Death of a Salesman

Lore & Background

The genesis of the play was a chance encounter between Miller and his uncle Manny Newman, a salesman, whom he met in 1947 in the lobby of a Boston theater that was playing All My Sons. Miller later recounted that when he saw Manny at the theater, 'I could see the grim hotel room behind him, the long trip up from New York in his little car, the hopeless hope of the day's business.' Without acknowledging Miller's greeting or congratulating him on the play, Manny said 'Buddy is doing very well.' Buddy was Manny's son, and Manny saw Miller and his older brother as 'running neck and neck' with his two sons 'in some race that never stopped in his mind.' When visiting Manny as a youth, Miller felt 'gangling and unhandsome' and usually heard 'some kind of insinuation of my entire life's probable failure.' Seeing him again in Boston, Manny seemed to the playwright to be 'absurd' and 'so elaborate in his fantastic inventions,' that 'he possessed my imagination.' Manny died by suicide soon after.

Reader's Guide

Death of a Salesman is a landmark work in American theater, recognized for its innovative structure and enduring cultural impact. The play uses a montage of memories, dreams, and arguments to depict the internal collapse of its protagonist, Willy Loman. Since its premiere, the play has been revived on Broadway five times, winning a to-this-day unprecedented four Tony Awards for Best Revival. It has been adapted for the cinema ten times. In 1999, New Yorker drama critic John Lahr said that with 11 million copies sold, it was 'probably the most successful modern play ever published.' The play's exploration of the American Dream, truth, and infidelity continues to resonate with audiences and scholars, cementing its place as a central text in modern drama.

Did You Know?

• The play's subtitle is 'Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem.'
• The play won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play.
• It has been revived on Broadway five times, winning four Tony Awards for Best Revival.
• As of 1999, the play had sold 11 million copies, making it 'probably the most successful modern play ever published,' according to critic John Lahr.