What is a requiem? What is the purpose of this final act? To what extent does it fill the role of a requiem? Charley says: "No man only needs a little salary." To what is he referring? What else does a man need? How does this characterize Charley? Explain the situational irony of Linda’s last speech. How does the text satirize the ideology of the American Dream? How does the text satirize the pursuit of money and its effect on humanity? what is the symbolism of the setting? what are two sets of foils that exist in the play is given below
Explanation:
1.A requiem, or dirge, can also be a piece of music used for this ceremony or in any other context honoring those who have died. The word requiem comes from the opening words of the Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead, which is spoken or sung in Latin (requies means “rest”).
2.The definition of Requiem in' The concise Oxford dictionary' is a special Mass for repose of souls of the dead'. The Requiem serves as a tribute to Willy Loman. Sympathy is evoked and reasons for his behavior are given. Charley gives the central speech-' Nobody dast blame this man.
3.Charley answers back saying that "No man only needs a little salary" because he has actually experienced the American Dream that Willy does not get to experience. ... He represents reality, and not Willy's whimsical dreams. For this reason, he says that money is not the "be all, end all" of life.
4.The definition of Requiem in' The concise Oxford dictionary' is a special Mass for repose of souls of the dead'. The Requiem serves as a tribute to Willy Loman. Sympathy is evoked and reasons for his behavior are given. Charley gives the central speech-' Nobody dast blame this man.Willy's next-door neighbor. Charley owns a successful business and his son, Bernard, is a wealthy, important lawyer. Willy is jealous of Charley's success. Charley gives Willy money to pay his bills, and Willy reveals at one point, choking back tears, that Charley is his only friend.
5.To the end, Linda remains the well-conditioned Fordian rather than John's mother. Indeed, her last words are not "my son," or "I love you," but the broken-off hypnopaedic suggestion for recreational sex: "Every one belongs to every . . . ."
6.Realism was an artistic movement that began in 19th century
France. The realists sought to accurately portray everyday
characters, situations, and dilemmas. Realist drama was a careful
observation of human characteristics and the language attempted to
be as close as possible to natural conversation. Contemporary
costuming and three–dimensional sets were used so as to create a ‘lifelike’
stage picture. The plays were usually critiques of social problems.
A reaction to Realism, the Expressionist movement began in the
early 1900s. Expressionist dramatists were concerned with presenting
the inner psychological reality of a character, a subjective vision of
the world as opposed to an objective representation as Realism
wanted to do. They were, as American Expressionist playwright Elmer
Rice claimed, “... getting beneath reality, displaying more than reality,
replacing reality with something more expressive.“
They threw out dramatic convention – plot, structure and characterization
were abandoned, dialogue became poetic and lighting was used to create
atmosphere.
Miller was interested in Expressionism but didn’t want to abandon the
conventions of realism. He used, like O’Neill, a dramatic form that
combined THE SUBJECTIVITY OF EXPRESSIONISM with the ILLUSION
OF OBJECTIVITY AFFORDED BY REALISM. “Death of A Salesman”
encompasses both realism and expressionism in such a way as to
truly represent Willy, his dilemma, and also his state of mind.