Death of a Salesman
Arthur Miller · 1949
Willy Loman is a traveling salesman who built his life on the American Dream and discovers, at sixty-three, that it was always a lie. Miller's play premiered in 1949 and won the Pulitzer. It's the great American tragedy because it insists that ordinary failure can be as devastating as any king's downfall.
The case against
Miller never trusts you to get it: the seeds, the rubber hose, the flute, a hero named Loman. Linda exists to deliver thesis statements ('attention must be paid') rather than to be a person, and the Requiem restates what the previous two hours already played out. Tragedy, yes; subtlety was never invited.
Drama · the Pro canon
The case for it and the rest of the canon open with Pro.
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