy and Biff in the cafe, "the woods are J burning" is representative of his severe state of anxiety over just having lost his job. I Another aspect of Willy's language, his incon sistency, is "symptomatic" of two components within Willy, j The first component is the stronger of the two and ' represents Willy's success dream wherein Biff is "mag nificent" and must correspond to a correct business image; | the second is a partial awareness of reality: Biff's not : conforming to the image. The first set of contradictions 1 occurs in sequence one when Willy speaks of Biff: "Not finding yourself at the age of thirty-five is a disgrace. 168 14 7 . . . Biff is a lazy bum. . . ."i which is contradicted by "greatest thing in the world for him was to bum 14 8 around," and "there-s one thing about Biff— he's not lazy." t j Other seeming contradictions occur in Willy's i advice to Biff about Bill Oliver: | j Walk in very serious. You are not applying for a | boy's job. Money is to pass. Be quiet, fine, and ! serious. Everybody likes a kidder, but nobody ; lends him m o n e y .149 i This is contradicted by: Walk in with a big laugh. Don't look worried. Start off with a couple of your good stories to lighten things up. It's not what you say, it's how you say it— because personality always wins the d a y .150 j In the "past" sequence Willy condones Biff's i stealing: I j Sure, he's gotta practice with a regulation ball, J doesn't he? Coach'll probably congratulate you j on your initiative. Shortly thereafter he says: He's giving it back, isn't he? Why is he stealing? What did I tell him? I never in my life told him anything but decent things.151 Miller himself, in an interview with Richard Evans, indicates the richness, density, and selectivity : of the play's language within a careful "mosaic." I It is actually a mosaic of pieces . . . an im- ! pressionistic effect. . . . In other words I'm ; trying to make the point that the dialogue is not a glob of undifferentiated material. It may appear that way, thank God, I mean one is not aware 169 that in fact. Salesman is probably my most densely structured play, that the material is strictly selected. . . .152 In summation, the language of Death of A Salesman is utilitarian for it reveals a way of life-— for the | Lomans. It is authentic in terms of the "subjective" j reality. Dialogue, through the use of past and present, t , serves the function of exposition. The dialogue does re- ! | veal the plot, character, and environment as indicated by our analysis of the sequences in Death of A Salesman. i | Any attempt at determining the various themes of j Death of A Salesman is confronted with the difficulty in- i herent in the very richness and complexity of the material. We are immediately faced with the profound humaneness of i the characters. As indicated in the section on character, ! ; ’ i 1 Willy Loman, as well as Biff and Linda are characters with i | whom many members of the audience can deeply empathize. i J John Mason Brown mentions our unavoidable identification | with Willy Loman: ; Although he happens to be a salesman tested and i found wanting, by his own very special crisis, all I of us sitting out front are bound to be shaken, : long before the evening is over, by finding some- 1 thing of ourselves in him.1^3 i i | For Gelb, the human and involving nature of the ! characters in Death of A Salesman, saves the play from ; being propagandistic: "He [Miller] has some severe i , criticisms to make of our society, and yet Death of A Salesman criticizes without being propaganda because the 170 154 characters are so real." Watts goes a step further in referring to the social validity of Death of A Salesman by stating > "it manages to go so deeply into contemporary values, that j it becomes a valid and frightening social criticism." , The issue appears to be: is Death of A Salesman I | a psychological and/or a sociological play? As mentioned I I earlier in Chapter I, Bentley states the necessity of focusing upon the Howard/Willy sequences if the play is to be construed as political, and upon the Boston hotel 155 sequence xf the play xs to be construed as sexual. ! John Manders speaks to the same seeming dichotomy of issues: If we take the "psychological" motivation as primary, j the "social" documentation seems gratuitous, if we i take the "social" documentation as primary, the ; "psychological" motivation seems gratuitous. And we J have, I am convinced, to choose which kind of moti- i vation must have priority; we cannot have both at j once.1^6 For Tom Driver the difficulty is in determining "whether the essential problem is with Loman or with society." There are several ways of resolving these issues: | 1) one can select either the social or the psychological I I element as primary, 2) one can select both as being of ; equal importance, 3) one can select one element as being a ;reflection of the other domain. Howard Clurman opts for ^ the first choice and sees in the play a "sociological 157 study of socxal values whxch destroy indxvxduals." 171 On the other hand, Alan Downer is convinced that the I social issues can have relevance only to those societies which parallel Willy Loman's world; thus for Americans j and for societies similarly organized, Death of A Salesman I | becomes a tragedy; for other societies it is a lesser , thing, a case history perhaps. i Shatsky indicates that for him, Death of A ! J Salesman does not qualify thematically as valid social I criticism, because it does not delve into the "American dream": Miller is attacking Willy's belief in the American ■ dream rather than exploring the roots of the dream j itself. . . . If he is attempting to criticize the j American dream he should have posited a character | who succeeds in fulfilling all the victims of the j myth, yet fails as a human being . . . the question ; of the validity of the American dream is never I explored.1^9 j i To counter this argument, one may suggest that i Bernard and Charley do represent the embodiment of people who succeed within a given social context: Charley as a businessman and father; Bernard as a lawyer. Taking both viewpoints, Death of A Salesman as a rich mixture of the psychological and the social, Murray states: At his best, Miller has avoided the extremes of clinical psychiatric case studies on the one hand and mere sociological reporting on the other . . . he had indicated . . . how the dramatist might maintain in delicate balance both personal and I social motivations.160 [ Miller, himself, offers a possible solution to the dichotomy: Willy as an individual "psychological" element 172 and Willy as representative of broader sociological implication. Miller, in his interview with Evans, indi cates that Willy ijs representative of the "naked individual" vis-a-vis society: I . . . there were some people who felt he [Willy] 1 was just a failure, that he was a fool . . . other I people felt that he was an inefficient stupid i fellow. . . . There are always people whose minds | stop at the literal situation. . . . But I think I the majority understood quite well that what was : involved here was the naked individual as he con fronted the precepts of society.161 Miller, in an interview with Prudhoe, refers to the audience needing to know what a play means by this statement: "I think a play ought to make sense to common 162 sense people." Miller, in an interview with Martin describes Willy Loman as being representative of the individual within a social context. This context becomes "real" for the audience by means of the synthesis which f i | the play creates out of what would otherwise be non- I i focused, diffused relationships in Death of A Salesman: I don't know of another play which dealt with the question of what one could call the ordinary man's i strangulation by a system of values that was going | on . . . it isn’t a question of reporting some- ! thing, it's a question of creating a synthesis, | that has never existed before out of common materials | that are otherwise chaotic and unrelated.16 3 } In his interview with Martin, Miller attributes iwilly's death to his false values: "the question of the i values of certain posited credos of society . . . they jare basically the relationship of forces . . . Willy 173 ! Loman . . . he took the common credos . .and ’ I 164 j that killed him." For Miller, the function of the dramatist is to raise issues; he should not take sides or attempt to solve issues, nor should he be the exponent of j a particular political philosophy. Finally, the issues i and forces to which he addresses himself should be t j dramatized: I ; Hopefully a play can give a viewpoint, which will remove that cover of confusion and what the forces are that are going into a dilemma. If the dilemma is recognizable from the beginning, let us say, instead of remaining confused as to what is going into making it a dilemma, the play should dramatize the forces that have created it.l°5 I Miller points to Ibsen's Doll's House, which raised — . — ■■■-— , ■ ■-■■■■ , ! issues without necessarily offering solutions, and re- i ' vealed, in so doing, the underlying life. 1 Miller, in the Evans interview, indicates that the author knows more than his character: "I was not in other words, Willy Loman, I was the writer, and Willy Loman is 166 there, because I could see beyond him. 11 Nevertheless, in Death of A Salesman, "by showing what happens where j - T - , - - - ■ there are not any values, I, at least, assume, that the I audience will be compelled and propelled toward a more ' 16 7 : intense quest for the values that are missing." : Earlier, vP indicated one of the criticisms of the requiem was that it neither analyzed Willy's "wrong dreams" nor , offered a solution to them. Miller addresses himself to i i this issue: 174 j . . . people go in and feel that, "I didn't get any answer" . . . and quite rightly. They won't get an answer because the answers are implicit in the definitions of the problems . . .168 Thus one has here a possible counter to Shatsky's com ment: "Miller is attacking Willy's belief in the American I , dream rather than exploring the roots of the dream | itself."169 i j In sum, one may say that the theme is not propa- j : gandistic because it does not overshadow character. It may be universal in scope to the extent that it encompasses 'issues of importance to industrialized society. One may I also add that we have in Willy Loman a reflection of one of the central themes of Death of A. Salesman: the relation ship of the individual to the "success dream." i One can now consider the thematic issues in their relationship with the values of the pre-industrial society and of the potential for individuality existing therein. Mottram raises the question of Willy's membership I j in the pre-industrial society in terms of several possible i categories: Willy can be seen as representative of an 170 "archetypal cherisher of the pastoral world," a categorization which in turn may be summed up as that of a i "pre-industrial revolution artisan and frontiersman." Willy can also be seen as a "patriarchal male transmitting ^ 171 complex legacies from hxs forebears to hxs progeny." ; Mottram defines the term pastoral as "simplicity of thought 175 172 and action in a rustic setting," Miller refers to this implied simplicity, in the Evan's interview, as "nostalgic and romantic." Miller ; adds: f I Willy's father went across the country in a covered 1 wagon and made flutes. He wasn't anybody's employee i nor anybody's boss. He was a free man. He had a certain colorful character as opposed to Willy who ; was stuck in Brooklyn . . .173 t ; Willy's desire to pass on this colorful pioneer tradition to his "progeny" is evident in the Ben sequence mentioned earlier, when Willy asks Ben to tell his boys about their 17 4 pioneer stock. Foster also acknowledges the presence 175 of a romantic and sentxmental motif. In the discussion of the make-up of Biff's and Willy's characters it is | learned that at times, they both have felt they did not I I belong in the city. Willy longs for the time when one J could "breathe": when his home was surrounded by trees and I , not by apartment houses. For Mottram the flute melody is suggestive of the small fragile house, and represents also "a multivalent symbol . . . not only of the past, i 1V 6 | but also of the lost pastoral life." Furthermore, the ! flute melody introduces Ben, and, in turn, Ben's recol lection of Willy’s father. While it is true that manual labor, such as Willy's t i fixing the porch, putting up a ceiling, or Biff going out West, may not offer "solutions" to the difficulties of I ; living in a complex society, it does suggest the need-: for 176 I exploring additional viable alternatives. Perhaps the answer is the development of a system of internal values compatible with the demands of modern society; manual labor also affords a contrast to the hollowness of the "success dream" values as experienced by Willy. As Miller j suggests in his interview with Corrigan: i \ I used the phrase some years ago that the fish is in the water and the water is in the fish, Man is I in society; but the society is in man and every I individual. To trace the lines of each as they j wind around us is one of my preoccupations.17 7 Miller goes on to say that man must seek ways to control his own fate and psyche, in spite of their being shaped by society. Man must reach for solutions. Re garding society, Miller states: "It is all around us and 17 8 inside us"; in other words, we have internalized j society's values. Miller offers Biff as the play's only I j example of an individual who opts out, for Biff sees that I !"his father is not driven out merely by psychological 179 i forces, but by what he believes socially. , . ." Thus in terms of theme unity, one may note that there is not a j single theme element, but rather a variety of interrelated themes. In many ways Willy's psychological orientations, J his "success dream" problems, the father-son relationship, and the "romantic" motif, can be seen as part of an en- i i !riched mosaic, which yields us a man's life: that of i jWilly Loman. This mosaic may also be called universal in 1 its implications for modern societies; most certainly audiences have identified with Willy's problems and the father-son relationship. These constitute clear and rele vant themes. In our final section the present’author details elements of light, sound, and setting, expressive of I unified vision of Willy's experience. This approach is in ; | part dependent, as Miller indicates, upon the expression- i j istic mode. Our last section will discuss the critical issues present in Death of A Salesman in their relation ship to its qualifications as tragedy. Expressionism, as derived from the German, repre sented for Miller an opportunity to explore the individual consciousness of Willy Loman. As Miller indicates, this specific exploration is valid only for Willy: "It would be i ! ; false to a more integrated or less disintegrating person- ' 180 I ality." Miller utilizes the expressionistic method of I | "human shorthand": | I believe in a strong convention in realism . . . I I had willingly employed expressionism, but always j to create a subjective truth. I had always been at- | tracted and repelled by the brilliance of German i expressionism . . . the one in Salesman was to employ I quite a marvelous shorthand for human "felt" char- : acterization . . .181 Moss elaborates upon the Miller "shorthand" function in creating psychological immediacy. What occurs I ! is a concurrency of events where "nothing in life comes ; 'next' but everything exists together at the same time i X 8 2 within us." It is important to note that the 178 expressionistic elements do not exist at the expense of the realistic elements; for both are present. While seeking to "create a form, which in itself as a form, would literally be the process of Willy Loman1s way of 18 3 | mind," it is, nevertheless, a representation of both j "dream" (expressionism) and reality; at the onset Miller I states: i An air of dream [underlining by present writer] clings . to the place, a dream rising out of reality. The kitchen at center seems actual enough, for there is a kitchen with three chairs, and a refrigerator, but no other fixtures are s e e n . 184 j Another indication of how both past and present, i the intrapersonal and/or interpersonal/intrapersonal con text, can coexist is revealed by the stage direction: This forward area serves as the backyard as well as the locale of all Willy-s imagining and of his city scenes [all underlining in this quote is by I the present writer]. Whenever the action is in the j present, actors observe the imaginary wall-lines, entering the house only through its door. . . . I But in the scenes of the past these boundaries are ! broken, and the characters enter or leave a room by stepping "through" a wall onto the forestage. . . 185 Moss states that the expressionistic method used ; in Death of A Salesman is similar to Strindberg's tech- 186 niques. Miller and Strindberg "project the irrational I inner life of the characters through abrupt transitions ! 187 land juxtapositions in time, place, mood, and theme." i |Popkin concurs that the "dream" elements (which we refer i I to as Willy's intrapersonal past/present) constitute a major dimension of the play; Moss concludes they represent 179 "the dreams of all the world, the dreams of the hopeful 188 past, and the inescapable dream of past guilt." Raymond Williams finds expressionism, not an adjunct, but a necessary dimension of the final form of the play: "« . .it is not a casual experiment, but rooted in experi- 189 ence. It xs the drama of a single mind." Whereas both reality and expressionism fuse via the intrapersonal revelation of Willy's mind, and the interpersonal/intrapersonal past/present, it is of interest to note that some directors have chosen to stress one ele ment; Birgitta Steene reveals that Sioberg's Swedish production of Death of A Salesman had an expressionistic emphasis: By toning down the local and genuinely American atmosphere and stressing the play's expression istic overtones, Sioberg brought Death of A Salesman to a level where dream and reality merged: the specific American background gave way to a vague and fleeting dream world in which the central motif was Willy's relationship to Biff, and the emphasis a psychological one, rather than a social. Miller's play in Siobern's hands became not the tragedy of an American salesman, but the tragedy of fatherhood.190 Williams reveals the possibility of taking another direction, wherein the expressionistic elements can be representative of an "Everyman": The Salesman. Death of A Salesman is an expressionistic recon struction of naturalist substance, and the result is not hybrid, but a particularly powerful form. The continuity from social expressionism remains clear, however, for in the end, it isn't Willy as a man, but the images of the Salesman that pre dominates .191 180 The possibilities of expressionism, in terms of selection and repetition, as well as distortion (through 192 Willy's mind), are referred to by Popkin. Uncle Ben is the example of a total expressionistic "unreality" for he has no existence outside of Willy's mind: . . seems I to have no existence in the real world, but as the embodi- ■ 193 ment of the American will to succeed." Popkin also refers to the use of music and I j lighting, to set the "past" sequences apart from the "objective reality" of the present. Parker indicates a melding of past/present: He [Miller] is using the technique [expressionism] solely as a means of revealing the character of Willy Loman, the values Willy Loman holds, and particularly the way his mind works. Miller's reason for blending realism and expressionism in j Death of A Salesman is that this combination re- I fleets the protagonist's actual way of thinking. . . . ! It is Willy Loman's character, therefore, which is ! the chief link between the two dramatic modes. It is not a flashback. . . . What it does is ^ present a past distorted by the rememberer's mind— 1 a subjective not an objective record; and the memories have an extra tension because they occur simultaneously | with events in the present, more like a double exposure than a f l a s h b a c k .194 One may note the author takes the position that it I is an active reexperienced recreation that occurs and not i J a passive "memory," and, therefore, the so-called past is i a vital part of the present action in Death of A Salesman. j - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - As one indicated earlier, one of the contributions | of gestalt is the manner in which form constitutes a 181 totality. Here the visual patterns form a gestalt which serves to reinforce both the thematic domains, and the expressionistic motif. Perhaps the dominant sound motif is the flute music; as Barker summarizes: j . . . [it tells] of the rural way of life represented i by flute music, telling of grass, and trees, and I horizon; it is heard only by Willy whenever he dreams ! of the life he should have led in the early days when • his suburb was still in the country. It is associated, I of course, with Willy’s pioneer father, the flute j maker. ^-95 | Another motif which binds together both the expressionistic and realistic scenes is the light pattern of the green leaves. The appearance of the green leaves coincides with the intrapersonal domain. When Willy en- ! counters his young sons in the intrapersonal "past" it is I j preceded by green leaves: ! Happy: Sh . . . Sleep, Biff. i Their light is out. . . . The apartment houses are ! fading out, and the entire house and surroundings j become covered with leaves. Music insinuates itself ! as the leaves appear. i Willy: Just wanna be careful with those girls, J Biff. That's all . . .196 i During the cafe sequence, when Biff is unable to tell Willy of his failure to see Bill Oliver, one finds^a | similar "green leaves" transition to the "past": I j Willy: What'd you insult him or something? You insulted him, didn't you? Biff: Listen, will you let me out of it, will j you just let me out of it! I Biff (to Happy): I can't talk to him! ! A single trumpet note jars the ear. The light of green leaves strains the house, which holds the air : of night and a dream. Young Bernard enters and 182 knocks on the door of the house. Young Bernard, frantically: Mrs. Loman! Mrs. Loman . . .197 Perhaps the final return to the unattainable past is suggested when Willy rushes to his suicide: As the car speeds off, the music crashes down in a frenzy of sound. . . . He (Biff) and Happy gravely don their jackets. Linda slowly walks out of her room. The music has developed into a dead march. The leaves of day are appearing over everything . . .-^o The motif of the "success dream" and the "indi vidual" rural personality are suggested by the very last descriptive lines: Only the flute is left on the darkening stage areas as over the house the hard towers of the apartment buildings rise into sharp focus. CURTAIN199 I Subsequently, there shall be a consideration of i the question that has plagued critics with reference to j Death of A Salesman: Is it a tragedy? I j Critics have differed not only in terms of the I issue: is Death of A Salesman a tragedy? but, also, if so, ! what type of tragedy does it represent? Perhaps the j central question regarding Death of A Salesman is in terms i ! of Willy Loman's stature; namely, is he worthy of being ; considered a subject for tragedy? In response to this : issue Stambusky concludes that Willy Loman is not in any I | way a proper subject for tragedy because 1) his false | dreams are representative of a shallow materialistic life, 2 ) his morals encourage thievery, negligence, and cheating 183 on the part of his sons Happy and Biff, 3) he is not representative of a universal theme, nor is he a "good man," and 4) he is responsible for his own downfall because he is self-deluded and worships success. Stambusky con- ' eludes that Willy, rather than society, is the main : contributing agent to Willy's downfall: l i | Society plays its part, but it is in the foreground. | Willy's failure as a man is the cause, rather than j the effect of his economic failure. Willy is a ! victim of society, but he is also his own victim; he has accepted an essentially vulgar and debased as well as false system of values.200 Richard Foster not only agrees that Willy has no stature, for he does not possess "inherent fineness and depth and energy of mind and character," but also that j Willy is an unworthy human being of no real matter: ; I | Willy is a childish and stupid human being and the j ! societal role of salesman is only of minor conse quence. No moral appeals exist other than to an ; order no more profound than those of commerce and ! of the machine. Salesman obviously does not meet ! the . . . requirement either.201 | George Nathan states that at best Willy Loman is pathetic, and without "universal size"; seeing Willy is akin to "the experience we suffer in contemplating on the highway a run- over and killed dog, undeniably affecting but without any profound significance." I A second basis for not considering Death of A j Salesman tragedy, in any form, is the lack of a "world order" required for tragedy to exist. Foster states: i . . . the world in which the tragic hero acts must i 184 be sensed as bounded or permeated by some meaningful and larger than human order— call it Moral Order, or Natural Law, or providence, or even fate which he in some way violates, and which correspondingly extracts, but not without some sense of ultimate justice in the action, the tragic hero's life is a consequence of that violation.203 ! As indicated by Downer, for other than Americans, Death of 204 J A Salesman may represent a "case study." i i A third group of critics denies Death of A Salesman I j the title of tragedy. It is more a matter of Willy's lack l of insight. Stambusky refers to Willy as a "suburban j Everyman" without insight: "Lacking the 'sufficient en lightenment' of high tragedy, Willy is, in the long run, a 205 pathetic figure to us, no more, no less." A fourth reason given to deny Death of A Salesman I i tragedy status is the language of the play? Gassner indi- I cates that it is the limitation of language that "has made j 2 0 6 I me contemplate the use of the term 'low tragedy.1" George Nathan agrees that Miller's Death of A Salesman does 207 not possess the language of high tragedy. Krutch, in ; reference to Miller's dialogue states: "The dialogue serves its purpose as well as the dialogue of a Dreiser novel, but 2 0 8 it is almost as unmemorable and as unquotable," and T. C. Worsley adds: "Poetry is made with words . . . and 2 0 9 the words just aren't there." f I I To counter these arguments Miller has set forth I 1 some criteria of his own; Miller indicates in "Tragedy and The Common Man" that the tragic hero needs not be high 185 born: what is essential is his drive to assume his rightful 210 place: "his whole due as a personality." The tragic flaw is, therefore, seen as the "inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a | challenge to his dignity. " J In response to the accusation that Willy does not ; possess insight, Miller agrees, but adds that Willy is I | still aware of his life's emptiness: that he had not the t j intellectual fluency to verbalize his situation is not the same thing as saying that he lacked awareness, even an j overly intensified consciousness that the life he had was without form and inner meaning. McAnnay adds, that whereas Willy does not attain insight with reference to his success ; dream, he attains the insight in terms of the father-son i i relationship with Biff: "Willy discovers that his dream of j fatherhood has unexpectedly been achieved . . . he finds I 212 love." Of interest too, according to McAnnay, is the mechanism by which Willy avoids insight. This is of interest to the present writer in terms of Willy's intra personal perspective, and perhaps suggests that a deline ation of "insight" needs to be developed. McAnnay adds, I ; and Miller agrees, that it is not the realm of the writer I J to offer insights into the order of the modern world; | Miller earlier has stated his objective is to make his ! audience reflect upon conditions which brought about ! 213 Willy's situation. 186 The nature of our society, vis-a-vis a tragic hero, is perhaps suggested by the question Bierman posits: "Have we created a society fundamentally so inimical to man that it threatens his very survival."21^ For the present writer it seems that Gassner has j proposed a viable solution to Death of A Salesman's ' . • • • i position as tragedy. While qualifying his comments to i | indicate that Willy is not the classical hero, Gassner I --- I i states: i i j Willy Loman indeed makes himself a tragic hero i of sorts [underlining is by the present writer] j by his abundant capacity for suffering as well as his fine resentment of slights, by his battle for self-respect, and by his refusal to surrender all expectations of triumph for and through his sons.215 Gassner attempts to put tragedy in social per- I | spective, noting that within different contexts one must i I ; alter the boundary of tragedy: i i Tragedy is no one's prerogative; it is rather | learned damnation and redemption. The tragic hero j makes himself tragic by his struggle and suffering. | . . . Moreover, he makes himself tragically differ- | ent in different societies [underlining by present I writer]. Even awareness on the hero's part, the ! "tragic awareness" is bound to be different in the j case of different characters differently con- ! ditioned by the social situation.2 1b i ! Death of A Salesman does not qualify for "high j tragedy" on the basis of language; it does, however, ; qualify for "low tragedy" on the following basis: ] Miller would be justified in insisting that within ; limits that are themselves valid dramatic factors j in Death of A Salesman, Willy does arrive at 1 ! 187 self-realization, that is, at a degree of self- realization that can be convincingly Willy's. . . In various scenes set in the present and the past, Willy seeks the truth about himself, and his situation . . . Willy pursues the "truth" and struggles against it within his personal and socia limits no less arduously than Oedipus.217 NOTES ^"Miller, Collected Plays, p. 155. 2 Ibid., p. 183. 3Ibid. , p. 185. 4Ibid., p. 25. 5 John Gassner, Theater at the Crossroads (New York: Rinehart, 1960), p. 63. ^Miller , Collected Plays, ^Ibid., pp. 202-204. 3Ibid., pp. 131-142. 9 Ibid., pp. 143-152. 10-,. . Ibid., PP- 153-156. 11 Tl_ • J3 Ibid., PP- 156-160. 12Ibid., pp. 161-172. 13Ibid., pp. 173-176. 14, . , Ibid. , pp. 177-182. 1.5 , . , Ibid., pp. 183-186. 16Ibid., pp. 187-193. 17 Ibid., PP. 193-209. 18 , . Ibid., pp. 210-2 2 0. 19, . ^ Ibid., pp. 221-2 2 2. 20T, Ibid., p. 134. 21 Ibid., P- 138. 22 Ibid., P- 161. 23 Ibid., p. 164. 189 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 Ibid. P- 166 Ibid. P* 167 Ibid. Ibid. P* 134 Ibid. P- 137 Ibid. P- 139 Ibid. Ibid. P* 149 Ibid. P* 158 Ibid. P- 157 Ibid. P- 158 Ibid. Ibid. P. 157 Ibid. P- 160 Ibid. P. 162 Ibid. P. 164 Gassner, Theater at the Crossroads, Miller, Collected Plays, p. 174. Ibid., p. 180. Ibid., p. 181. Ibid. Ibid., p. 183. Ibid. Ibid., p. 188. Ibid., p. 190. 49 Ibid., p. 192. 50Ibid., p. 196. 51Ibid., p. 199. 52Ibid., p. 2 0 1. 53 . Ibid. 54 Ibid. 55 Ibid. 56T, . Ibid. 57Ibid., p. 2 0 0. 58Ibid., p. 204. 59 Ibid. 60Ibid., p. 208. ^Ibid. , p. 2 1 2. 62 . Ibid. 63Ibid., p. 216. 64Ibid., p. 217. 6 5,.-, Ibid. 66 , . , Ibid. 67Ibid., p. 219. 88Ibid., p. 2 2 1. 69 Ibid., p. 222. I 7 0 Harold Clurman, "Death of a Salesman,' [ Republic 20 (February 28, 1949):27. ; 7^Miller, Collected Plays, p. 216. 72Ibid., p. 219. New 191 73 Clurman, "Death of a Salesman," p. 27. 74 Miller, Collected Plays, p. 212. 7^Ibid., p. 2 2 2. ! 76Ibid., p. 204. 77Ibid., p. 138. I 78Ibid., p. 197. I 7 9 Ibid., p. 217. 1 8 0 i Ibid., p. 222. 81 Brian Parker, "Point of View in Arthur Miller's Death Of a Salesman," University of Toronto Quarterly 35 (January 1966):149. i 82 Paul Blumberg, "Sociology and Social Literature: Work Alienation in the Plays of Arthur Miller," American Quarterly 21 (1969):21. O O Miller, Collected Plays, p. 215. 84 Ibid., p. 216. 8^Daniel E. Schneider, "Play of Dreams," Theatre Arts 33 (October 1949):18. 8 6 Alan A. Stambusky, "Arthur Miller: Aristotelian Cannons in the Twentieth Century Drama," Modern American Drama: Essays in Criticism. William Taylor Ed. (Deland, Florida: Everett Edwards, 1968), p. 93. 8 7 Miller, Collected Plays, p. 37. i ----------------- 8 8 j Clurman, "Death of a Salesman," p. 27. 89 j Miller, Collected Plays, p. 131. 1 90 ; Blumberg, "Sociology and Social Literature: iWork Alienation in the Plays of Arthur Miller," p. 299. ' 91 Ibid., p. 301. 92 ; Ibid., p. 308 192 93 Robert Good Hogan, Drama; The Major Genres: An Introductory Critical Anthology (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1963), p. 21. 94 Ivor Brown, "As London Sees Willy Loman," New York Times Magazine 8 (August 28, 1949):11. 95 Ibid., p. 12. 96 Blumberg, "Sociology and Social Literature: Work Alienation in the Plays of Arthur Miller," p. 308. 97 Gerald C. Weales, "Miller: Man and His Image," in American Drama Since World War II (New York: Harcourt Brace and World, Inc., 1962), p. 14. 98 Ibid., p. 17. 99 Miller, Collected Plays, p. 217. ^Stephen Lawrence, "The Right to Dream in Mille Death of a Salesman," College English 25 (April 1964) :548. ^Weales, "Miller: Man and His Image," p. 17. 102 Winifred Dusenberry, The Theme of Loneliness in Modern American Drama (Gainseville: University of Florida Press, 1960), p. 63. 103 i Miller, Collected Plays, p. 219. ! i o 4 | Dusenberry, The Theme of Loneliness, p. 67. I *i j" Miller, Collected Plays, p. 48. 1_0 6 Dennis Welland, Arthur Miller (New York: Grove 1961), p. 56. 107 Eric Bentley, In Search of Theater (New York: Vintage, 1954')? p. 133. 108 Robert A. Martin, "Arthur Miller: Tragedy and Commitment," Michigan Quarterly Review 8 (1969):177. 109 Richard I. Evans, Psychology and Arthur Miller (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1969), p. 134. ^^Dusenberry, The Theme of Loneliness, p. 67. 111 Parker, "Point of View in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman," p. 97. 112 Lois Gordon, "Death of a Salesman; An Appreciation," in The Forties: Fiction, Poetry, Drama. Edited by Everett Edwards. Deland, Florida, 196 9, p. 273. 113 G. Bliquez, "Linda's Role in Death of a Salesman," Modern Drama 11 (1968):348. 114. 115 278. Ibid., p. 171. Gordon, "Death of a Salesman: An Appreciation," 116 Joseph A. Hynes, "Arthur Miller and the Impasse of Naturalism," South Atlantic Quarterly 62 (Summer, 1963): 330. 117 118 Welland, Arthur Miller, p. 178. Ibid., p. 181. 119 Hynes, "Arthur Miller and the Impasse of Naturalism," p. 331. 120 121. 122. 123. 124. 125. 126. 127. 128. 129. 130. 131. Miller, Collected Plays, p. 161. Ibid. Ibid., p. 163. Ibid. Ibid., p. 140. Ibid., p. 141. Ibid., p. 204. Ibid., p. 2 05. Ibid., p. 191. Ibid., p. 192. Ibid., p. 193. Ibid., p. 2 2 1. 194 132 Ibid., p. 157. 133 Sister M. Bettina, "Willy Loraan1s Brother Ben: Tragic Insight in Death of a Salesman," Modern Drama 4 (February 1962):410. 134TV. . Ibid. ^3^Miller, Collected Plays, p. 158. 136Ibid., p. 160. 137 Ibid., p. 219. 138 Leonard Moss, "Arthur Miller and the Common Man's Language," Modern Drama■7 (May, 1964):57. 139 Parker, "Point of View in Miller's Death of a Salesman," p. 153. 140 Ibid., p. 155. 141 Henry Popkin, "Arthur Miller: The Strange Encounter," Swanee Review 68 (Winter 1960:34. 142, ;p. 267 'Gordon, "Death of A Salesman: An Appreciation," 143^ - 11 Miller , Collected 144 Ibid. 145T, . , Ibid., P- 181. 14 6 , . Ibid., P- 184. 147T, Ibid., p. 134. 148 , Ibid. 149T, Ibid., p. 168. i50T, Ibid., P- 169. 151 Ibid., P. 144. 152 Evans, Psychology . 195 153 John Mason Brown, "Seeing Things as You and I," Saturday Review of Literature 32 (February 26, 1949):14-20 154 Phillip Gelb, "A Symposium with Arthur Miller," Tulane Drama Review 2 (May 1958):63-69. 155 Bentley, In Search of Theatre, p. 8 6 . 1 1 5 6 John Mander, The Writer and Commitment (London: Seeker and Warburg, 1961), p. 151. i ' 157 j Clurman, "Death of A Salesman," p. 27 I 158 ; Alan Downer, Fifty Years of American Drama: | 190 0-1950 (Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1951), p. 138. ! 159 Paul E. Shatsky, "The Reactive Image and Miller,si Death of A Salesman," Players 48 (1973):104-110. - 160 Edward Murray, Arthur Miller: Dramatist (New York: Unger, 1967), p. 35 i 161 | Evans, Psychology and Arthur Miller, p. 117. ! 162 I John Prudhoe, "Arthur Miller and the Tradition J of Tragedy," English Studies 43 (October 1962):433. ' 163 I Arthur Miller quoted in Martin, "Arthur Miller: ; Tragedy and Commitment," p. 17 8 ; 164T. i Ibid. 165 Evans, Psychology and Arthur Miller, p. 134. 166Ibid., p. 137. 167Ibid., p. 143. 168Ibid., p. 148. 169 Shatsky, "The Reactive Image and Miller's Death of A Salesman," p. 110. 170 Eric. Mottram, "Arthur Miller: Development of ■A Political Dramatist in America," in Arthur Miller: A i Collection of Essays, Robert Corrigan Ed. (Englewood I Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1969) p. 35. 1 7 l - r i ~ ■ j Ibid. 196 172 Ibid., p. 37. 173 Evans, Psychology and Arthur Miller, p. 14 3. 174 Miller, Collected Plays, p. 170. 175 Richard Foster, "Confusion and Tragedy: The Failures of Miller's Salesman," in Arthur Miller: A Collection of Essays, Robert Corrigan Ed. 17 6 ! Mottram, "Arthur Miller: Development of a jPolitical Dramatist in America, p. 43. I 177 Robert Corrigan, "Introduction: The Achievement of Arthur Miller," in Arthur Miller: A Collection of Essays, p. 5. 178 Miller, Collected Plays, p. 51 179. 180. 181. 182. 183. 184. 185. 18 6 Moss, Arthur Miller and the Common Man's Language," p. 57. 187t, . Ibid. Ibid . • p. 37. Ibid. p. 43. Ibid. p. 57. Ibid. p. 61. Ibid. p. 41. Ibid. p. 131. Ibid. p. 143. 57 188 Popkin, "Arthur Miller: The Strange Encounter," 189 Miller, Collected Plays, p. 133. 190 Birgitta Steene, "The Critical Reception of American Drama in Sweden," Modern Drama 5 (May 1962):75. 191 Raymond Williams, "The Realism of Arthur Miller," Critical Quarterly (1959):140-149. 197 192 Popkin, "Arthur Miller: The Strange Encounter," p. 49. 193 Ibxd., p. 53. 194 Ibid., p. 57. 195 Ibid., p. 63. 196 Miller, Collected Plays, p. 147. 197 Ibid., p. 200. 1 9 f t Ibid., p. 220. 199 Ibid. ^^Stambusky, "Arthur Miller: Aristotelian Cannons in the Twentieth Century Drama," p. 93. 201 Foster, "Confusion and Tragedy: The Failure of Miller's Salesman, p. 83. I 202 I George Nathan, Theater in the Fifties (New York: : Knopf, 1953), p. 107. 2 03 Foster, "Confusion and Tragedy: The Failure of I Miller's Salesman," p. 85. 204 Downer, Fifty Years of American Drama: 190 0- 1950, p. 149. 205 Stambusky, "Arthur Miller: Aristotelian Cannons in the Twentieth Century Drama," p. 95. 2 06 Gassner, Theatre at the Crossroads, p. 77. 1 2 0 7 ! Nathan, Theater in the Fifties, p. 107. ! 2 o 8 Joseph Wood Krutch, "Drama," Nation (February 16,, ;1947):191-193. 209 ] T. C. Worsley, "Poetry Without Words," Nation j ; (August 6 , 1949): 14 7. , 210 Miller, Tragedy and the Common Man," p. 333. : 2 1 1 , ; Ibid. 1 212 ! J. E. Mile G. McAnany, "The Tragic Commitment: |Some’Notes on Arthur Miller,"Modern Drama 5 (May 1962): 11-20. 19 8 ^"^Miller, Collected Plays, p. 94. 214 Judah Bierman, The Dramatic Experience (Engle wood Cliffs, N.J., 1958), p. 493 215 Gassman, Theatre at the Crossroads, p. 70. 216, . , _ - Ibid., p. 75. 217 Ibid., p. 78. 199 CHAPTER V THE APPLICATION OF THE TRANS-PER MODEL TO SELECTED SCENES IN ARTHUR MILLER'S * I DEATH OF A SALESMAN i As indicated earlier, I have focused upon the interpersonal aspects of the Trans-Per model, with the j necessary inclusion of an intrapersonal overview and selected internal and external factors from the perceptual system. Thus, one has the application of both traditional dramatic criteria and the Sereno and Bodaken Trans-Per Communication Model to Arthur Miller's text Death of A I Salesman. ! The applied dramatic criteria are based upon iAristotle's plot, character, language, and thought, comple mented by a consensus of opinion established by authorities in the field of dramatic analysis and criticism. The application of the Sereno and Bodaken Trans-Per model is based upon a review of communication theory and communi cation models. I have assessed Death of A Salesman in Chapter IV by a careful analysis and application of the criteria of plot, character, language, and thought. The focus in Chapter V is a concentration upon the interpersonal context 200 in the application of the Sereno and Bodaken Trans-Per model, and a comparison of these results with that obtained by means of dramatic analysis. i J The author chose the interpersonal emphasis for the Trans-Per model because the essential aspect of the play j appears to be the attempted transactions between characters J in an emotionally meaningful context. The dialogue j ! represents a communication setting intended to simulate the rather unstructured and informal discourse, in which primarily two people attempt to share meaning with each other, especially Willy and Biff. I j Another reason for the selection of the Trans-Per I | model is its unique features in comparison with other ; potential models. It seems to have an isomorphic j : I j relationship with the interpersonal behavior that occurs J between characters as measured by the dialogue and actions. While one can only infer the shared meanings through one's knowledge of the intrapersonal background of the characters, and their interpersonal communication, one j | can make some assessments as to the influences upon them, i that one would not typically be aware of via the sole j application of dramatic criteria. | Although my emphasis within the communication ! methodology is upon the interpersonal application of the | Trans-Per model, one must analyze the intrapersonal | communication element: the individual process of creating 201 j meaning. In reviewing the terminology one finds that the syllables Trans and Per refer respectively to the trans- i action process and the process of perception. Transaction refers to the simultaneous process in which all elements j in the communication process are interrelated and inter- i dependent. Perception refers to the dynamic active process i j through which meaning is created by the mixture of internal and external stimuli: Perception suggests that the perceiver actively blends (i.e. selects, organizes, and evaluates) all internal stimuli (that which the person brings j to a communicating situation) with all the external I stimuli of the present (that which is "out there" ! in the surrounding environment) to create meaning.1 I | It is indicated that the study of gestalt is help- I ful in one's understanding of transactional process. Field l I refers to the available elements (factors), pragnanz i j to the particular forces at a given moment, and gestalt to the specific resultant unity. Isomorphism is another important term which indicates simultaneity or similarity ; of patterns which reinforce a particular gestalt. i ! The communication model application is limited to I . the interpersonal context of the Sereno and Bodaken Trans- Per model with necessary references to the intrapersonal i ; context. The determination that the Sereno and Bodaken I Trans-Per model best meets the criteria applicable to Death of A Salesman and dramatic analysis has been reached upon 202 the basis that the actions occurring during the play Death of A Salesman reveal the following interpersonal character istics: 1) attempts to share meaning (i.e.., Biff and Willy), 2) concern with the potentially most meaningful, | significant, effective relationships (i.e., members of the ! Loman family), and 3) the dialogue and action are designed ■ to simulate a free, informal structure. The other basis I j is an, analysis and comparison of the Trans-Per model and other models. The methodology involving the application of the Sereno and Bodaken Trans-Per model follows this procedure. i Preparatory to the selection of the Sereno and Bodaken Trans-Per model, a review of communication definitions, i | assumptions, and other communication models has occurred. i j Mortensen's five basic communication postulates are i discussed: 1) communication is dynamic and transactional, 2) communication is irreversible, 3) communication is jproactive, 4) communication is interactive, and 5) communi- ! cation is contextual. These postulates illuminate the i framework for the study of communication as applicable to j the Sereno and Bodaken Trans-Per model: 1) communication jis systematic, 2) communication is perceptual, 3) commu- I 1 nication is creating meaning, and 4) communication is j processual. j I have focused upon the interpersonal aspects of |the Sereno and Bodaken Trans-Per model with the necessary 203 inclusion of an intrapersonal overview and selected internal and external factors from the perceptual system. These selected perceptual intrapersonal factors from the internal system (within the individual) are self-esteem, ; dogmatism, and ego-involvement. These selected perceptual ! ■ intrapersonal factors from the external system (outside the individual) are character and dynamism. The above selected intrapersonal factors seem most representative of the major characters in Death of A Salesman. I will review several definitions: 1. Attitude— A tendency to evaluate an object, or issue, or person in a favorable or unfavorable light 2. Self-esteem— Internal intrapersonal communi- i i cation refers to the perception an individual has of I < : himself, his feelings of self-respect and confidence 1 3. Dogmatism— Refers to a person's open or I ! closed-mindedness ! 4. Ego-involvement— Refers to a person's commit- I ment to a topic The internal interpersonal communication factors are represented by empathy and acceptance, and the external interpersonal communication factors are represented by reinforcement and anxiety. I will review the definitions I I I of these internal interpersonal communication factors: 1 1. Empathy (internal)— It is a form of under- * . standing. One can know another person because one can see I I 204 the world through the other person's eyes. That is, Biff is able to perceive Willy's viewpoint, but Willy can't 2 perceive Biff's "I know who I am," 2. Acceptance— It is to view the other person i as an equal and entitled to his own viewpoint ( However, in regard to external intrapersonal j communication factors, T will define the following: I j 1. Character— It refers to our perceptions of an ' individual's honesty or trustworthiness 2. Dynamism— It refers to personal quality, vigor, and energy On the other hand, external interpersonal : communication involves the following definition: i 1. Anxiety--Whereas under the internal it can be | I ■ related to self-esteem, under the external it can be a i j matter of psychological distance and unresolved ! inconsistencies I j The above selected intrapersonal factors seem most representative of the major characters in Death of A Salesman, and offer a partial solution to a question arising in Death of A Salesman: Why is it that Willy Loman cannot give up his "success dream" whereas Biff can do so at the end of the play? It is hoped that by examining : these factors within certain selected scenes, one can j better understand this issue. Self-esteem refers to the j perception an individual has of himself, his feelings of 205 self-respect and confidence. One may examine this factor as it relates to Willy Loman1s role as a father. Dogma tism refers to a person’s open or closed-mindedness and one may examine Willy's inability to accept Biff's "lack of Jsuccess" as well as Willy's adherence to authority in the j form of his successful brother Ben, or the newspaper I [advertisements, as well as his initial belief in his boss | [Howard's authority. Ego-involvement refers to a person's commitment to a topic, such as Happy's determination during the requiem to prove that his father, Willy Loman, had the "right dreams." In review of external intrapersonal communication factors of character, one has Willy's insistence that |appearance is the key to evaluation of character: Willy i ' i I instructs Biff how to dress for his interview with Bill jOliver. He further instructs Biff not to whistle, but i rather to act dynamically with vigor and energy in asking Bill Oliver for $15,000 to invest in a sporting goods 3 venture with Biff. Willy elsewhere refers to Biff as j a "young Adonis" who by just walking into a place is i 4 recognized as important. i With respect to the interpersonal communication ! factors as represented by empathy, one can analyze Willy's I ;reaction to Biff. In Death of A Salesman Biff is able to perceive Willy's viewpoint, but Willy is unable to * 206 empathize with Biff. When Biff says "I know who I am, 5 Pop," Willy is unable to accept this statement. He cannot offer Biff acceptance: Biff's right to his own viewpoint. Instead, Biff is seen as gaining stature and success by the use of Willy's $20,000 insurance money which Willy expects jBiff to receive as a result of Willy's suicide. I Another example of Willy's inability to offer reinforcement of Biff's desires or approval of Biff's actions occurs in the cafe scene. One notes that Willy seeks reinforcement of his own desire for Biff's success- j ful meeting with Bill Oliver. Whenever Biff attempts to confront Willy with the reality, Willy retreats into the past. i In the analysis of this scene perhaps the answers j to Willy's actions can be found by the application of the | interpersonal factor of anxiety as represented by Willy's I need for self-esteem and his unresolved inconsistencies regarding Biff. By applying selected factors, perhaps ! the nature of some of the critical scenes can be further I I illuminated, and then these results compared with those i achieved by means of the application of dramatic criteria. It is hoped the application of both methodologies (dramatic) and the Trans-Per model will provide a useful tool which may be applied to Miller's other‘ works as well I as to those of other playwrights. This issue will be taken j j up again in the summary and conclusion section. I 207 In terms of correspondence, one is not recording "actual" events. A play is at best a selective simulation of "reality," nevertheless, I think the application of the j model will reveal the degree of skill which Miller has | shown in revealing "real" characters as analyzed by the ' added dimension of Trans-Per interpersonal communication, j Again one is seeking the manner in which messages link ]people. i ; Before reviewing the other models, and indicating why one is selecting the Trans-Per model, I should like to comment upon the nature of the selected internal and external stimuli. It is important to note that a stimuli : factor may serve more than one function, i,e., self-esteem | (intrapersonal internal and a sub-category of anxiety). Self-esteem appears under two categories, that is, internal intrapersonal factors referring to the perception of an individual of himself, and his feelings of self-respect and confidence. The feelings may be verbalized, i.e., one may infer a low degree of self-esteem regarding himself | when Biff says "I stole myself out of every good job since high school,"b and "Pop, I am a dime a dozen. 1,7 The level of self-esteem may also be closely associated with "characterthe perception of an (individual's trustworthiness. Willy finds Biff un- I trustworthy, when during the cafe scene Biff states he will not again attempt to see Bill Oliver, and Willy i 208 8 says, "Don't you want to be anything?" Again, it is apparent in Willy's speech to Biff in the cafe after Biff has indicated he has stolen Oliver's pen: "No, you're no 9 j good, you're not good for anything." | It is important to note that self-esteem is an I internal interpersonal factor, sub-categorized under 1 nrr — | anxiety, i.e., an individual's sense of worth may create I I anxiety. An example is Willy's response in fear that he 1 0 will be "ringing up a zero."'" He says, "I am not a dime a dozen, and neither are you."'*''*" Another difficulty involved using the inter- I ; personal and intrapersonal factors is that there may not : be a clear line of demarcation. A line of dialogue may be ; representative of several factors: I Willy: Math, math, math. ! Biff: Take it easy, Pop.12 i | These two lines of dialogue may be representative | of a whole complex of factors. 1. Willy's anxiety about his possible causation of Biff's math failure 2. Willy's low self-esteem as a result of the » interrelationship between Biff's failure of math, and the effect of the Boston hotel events upon Biff's decision not ! J to go to summer school I 3. Willy's anxiety that Biff is "failing" again, this time with Bill Oliver j I 209 4. Willy's assessment of Biff's character as "spiteful" as the scene continues: "No, no. You had to go and flunk math"^ 5. Also Biff's assessment of Willy in the present cafe sequence, and his anxiety as he realizes jWilly's agitated condition, is reflected in his state- I 14 I ment: "Take it easy, Pop." i This awareness of an out-of-context reaction begins three speeches before when Biff says, "What math? 15 What're you talking about?" i i To reveal the complexity and divergence of factors, it is perhaps in order to introduce a section from a paper by Dr. Sereno and Dr. Bodaken indicating transactions: I I Let's show interpersonal communication in action j through an example that illuminates points about | its nature. Our drama consists of two players: 1 Walter, who is a conservative WASP from the upper I socio-economic level, and Ahmad, who's an engineering i student from Saudi Arabia. Both are members of a class in communication and are a little puzzled about the nature of the homework assignment. So, arranging to talk about the assignment after class, ■ they meet in the hallway outside the classroom. I Let's now bring in pertinent internal stimuli that each participant brings to the situation— the ones that specifically apply to our example. Walter, from a conservative background, tends to withhold demonstration of emotion and affection, and in addition, feels most comfortable when conversing at about three or four feet from the other person. Ahmad is more expressive and emotional and reflects his culture's preference for communicating at a distance of about one or two feet— "finger poking" ! distance. I Walter begins the conversation at a psychologically j comfortable distance for him— a little beyond three ! feet from Ahmad. Ahmad notes this distance and feels 210 slightly upset. He thinks, "Walter's pretty cold. Maybe there's something he doesn't like about me. I took a bath! Maybe the SOB's prejudiced." To overcome his uncomfortable feeling resulting from the physical distance he steps in closer. Walter notices the movement and feels uncomfortable. He thinks to himself, "God, I wonder why the damned Arabs are so pushy? No wonder they've got public relations problems." Meanwhile, as they walk down ! the hallway, they are talking about the homework j assignment, which they straighten out after a while. They part with a "see you Tuesday." Notice that there was only one External System. All pub- I lie cues sent out by each of the participants were I external stimuli. Thus everything they said and did, and of particular importance in this instance the distances they took in relation to one another, became relevant external stimuli. In addition, the meanings each evolved reflected a combination of external and internal stimuli. Each communicator brought his own set of internal stimuli to the situation; of special relevance in this instance j are internal cues relevant to Walter's and Ahmad's , cultural backgrounds. Finally, although Walter ! and Ahmad shared some limited meaning— denotative | understanding of the nature of the homework assign ment— they also evolved individual meanings unique I to each of them— their personal reaction to one another. Briefly, then, these are the basic assumptions and major components of the model. In addition, we've illustrated one situation demonstrating T-P's operations. Trans-Per stresses the creation of unique and shared meaning as interrelated outcomes in communicating.16 I i Before indicating why I consider the Trans-Per I | model as best suited for my., purposes, I shall review I the strengths and limitations of other models. A model may function as a means of representing events, objects, and people. A model's chief function may thus be a means | of organizing and analyzing phenomena. i I The understanding, prediction, and control derived from a model is dependent upon its proper use and its 211 avoidance of certain pitfalls: over-extension, over simplification, use of false analogy, premature closure, and model-behavior confusion. Over-extension would be the application of a model solely incorporating the Freudian } concepts, id, ego, and superego to all literary production. This would assume that all literature is the product of [these Freudian constructs. Over-simplification may be [ | found in Berio's communication model, in so far as it has i omitted a critical feature of communication: non-verbal communication. False analogy is the equating of non comparable attributes: a brain and a machine can be compared I in terms of certain transmission principles, but as j 1 i j Mortensen indicates, they cannot be compared in all re- ; spects. Premature closure is the construction of a model j i ! before all necessary data have been integrated. Initially, I [ as example, Broadbent's model assumed that jamming occurred 1 when two pieces of data were transmitted simultaneously ■ through one juncture. This concept needed to be later re- j I evaluated when research indicated that one can attend to I I jmore than one bit of information at a time. Last, Mortensen i illustrated model-reality confusion by indicating the model I is not the thing, i.e., Spain is not green because it ap- ! :pears in that color on a map. In sum, a model is of value ■ in gaining insight, knowledge, and perspective; within limitations. I 1 The Shannon and Weaver model's basic limitation for , human communication purposes is that it is a linear ! 212 non-transaction model which does not parallel human communication. As Bodaken and Sereno indicate, there is some consensus regarding criteria used for evaluating 17 models: heuristic, isomorphism, and correspondence. In | the "Freudian" model, for example, a conceptualization of j id, ego, and superego does not prove the existence of I jthese constructs within human beings. It does have a jheuristic value because the assumptions have led to the development of various forms of psychoanalysis and psycho therapy. The Becker Social Mosaic model should be introduced i now, first, as an illustration of how a communication j model may be applied to a text, and its benefits and { limitations in terms of application. Part of this evalu- * ation involves the mosaic potential delineation of the | ■ interaction of events within space and time. The inter- j action of forces over space and time is one of the concerns ■with respect to Willy Loman's subjective point of view, and his construction of "reality. The Becker Mosaic Social model, coupled with Mortensen's suggested extension of an interlocking Becker Mosaic Personal model, permits the analysis of varying contexts over space and time, and the accretion of meaning I I through the combination of various social and personal i | events. The cube analogy of the Becker model highlights l j the complex nature of communication and the relatively 213 limited strata of information drawn from the enormous funding of potential information present in a constantly changing mosaic. A source-receiver arrow piercing the jmosaic, suggests the relatively small amount of infor- ! mation retrieved compared with the potentially available j information. It should be noted that the blackened jareas of the cube indicate permanent or temporary un- i 18 j availability of information. | The response to data may be strongly dependent j upon the preservation of vested interest, in a personal, I j subjective, private world of thought. Pressures may even be exerted, as in the case of Willy Loman to perceive an "unreal" world to the point that within the private , mosaic, sensory data may or may not correlate with the I j "real" world. | i In Death of A Salesman one finds Willy Loman's ;personal and social mosaic is presented in bits and pieces which interact over space and time. As the play begins, the immediate situation is Willy's return from an un- : successful business trip on the road. It is learned on i ! this trip Willy's mind goes back in time, and he imagines < ! himself to be driving his old Chevy. The fading of I ;the present and crystallization of the past results in : Willy having difficulty staying on a real, present, road. It is apparent that Willy relives the past--a time ! when his son Biff was a football star. This is a past i i i 214 image which has never faded for Willy, and is not dis pelled by the present reality of Biff's present, drifting, unsuccessful existence. The Becker Mosaic model, however, while giving us insights into the factors which compose the intrapersonal j domain of Willy Loman, seems to have greater application j ! and emphasis upon broader social contexts, such as, for J jexample, what ramifications would the Martin Luther King 1 assassination have upon fair housing. By presenting a broader perspective, the mosaic model does not sharply focus upon the interpersonal transactions in the creation of shared meanings. The selection of the Trans-Per model for appli- i cation to Arthur Miller's text of Death of A Salesman was j determined in conjunction with the further review of several other communication models: the Berio model, the j Schramm model, the Dance Helix model, th e Ruesch and Bateson | model, and the Barnlund Transactional model. As indicated under "pitfalls," under the category of over-simplifi- i ,cations, a limitation of the linear Berio model is that it i j is a static model which does not allow for feedback. I j i It may further be noted, that both the Trans-Per I ! | model and the Berio model include components of interest I I in an application of selected interpersonal and intra- I I personal communications. In both models one encounters attitudes. The Trans-Per notes attitudes: "an internal J element: the tendency to evaluate any object or issue or ! 19 person xn a favorable or unfavorable manner." Berio refers to attitudes toward both a speaker and a receiver. A receiver, the listener, may personally 1 admire the speaker. Of interest also is the socio-cultural j system of Berio's model. Contained within this context are characteristics akin to interpersonal, group, and i organizational contexts: roles, function, beliefs, values, and expected cultural behaviors. However, it again must j be stated that a major drawback of the Berio model is its linear nature. ; The Ruesch-Bateson model needs to be noted because I ; it, like the Trans-Per model delineates contexts (intra- I ! I personal, interpersonal, group, and organizational con- | : ! ;text): Level I— intrapersonal, Level II— interpersonal, !Level III— group interaction, Level IV— cultural. How- ;ever, the Ruesch-Bateson model details the process j concerning the evaluation, sending, channeling, and 'receiving aspects of models, rather than within a |perceptual system of internal and external stimuli as does jthe Trans-Per model. Nevertheless, the Ruesch-Bateson | model and the Trans-Per model place human coramuni- ^ cation within the context of concrete events. The Barnlund transactional intrapersonal model assumes transactions are dynamic, continuous, irreversible, land complex. The intrapersonal model is included here I I 216 (although our emphasis is on the interpersonal context of the Sereno and Bodaken Trans-Per model) because for purposes of our overview we need a grasp of how stimuli may specify internal and external factors on an intrapersonal and interpersonal basis, j The Barnlund Transactional model, as in the case Jof the Trans-Per model, has meaning actively assigned, j The arrow emanates from P^ (person) in the Barnlund i model and thus suggests active involvement by the individual. The encoding and decoding, which are part of i the spiral encompassing the individual P^, is an interwoven | simultaneous strand, which thus suggests the transactional ! nature of meaning (as suggested by the internal and ; external elements of the Trans-Per model). The selected | Trans-Per model intrapersonal factors are self-esteem, Jdogmatism, ego-involvement, character, and dynamism, 3 within the internal and external perceptions. The rubric of the Barnlund Transactional model consists of desig<- nations of public cues, private cues, and behavioral cues (signs). Public cues (Cpu) are part of the physical world 3 and are generally available for public inspection, such as i ! a viewing of the ocean. Private cues (Cpr) represent those cues usually available only to the individual, such 3 as taste and touch. "What is critical is that they are ! 20 ;outside the deliberate control of the interactants." ! The third category of cues is. called behavioral and 217 non-verbal. They are produced by the individual, public, and private cues. An example of a behavioral non-verbal cue would be Willy's planting seeds in his back yard. A further feature of the Barnlund model is^ jagged lines and the valence signs (-, 0 , or +). j The Barnlund model, while it designates the public, i | private, and behavioral cues as well as the strength of I the cues and,their positive or negative values, does not provide specific communication factors such as self-esteem. This is also true of the Trans-Per model. The application i of discrete communication factors by the Trans-Per model, while arbitrary in the sense that other factors are ex cluded, does potentially provide relevant means of | I ]evaluating Death of A Salesman. | I i The Schramm model is of interest because of 1 its elaboration of transaction and its introduction of I I ! "meaning." It infers human intervention and a constant interaction between the sender and the receiver of a i 'reciprocal nature. Coding and encoding are activities i j which are simultaneously maintained by both the sender and j the receiver. The use of the term "interpreter" infers I a dimension of meaning. Also inferred is a common "field !of experience," that is, a psychological frame of refer- ience. The interactants relate to each other; this inter- i Jaction is part of the message. While meaning (here referred | to a "interpreter") is a vital concern in .both the: Schramm model I 218 and the Trans-Per model, the latter attempts to illuminate the actual process involved in the creation of meaning: the blending of internal and external stimuli to create jboth unique and shared meaning. * • j The Dance Helix model is not a systematized model, j 'There are no specific functions indicated such as source i i | or receiver. However, it is useful as a conceptual model I of human communication in that it implies that communi cation is continuous, unrepeatable, additive, and accumulative. In a sense, the Helix model underscores the idea that the spiral process incorporates all that has ' gone before. It suggests that we bring with us a store I ! j of previous internal stimuli as does the Trans-Per model, but the Dance model does not elaborate a transactional process. j Before applying the Trans-Per model and its I j selected internal and external factors to the selected t I sequence, it is important to note the relevance of the I intrapersonal and interpersonal contexts of Death of A Salesman. The intrapersonal and intrapersonal/inter personal point of view are vital elements in Death of A Salesman, and constitute an essential aspect of the action, for it is the mixing of the past, as reconstructed ! and reexperienced through Willy's mind, in its re- , combination with the present action, which constitutes the : inside inner logic leading to Willy's death. ; 219 The development of the play depends upon Willy's compulsion to fuse recontructed reexperienced past events with the present action leading ultimately to his suicide. The lines of dialogue which occur in the cafe, and which are heard by Biff and Willy, will be referred to in my J later analysis as intrapersonal/interpersonal. The ! dialogue is not viewed as a static but rather as a i , dynamic transactional process wherein one character is ' actively engaged both in terms of the responses to his dialogue and the internalization of the significance of the respondent transactional dialogue. Death of A Salesman has been divided into sequences reflecting the interpersonal/intrapersonal contexts which irepresent several points-of-view, i.e., Willy-Biff, or exclusive intrapersonal contexts reflective of Willy's intrapersonal point-of-view, as well as divisions which note both past and present time sequences. The sequences which reflect Willy Loman's exclusive, reconstructed reexperience include: "past" representative of his point- of-view because within this context Willy shares meaning ;solely with himself, i.e., Uncle Ben's continued appear- i |ance after Charley leaves, when Willy "converses" with his I .deceased brother Ben. This sequence also reflects Willy's |intrapersonal point-of-view in a "present" reconstruction. ■Later, however, a "past" construction sequence is present ! wherein Willy recreates and reexperiences the events in I 220 his mind, as at the time of Ben's advice to go to Alaska, which Willy refused, believing he was building a career with the Wagner firm. Since it occurs solely in his mind, it is intrapersonal in nature. Another example of a recon structed reexperienced intrapersonal sequence is repre- | sented by Willy's memory of the events preceding Biff's i football triumph in Ebbett's field. t j The many alterations of time and point-of-view j from past and present as well as interpersonal (wherein i individuals attempt to share meanings with others) and intrapersonal (where an individual shares meaning with I himself), are many facets which are operative in Death of A Salesman. In some sequences as shown above, there is a restriction and confinement to the intrapersonal view of ^the "past"; in others both the intrapersonal "past" and !the interpersonal/intrapersonal "present" coexist. Because I of these interacting levels of complexity, Death of A Salesman embodies nuances not found in Miller's previous i--------- work in terms of time sequence and intrapersonal, as well as interpersonal/intrapersonal point-of-view. j For Gassner, action in Death of A Salesman appears to be of one piece and develops steadily and incrementally I 21 !until it reaches its final major crisis — what Gassner refers to as each "recollection" which adds to the pro gression of the play. The present writer perceives these "recollections" as reconstructed reexperienced "past" ! 221 events occurring within Willy's consciousness. Each step j in the progression of recollection noted by Gassner is in actuality a result of an exhaustive reexperiencing of the past, as reconstructed reexperienced "past" events | occurring within Willy's consciousness. As illustrative of a sequence in the present, ! the introductory sequence reveals Willy returning home I j exhausted, and unable to complete his sales trip to New England; the boys' conversations, between Happy and Biff, j represent present interpersonal/intrapersonal contexts, j The final sequences, ending with the conclusion of Act Two, and preceding the requiem, also represent primarily an interpersonal/intrapersonal present sequence where there is an attempt to share meaning between Willy and Biff. It j is successful in that Willy recognizes Biff's love for i j him; it is unsuccessful in that Willy cannot give up his ! "success dream," which is one of the factors leading to his suicide. The presence of constantly shifting present-past | episodes, as well as the predominance of intrapersonal or ! intrapersonal/interpersonal contexts has necessitated a : delineation of the play into corresponding past/present j sequences. A comparison will be made of two of these I sequences by means of the Trans-Per model. Death of A Salesman presents, according to this au thor, numerous examples of intrapersonal present, 222 intrapersonal "past"- and interpersonal/intrapersonal present. There is also a third type of sequence which merges both the intrapersonal "past" and the interpersonal/ intrapersonal present. This merging occurs, for example, when Willy is playing cards with his neighbor Charley, | while at the same time he is "conversing" with his de- i 1 ceased brother Ben, who,' of course, is not observed by Charley. Another example of similar juxtaposition occurs during the Boston hotel scene which reconstructs 1) the past within the intrapersonal context, and 2 ) the present, which reveals the interpersonal/intrapersonal context where Willy is meeting his sons, Happy and Biff. I | The sequences are obtained by utilizing the i intrapersonal and/or intrapersonal/interpersonal context, in conjunction with the "past" and present distinctions. i I j The two sequences for the Trans-Per model application are ! the Biff/Willy sequence in the cafe, and the final sequence' just preceding Willy's suicide. In the cafe sequence Happy and Biff meet prior to Willy's arrival. Happy tries to pick up a date for him- i : self and his brother, despite the anticipated arrival of i Willy and Biff's evident agitation. Biff admits to Happy : that he was a shipping clerk, not a salesman for Bill | Oliver, and, that furthermore, he had inexplicably stolen i I ; Bill Oliver's fountain pen, probably in response to the i j realization that Bill Oliver would not see him. Biff, ! 223 furthermore, anticipates a principal problem of the play by making Willy aware of the reality of Biff's situation. He cannot be financed by Bill Oliver. This attempt to communicate is further compli cated by Willy's immediate revelation that he has just j been fired by the firm, and his consequent deep need for i i compensatory "good news" for himself and for Linda. Willy's rejection of the truth and agitation is apparent, as he says, "I was fired, and I'm looking for a little good news to tell your mother, because the woman has suffered."^ Of course, Willy refuses to listen when Biff at tempts to speak of his failure with Oliver, and in jdesperation, Biff reverses his story, and finally falsely indicates that he does have an appointment with Oliver. Another reason for this change in position is Willy's I I state of mind as indicated by the transition from the I present intrapersonal/interpersonal context to the accompanying intrapersonal past where Willy relives Biff's math failure and the Boston hotel sequence. Biff's failure with Oliver triggers the reversion to the re experienced recreated Boston hotel scene. | In the Trans-Per model analysis of this sequence it is indicated next to each line in the sequence which j contexts are meant. The procedure incorporates the following notations: present and/or past; intrapersonal/ 224 interpersonal (indicating that both Willy and Biff hear the dialogue); intrapersonal (indicating it is solely heard by Willy), as well as the "location"--cafe, Boston hotel, or the Loman home. ! A sample to exemplify the procedures follows: Willy (tosses pen on table): My God, Biff! | [Present, cafe, intrapersonal/interpersonal context] j Biff: I never intended to do it, DadI [Present, I cafe, intrapersonal/interpersonal] j Operator's Voice: Standish Arms, good evening! j [Past, Boston hotel, intrapersonal context] I Willy: I'm not in my room! [Present, cafe, intrapersonal/interpersonal and Boston hotel, past, intrapersonal] Biff (rises, frightened): Dad, what's the matter? [Present, cafe, intrapersonal/interpersonal] The sequence continues with Bernard, as Willy j reconstructs and reexperiences both the past and present, i ! ; advises Linda that Biff has failed mathematics, and with i ; I Biff's responses to Willy's apparent non-sequitur remarks, | i.e., "Math, math, math, No No! you had to go and flunk I Q A j math!" which has no correspondence to the cafe reality j for Biff. Biff tries to calm Willy. His method is to lie ! to Willy and to say he has an appointment with Bill i j Oliver and opportunities in Florida, with Happy "con- ; firming" the non-existent appointment. Deeply anguished, i I Biff recognizes his father's deeply troubled state, but is j overwhelmed by his own inability to cope with the situation j and departs. The final sequence between Biff and Willy contains the major climax of the play. It is here, after Linda's 225 denouncing of Biff and Happy that Biff encounters Willy in the garden. Prior to the arrival of Biff in the garden, Willy attempts to change his "failures" into successes. He has been fired from his position, and, therefore, has no hopes of succeeding personally; and it is unacceptable 1 25 I to Willy to have his life "ringing up to a zero." t ! Following Willy's reconstructions of the Boston i hotel scene, his Mfeeling of responsibility and | probable guilt towards Linda can be understood. Willy { also feels a need to "add up" financially, and his life insurance appears to him as the solution. Furthermore, ! Willy has not gotten the respect and attention in life j that he anticipates receiving posthumously from those who i I | will come to pay their last respects at his funeral. ! Willy seeks respect, esteem, and recognition posthumously from the world at large, and from Biff. | As Ben departs, we shift to the present, and Biff | joins Willy in the garden. Biff again tries to confront Willy with the fact that he is not having any appointment (with Bill Oliver; he states his intention of leaving home, i so that Willy will no longer need to be concerned about i him. At this point, Willy refers to Biff's behavior in f i ! leaving home as "spiteful." The spite, according to Willy, . is probably attributed to Biff's reaction to the earlier ! Boston hotel scene infidelity; Biff counters by confronting i Willy with the gas hose, representative of Willy's suicidal 226 thoughts. Whereas Willy offers spite as the rationale for Biff's undoing and lack of business success, Biff states the real reason is that he never acquired the requisite perseverance: reality and maturity. Biff states he now no longer wants to lie, but wants to tell the truth, and |admit to who he is. t I I Analysis of this sequence by means of the Trans- I Per model application is now in order. It begins with Biff admitting his immaturity, and attributing it to the upbring- i ing he received from Willy, and with Willy's recognition of Biff's love. Willy, however, still cannot understand his role in perpetuating Biff's immaturity, and still attri butes Biff's behavior to spite. Nevertheless, Biff indicates that he doesn't want the "business world suc cess." He doesn't want the office life that Bill Oliver's pen represents, but rather he wants to be himself on a ranch. Biff attempts again to have Willy give up the success dream, indicating that both he and Willy are not j "leaders of men"; Willy is referred to as a "hard-working 2 6 drummer," and Biff as "A buck an hour: employee." Biff cries and implores Willy to give up "that phony dream and 27 burn it before something happens." Biff then leaves, j and Willy recognizes Biff's true love for him, but wants ^ to redeem himself by restoring Biff to his former mag nificence, on a par with Bernard's success. His suicide 227 then represents his belief that Biff’s love for him just needs a stake- Prior to his suicide, Willy once again returns to the recreated past, where he envisions Biff on the football field in all his former magnificence. i ! In terms of dramatic analysis, there are a series j of casual progressive developments which lead to the i j obligatory scene. The obligatory scene may be considered I | to be the final sequence which contains the major conflict, J crisis, and climax. The series of events which precipitate ! this final sequence between Biff and Willy are linked to the father-son relationship, and the preceding sequences. There is: a series of causal events which link the i j minor conflicts of the first act to both the Oliver se- ! ! ; quence, which is revealed by Biff in the cafe scene, | ! and to Willy's meeting with Howard. These sequences in i turn are directly related to the conflict between Biff and Willy as seen in the cafe scene, and to Willy's Boston hotel sequence. The impact and consequences of the cafe and of the Boston hotel sequences prepare the audience for I J the final scene between Willy and Biff. This author analyzes the selected sequences from 1 j Death of A Salesman. While recognizing that more than one i factor is operative at the same time I shall indicate ■ where it appears a particular factor is strongest. I ! should like to note one more variation: ordinarily empathy 1 I and acceptance are considered positive attributes. 228 { However, since a great deal of the "action" and "conflict" of the play derives from a difference of perspective primarily between Biff and Willy, and is negative in j nature, I- shall place a minus sign (negative) to indicate | the absence of empathy, or acceptance. j The application of the Trans-Per model revealed t j the relationship between the present intrapersonal/inter- t personal world, and the subjective intrapersonal world of Willy Loman. Furthermore, it revealed that Willy retreats r j into the "past" when the pressures of the present become too great. The terminology of the Trans-Per model suggested I j another way of viewing conflict: conflict is the pressure J of negative acceptance and empathy, i.e., the inability to j I I perceive the other person's point-of-view. It also re- i | vealed the degree to which self-image in terms of self esteem formed an essential component of Willy Loman1s transactions with Biff, This coupled with feelings of anxiety, as will be indicated by an analysis of the dialogue, suggest why Willy can not change and give up j the success dream. The application of the communication factors to the cafe sequence reveals an inability to share de- ; notational meaning to any great extent because of Biff's j need to "help" Willy who he perceived as losing contact j with reality. Also, one observes that Willy's basic movement 229 in the cafe sequence is to seek positive reinforcement of Biff's success with Oliver, while being unable to offer Biff any positive acceptance or empathy, when Biff attempts j to tell the truth. I | Biff reveals low self-esteem as a result of his ‘ not meeting with Oliver, and also reveals his extreme anxiousness about Willy's condition. He can indicate a ! | positive empathy for Willy's condition, and attempts to i stick to the truth about Oliver, but is unsuccessful. The final sequence between Biff and Willy, in terms of dogma- i tism, reveals that Willy still needs to hold on to the success dream for his son Biff, whereas Biff himself is no I I longer ego-involved in the idea of success. Empathy is ! . i : revealed xn terms of the awareness of the love that Bxff j I ! and Willy have for each other. i I should now like to analyze specific sequences. i I 2 8 j We shall begin with the cafe scene. In terms of Willy's intrapersonal stimuli and his intrapersonal world, it is important to note that most of the dialogue in the cafe sequence which involves the Loman home "past" and the j j Boston hotel dialogue is heard only by Willy, and, there- i fore, represents unique meaning for Willy. Willy's i j responses to some of these stimuli are heard by Biff, i ; and at that point become part of a shared transaction be- I tween Biff and Willy. As an example of the unshared stimuli we have 230 29 Willy's perception of Bernard calling "Mrs. Loman" several times. This is the Loman home past. Also, Linda's response, the Leman home ^past, refers to the information that Biff has failed math. Furthermore, we have the information ‘ (past) that Biff is to go to Boston to speak with Willy. t Shortly thereafter we begin Willy's recreation of the i J Boston hotel sequence where Willy only hears the operator's i 3 n j voice "Standish Arms, good evening." i One notes Willy's rebuff by Biff in the cafe when 31 Biff states: "Shut up and leave me alone." This repre sents a lowering of Willy's self-esteem, and triggers Willy's anxiety, and precipitates the "past." Anxiety and guilt about Biff is again fostered by Biff's dialogue i i representative of his "present" failure with Oliver: ! I kept sending in my name but he wouldn't see me. , . . I So I'm washed up with Oliver, you understand? I didn't exactly steal it . . . [Oliver's pen].32 I j In turn Biff's transaction to Willy results in his j I j changing the message denotation. This is in response to Willy's state of mind. The unique meaning Biff initially attempts to share is: he didn't and cannot see Oliver. I However, there are several transaction factors which cause ! a change in Biff's message: "He [Oliver] . . . he talked ! ; to his partner, and he came to me . . . he said it was just 33 a question of the amount." The change in Biff's state- ! i ment is in response to Willy's apparent disconnection in t the cafe scene as evidenced by Willy's several references 231 to Biff's failing math, and Willy's desperate need for Biff's success. It is also perhaps the low level of empathy and I acceptance by Willy for Biff that directly causes the changes in Biff's statements. This lack of empathy and j acceptance is suggested by Willy's statement to Biff: "No, ' 3 4 J you're no good, you're no good for anything." i' ! By means of dramatic analysis criteria T, have commented upon what happens, and its relation to plot, character, language, and thought. By means of the Trans- j Per model one is given an opportunity to assess the "how" i or the transactions which occur on the basis of the inter nal and external stimuli which result in unique and/or shared meaning. | In the cafe scene we have shown that the denotative | aspect, that is, Biff's Oliver "appointment" status cannot I be successfully shared with Willy, nor are Willy's i Boston hotel "past" sequence and the Loman home "past" internal sequence stimuli shared by Willy with Biff. What is shared is an affective meaning. This is Willy's state , of mind as represented by his anxiety, as well as his dogmatism with reference to the Oliver "appointment," and , Biff's unique creation of empathy for Willy. Cafe Sequence: Willy and Biff35 jBiff: You didn't see him, did you? [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] [negative acceptance/ 232 empathy] Biff: Willy: Biff: Happy: Willy: Biff: Young Bernard: I Happy: [ i Biff: Willy: Biff: Bernard: Willy: Biff: Bernard: I did see him. Intrapersonal] [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/ What'd you insult him or something? You in sulted him, didn't you? [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] [negative acceptance/empathy] Listen, will you let me out of it, will you just let me out of it. [Cafe-Present: Inter persona 1/Intrapersona 1] What the hell? Intrapersonal] [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/ Tell me what happened? [Cafe-Present: Inter- personal/Intrapersonal] [anxiety] [self-esteem] I can't talk to him. [Cafe-Present personal/Intrapersonal] Inter- Mrs. Loman, Mrs Intrapersonal] Loman [Loman Home-Past: Tell him what happened. [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] Shut up and leave me alone. [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] No, no. You had to go and flunk math. [Cafe- Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal and Loman Home-Past: Intrapersonal] [anxiety] [self esteem] What Math? What're you talking about? [Cafe- Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] [anxiety] Mrs. Loman, Mrs. Loman, Intrapersonal] [Loman Home-Past Math, Math, Math. [Cafe-Present: Inter- personal/Intrapersonal] Take it easy, Pop. [Cafe-Present: Inter- personal/Intrapersonal] [anxiety] Mrs. Loman. [Loman Home-Past: Intrapersonal] 233 Willy: Bif f: i I ! Bernard: i ! Biff: » > Happy: i I j Biff: I ! i Bernard: Linda: i Bernard: 1 : Linda: i I I I Bernard: J ! Linda: i J Bernard: | Linda: i Biff: If you hadn't flunked you'd've been set by now. [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intra— personal and Loman Home-Past: Intrapersonal] Now look, I'm gonna tell you what happened and you're going to listen to me. [Cafe- Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] [dogma tism] Mrs. Loman. [Loman Home—Past: Intrapersonal] I waited six hours [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] What the hell are you saying? Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] [Cafe-Present: I kept sending in my name but he wouldn't see me. So finally he . . . [self-esteem] Biff flunked Math, personal] [Loman Home-Past: Intra- No. [Loman Home-Past: Intrapersonal] Birnbaum flunked him. They won't graduate him. [Loman Home-Past: Intrapersonal] But they have to. He's gotta go to the university. Where is he? Biff, Biff. [Loman Home-Past: Intrapersonal] No, he left, he went to Grand Central. Home-Past: Intrapersonal] Grand . . . You mean he went to Boston. [Loman Home-Past: Intrapersonal] [Loman Is Uncle Willy in Boston? Intrapersonal] [Loman Home-Past: Oh, maybe Willy can talk to the teacher. Oh, the poor, poor boy. [Loman Home-Past: Intra personal ] . . . so I'm washed up with Oliver, you under stand? Are you listening to me? [Cafe- Present : Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] 234 Willy: Bif f: I Willy: I ! Happy: j Willy: Biff: Willy: i Biff: ! j Happy: Willy: I r ' ' Biff: l Operator 1s Voice: j Willy: i I I Biff: j f Yeah, sure . . . if you hadn’t flunked .... [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal and Loman Home-Past: Intrapersonal] [anxiety] [ self-esteem] Flunked what? What're you talking about? [Cafe-Present: Intrapersonal] [anxiety] Don't blame everything on me. I didn't flunk Math— you did. What pen? [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] [self-esteem] That was awful dumb, Biff, a pen like that is worth. [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intra- personal] You took Oliver's pen? [Cafe-Present: Inter- personal/Intrapersonal] Dad, I just explained it to you. . . . [Cafe- Present : Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] You stole Bill Oliver's fountain-pen? [Cafe- Present : Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] [character] I didn't exactly steal it. . . . That's just what I've been explaining to you. [Cafe- Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] [self esteem ] He had it in his hand and just then Oliver walked in, so he got nervous and stuck it in his pocket. [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/ Intrapersonal] My, God, Biff. [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/ Intrapersonal] [character] I never intended to do it, Dad. [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] Standish Arms, good evening. [Boston Hotel- Past: Intrapersonal] I'm not in my room. [Boston Hotel-Past: Intrapersonal and Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/ Intrapersonal] [anxiety] [self-esteem] Dad, what's the matter? [Cafe-Present: Inter- personal/Intrapersonal] [anxiety] 235 Operator: Willy: I Biff: I i ! Willy: 1 l Biff: i ! Operator: j Willy: i | Happy: J Willy: Biff: I I i | Willy: j j ; Happy: ! Willy: Ringing Mr. Loman for you. [Boston Hotel-Past: Intrapersonal] I'm not there, stop it. [Boston Hotel-Past: Intrapersonal and Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/ Intrapersonal] [anxiety] Dad, I'll make good, I'll make good. Sit down, now. . . . [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/ Intrapersonal] [anxiety] No, you're no good, you're not good for any thing. [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intra- personal] [character] [self-esteem] [negative acceptance/empathy] I am, Dad, I'll find something else, you understand? Now don't worry about anything. Talk to me, Dad. [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/ Intrapersonal] [self-esteem] Mr. Loman does not answer. Shall I page him? [Boston Hotel-Past: Intrapersonal] No, no, no. . . . [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/ Intrapersonal] | He'll strike something, Pop. [Caf e-Present; | Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] No, no. . , . Pop, listen , , . listen to me, I'm telling you something good. Oliver talked to his partnef about the Florida idea. You listening? He . . .he talked to his partner, and he came to me . . .I'm going to be all right, you hear? Dad, listen to me, he said it was just a question of the amount. [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] [anxiety] Then you . . . got it? [Cafe-Present: Inter- personal/Intrapersonal] [reinforcement- positive ] He's gonna be terrific, Pop. [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] Then you got it, haven't you? You got it? [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] [reinforcement-positive] I ! 236 Biff: ! Willy: ( | Biff: I I | Willy: Happy: Biff: Willy: Biff: ! Page 1s Voice: i : Willy: i | Biff: I i j Willy: | Biff: No— no, look, Pop, I’m supposed to have lunch with them tomorrow . . .I’m just telling you this so you'll know that I can still make an impression, Pop, and I'll make good somewhere, but I can't go tomorrow, see? [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intra- personal] [reinforcement-positive] Why not? You simply. . . . [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] But the pen, Pop. . . . [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] [anxiety] You give it to him and tell him it was an oversight- [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/ Intrapersonal] [dogmatism] Sure, have lunch tomorrow. [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] I can't say that .... [Cafe—Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] You were doing a crossword puzzle and acci dentally used his pen. [reinforcement- positive] [dogmatism] Listen, kid, I took those balls years ago, now I walk in with his fountain pen. That clinches it, don’t you see? I can't face him like that. I'll try elsewhere. . . . [Cafe- Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] [self esteem] Paging Mr, Loman. [Boston Hotel-Past: Intra personal ] Don't you want to be anything. [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] [self-esteem] [reinforcement-negative] Pop, how can I go back? [Cafe-Present: Inter- personal/Intrapersonal] You don't want to be anything. [Cafe—Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] [character] [negative acceptance/empathy] Don't take it that way. You think it was easy to walk into that office after what I’d done 237 \ Willy: j Biff: j ! Willy: i Biff: i i 1 Happy: ! Willy: | Biff: Willy: | Woman: I ! Biff: I | Happy: I i Woman: to him? A team of horses couldn-t have dragged me back to Bill Oliver. [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] [self-esteem] Then why'd you go? [Cafe-Present: Inter- personal/Intrapersonal] [negative acceptance/ empathy] Why did I go? Why did I go? Look at you. Look at what's become of you. [Boston Hotel- Past and Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/ Intrapersonal] [empathy-positive] Biff, you're going to go to that lunch tomorrow or .... [Cafe-Present: Inter- personal/Intrapersonal] [dogmatism] I can't go. I've got no appointment [Cafe- Present : Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] Biff, for . . . [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/ Intrapersonal] Are you spiting me? [Cafe-Present: Inter- personal/Intrapersonal] [character] [negative self-esteem] Don't take it that way. Goddammit. You rotten little louse. Are you spiting me? [Cafe-Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] [character] [negative self-esteem] Someone's at the door, Willy. [Boston Hotel- Past] I'm no good, can't you see what I am? [Cafe- Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal] [self esteem] Hey, you're in a restaurant. Now cut it out, both of you. Hello, girls, sit down. [Cafe- Present: Interpersonal/Intrapersonal arid Boston Hotel-Past Intrapersonal] Willy, are you going to wake up? [Boston Hotel-Past: Intrapersonal] 238 3 6 Final Sequence: Willy and Biff Biff: Willy: Biff: I ; Willy: Biff: Willy: Biff: Willy: Biff: Willy: Biff: Linda Biff: Linda: Biff: I'm saying good-bye to you, Pop. I'm not coining back anymore. [negative ego-involve- ment ] You’re not going to see Oliver tomorrow? [dogmatism] I’ve got no appointment, Dad. He put his arm around you and you’ve got no appointment? Pop, get this now, will you? Every time I’ve left it's been a fight that sent me out of here. Today I realized something about myself and I tried to explain it to you and I . . . I think I'm just not smart enough to make any sense out of it for you. To hell with whose fault it is or anything like that. Let's just wrap it up, heh? Come on in, we'll tell Mom. [ego-involvement] No, I don't want to see her. [anxiety, self- esteem] Come on . . . No— no, I don't want to see her. Why don't you want to see her? Don't bother me, will you? What do you mean, you don't want to see her. You don't want them calling you yellow, do you? This isn't your fault, it's me, I'm a bum. Now come inside. Did you plant, dear? All right, we had it out. I'm going and I'm not writing any more, I think that's the best way, dear. 'Cause there's no use drawing it out, you'll just never get along. People ask where I am and what I'm doing, 239 Linda: Willy: j Biff: I i Willy: t | Biff: Willy: Biff: ‘ Willy: i i Biff: i Willy: i | Biff: Willy: Biff: ! Willy: i I i i i j Biff: j Willy: you don't know, and you don't care. That way it'll be off your mind and you can start brightening up again. All right? That clears it, doesn't it? You gonna wish me luck, scout? What do you say? [ego-involvement] Shake his hand, Willy. There's no necessity to mention the pen at all y'know. . . . [dogmatism] I've got no appointment, Dad. He put his arm around . . . ? [dogmatism] Dad, you're never going to see what I am, so what's the use of arguing? If I strike oil I'll send you a check, meantime forget I’m alive. Spite, see? [character] [negative] Shake hands, Dad. Not my hand. [acceptance] [negative] I was hoping not to go this way. Well, this is the way you're going , . . Good-bye. May you rot in hell if you leave this house. [empathy] [negative] Exactly what is that you want from me? I want you to know, on the train, in the mountains, in the valleys, wherever you go, that you cut down your life for spite. [character] No— no . . . Spite, spite, is the word of your undoing, and when you're down and out remember what did it. When you're rotting somewhere beside the rail road tracks, remember, and don't you dare blame it on me. . . . [character] I'm not blaming it on you. I won't take the rap for this, you hear? [anxiety] [self-esteem] 240 Biff: Willy: Biff: Linda: Happy: ' Biff: f Willy: Biff: Willy: Biff: i i Willy: | Biff: I i | Willy: I j Biff: Linda: J Willy: Biff: r Willy: j Biff: I I I I Willy: That’s just what I’m telling you. You're trying to put a knife in me, don't think I don’t know what you’re doing. Then let’s lay it on the line. Biff. You crazy. Leave it there. Don't move it. What is that? You know goddamn well what it is,. I never saw that. You saw it, the mice didn’t bring it into the cellar. What is this supposed to do, make a hero out of you? This supposed to make me sorry for you? Never heard of it. There'll be no pity for you, you hear it? No pity. You hear the spite. [character] [negative] No, you’re going to hear the truth, what you are and what I am. Stop it. Spite. [character] [negative] We never told the truth for ten minutes in this house. And I'm through with it. Now hear this, Willy, this is me. I know you. You know why I had no address for three months? I stole a suit in Kansas City and I was in jail. I suppose that's my fault. [self-esteem] [negative] 241 Biff: Willy: Biff: j Willy: ; Linda: Biff: Willy: Biff: Willy: I ; Biff: \ I i j Willy: I I Biff: I stole myself out of every good job since high school. [self-esteem] [negative] And whose fault is that? And I never got anywhere because you blew me so full of hot air I could never stand taking orders from anybody. That's whose fault it is. [self-esteem] [negative] I hear that. Don't Biff. It's goddam time you heard that. I had to be boss big shot in two weeks, and I'm through with it. [self-esteem] Then hang yourself; for spite, hang yourself, [character] [negative] No. Nobody's hanging himself, Willy. I ran down eleven flights with a pen in my hand today . . . and suddenly I stopped. I stopped, you hear me? And in the middle of that office building. . . . I saw . . . do you hear this? — I stopped in the middle of that building and I saw . . . the sky. I saw the things that I love in this world; the work and the food and time to sit and smoke. And I looked at the pen and said to myself what the hell am I grabbing this for? Why am I trying to become what I don't want to be? What am I doing in an office building making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am. Why can't I say that, Willy, [empathy] [acceptance] The door of your life is wide open. Pop. I'm a dime a dozen and so are you. [character] I am not a dime a dozen. I am Willy Loman, and you are Biff Loman. [character] I'm one dollar an hour, Willy. I tried seven states and couldn't raise it. A buck an hour, do you gather my meaning? I am not a leader of men, Willy and neither are you; you were i 242 never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ashcan like all the rest of them. I'm not bringing home any prizes any more and you're going to stop waiting for me to bring them home. [character] You vengeful, spiteful mutt. [character] [negative] Pop, I'm nothing, I'm nothing, Pop. Can’t you understand that? There's no spite in it any more. I'm just what I am, that's all. . . . What're you doing? What're you doing? Why is he crying? [empathy] [acceptance] Will you let me go for Christ's sake? Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens? I'll go in the morning. Isn't that . . . isn't that remarkable? Biff. He likes me. [empathy] [acceptance] He loves you, Willy. The final sequence between Biff and Willy is less i complicated in the sense that Willy does not "return" to i i the intrapersonal past. It is similar to the cafe se quence, however, in that Willy still cannot at first accept the status of the Oliver appointment. In response I J to Biff's statement, "I've got no appointment, Dad," ' 37 ' Willy says, "He put his arm around . . . ." Some of the i ; important internal stimuli, as reflected in the dialogue, < j is Willy's recognition regarding the Oliver appointment: 1 38 : "There's no necessity to mention the pen at all." • A source of ego-involvement is Willy's need to have Biff seen as a successful individual. In terms of Willy: Biff: Willy: Biff: Willy: I f i ; Linda: 243 acceptance, Biff cannot accept the success dream. He asks Willy not to take responsibility for him any longer: 39 "All right that clears it," He asks Willy to see him as he really is stating that "I stole myself out of every 40 j good 30b since high school." Biff further asks Willy ; to accept his way of life: "Why am I trying to become 1 ! what I don't want to be? . . . all I want is out there on j a farm, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am. 41 Why can't I say that Willy?" Willy cannot accept this, and Biff is unable to share his meaning with Willy who j responds by calling Biff spiteful: "Then hang yourself; 42 for spite, hang yourself." Although Biff cannot communicate to Willy the ; spuriousness of the "success dream," he does communicate | | and share his love for Willy. In the final lines between I them the following transactions occur; Willy: What're you doing? What're you doing? Why is he crying? [empathy] [acceptance] Biff; Will you let me go for Christ's sake? Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens? I'll go in the morning, Willy: Isn't that . . . isn't that remarkable? Biff. He likes me. [empathy] [acceptance] j Linda: He loves you, Willy.43 j Thus, one finds it is not the denotative meaning i ! which Biff is able to share with Willy, but an affective ! f expression of love which the transaction represents. » i Willy, misguidedly, attempts to repay this love by leaving t | Biff insurance money at the cost of Willy's life. I I ' 244 ' In summation, the Trans-Per model revealed aspects of the play not ordinarily observed by dramatic critics. Dramatic critics have been concerned with what occurs in relationship to plot, character, language, and thought. Trans—Per refers to a system and the process involved in I the structure. By reviewing some of the dialogue trans- t I actions in Death of A Salesman we have observed that the I | play resembles transactional process in that numerous j stimuli (internal and external) are interrelated and operated simultaneously, i.e., in Biff's dialogue and the Boston hotel dialogue. While our selection is arbitrary I in terms of communication factors, i.e., self-esteem, anxiety, acceptance, they do appear to be significant factors. i In a sense one~is observing how Biff and Willy transact with each other and the world in their attempt to I j create shared and unique meaning. The "unique" meaning of success is created by Willy's mixture of internal and external stimuli in which Biff does not share the "unique" meaning of the Oliver situation. Biff's attempts to com— ; municate to Willy is not shared by Willy, but limited to j I Biff's mixture of external and internal stimuli. They do I f i not share the same "external system" in that Willy's i j thoughts are elsewhere. I The play perhaps indicates, in a different manner, an area of concern for communication: namely, how do we 245 increase amounts of shared versus unique meaning. In the case of Willy and Biff they are only partially successful in the affective expression of empathy through love. We do not, however, view a reciprocal shifting of value i systems on the parts of both Willy and Biff. i Perhaps, as in the case of the earlier illustration of Walter and Ahmad in the Bodaken and Sereno example, one discovers limited meaning: the understanding of the homework assignment. In the case of Willy and Biff there is minimal denotative reciprocity understanding in terms of the "success" dream. In both situations, however, one does discover new understanding according to the various | backgrounds. I i i One further discovers that the play, which ordi- i | narily seeks to involve an audience, does stimulate those j processes which invoke personal affective interactions. 246 NOTES Kenneth K. Sereno and Edward M. Bodaken, "Trans- Per: A Model of Communication," University of Southern California, 1976, p. 1. ^Miller , Collected Plays, p. 217 ^Ibid., 4 Ibid. P- 171. ^Ibid., P* 217. ^Ibid., P. 216. ^Ibid., P- 217. ^Ibid., P- 2 0 1. 9 Ibid., P- 2 0 2. 10T, . , Ibid., 11T, . , Ibid. P. 217. 1 2 ,.-. Ibid., 13, . , Ibid. P. 2 0 0. 14,.-, Ibid., Ibid. P- 2 0 1. "^Kenneth K. Sereno and Edward M. Per: A Model of Communication," University of Southern jCalifornia, 1976. p. 3. j 17Ibid., p. 4 . ■ 18 , . _ i Ibid., p. 3. ' 19Ibid. 20 C. David Mortensen, Communication: The Study of , Human Interaction (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, i 1972), p. 50. 21 i John Gassner, Theater at the Crossroads (New York: Rinehart, 1960), p. 174/ 247 22 Miller, Collected Flays, 23 24 25 26 27 28. 29. 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 Ibid-, p. 201, Ibid., p. 200, Ibid Ibid Ibid Ibid., p. 201. Ibid., p. 200. Ibid Ibid Ibid Ibid Ibid Ibid Ibid p. 2 1 2. , p. 217. , p. 2 0 1. , p. 2 0 0. , p. 201 , p. 2 0 2. Ibid., pp. 200-204. Ibid., pp. 213-218. Ibid., p. 214. Ibid., p. 215 Ibid., p. 216. p. 217, 42 43 Ibid., p. 215. Ibid., p. 218. . 190. 248 CHAPTER VI I SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS | The central problem of this dissertation was to j develop criteria based upon traditional Aristotelian j components found in Aristotle's Poetics: plot, character, language, and thought, as well as application of the Sereno and Bodaken Trans-Per model of communication to Arthur Miller's play, Death of A Salesman. Post's article ! provided justification for such a procedure by illuminating | the application of communication theory to drama. He suggested that additional insights can be gained by the | application of both traditional criteria and communication j ; theory to the same work, thereby adding a significant ; dimension to the traditional criticism of a work. The application of the Trans-Per model is based upon consensus 1 arrived at in conjunction with a review of communication , theory and communication models. Arthur Miller's play, ; Death of A Salesman, was chosen for this study because i this play has received great critical acclaim and also ; has generated a body of divergent criticism. One assessed ; Death of A Salesman by means of criteria applicable to , plot, character, language, and thought and the inter personal relationships of the characters. The use of the 249 Trans-Per model of communication was brought to application to further resolve some of the critical issues in Death of A Salesman. Initial readings and analysis of the text of Death i • of A Salesman suggested that concentration upon the inter- i !personal context in the application of the Trans-Per model would be the most fruitful manner with which to proceed, 1 because the essential aspect of the play appeared to be the interactions between characters in an emotionally meaningful context. An interpersonal context involved a communication setting characterized as informal and rather unstructured, in which two people attempt to share meaning with each other. Yet, while the dissertation t i I focused upon the interpersonal context of the Trans-Per I : model, it is important to remember that three other commu- I I inication contexts were touched upon, namely, intrapersonal, ! I group, and organizational, in regard to Death of A Salesman. i :The group and organizational contexts refer to group jnorms, tasks, organization, roles, and coordination of |groups within an organizational framework. However, the j Trans-Per model was mainly limited to the Interpersonal f i icontext with necessary references to the Intrapersonal i I context. An interpersonal emphasis was chosen because it | i revealed the interpersonal characteristics of the actions occurring during Death of A Salesman, especially attempts 250 to share meaning, meaningful effective relationships, and dialogue and action designed to simulate a free, in formal structure. Throughout the dissertation criteria for judgment 'of Death of A Salesman were also based upon Aristotelian j - i " ~ ’ 1 " " " conceptions and the consensus of authorities in the field j |of traditional dramatic criticism. The study focused i ^on plot, especially exposition, point of attack, rising i 'action, complication, crisis, climax;,- and denoument, as well as the criteria of character, language, and thought. j Certain terminology was first defined and applied ;throughout the study. Thus, the syllables Trans and Per j refer respectively to the transaction process and the Jprocess of perception. Transaction refers to the j simultaneous process in which all elements in the commu nication process are interrelated and interdependent. Perception refers to the dynamic active process through which meaning is created by the mixture of internal and external stimuli. A central problem that the study in part resolved is the play's unity of form. That is to say, Death of A Salesman has been considered both expressionistic and realistic in form. By exploration of the text in terms !of traditional dramatic criticism, as well as by use of I 251 the Trans-Per communication model, the study discerned to what extent the play is realistic and expressionistic. The motivation for the study was the opportunity for the unique application of traditional dramatic criti cism simultaneously with communication theory. This was i | not done before. Further, the study in part resolved | divergent dramatic criticism as to the merits of Death i of A Salesman. The success of the study will encourage further application of the joint methodology to other playwrights. Thus, the study has proceeded with the above factors of significance in mind. Implicit within the Trans-Per model of commu nication are certain interpersonal and intrapersonal factors that are applied throughout the dissertation; I ^ these include self-esteem, dogmatism, ego-involvement, | interpersonal empathy, and acceptance, as well as rein- 1 forcement and anxiety. A review of other communication I models more sharply justified the use of the Trans-Per model of Sereno and Bodaken. The application of traditional dramatic criticism i j criteria to the play Death of A Salesman revealed that I the central issues of the play occurred within the first I , five pages of dialogue. One of the central issues is I | the father-son relationship. Throughout the course of | the play there is an unfolding of the roots of the conflict 252 and an illumination of the origin of the hostile atti tude between father and son, until its eventual resolution through love during the final scene between Willy and Biff. The audience is cued to the father-son conflict f by means of foreshadowing. The ill-at-ease hostile inter- f | action in the first act results in a mounting line of | tension. The audience quickly focuses upon the problem: the relationship between Biff and Willy. Other conflicts and themes were investigated such as: 1) Willy's current lack of success as a sales man who, at the suggestion of his wife, Linda, agrees to j see his boss, Howard Wagner, 2) Willy's arrival at a I | turning point in his life, and the play's structure i | revealing this juncture by means of shifts from present i jto past, 3) Willy's wish for Biff's success and his I emphasis upon personal attractiveness, 4) Willy's need to be surrounded by his successful sons, especially by Biff, in order to feel fulfilled as a father, 5) Happy's j discontent in spite of the fact that outwardly he has i . the success which eludes Biff, i.e., he has his own j apartment, his own car, and many women, and 6) Willy's i need for permanency in his family relationships. Application of the Trans-Per model revealed that ' the intrapersonal and interpersonal/intrapersonal time se quences and point of view are an essential aspect of the j 253 I !_____________________________________________________________________________ action, for it is the mixing of the past, as recon structed and reexperienced through Willy's mind, with its recombination with the present action, which con stitutes the inner logical movement leading to Willy's :death. As Miller indicated, he knew at the beginning _ !of the play that Willy would kill himself. The develop- 1 jment of the play depends upon Willy's compulsion to fuse reconstructed, reexperienced past events with the present action that led ultimately to his suicide. For Gassner, i action in Death of A Salesman appears to be of one piece and develops steadily and incrementally until it reaches its final climax. What Gassner refers to as recol lection ". . . allowed to leave the play in a state of i jstasis," the present writer perceives as reconstructed, !reexperienced "past" events occurring within Willy's consciousness. Each step in the progression of "recollection" noted by Gassner is a result of an ex haustive reexperiencing of the past. Furthermore, the [presence of constantly shifting present-past episodes, |as well as the predominance of personal or interpersonal 1 Jcontexts, necessitate in turn a delineation of the play J into corresponding sequences, which in turn are analyzed iby means of the Trans-Per model, subsequent to the analysis via dramatic criteria applied to character, !plot, language, and thought. ■By means of exposition, Willy and Linda, • and later both Happy and Biff, bring their situations up to date. Also, one observes the empathy of Linda's .response to Willy's situation. By means of the conver sation between Happy and Biff we learn that Biff loves i ■ to be outdoors on a ranch, but is unable to maintain 1 j this way of life because it is inconsistent with his desire to be a "success." This complements the earlier conversation wherein we discover that Willy, too, desires his son Biff to partake of his success dream. Happy, ostensibly the successful one in the family, is in reality an assistant at a department store, and is plagued by loneliness. ! . i Within the first three pages of the play, we i uncover the necessary information for the progression !of the plot. There is foreshadowing of the scene be- i I tween Willy and Howard, wherein Willy will attempt to i i resolve his difficulty of being too old for the road ! ! by requesting a job in New York. Also, Biff's lack of I success is brought out. The loss of love, or the in- | ability to express love for each other, which is the i j essential problem of Willy and Biff, is foreshadowed i ! by Biff's constant referral to Willy as a "fake," as iwell as by the two initial conversations of Act One, ! | where Linda with Willy, and Happy with Biff, attempt 255 to discover the root of the animosity between father and son. Also, present from the beginning is the elusive appearance of the "woman," while Linda mends stockings. 1 Thus, Miller has foreshadowed the Boston hotel scene, i !wherein the "stockings" motif and the "fake" comments i j are subsequently revealed as part of the Boston hotel sequence, which shattered the father-son relationship represented by Biff's discovery of his father's infi delity . ! In terms of empathy by the audience for the characters, one is moved by observing a failing, tired salesman and a lost son, and cannot help but be empa- 1 ' thetically absorbed by the events. Were this not enough, we have the most vital issue at stake: a man's life. By the end of Act One, we learn that Willy has attempted to run his car into a bridge, and later that he has a hose on the gas burner, ostensibly for the j purpose of suicide. i ] A structural element reveals the roots of the 'present problems— Willy's expectations of a salesman's i i | life, and his relationship with his son by means of Willy's ' consciousness: his intrapersonal, recreated, reexperienced : past. Here one learns the positive aspects of the exposition | in terms of the environment and background of the play, ! 256 and the motivations, conflicts, problems, and person alities of the characters, as well as the foreshadowing of future conflicts in Act Two. ■ In considering elements pertinent to plot— point ■of attack, rising action, complications, crisis, and ' climax, as well as denouement— one: has found that the [ first act accomplishes the following: Death of A Salesman |has its point of attack located within the immediate first four pages of dialogue. Willy is an unsuccessful salesman. ;Biff is a drifter, and the father-son relationship has been I i ruptured. Thus, we have a mixture of forces divergent enough to necessitate rising action to deal with the im pending conflicts. Act One prefigures and foreshadows im portant events which occur in the scenes of Act TWo. These scenes include: 1) the scene between Howard and ! Willy, 2) the cafe scene where Willy is to meet his sons Happy and Biff, and 3) the Boston hotel scene, a re experienced past event where Biff discovers Willy's infi- | delity. In regard to conflict, climax, crisis, and denouement, it must be pointed out that a Series of causal ( progressive developments lead to the obligatory scene. The obligatory scene may be considered to be the final ■ sequence and should then contain the major conflict, crisis, and climax. This occurs in the sequence where 257 Biff is leaving home to live his own life. The series of events which precipitate this sequence are linked to the father-son relationship, and the preceding sequences. There are a series of causal events which link the minor conflicts of the first act to both the Oliver se- i quence, which is revealed by Biff in the cafe exposition, I | and to Willy's meeting with Howard. These sequences in I | turn are directly related to the conflict between Biff and j Willy as seen in the cafe scene, and with Willy's Boston hotel sequence. The impact and consequences of the cafe and Boston hotel sequences prepare the audience for the final scene between Willy and Biff. Biff's awareness that his father is retreating ; further and further from reality causes a crisis for him- I self and he temporarily "resolves" the cafe situation by I I allowing Willy to falsely believe that he has an appomt- ; ment with Bill Oliver. One sees the origin of Biff's "spite" in the Boston hotel sequence. Biff feels that Willy is a "phony" and a "fake," judging Willy in terms of his infi delity. As a result of lying to Willy about Oliver, Biff now is confronted with another crisis. He must tell Willy the truth about Oliver, and he must also reassess his own values. The last sequence of Act Two represents these I efforts, and precipitates the major crisis of the play. i In this final confrontation Biff squarely faces the facts 258 of his petty thievery, of his inability to behave maturely, and of his inability to accept responsibility on a job. Biff seems able to give up his "success dream" and to accept responsibility for who he is, and attempt to live J his life meaningfully, Willy, however, cannot give up his j success values, either for himself, or for his son Biff. ' Thus, the major crisis has been directly linked to i a series of previous minor complications, crises, and climaxes. Maximum emotional effect is achieved because the audience is aware of both Willy's state of mind and i j Biff's situation. j The major climax is consistent with audience i ! j expectations, for it is clear throughout the play that ^ Willy cannot change, nor can Biff tolerate the present | ; i 1 situation of trying to please Willy at the expense of his , I own life choices. The major climax does depend upon the action of the principal characters. It also embodies the major themes of 1) the father-son conflict, and 2) the "success dream." One also finds a new alignment of forces, j | after the major climax of Willy's suicide and the ensuing j requiem. Willy's resolution by means of suicide is pre- i pared for throughout the play. Death of A Salesman meets , the criteria for unifying and completing a course of action ; which seems a natural result of previous events, and con- ; taining dramatic recall. ; In summation in regard to characterization, it ! 259 should be noted that Biff is strongly motivated to make vital and moral choices in terms of his decision to go out West, and not remain in New York. A final resolution comes i when Biff crystalizes his desire to give up city life and | "success." Biff permits himself to envision a life out I West. This occurs in the final sequence between Biff and j Willy. The decision is reconfirmed in the requiem sequence | j between Biff and Happy. A major area of conflict which t , enables many in the audience to empathize with Biff, as ( I well as with Willy, is the father-son relationship, which i also constitutes a major theme of the play. Thus, one finds that vital elements are at stake: Biff's decision to give j up his "success dream" for a life out West, despite his knowledge of Willy's desperate need for Biff's success. ! I At stake also is the resolution of the father-son relation ship as well as Biff's recognition of his own former jimmaturity. Certainly, Biff does meet the dramatic criteria |of being strongly motivated (both to change and to help his j father gain understanding), of exercising moral choices (in j terms of accepting the responsibility for his immaturity I and relinquishing a false sense of values) , and is plausi- | jble, and consistent in terms of the inner pressures and I pressure exerted upon him by his father. When one recognizes jthe magnitude of the problems facing Willy, and the com- I Iplexities of the father-son relationship, me discovers a [powerful medium for empathy and identification with Biff. 260 In regard to the characterization of Willy, one dis covers he can be understood in terms of several contexts: 1) Willy Loman's values, 2) Willy Loman1s success dream, ! 3) Willy Loman■s history, 4) Willy Loman's relationship j with his son Biff, and 5) the present actions which affect j Willy Loman. We do not perceive Willy as a vicious, un- i caring human being, but as one who is misguided. One I empathizes with Willy because he seeks success, even if it is false— something understandable to all. Taking into account all that Willy has lost or failed to attain, and ! the nature of his value structure, one findsWilly's suicide believable and his actions plausible. Willy is inconsis tent, but as Aristotle indicates, one may have a character {who is consistently inconsistent: Willy's inconsistencies j |are in character, considering the nature of his conflicts. i j In regard to the characterization of Linda, she is approached critically from several vantage points: 1) she is the mother and help-mate, 2) she accepts Willy's values and thereby contributes to the destruction of both Willy i i land her children, and 3) she serves to defocus the play's ;theme by means of sentimentality. According to Welland, | j Linda is representative of the sentimental element and the I"timeless family." Linda is a plausible and consistent jcharacter, in terms of her situation; her vital if not !moral choice is first the protection of Willy, and secondly the relationship with her sons Biff and Happy. With Willy, 261 I Linda is gentle and kind, though misguided. Her empathy for him is revealed in such lines as "he's just a little ship looking for a port." Her most empathic response to Willy is revealed in her speech indicating that "attention must be paid." It is Linda's love for Willy which explains J her vital if not moral choice to support Willy's values. | One can empathize with her situation because she is aware ! of the stresses attendant upon Willy, and is unable to help him cope with them. She is plausible and consistent, defending and protecting Willy at all times. I In regard to the characterization of Happy we find that he does not make moral and vital choices. He is plausible and consistent in terms of his value structure, ■ but it is difficult to empathize or identify with him, I > because of the shallowness of his values. I Charley and Bernard are minor characters and, ! therefore, we have not applied the criteria for major char- I acters to them. They are, however, important to the i structure of the play because they 1 ) represent a counter point to Willy's "failure"; 2) Charley represents the human businessman who serves as a contrast to Howard's inhumane ness, 3) critics indicate that Charley in the requiem serves as a "spokesman" for Willy, and an ensuing con- i j fusion of theme occurs, and 4) Bernard forwards the action j of the play. i In summation in regard to the characterization of 262 Ben, it must be pointed out that Ben serves as a sounding board and reaffirmation of Willy's values. Willy concurs: "That's just the spirit I want to imbue them with! To walk into a jungle! I was right! ..." It is Ben with whom Willy ultimately discusses the "proposition" of ; suicide. Dialogue in Death of A Salesman meets the following ! criteria: 1) language must be artistically authentic and ' utilitarian, and 2) dialogue must reveal plot, character, environment, and exposition. The authenticity function is fulfilled in that language in Death of A Salesman reveals a class, a generation, and a specific way of life--that of the Loman family. For instance, Willy's cliche "bottoms up" actually represents a subjective authenticity for Willy I I ; Loman and reflects a type of vitality specific to him. i j Willy's seeming inconsistency is really indicative of his conflict: between his desire for success and his partial awareness of reality. In summation, the language of Death of A Salesman i is utilitarian for it reveals a way of life— for the i ! Lomans. It is authentic in terms of "subjective" reality. ; Dialogue through the use of the past and present, embodies i I ! an excellent use of exposition. The dialogue does reveal ; the plot, character, and environment, as indicated by the 1 analysis of the sequences in Death of A Salesman. ! 1 In determining the variety of themes contained in I 263 Death of A Salesman, one encounters a rich, varied, complex mosaic. Themes have been variously seen as psychological or social. The social is represented by the Howard/Willy office sequence; the psychological is represented in part | by the Boston hotel scene. The manner in which critics , have attempted to resolve the issue of the theme, has been I | to select 1 ) either the psychological or social as primary, | 2) select both as being of equal importance, and 3) select i one as a reflection of the other. It is the contention of the present writer that whereas both themes are present, in the performance, the psychological aspects are stressed; in the textual analysis the social becomes more evident. I f j Miller himself indicates that he did not seek to I i i I espouse a "theme," but rather to "make sense to common I j j people," and to have his audience evaluate the events and I j become "compelled and propelled toward a more intense quest j for values that are missing." i j In summation one may say that the theme is not propagandistic in its social aspects, because it does not overshadow character. It may be universal in scope to the extent that it represents issues of importance to an industrialized society. Willy Loman himself is seen as a reflection of the central themes of Death of A Salesman: — — — — J the relationship of the individual and the "success dream." ; A further theme is the dominant father-son j relationship and the romantic motif. Themes encompassing ! 264 iWilly's psychological orientation, his "success dream," the father-son relationship, and the "romantic" motif are the constituents of an enriched mosaic which yields a man's life, Willy Loman. Death of A Salesman may also be called universal in its implications for modern societies; jmost certainly audiences have identified with Willy's problems and the father-son relationship. The themes in I Death of A Salesman are clear and relevant. Another issue raised by Death of A Salesman is its relation to Expressionism. Miller indicates his use of the past sequences are in part predicated upon the expressionistic techniques of the Germans; however, Miller's intention was to use a human "shorthand." This meant revealing the immediacy of Willy Loman's mind; he ■ adds, "It [the "shorthand" approach] would be false to a | more integrated or less integrating personality." | One may note that both reality and expressionism I j fuse via the intrapersonal revelations of Willy's mind, ] j and the interpersonal/intrapersonal past/present. The possibilities of expressionism in terms of selection and i ! repetition, as well as distortion (through Willy's mind), are: revealed. The author takes the position that the i ! past is an active reexperienced recreation and not a i passive "memory," and, therefore, the so called past while indicating Willy's consciousness is a vital part of I i the present action in Death of A Salesman. Gestalt I 265 suggests a manner in which form constitutes a totality. In Death of A Salesman the sound and light patterns of the play serve to reinforce the thematic statements, and the expressionistic method. I | A major concern of critics has been to determine | the right of Death of A Salesman to be called a tragedy. { T ■ , i~„m i.iMiiinni - I r.,rrr, , I Critics have differed not only in terms of the issue: j Is Death of A Salesman tragedy?— but assuming it to be so, have debated as to what type of tragedy it does represent. A group of critics believe that Willy is not a proper tragic character, for he does not possess I | "inherent fineness and depth of energy and mind and | character"’ and appears, therefore, without "universal t ; size." Another reason Death of A Salesman is denied the ! title of tragedy is based on Willy's lack of insight. A i ! final reason is the play's language. | To counter these arguments it is suggested in this dissertation that Willy does gain insight into himself to the extent of finally recognizing Biff's love for him. While Willy is not a classical hero, he, as Gassner indicates, does qualify for low tragedy. ■ _ The application of the Trans-Per model revealed the relationship between the present intrapersonal/ ; interpersonal world, and the subjective intrapersonal ! world of Willy Loman. Furthermore, it revealed that Willy ! retreated into the "past" when the pressures of the ! - 266 present became too great. The terminology of the Trans- Per model suggested another way of viewing conflict: conflict is the presence of negative acceptance and empathy. The Trans-Per model also revealed the degree to which self-image in terms of self-esteem formed an i I essential component of Willy Loman's transactions with i |Biff. One finds the Trans-Per model as applied to the I dialogue provides a very feasible analysis as to why Willy could not change and give up the success dream. The application of the communication factors to the cafe sequence thus reveals an inability to share ■meaning between Biff and Willy to any great extent because ! ;of Biff's need to "help" Willy whom he perceived as losing icontact with reality. Also'one observes that Willy's basic aim in the cafe sequence is to seek positive reinforcement regarding Biff's success with Oliver, while being unable ;to offer Biff any positive acceptance or empathy, when ! jBiff attempts to tell the truth. I j Biff reveals low self-esteem as a result of his not meeting with Oliver, and his exreme anxiousness about 'Willy's condition. He can indicate a positive empathy ;for Willy's condition, but even though he attempts to i |stick to the truth about Oliver, he is unsuccessful. The i 'final sequence between Biff and Willy reveals that Willy istill needs to hold on to the success dream for his son ! I Biff, whereas Biff himself is no longer ego-involved in 267 the idea of success. Empathy is apparent in the awareness of the love that Biff and Willy have for each other. The strong influence of interpersonal and intra personal factors: dogmatism, ego defense, empathy, and i . anxiety, rather than the influence of group norms and , organizational structures within Death of A Salesman, ! renders it a psychological rather than a sociological play. | This would not ordinarily be focused upon or highlighted to this extent by the sole application of dramatic criteria. It is the application of the Trans-Per model which reveals the strong influence of these communication factors. APPENDIX TRANS-PER A MODEL OF COMMUNICATION by Kenneth K. Sereno Edward M. Bodaken University of Southern California 269 The Trans-Per model was originally developed for use in the freshman and sophomore classes in interpersonal communication. We have had a good deal of success in using the model as a conceptual foundation for teaching | our students about fundamental aspects of the communication ;process, and as a basis for analyzing interpersonal | communicative experiences. More recently— within the past I jyear— we've given a great deal of thought to the model relative to our own research in interpersonal communi cation. Later in the paper we will deal with- some parti cular applications and implications. For now, we want to i ! set down the basic assumptions underlying the model and I ' ■ describe the elements and processes of Trans-Per. I Assumptions Underlying Trans-Per I Perhaps the best way to illustrate the assumptions 'of the model is to discuss why we call the model "Trans- Per." The word is a combination of the first syllables of the words "transaction" and "perception." Transaction !stresses that communication is more than one-way action I or a back-and-forth interaction. It emphasizes that all aspects of the communicative process are interrelated and t i operate simultaneously in every communication situation. It implies the notions of systems and process. Perception suggests that the perceiver actually blends (i.e., selects, organizes, and evaluates) all internal stimuli (that 270 which the person brings to a communicating situation) with all the external stimuli of the present (that which is "out there" in the surrounding environment) to create meaning. Our selection of these two terms is admittedly arbitrary; however, we feel that they concisely embody i the components of communication that we feel are dominant, i Transaction is our overall approach to the study of human t , communication; it stresses the individual's inseparable I involvement with the world. Perception emphasizes the means by which we attempt to create a meaningful world. Elements and Processes of Trans-Per j | T-P consists of two interrelated, interdependent I i systems— the Internal System and the External System. | The internal System contains all those elements i ; or stimuli that are within the individual. These internal | elements are what someone brings with her/him to a com- I ! municating situation. These include values, attitudes, personality, IQ, information, needs, and so forth, j Elements of this system can also be called private cues I or internal stimuli. (See Figure 1.) i i The External System contains all those elements i ! existing outside the individual's Internal System: all ! | the things "out there." They may also be called external j stimuli or public cues because they are stimuli potentially ! 2 71 available to all persons in a given communication setting. The phrase "potentially available" serves to stress the point that stimuli in the environment may or may not be perceived by someone else in that same setting. External . stimuli include verbal cues (words, content, arrangement, ; style) and nonverbal cues (body motion, characteristics ; of appearance and voice, use of personal space and j distancing) . (See Fig\ire 2.) ! Although we are not particularly interested in intrapersonal communication in this paper, our notions j about interpersonal communication can be better understood j if we overview T-P and communication in the intrapersonal ' context. We look at intrapersonal communication as the i | individual process of creating meaning. Figure 3 shows i the intrapersonal communication system. Meaning occurs when perceptions for elements of both systems blend and overlap in the T-P model. That area where the circles of the Internal and External Systems overlap represents the individual's creation or assignment of meaning. This portion represents the outcome of the perceptual blending of internal and external cues significant to him/her in i | assignment of meaning at that time. (See Figure 3.) I I t ; Figure 4 shows the interpersonal communication in 272 operation. Here we have two persons engaged in conver sation. (See Figure 4.) Notice the two Internal Systems. Observe also ! 1 that there is only one External System of public cues. ; Notice too that both individuals have evolved some i 1 J meaning unique to themselves, designated by the overlap J of two circles, as well as some shared, common meaning, designated by the overlap of the.three circles. Although we've shown only two communicators in the diagram, the number of additional communicators (i.e., added Internal Systems) is limited only by the number of circles repre- i | senting Internal Systems that could be conveniently J illustrated. ; Let's show interpersonal communication in action through an example that illuminates essential points about I its nature. Our drama consists of two players: Walter, who is a conservative WASP from the upper socio-economic level, and Ahmad, who's an engineering student from Saudi Arabia. Both are members of a class in communication and j j are a little puzzled about the nature of the homework i assignment. So, arranging to talk about the assignment ! after class, they meet in the hallway outside the class- | room. Let's now bring in pertinent internal stimuli | that each participant brings to the situation— the ones I 273 that specifically apply to our example. Walter, from a conservative background, tends to withhold demonstration of emotion and affection, and in addition, feels most comfortable when conversing at about three or four feet ■ from the other person. Ahmad is more expressive and | emotional and reflects his culture's preference for com- ; municating at a distance of about one or two feet— "finger i |poking" distance. i Walter begins the conversation at a psychologically comfortable distance for him— a little beyond three feet from Ahmad. Ahmad notes this distance and feels slightly upset. He thinks, "Walter's pretty cold. Maybe there's | something he doesn't like about me. I took a bathl Maybe the SOB's prejudiced." To overcome his uncomfortable i feeling resulting from the physical distance he steps in j ' closer. Walter notices the movement and feels uncomfor- j table. He thinks to himself, "God, I wonder why the damned Arabs are so pushy? No wonder they've got public relations problems." Meanwhile, as they walk down the jhallway, they are talking about the homework assignment, | which they straighten out after a while. They part with j a "see you Tuesday." i ! Notice that there was only one External System, iAll public cues sent out by each of the participants were external stimuli. Thus everything they said and did, and jof particular importance in this instance the distances I 274 they took in relation to one another, became relevant external stimuli. In addition, the meanings each evolved reflected a combination of external and internal stimuli. Each communicator brought his own set of internal stimuli to the situation; of special relevance in this instance are i internal cues relevant to Walter's and Ahmad's cultural I backgrounds. Finally, although Walter and Ahmad shared ! i I some limited meaning— denotative understanding of the I I j nature of the homework assignment— they also evolved I , individual meanings unique to each of them— their personal j !reactions to one another. Briefly, then, these are the basic assumptions and I major components of the model. In addition, we've illus- 1 i trated one situation demonstrating T-P's operations. T-P ! stresses the creation of unique and shared meaning as t I interrelated outcomes in communicating. We want to turn ; now to some research-oriented concerns of Trans-Per. ! I I ITrans-Per and Research i We think that T-P’s conceptual underpinnings provide some justification for its use as a research- generating social science model. We agree with Hawes that there is substantial variation among contemporary » !theorists as to matter of model definition and function. ^ 1 - ■ 1 1 ■ 'However, there is some consensus regarding criteria used 1 for evaluating models. Models should be judged against } I 275 the standards of heuristics, isomorphism, and corres pondence . In terms of the nature and function of T-P, it's basically a conceptual model serving a descriptive function. 1 I Relative to criteria for evaluating models, we j feel that T-P probably rates highest in terms of t generation of heuristic issues and questions. We also believe that the assumptions, constructs, and operations of the model are isomorphic with interpersonal communi cative behavior, but this criterion ultimately must be evaluated by research. And finally, T-P is weakest I j regarding rules of correspondence. This is not to say | that the model is weak in all aspects. External (verbal ! and nonverbal cues) and internal (attitudes, personality, traits, etc.) stimuli are operationalized as embodied in current research. Strengths and weaknesses associated with current usage are applicable to T-P. In terms of operationalizing meaning or significance, a good deal of work has been done. However, much remains to be developed to test T-P1s notions of shared meaning. This is an area where we feel research efforts should be emphasized. The extent to which shared and unique meanings affect social-emotional, instrumental, and/or change I ; functions within the interpersonal context is an over riding issue raised by T-P. A crucial general question I : for the communication researcher is: What are the i ! 276 communicative processes (blending of particular message and internal cues) that increase or decrease amounts of shared vs. unique meaning? Other important questions are suggested. What is the relative importance of shared and i unique connotative vs. denotative meanings? What is the |role of shared and unique content vs. relational meanings ; (ala Watzlawick)? These are two example of T-P based I jresearch questions. We believe communication researchers !can apply the T-P perspective to many specific problems in interpersonal communication he/she may be interested in. It should be clear that T-P gives guidance in identifying the essence of communication study— the blending of external (verbal and nonverbal messages) and internal (attitudes,, personality, etc.) stimuli. This : view of communication is consistent with the conception of I communication research proposed at the New Orleans Conference; namely, that communication research should focus on the ways in which messages link people. « , According to our perspective, communication occurs only when there's a blending of external and internal cues. Thus, research | that focuses on the correlation between two internal j variables, say, values and attraction, or self-esteem i j and anxiety, would not qualify as communication research. \ :This is not to deny the value of such research; it may be I superb social psychological research. But this type of i study says little if anything about the communication ; 277 process; that is, how messages link or affect people. Additionally, T-P suggests what constitutes inter personal communication research. We suggest that much ' j "interpersonal" communication research is not interpersonal 1 at all. Rather, it is intrapersonal, focusing on the • actions or perceptions of individual participants in the : communicative transaction. Thus, research assessing i correlations of personality and message variables provides a measure of unique meaning at best. Interpersonal communication has to focus on both participants and examine the ways in which they share and differ in the meanings they evolve. Taking a T-P approach, the shared and unique aspects of the transaction are conceived of as I t | interrelated and interdependent. We are convinced that our model represents the communication process with particular heuristic strength for interpersonal communication research. Hopefully, re search into issues we've raised along with others will advance our knowledge of the interpersonal communication process as well as provide necessary empirical support for the mode1 . 278 I X X X X X X j Figure 1: Internal System i 1 Figure 2: External System i Figure 3: Intrapersonal Communication I i j Figure 4: i ee xe ee Interpersonal Communication Composite Sereno and Bodaken Model 279 BIBLIOGRAPHY Books Appia, Adolph. The Work of Living Art and Man is the Measure of All Things. Translated by R. D. Allbright and Bernard Hewitt. Coral Gables, Florida: University of Miami Press, 1960, Applebaum, Ronald L.; Bodaken, Edward M.; Sereno, Kenneth K.; and Anato, Karl E. The Process of Group Communication. New York: Science Research Associates, Inc., 1974. Archer, William. Play-making. New York: Dover, 1960. Arnheim, Rudolph. Entropy and Art. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971. Atkinson, Brooks. The Play Plus a Critical Anthology, Edited by Eric Bentley. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1951. Bablet, Dennis. Edward Gordon Craig. New York: Theatre Arts Books, 196 6. Baker, George Pierce. Dramatic Technique. New York: Houghton-Mifflin Company, 194 7, Barnlund, D. C. Interpersonal Communication: Survey and Studies. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 196 8 . Bentley, Eric. In Search of Theater. New York: Vintage, 1954. Berio, David K. The Process of Communication. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1960, Bodaken, Edward M., and Sereno, Kenneth K. Trans-Per: Understanding Human Communication. Boston, Mass.: Houghton, Mifflin Co., 1975. Brecht, Bertolt. Brecht on Theatre♦ Translated by John Willett. New York: Hill and Wang, 1964. 280 r Brockett, Oscar G. The Theater. New York: Rinehart and Winston Inc., 1964. Brooks, Cleanth, and Heilman, Robert B. Understanding Drama. New York: Henry Holt, 1945. Broussart, Louis. American Drama: Contemporary Allegory from Eugene O'Neill to Tennessee Williams. Norman: | University of Oklahoma Press, 1963. Brown, John Mason. Dramatics Personal: A Retrospective ! Show. New York: Viking, 1963. i . Still Seeing Things. New York: McGraw-Hill, ; 1950. | Butcher, S. H. Aristotle's Theory of Poetry and Fine Art. j New York: Appleton-Century, 19 35, ! Clark, Barrett H. European Theories of the Drama. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1965. Clark, Eleanore. The Play: A Ritual Anthology. Edited by Eric Bentley, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1951. Corrigan, Robert. Arthur Miller: A Collection of Essays, i Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., I 1969. | Downer, Alan S. Fifty Years of American Drama, 1900-1950. Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1951. I . Recent American Drama. Minneapolis: University ! of Minnesota Press, 1961. ; . The Art of the Play. New York: Henry Holt, | 1955. ^ Dusenberry, Winifred. The Theme of Loneliness in Modern ' American Drama. Gainesville: University of Florida ! Press, 1960. i j Ergi, Lajos. The Art of Dramatic Writing. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1946. Evans, Richard I. Psychology and Arthur Miller. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1969. Fergusson, Francis. Aristotle's Poetics. New York: Hill ! and Wang, 1961. , 281 Freedley, George, and Reevers, John A. A History of the Theater. New York: Crown Publishing Inc., 1955. Freytag, Gustav. Freytag's Technique of the Drama. Translated by Elias J. MacEwan. New York: Benjamin Blom, 1863. I j Gascoigne, Bamber. Twentieth Century Drama. London: j Hutchinson, 1962. ( Gassner, John. Masters of the Drama. New York: The ; Dryden Press Publishers, 1953. 1 I _________. Producing the Play. New York: The Dryden j Press, Publishers, 1953. i Theatre at the Crossroads. New York: Rinehart, 1960. Gould, Jean. Modern American Playwrights. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1966. Hamilton, Clayton. Conversations on Contemporary Drama. New York: MacMillian Company, 1925. i ! Hewitt, Bernard. Theatre U.S.A., 1668-1957. New York: i McGraw-Hill, 1959. Hogan, Robert, and Molin, Sven, ed. Drama: The Major Genres: An Introductory Critical Anthology. New York: Dodd, Mead, 19 63. ’ Hurrell, John D. Two Modern American Tragedies: Reviews | and Criticisms of Death of A Salesman and A Streetcar Named Desire. New York: Scribner, 19 61. Kitchin, Laurence. Mid-Century Drama. London: Faber and Faber, 1960. Koffka, Kurt. Principles of Gestalt Psychology. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1935, Lawson, John Howard. Theory and Technique of Playwriting. New York: Hill and Wang, 1960. i ! Mander, John. The Writer and Commitment. London: Seeker and Warburg, 19 61. Matthews, Brander. Playwrights and Playwriting. New i York: Books of Libraries Press Inc., 1923. I i i 282 Meserve, Walter, ed. Discussions of Modern American Drama. Boston: D. C. Heath and Co., 1966. Meyers, G., and Meyers, The Dynamics of Human Communi cation . New York: McGraw-Hill, 19 73. Millett, Fred G., and Bentley, Gerald Eades. The Art of ! the Drama. New York: Appleton-Century Crofts, Inc., 1935. | Mills, C. Wright. White Collar: The American Middle 1 Class. New York: Oxford University Press, 1951. j Mortensen, C. David. Communication: The Study of Human | Interaction. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1972. Nathan, George Jean. Theatre Book of the Year, 1954-55. New York: Knopf, 1946. _________. The Magic Mirror. New York: Knopf, 1956, Theatre in the Fifties. New York: Knop'f, 1953. ! Nicoll, Allardyce. World Drama. New York: Harcourt, j Brace and Co., 1950. j Olson, Elder. Tragedy and the Theory of Drama. Detroit: | | Wayne State University Press, 1961. I ! | Rader, Melvin. The Open and Closed Mind. New York: Basic ; Books, 1960. Sereno, K. K., and Mortensen, C. D., eds. Foundations of ! Communication Theory. New York: Harper and Row, 1970. I Spiller, Robert E., ed. A Time of Harvest: American j Literature, 1910-196 0. New York: Hill and Wang, 1964. i, j Trevoin, J. C. Dramatists of Today. London: Staples ! Press, 1953. , Watzlawick, P., Beavin, L., and Jackson, D. D. Pragmatics ; of Human Communication. New York: Norton, 1967. i | Weales, Gerald. American Drama Since World War II. New , York: Harcourt, Brace and World Inc., 1962. ; Wellek Renee, and Austin, Warren. Theory of Literature. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World Inc., 1942. 283 Wenburg, J., and Wilmot, W. , Personal Communication Process.'New York: Wiley, 1973. Commentar i e s Hartnoll, Phyllis, ed. Oxford Companion to the Theatre. New York: MacMillan Company, 19 25. Holman, Hugh D., Thrall, William F,, and Hibbard, Addison, eds. A Handbook to Literature. New York: The Odyssey Press, 19 60. Works of Arthur Miller Collected Plays. New York: Viking, 1957. The Price. New York: Viking, 196 8 . Studies Huftel, Sheila. Arthur Miller: The Burning Glass. New York: Citadel, 1965. Huttar, Charles. Arthur Miller. New York: Twayne, 196 7. 1 Lewis, Allan. American Playwrights and of the Contemporary; Theatre. New York: Crown, 19 65. I j Meserve, Walter J., ed. Arthur Miller. Boston: The Merrill i Studies, 1972. j Moss, Leonard. Arthur Miller, New York: Twayne, 1967. | Murray, Edward. Arthur Miller, Dramatist. New York: i Ungar, 1967. I f 1 Nelson, Benjamin. Arthur Miller: Portrait of a Playwright, j New York: McKay, 1970. | Welland, Dennis. Arthur Miller. New York: Grove, 1961. i i i ! Series i Arnheim, Rudolph. "Gestalt Theory of Expression." In 1 Towards a Psychology of Art. Berkeley: University of I California, 1966. 284 Barnlund, D. C. "A Transactional Model of Communication." In Foundations, of Communication Theory. Edited by K. Sereno and C. Mortensen. New York: Harper and Row, 1970. Blau, Herbert. "The Whole Man and the Real Writer." In Arthur Miller; A Collection of Essays. Edited by Robert Corrigan. Englewood-Cliff, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1969. , Brecht, Bertolt. "Theatre for Learning." In European ! Theories of the Drama. Edited by Barrett H. Clark. | New York: Crown Publishers, 1965. I \ Carlisle, Olga, and Styron, Rose. "Arthur Miller." In ! Writers At Work. The Paris Review interviews. Third j Series. New York: Viking, 1967. I Carter, Elton S., and Fife, Iline. "The Critical Approach." In An Introduction to Graduate Study in Speech and Theatre. Edited by Clyde W. Dow. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Press, 1961. Clurman, Harold, "Arthur Miller's Latest Plays." In Arthur Miller: A Collection of Essays. Edited by | Robert Corrigan. Englewood-Cliff, New Jersey: ; Prentice-Hall, Inc,, 1969. I Eisenger, Chester. "Focus on Arthur Miller's Death of A j Salesman." In American Dreams, American Nightmares. : Edited by David Madden. New York: Cross Currents,1970. I I ! Foster, Richard J. "Confusion and Tragedy." In Two Modern j American Tragedies: Reviews and Criticisms of Death of ; A Salesman and A Streetcar Named Desire. Edited by j John D. Hurrell. New York: Scribner, 1961. I ; Gassner, John. "New American Playwrights: Williams, Miller, and Others." In The Theatre in Our Time. New York: Crown, 19 54. _________. "Death of A Salesman: First Impression." j In The Theatre in Our Time. New York: Crown, 1954. i i Gold, Herbert. "The Bored and the Violent." In First ! Person Singular. Edited by Herbert Gold. New York: Dial, 1963. i j Gordon, Lois. "Death of A Salesman: An Appreciation." ! In The Forties: Fiction, Poetry, Drama. Edited by Toby Cole. New York: Rill and Wang, T964. 285 Nyren, Dorothey, ed. A Library of Literary Criticism: Modern American Literature. New York: Ungar, 1960. Popkin, H. "Arthur Miller: The Strange Encounter." In American Drama and Its Critics. Edited by A. S. Downer., Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1951. Saisselin, Remy G. "Is Tragic Drama Possible in the 20th i Century?" In Theatre Annual. Vol. 17, 1962, i Sievers, David W. "Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller." ; In Freud on Broadway: A History of Psychoanalysis ! and the American Drama. New York: Hermitage House, 1955. Toch, H., and MacLean, M. "Perception and Communication i A Transactional View." In Foundations of Communi- j cation Theory. Edited by K. Sereno and C. D, ; Mortensen. New York: Harper and Row, 1970. Warshaw, Robert. "The Liberal Conscience in the Crucible." In Arthur Miller: A Collection of Essays. Edited by Robert Corrigan. Englewood-Cliff, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1969, 1969. i Weales, Gerald C. "Arthur Miller's Shifting Image of I Man." In Arthur Miller: A Collection of Essays. , Edited by Robert Corrigan. Englewood-Cliff, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1969. | . "Miller: Man and His Image." In American Drama | Since World War II. Edited by Gerald C. Weales. j New York: Harcourt, Brace and World Inc., 19 62. . "Arthur Miller." In The American Theater Today. Edited by Alan Downer. Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1951. ! Williams, Raymond. "From Hero to Victim: The Making of I Liberal Tragedy^ to Ibsen and Miller." In Modern i Tragedy. San .Francisco: Chandler Press, 1965. ! Zajonc, R. "The Concept of Balance, Congruity, and Dissonance." In Foundations of Communication Theory. Edited by Kenneth Sereno and C. D. Mortensen. New York: Harper and Row, 19 70. 286 Bibliographies Hayashi, Tetsumaro. Arthur Miller Criticism (1930-1967). Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow, 1967. Pamphlets Hogan, Robert Good. Arthur Miller. Pamphlets on American Writers, No. 40. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 19 64. Unpublished Materials Bodaken, Edward M., and Sereno, Kenneth K. "Trans-Per: A Model of Communication." Paper presented to the Speech Communication Association, December 19 76. Articles j Allsop, Kenneth. "A Conversation with Arthur Miller." I Encounter." Encounter 8 (July 1 9 5 9 ) : 5 8 - 6 0 . | Appia, Adolph. "The Elements of a Living Art." Theatre i Arts Monthly 1 6 ( 1 9 3 2 ) : 6 6 7 - 6 7 8 . I Arnheim, Rudolph. "Eyes They Have, But They See Not: ‘ A Conversation with R. Arnheim." Psychology , Today, 6 , No. 1.(June 1 9 7 2 ) : 33-41. I j Beliquez, Guirin. "Linda's Role in Death of A Salesman." j Modern Drama 1 1 ( 1 9 6 8 ) : 1 6 4 - 1 7 2 . j Berksdale, Richard K. "Social Background in the Plays: I of Miller and Williams." College Language Association ! Journal 6 (March 1 9 6 3 ) : 1 6 1 - 1 6 9 . ! 1 • Berio, David K., Johnson, Craig P., and Klare, George R. "General Model of Communication Research: A Survey of the Developments of A Decade." The Journal of Communication 1 1 (March 1 9 6 1 ) : 1 3 - 2 6 . Bettina, Sister M. "Willy Loman's Brother Ben: Tragic ; Insight in Death of A Salesman." Modern Drama 4 ! (February 1 9 6 2 ) : 4 0 9 - 4 1 2 . I ; Beyer, William. "The State of the Theatre: The Season j Opens." School and Society, December 3 , 1 9 4 9 , ; pp. 3 6 3 - 3 6 4 . j 287 Bigsby, C. W. E. "Arthur Miller's Confession." Modern Drama -10 (September 1967) :124-136. Blumberg, Paul. "Sociology and Social Literature: Work Alienation in the Plays of Arthur Miller." American Quarterly 21 (1969):291-310. Bradshear, William R. "The Empty Bench: Morality, Tragedy, and Arthur Miller." Michigan Quarterly Review 5 (Pall 1966):2 70-2 78. ! Brandon, A., and Arthur Miller. "The State of the ! Theatre: A Conversation with Arthur Miller. Re- j ported by Henry Brandon." Harpers 22 0 (November i 1966):63-69. j Brandon, H. "Conversation with Arthur Miller." World | Theatre 2 (Autumn 1962):229-240. I * Brown, Ivor. "As London Sees Willy Loman." New York Times Magazine, August 28, 1948, 8 , VI, pp. 11, 59. Brown, John Mason. "Seeing Things: Even as You and I." Saturday Review of Literature, -32(February 26, 1949): 19-20. Brustein, Robert. "Arthur Miller's Mea Culpa." New Republic, February 8, 1964, pp. 26-30. j ' _________. "Why American Plays Are Not Literature." Harpers 219 (October 1959):167-173. Clark, Eleanor. "Review of Death of A Salesman." Partisan Review 16(Junel949):631-635. Clurman, Harold. "Theater: Attention." New Republic February 28,19 49,p . 27. ! Corrigan, Robert W. "Arthur Miller: Interview." ; Michigan Quarterly Review 123 (Fall 1974):401-405. I Couchman, Gordon W. "Arthur Miller's Tragedy of Babbitt." I Educational Theatre Journal 7 (October 1955):206-211. ! -------------- I [ Dance, F. E. "The Concept of Communication." The I Journal of Communication 20 (1970) :201-210. I 1 De Schweinitz, George. "Death of A Salesman: A Note ; on Epic and Tragedy." Western Humanities Review 14 I (Winter 1960) : 91-96. 288 Dillingham, William E. "Arthur Miller and the Loss of Conscience." Emory University Quarterly 16 (Spring 1960):4 0—50. Driver, Tom F. "Strengths and Weaknesses in Arthur Miller." Tulane Drama Review 4 (1960):45-54. ! Duprey, Richard A, "Arthur Miller," Catholic World 193 ! (September 1961):394-395, j Field, B. S. "Death of A Salesman." Twentieth Century | Literature 18 (January 1972):19-24. I I Flaxman, Seymour L. "The Debt of Williams and Miller to j Ibsen and Strindberg." Comparative Literature 1 i (September 1963):51-60. Fruchter, Norm. "On the Frontier," Encore 9 (January and February 1962):17-27, Fuller, A. Howard. "A Salesman is Everybody." Fortune 49 (May 1949):79-80. Gabriel, Gilbert W. "Doas." Theatre Arts 33 (1949):14-16. j Ganz, Arthur. "Arthur Miller: After the Silence." j Drama Survey 3 (1963):520-530. ; . "The Silence of Arthur Miller." Drama Survey I 3 (1963) : 224-237. • Gassner, John. "The Theatre Arts." Forum 111 (April ! 1949):219-221. j _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . "Tragic Perspectives: A Sequence of Queries." j Tulane Drama Review 2 (March 1958) '.1—22. I _________. "The Winter of Our Discontent." Theatre Arts i 39 (August 1955):23-24, 8 6. : Gelb, Phillip. "A Symposium with Arthur Miller." Tulane Drama Review 2 (May 1958):63-69. Gibbs, Wolcott. "Death of A Salesman." New Yorker, February 19, 1949, pp. 58-60. I 1 Gilman, Richard. "The Drama is Coming now." Tulane ! Drama Review 7 (Summer 1963):27-42, i Groff, Edward. "Point of View in Modern Drama." Modern Drama 2 (December 1969):268-282. I 289 Gross, Barry Edward. "Peddlar and Pioneer in Death of A Salesman." Modern Drama 7 (Fall 1965):405-410. _________. "All My Sons and the Larger Context." Modern Drama 18 (March 1975):15-27. I Gupta, R. K. "Death of a Salesman and Miller's Concept | of Tragedy." KAL 15 (1974) : 10-19. i ' Hagopian, John V. "Arthur Miller: The Salesman's Two Cases." Modern Drama 6 (September 1963) : 117-125. 1 Hayman, Ronald. "Arthur Miller: Between Satire and I Society." Encounter 37 (November 1970):73-79. I ■ Heaton, C. P. "Arthur Miller on Death of A Salesman." Contemporary Literature 1 (1970):5. Hewes, Henry. "Young Dramatists on Trial in the U.S.A." World Theatre 8 (Autumn 1959):217-224. Hill, Phillip G. "The Crucible: A Structural View." Modern Drama 10 (1967):312-317. Hunt, Albert. "Realism and Intelligence: Some Notes on Arthur Miller." Encore 7 (May-June 1960):12-17. Hynes, Joseph A. "Arthur Miller and the Impasse of Naturalism." South Atlantic Quarterly 62 (Summer | 1963) : 327-334, i ! . "Attention Must Be Paid." College English 23 (April 1962):574-578. Jackson, Esther Merle. "Death of A Salesman: Tragic Myth in the Modern Theatre." CLA Journal 7 (1963): 63-67. Jacobson, Irving G. "The Child as Guilty Witness." L and P 24 (1974):12-23. I -------- l [ ________ . "Family Dreams in Death of A Salesman." j American Literature 47 (May 1975):247-253. ! Jones, David. "A Symposium to Mark the Opening of the Tyrone Guthrie Repertory Theater." Drama Survey 3 (Spring-Summer 1963):69-116. 290 Kennedy, Sighle. "Who Killed the Salesman?" Catholic World 171 (May 1950):110-116. Klapp, Orrine E, "Tragedy and the American Climate of Opinion." Centennial Review of Arts and Sciences 2 (Fall 1958):396-413. Krutch, Joseph Wood, "Our Colossal Dad." Times Literary Supplement, August 29, 1958, p. 482. i . "Drama." The Nation, February 16, 1947, pp. ' 191, 193. i i I Lawrence, S. A. "The Right to Dream in Miller’s Death of j A Salesman." College English 2 5 (April 1964):547-549. j Lowenthal, Lawrence D. "Arthur Miller's Incident at Vichy: A Sartrean Interpretation." Modern Drama 18 (March 1975):1-14. Martin, Robert A. "Arthur Miller and the Meaning of ! Tragedy." Modern Drama 13 (May 1970):34-39. ! _________. "Arthur Miller--Tragedy and Commitment." I Michigan Quarterly Review 8 (1’ 969) : 176-178. J j _________. "The Creative Experience of Arthur Miller: j | An Interview." Educational Theater Journal 21 (1969): I I 310-317. j 1 I ‘ McAnany, J. E. "The Tragic Commitment: Some Notes on | Arthur Miller." Modern Drama 5 (May 1962):11-20. j : I i McCarthy, Mary T. "Americans, Realists, Playwrights." j Encounter 17 (1961) :24-31. i _________. "Naming Names: The Arthur Miller Case." | Encounter 8 (May 1957):23-2 5. I I 1 McGraw, William R. "James M. Barrie's Concept of Dramatic : Action." Modern Drama 5 (September 1962) : 133-141. j McMahon, Helen M. "Arthur Miller's Common Man: The Prob- i lem of the Realistic and the Mythic." D. and T. 10 1 (1972):29-133. ! Miller, Arthur. "The American Theatre." Holiday 17 I (January 1955):101-102, 104. 291 Miller, Arthur. "The Family in Modern Drama." Atlantic 197 (April 1956):3. _________. "The Shadow of the Gods: A Critical View of American Theatre." Harpers 217 (August 1958):34-43. _________. "The Playwright and the Atomic World." Tulane ' Drama. Review 5 (June 1961):3-20. _________. "On Social Plays." Introduction to A View • From the Bridge. New York: Viking Press, 1955. i ! _________. "Tragedy and the Common Man." New York Times, | February 17, 194 9, Sec. 2, pp. 1-3. I _________. "Tragedy and the Common Man." Theatre Arts, 35:(March 1951) : 4 8-50. Miller, Arthur, and Phillip Gelb. "Morality and Modern Drama." Educational Theater Journal 10 (October 1958):190-202. Miller, Jordan Y. "Myth and the American Dream; O ’Neill to Albee." Modern Drama 7 (September 1964):190-198. Morgan, Frederick. "Notes on the Theatre." Hudson j Review 2 (Summer 1949):272-273. | Moss, Leonard. "Arthur Miller and the Common Man’s ! Language." Modern Drama 7 (May 1964):52-59. Newman, William J. "Arthur Miller's Collected Plays." Twentieth Century 164 (November 1958):491-96. Oberg, A. K. "Death of A Salesman and Arthur Miller's Search for Style." Criticism 9 (Fall 1967):303-311. Otten, Charlotte F. "Who Am I? Re-investigation of Arthur Miller's Death of A Salesman." Cresset 26 (February 1963):11-13. Overland, Orm. "The Action and Its Significance: j Arthur Miller's Struggle with Dramatic Form." I Modern Drama 18 (March 1975):1014. Parker, Brian. "Point of View in Arthur Miller's Death ! of a Salesman." Toronto Quarterly 35 (January 1966): i 144-157. 292 Popkin, Henry. "Arthur Miller: The Strange Encounter." Sewanee Review 6 8 (Winter 1960):34-60. "Arthur Miller Out West." Commentary 31 (May 1961) :4 33-4 36. Post, Robert M. "Cognitive Dissonance in the Plays of j Edward Albee." Quarterly Journal of Speech 55 1 (1969):54-60. Price, Johnathan. "Arthur Miller: Fall or Rise." J Drama 73 (Summer 1964):39-40. jPrudhoe, John. "Arthur Miller and the Tradition of i Tragedy." English Studies 43 (October 1962): ! 430-439. i j Reno, Raymond H. "Arthur Miller and the Death of God." ; Texas Studies in Literature and Language 11 (19 74): i 106. |Ronald, Margaret Loffus. "Death of A Salesman— -Fifteen | Years After." Comment 6 (August 1965):28-35. iRovere, Richard H. "Arthur Miller." New Republic, June 17, 1957, p. 13. Schechner, Richard. "Performance and the Social Science Introduction." Tulane Drama Review 17 (September j 19 73) : 35-4 8 . Schneider, Daniel E.a "Play of Dreams." Theatre Arts j 33 (October 1949):18-21. jshatzky, Joel. "The Reactive Image and Miller's Death i of A Salesman." Players 48 (1973):104-110. iSiegal, Paul N. "Willy Loman and King Lear." College ! English 17 (March 1956):341-345. jsteene, Birgitta. "The Critical Reception of American j Drama in Sweden." Modern Drama 5 (May 1962) : | 71-82. jSteinberg, M. W. "Arthur Miller and the Idea of Modern I Tragedy." Dalhousie Review 40 (1968):320-340. 293 Stinson, John J. "Structure in After the Fall: The Relevance of the Maggie Episodes to the Main Themes and The Christian Symbolism." Modern Drama 10 (1967):233-240. Thomas, Miles O. "Three Authors in Search of a Character." Personalist 46 (Winter 1965):65-72. f | Trowbridge, Clinton W. "Arthur Miller: Between Paths and Tragedy." Modern Drama 10 (December 1967):221-232. ; Tynan, Kenneth. "American Blues— The Plays of Arthur ; Miller and Tennessee Williams." Encounter 2 (May ! 1954):13—19. i ' Wallace, Mike and Gingrich, Arnold, "Arthur Miller Talks with Mike Wallace and Arnold Gingrich: The Contemporary Theatre and Freedom in Mass Media." Michigan Quarterly Review 6 (Summer 1967) :153-184 . Weales, Gerald. "All About Talk: Arthur Miller's The Price." Ohio Review 13 (1972):74—84. _________. "American Drama Since the Second World War." Tararack Review 13 (Autumn 1959):86-99. "Plays and Analysis." Commonweal, July 12, 1957, pp. 382-383. i Wertheimer, Max. "Gestalt Theory." Social Research 11 i (1944):84. J Williams, Raymond. "The Realism of Arthur Miller." J Critical Quarterly l(Summer 1959) :140-149. ! Willett, Ralper W. "Ideas of Miller and Williams," i Theater Annual 22 (1965-1966):31-40. I i Whitcomb, J. "Our Location," Cosmopolitan 149 (December ' 1960):52-57. | Worsley, T. C. "Poetry Without Words," Nation j August 6, 1949, pp. 146-149., . 294

Linked assets