Arthur Miller Play Summary – Death of a Salesman
1st Edition Cover (Viking Press)
Remembering Arthur Miller’s birthday with his most famous play Death of a Salesman.
Arthur Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005)
American Playwright and Screenwriter
Arthur Miller’s Play Death of a Salesman, a Winning Play
The famous play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller won him the Pulitzer Prize, May 2, 1949. It also won the Tony Award and was acknowledged not only a work that brought Miller to the world stage, but also as an accomplishment of modern American theater.
The Death of a Salesman is a tragic tale of a 60-year-old salesman, Willy Loman. When he was fired from his job, he loses grip on reality and his will to live. It’s very much about that “American Dream” … the individual’s belief and pursuits, and the disappointments with a shattered dream.
Don’t we all undergo this at one point in time?
The plot relates to the tragic story of Willy Loman, a salesman. Willy is not the great success that he claims to everyone, especially to his family and friends. For 35 years, he has tried to earn money and recognition on the road, and as a true salesman, always measures his worth by the volume of his sales. Having grown older, he slowly loses his energies and the strength to go on. His trips decrease along with the passing of days. His family worries about him – his wife Linda, and his two grown sons, Biff and Happy. As the story progresses, Willy is eventually fired from his job as he no longer brings the business performance he used to give.
Willy begins to hallucinate about significant events in his life: he remembers encouraging his sons to lie if it makes them succeed and be accepted by workmates and supervisors; he also remembers the pathetic scene of being discovered with a prostitute by his older son, who arrives unexpectedly at his hotel room seeking fatherly advice; and another, he has imaginary conversations, this time, with his brother Ben, the truly successful one. The story ends with Willy deciding that he is worth more dead than alive, thinking of the insurance money that his family will benefit from. Having made up his mind, on his last trip, he kills himself in his car. A tragic act of desperation from hopelessness of lifetime dreams. Justification of the hero’s act is much left to the reader’s reflective thoughts, if his action is motivated by hopelessness, cowardice, or self-preservation.
But for Willy, the end was extreme, hopelessness reigned as he commits suicide in his car, believing he is better dead than alive, that the insurance money he’ll leave behind will provide his family financial security.
Image source:
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman 1st Edition Cover (Viking Press). Wikimedia Commons. Accessed 17 October 2011.
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Summary – The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Summary – The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
“The Importance of Being Earnest” or “A Trivial Comedy for Serious People” is a comedy of manners by playwright, novelist and poet Oscar Wilde.
“The Importance of Being Earnest” was the last play written by the celebrated Oscar Wilde, and proved to be his most popular and enduring. This hilarious satire is all about the double lives of two would-be bridegrooms.
The plot involves two fashionable young gentlemen, Algernon Moncrieff (Algy) and his close friend John Worthing (Jack), and their eventual successful courtship of Gwendolen Fairfax (Algy’s cousin), and Cecily Cardew (Jack’s cousin).
Act one:
Jack Worthing (who calls himself Earnest), comes to town to see his friend Algernon (Algy), cousin of Gwendolen Fairfax, Jack’s true love. Algy’s aunt shows up, and he distracts his aunt long enough for Jack (or Earnest) to propose to Gwendolen. Jack’s not sure of Gwendolen’s feelings for him as she seems only excited about the name ‘Earnest’.
When her mother, Lady Bracknell, returns and finds that Jack and her are engaged, she inquires about his means of support, possessions, and family, but the trouble is he can’t answer her satisfactorily about his beginnings. Jack is supposed to have been found in a leather handbag and was adopted by Mr. Carew, who was given the luggage by mistake as his own.
Act Two:
The scene opens at Jack’s country house. His sweet young ward, Cecily Cardew, is talking with her tutor Miss Prism about her lessons. The pastor Rev. Chasuble comes by, and he and Miss Prism go for a walk. While they are away, Algernon, arrives, pretending also to be Earnest, and talks to Cecily. They fall in love and become engaged. Cecily thinks he is Jack’s younger brother, Earnest, and also loves the name.
Gwendolen shows up and they get on beautifully until they both claim to be engaged, to Earnest! The matter gets complicated. But when Jack and Algy enter the room, and the discovery of their true names and relationships occur, the two girls back out from their engagement and both wonder why the men deceived them.
Lady Bracknell arrives to take Gwendolen home. She finds Algernon engaged to Cecily, actually a very wealthy heiress, and who Lady Bracknell wants Algy to marry. Jack, as Cecily’s guardian, refuses to let Cecily marry Jack unless he gets to marry Gwendolen, a union Lady Bracknell still opposes.
Finally Miss Prism returns and everything is finally cleared up. It turns out it she who left Jack in the handbag at the train station. He is actually Algernon’s older brother, and his real name is Earnest John Moncrieff. A happy ending. A delightful comedy! What is most entertaining in the play is the continuous flow of humour – witty dialogues, and the characterizations by Wilde in which he was famous for.
Aside from the main characters, others who added to make the play more fascinating and enjoyable are Lady Bracknell (Gwendolen’s mother), Miss Prism (governess of Cecily) and Canon Frederick Chasuble.
There is a movie adaptation of “The Importance of Being Earnest” released in 2002, directed by Oliver Parker. It starred Rupert Everett as Jack, and Colin Firth as Jack.
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How to Make a Living as a Freelance Writer
Janice Hally’s Freelance Writing: How to Make a Living as a Freelance Writer
Janice Hally provides a smart and practical guide in Freelance Writing: How to Make a Living as a Freelance Writer. If you want to make a living as a freelance writer, you should read this e-book. A must-read.
How to Make a Living as a Freelance Writer is a collection of 67 easy to follow and succinct articles that can get you started right away.
Without much ado, the e-book is organized into seven chapters, all easy to read and follow through:
1. Getting Paid as a Freelance Writer
3. Glossary of Terms Used in Freelance Writing – Writing Words & Phrases Every Freelancer Should Know
4. Practical Advice on Freelance Writing
5. Life as a Freelance Writer
6. Scams Aimed at Writers – Be Warned!
7. Grammar Tips for Writer
I find the last chapter more of a bonus as Hally provides tips and concerns aligned with technology’s influence on grammar – punctuation tips, avoiding misused words, and other related grammar issues.
Janice Hally is a screenwriter with more than 300 hours of prime-time television drama to her credit. She is topic editor at Suite101: Freelance Writing, Stage/Screen, and Acting & Directing. Among other things, she puts her many years of freelance writing, fiction and non-fiction experience to help aspiring freelance writers what they need – real opportunity. A lot of information can also be learnt even by seasoned freelance writers.
Freelance Writing: How to Make a Living as a Freelance Writer by Janice Hally is available from Smashwords at $4.99 (e-book).
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Dangerous Deceit, A Debut Novel
Dangerous Deceit by Romy Gemmell
A historical novel of romantic intrigue set in Regency England (1813).
[amazon_image id="B004YXMFHU" link="true" target="_blank" size="medium" ]Dangerous Deceit[/amazon_image]
Blurb:
England, August 1813. Lydia Hetherington is uninterested in society balls or marriage, until her brother’s friend, Lord Marcus Sheldon, rides into her life to unseat her from her horse and unsettle her heart. An undercover spy for the government, Sheldon is equally unsettled by Lydia.
Complicated by a French spy, her best friend’s unrequited love for Lydia’s brother, James, and a traitorous villain, Lydia gradually finds her emotions stirred by Lord Sheldon. But what is his relationship with the beautiful Lady Smythe and his part in an old scandal? Lydia faces danger before all deception is uncovered and love claims its reward.
Excerpt from Dangerous Deceit by Romy Gemmell:
“I believe you have lost something, Miss Hetherington.”Lydia’s eyes widened as she watched Lord Sheldon lazily hold out his hand. He was holding a gold ribbon such as Agnes had threaded in her hair earlier that evening! She put her hand to her head and realized, belatedly, that her hair had started to come undone at the back. The ribbon must have caught on the bush where she’d hidden. She couldn’t think what to say for a moment until she saw the challenge in his stare.
“I fear you must be following me, my lord. I was unaware that the ribbon had come loose as I took a turn around the garden. I wonder that you should know to whom it belongs.” She held out her hand. “Thank you for returning it.”
She saw his shoulders stiffen and was sure he knew perfectly well that she’d seen him with the Frenchman.
Then Lydia saw the speculation in his grey eyes replaced by amusement as he walked towards her. “Allow me, Miss Hetherington.”
Before she guessed what he intended, his hands were on her upper arms and for a moment he was looking into her eyes. Then he gently turned her away from him. Next minute, he was expertly threading the ribbon through her hair.
Lydia held her breath as she felt his fingers brush against her head. It was as if something was making her skin tingle. Too soon, he had secured the ribbon. Yet still his fingers lingered for a moment against her hair and she hoped he could not hear the loud beating of her heart.
She tried to persuade herself that it was only because of her near discovery at eavesdropping. But she was far too aware of the nearness of his tall frame and the intimacy of the moment, and most especially the effect it was having on her.
Then he was turning her around once more to face him. He stepped back at once and bowed. “I trust you will be more careful where you walk in future, Miss Hetherington.”
Hoping she appeared more composed than she felt, Lydia replied as firmly as possible. “Thank you, my lord. It is my good fortune that you are so comfortable with a lady’s hair style and so solicitous of my well being.”
Lydia returned his stare, determined not to betray how bereft she’d felt as he stepped away from her. There was no doubt that he’d seen her in the garden and was warning her. But against what, she wondered.
About Romy Gemmell:
Romy Gemmell is pen name of Rosemary Gemmell, author and freelance writer. She has graciously guest written On Being a Freelance Writer for this website. Rosemary lives in the west coast of Scotland. Many of her short stories and articles are published in UK national magazines, in the US and online. She is a contributing writer to Suite101. Dangerous Deceit, is published by Canadian publisher, Champagne Books. Rosemary’s websites: www.rosemarygemmell.com and www.ros-readingandwriting.blogspot.com
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