Author: Anwesha Acharya1 & Dr. Rashmi Raikumar
DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.70798/Bijmrd/04070004
Abstract: Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (1949) is one of the most significant modern American dramas dealing with family relationships, individual identity, social expectations, and the failure of the American Dream. The play presents the Loman family as a domestic space in which personal aspirations, emotional dependence, economic insecurity, and conflicting definitions of success intersect. Willy Loman’s identity is constructed around his belief in popularity, professional success, material prosperity, and the approval of others. His inability to achieve these ideals produces a profound identity crisis that affects his relationships with his wife, Linda, and his sons, Biff and Happy. Biff’s struggle is particularly significant because his rejection of Willy’s values represents an attempt to construct an authentic identity independent of social expectations. Happy, in contrast, continues to reproduce many of his father’s illusions. Linda attempts to preserve the emotional unity of the family, but her loyalty also contributes to the continuation of Willy’s self-deception. Through these relationships, Miller demonstrates that identity is not formed in isolation but is continuously shaped by family expectations and social pressures. The present article examines the relationship between family, identity, individual struggle, masculinity, the American Dream, generational conflict, and modern tragedy in Death of a Salesman. It argues that Miller transforms the Loman household into a symbolic representation of a society in which personal worth is increasingly measured through economic achievement, social recognition, and external appearances.
Keywords: Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman, Family Relationships, Identity Crisis, Individual Struggle, American Dream, Modern Tragedy.
Page No: 30-37