Abstract

Death of a Salesman, considered as Arthur Miller’ s greatest masterpiece, has received international reputation since its premiere in 1949. 

    With analysis of the social background of 20th century, this thesis reveals the brutality and the cruelty of American society, of which the consequence is the distorted moral code and the contorted value, thus inevitably resulting in the betrayal of human nature. Subsequently, the author puts emphasis on the distorted humanity of the protagonist Willy Loman and focuses on a number of manifestations which reflects his contorted understanding of fame and wealth. What’s more, this thesis also unscrambles the interior world of Willy Loman and promulgates subjective contributors of his evaporation of success. Through analysis of roots of Willy’s tragic death both from objective and subjective reasons, this thesis analyzes the oppression on impoverished people in capitalist society and unveils the contorted human nature while pursuing American dream.

Key Words: Death of a Salesman; American dream; human nature

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 The author and his early experience-1

1.2 The plot of Death of a Salesman2

2. Literature Review-.2

3. American Dream4

3.1 The origin and development of American dream.4

3.2 The disillusionment of American dream-4

4. The Manifestation of the Betrayal of Humanity -5

4.1 The betrayal of integrity-5

4.2 Willy's betrayal of himself.7

5. The Reasons for Willy's Tragedy. 8

5.1 Objective reasons.8

5.2 Subjective reasons9

6. Conclusion10

Works Cited12