Death of a Salesman: Themes, Characters, and Analysis
Key Facts About Death of a Salesman
- Full Title: Death of a Salesman: Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem
- Author: Arthur Miller
- Type of Work: Play
- Genre: Tragedy, social commentary, family drama
- Language: English (with emphasis on middle-class American lingo)
- Time and Place Written: Six weeks in 1948, in a shed in Connecticut
- Date of First Publication: 1949
- Original Publisher: The Viking Press
- Climax: The scene in Frank’s Chop House and Biff’s final confrontation with Willy at home
- Protagonists:
Norman Conquest’s Impact on Middle English Literature
The Norman Conquest and Literary Transformation
In the Battle of Hastings, Britain was invaded once more by a powerful nation, the Normans. Consequently, French and Latin became the literary standard, and English fell into disuse as an artistic language.
The land was divided between France and England, a division that profoundly affected literature. The West Saxon dialect disappeared as a literary standard, as French became a mark of distinction. Three languages coexisted in England: Latin, English,
Read MoreDuality, Repression, and Social Critique in Romantic and Victorian Literature
William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
William Wordsworth’s poetry bears some resemblance to Blake’s. He lived during the Industrial Revolution, too. He lost his mother when he was 8 and his father at 13.
Wordsworth’s Poetic Philosophy
- Value of Childhood: Wrote about everyday life.
- Nature and the Human Mind: Celebration of nature and its impact on the human mind, concentrating on the inner effects of external sensations and the development of the inner self.
- Harmony with Nature: Living in harmony with
Walt Whitman’s Poetic Legacy: Free Verse, Democracy, and the Self
Walt Whitman: Poet of Democracy and Freedom
Walt Whitman (1819–1892), the poet of democracy and freedom, broke with the conventions of his period. He is considered a non-conformist, aligning with Transcendentalism. Born into a family of nine children on Long Island, he was influenced by his father in politics and was strongly against slavery and racism.
Leaves of Grass (1855)
Leaves of Grass is Whitman’s most important work. The volume of poetry was greeted with incomprehension for its exuberant
Read MoreLiterary Currents and Catalan Authors: Renaissance to Neoclassicism
The Early Modern Age: Printing and Literature
This period encompasses the Modern Age, spanning three centuries from the Renaissance to the late eighteenth century. Printing consolidated, and workshops began operating as real businesses.
First Printed Texts
The first texts printed included:
- Greek and Latin texts
- Bible translations
- Legal and scientific books
- Collections of poems
Promoting Reading and Literacy
Books were the engine of verifiable reading growth. Booksellers imported and exported texts. The development
Read MoreMastering English Intonation: Tone, Tonicity, and Tonality
Intonation: Pitch Variation and Pragmatic Meaning
Intonation refers to the perceived variations in pitch during speech that can modify the pragmatic meaning of an utterance.
The Three Components of Intonation
Intonation is a crucial part of suprasegmental phonology. It is concerned with three main aspects:
- Tonality: How an utterance is divided into word groups (tone units).
- Tonicity: Where the most prominent accent (the tonic) occurs within a word group.
- Tone: The nature of the pitch change (the direction