Samantha Souza

Dr. Philip Lerman

20th Century American Drama

Spring 2010

Written Report #3

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman takes place in Connecticut in 1948. It

centers around Willy Loman, a man desperately searching to answers as to why his life

didn’t turn out just the way he hoped it would. Willy flashes back to moments in his

past that further articulate his present social, financial, and familial situation. Willy is so

buried in his own lies, deception, and desperation to hear any of his family out, or to

realize that his life may be a result of his own ignorance and issues. Despite this

pigheaded and headstrong fault, Willy makes the ultimate sacrifice in a meager attempt

to “fix” his family, and leave his son Biff enough money to correct his life that veered

off course long ago.

The ideals of the American dream are laid throughout Death of a Salesman. But

what Willy fails to realize is that the American dream is not the same dream for

everyone, and that his son’s failure to attain it might be his own fault. Willy had a hard

life, after his father abandoned him, and after Ben left, only to make money in Alaska.

This sense of abandonment ironically caused Willy to, both figuratively and literally,

abandon his own family, both physically and emotionally. Willy feels that Biff should

have amounted to more, and the fact that he didn’t feels like a betrayal on Biff’s part.

Willy wants the American dream so badly, and wants to have his name be a part of

some sort of legacy so much, that he is willing to lose his life for it.

The protagonist of The House of Blue Leaves is Artie Shaughnessey, a man

who’s life is at a turning point. He has a (literally) crazy wife, a controlling girlfriend,

Bunny, a equally mentally unstable son who desires to blow up the Pope, and a friend,

Billy, who is now a big shot in Hollywood. Artie, a zookeeper, desires to be a

songwriter for movies, and Bunny encourages him to ask Billy to get him some work in

movies. Everyone in this play is kooky, even the people who are supposed to be sane. It

is interesting to note that Bananas, who is supposed to be the most mentally unstable

character in the play, actually has some of the most thought provoking, and insightful

lines in the play. The rest of the characters pass them off as the ravings of a mad

woman, but the irony is clear to the audience. Corrinna, Billy’s Hollywood girlfriend,

represents what happens when dreams come true. She may have gotten what she wants

in theory (a Hollywood career and boyfriend), she has lost her hearing, and ultimately,

her life, in an explosion. The Little Nun represents the real world: she is confused,

unhappy, and influenced by the media, claiming that the reason she got involved in her

religious calling is because she watched The Sound of Music so many times.

It is hard to tell if The House of Blue Leaves is a farce, regular comedy, social

commentary, realistic drama , or black comedy. In a way, it is all of those things, and

more. John Guare depicts the dark side of the American dream, especially the way he

emphasizes the damaging nature of the media on the dreams of people, as well as their

personal lives. He shows how humans disregard each other and their feelings, and how

isolated we are from one another.

Buried Child, written in 1979, won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It follows the

estrangement between parents and children, which happens to be a running theme in

Shepard’s plays. Because there is no “a” or “the” in the title, it is not singular. This

makes it a mystery and gives it more meaning. The entire family is in denial, and the

return of Vince brings up the past. Vince, who is eager to come back to reconnect with

his roots, is based on Shepard himself, and Dodge is based on Shepard’s grandpa.

Ansel, the dead son in the family, is a war hero, just like Shepard’s dad was a war hero,

as well. There are many strings in this play, and Shepard purposefully doesn’t tie them

all together. Buried Child is about the neglect of children, which is a crime against the

family. Everyone in the play is dysfunctional, even the priest, who claims that he

doesn’t want to get involved, and is, in a sense, the essence of ineffectuality. Halie, the

mother, has two sides to her. In one moment, she is dressed completely puritanical, and

in the next, she returns in a cheery, yellow dress. Dodge represents the old pioneer

spirit, which can also be seen as he is named after a city in the middle of America.

Shelly, Vince’s girlfriend, is an outsider in the play, a rootless kid who feels at home

with Vince’s family, and brings sensuality to the home.

To Shepard, family represents two opposing things: support, and a lack of

freedom. Halie and Dodge are symbols of the American experience. Corn suddenly

starts growing because Vince has come back, and he is the new blood, the one who is

innocent of all that has gone on in the home, and thus, nature is “conceiving” the corn.

The play is an allegory of the American Dream, explaining that we have robbed our

children of their natural birthright, and demonstrates the difference between

natural/earthly versus human, and the opposition between the decayed and spoiled.

In Death of a Salesman, The House of Blue Leaves, and Buried Child, points are

made about the seemingly unattainable American Dream. Willy Loman chases a false

dream, one that his sons (and himself) could never live up to in reality. Artie

Shaughnessey dreams of becoming more than just a zookeeper, but can’t get himself

and his life passed the betrayal, jealousy, and longing for the American Dream in order

to actually achieve it. The family in Buried Child lives a false American Dream,

shrouded by scandal, hurt, and deceit. All plays center around a chase for the myth that

is the American Dream.