1 00:00:00,110 --> 00:00:08,529 Hi guys! Hi! Here are your teachers, Dani and Lourdes. Today we're going to learn about 20th century American drama. 2 00:00:08,750 --> 00:00:14,789 Exciting! And more specifically about Arthur Miller and his play, Death of a Salesman. 3 00:00:16,190 --> 00:00:20,010 Well, to start with, it is important to contextualize our writer. 4 00:00:20,489 --> 00:00:24,789 After World War II, drama became very successful in America, 5 00:00:24,789 --> 00:00:29,670 because society began to be more and more interested in going to the theater. 6 00:00:30,109 --> 00:00:34,289 Actually, Broadway was at its peak at that time. 7 00:00:35,109 --> 00:00:41,469 One of the reasons why people enjoyed it was because of the kind of settings and stories they could find in plays. 8 00:00:42,270 --> 00:00:52,770 Playwrights such as Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams wrote realistic plays with domestic settings and characters anyone could feel identified with. 9 00:00:52,770 --> 00:00:59,130 As you can imagine, due to these domestic settings, the language used was very colloquial. 10 00:00:59,130 --> 00:01:08,230 So, dialogues basically consisted of short and incomplete sentences with references to a kind of knowledge shared by the family. 11 00:01:09,030 --> 00:01:11,290 Yes, but what was the writer's intention, Annie? 12 00:01:11,590 --> 00:01:14,329 Of course, there was an intention under this formula. 13 00:01:14,829 --> 00:01:23,790 Playwrights used to explore and criticize the political and social situation of the America of the time and its effects on ordinary families. 14 00:01:23,790 --> 00:01:31,549 another common thing in this post-war place was the failure of achieving the american dream 15 00:01:31,549 --> 00:01:37,569 the american dream remember we studied about the american dream in previous lessons that's it it 16 00:01:37,569 --> 00:01:42,969 has to do with that if you try to remember the original idea of the american dream had to do 17 00:01:42,969 --> 00:01:49,650 with freedom of choice self-improvement and hard work however after world war ii this conception 18 00:01:49,650 --> 00:01:57,609 changed due to the rise of capitalism. Now there was just one way of succeeding in society and that 19 00:01:57,609 --> 00:02:03,950 had to do with being able to make money and buy things. For this reason, those families who could 20 00:02:03,950 --> 00:02:11,250 not achieve that felt frustrated and alienated from society. This type of situation and characters 21 00:02:11,250 --> 00:02:18,610 are to be found in the plays of the time. As we said before, we are now moving on to 22 00:02:18,610 --> 00:02:26,090 Arthur Miller as one of the most representative playwrights of this time. Born in Harlem, New York 23 00:02:26,090 --> 00:02:34,129 in 1915, Arthur Miller was always working to help his family. Son of Polish immigrants, the family 24 00:02:34,129 --> 00:02:39,969 had to move to Brooklyn when they faced some economic problems after the Wall Street crash 25 00:02:39,969 --> 00:02:49,509 of 1929. So he grew up in the period of the Great Depression. Miller held a huge variety of jobs 26 00:02:49,509 --> 00:02:57,030 before and after studying at the University of Michigan. He reached success with the play 27 00:02:57,030 --> 00:03:04,610 All My Sons in 1947 and two years later he published Death of a Salesman. This play was 28 00:03:04,610 --> 00:03:10,370 a critical and commercial success and the first play to win a Tony Award apart from 29 00:03:10,370 --> 00:03:11,650 the Pulitzer Prize. 30 00:03:12,129 --> 00:03:12,590 Wow. 31 00:03:12,909 --> 00:03:13,330 Awesome. 32 00:03:13,729 --> 00:03:16,830 But we'll talk about it later in more detail. 33 00:03:17,569 --> 00:03:21,909 In 1956, he married Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe. 34 00:03:22,349 --> 00:03:22,729 Wow. 35 00:03:23,150 --> 00:03:29,550 In fact, Miller was the screenwriter of her last movie, Misfits, directed by John Huston. 36 00:03:30,090 --> 00:03:33,830 Based on a knowledge short story he had written some years before. 37 00:03:33,830 --> 00:03:40,949 Finally, Miller was a man with a strong political commitment. This was a period where he and 38 00:03:40,949 --> 00:03:46,789 many of his Hollywood friends were accused of being communists. He then wrote the screenplay 39 00:03:46,789 --> 00:03:52,569 for the movie version of The Crucible, a metaphor against that witch hunt and the Red Scare 40 00:03:52,569 --> 00:03:59,349 led by Senator McCarthy, by making a comparison with the witch trials of Salem. 41 00:03:59,349 --> 00:04:06,409 died in 2005. He was 89 years old and had written over a period of 60 years. 42 00:04:07,590 --> 00:04:14,169 Okay, so now that you know about the period and about Arthur Miller, let's focus on his 43 00:04:14,169 --> 00:04:16,370 play, Death of a Salesman. 44 00:04:17,689 --> 00:04:24,490 The play criticizes the country's focus on capitalism, materialism, and success in America 45 00:04:24,490 --> 00:04:25,709 after World War II. 46 00:04:25,709 --> 00:04:33,889 Death of a Salesman is a modern triad with a new hero in American literature, an anti-hero. 47 00:04:34,329 --> 00:04:35,050 And what's that? 48 00:04:35,610 --> 00:04:41,350 Simple, it's just a new kind of character who lacks the qualities of the classical hero. 49 00:04:43,709 --> 00:04:44,009 Setting 50 00:04:44,009 --> 00:04:47,829 The play is basically set in Brooklyn, New York. 51 00:04:47,829 --> 00:04:54,870 This is where Willie Loman's house is located, between large and overwhelming apartment buildings. 52 00:04:55,649 --> 00:04:55,829 Technique 53 00:04:55,829 --> 00:05:01,889 There is no narrator, the story is told mainly from the protagonist's point of view. 54 00:05:01,889 --> 00:05:08,529 It ordinates past and present using the stream of consciousness technique and flashbacks. 55 00:05:08,529 --> 00:05:14,649 As you can see in the following scene, Willy escapes his reality by recalling old times 56 00:05:14,649 --> 00:05:37,649 when he was happy with his children. 57 00:05:37,649 --> 00:05:38,649 Plot and Characters 58 00:05:39,290 --> 00:05:48,189 The play follows Willy Loman's life as an over-60 salesman who goes after the American dream even though he's not that great at his job. 59 00:05:48,689 --> 00:05:56,430 The salesman believes his eldest son, Biff, should also become a salesman, projecting his own hopes and dreams. 60 00:05:56,810 --> 00:06:01,189 However, the son goes from job to job because he keeps getting hot stealing. 61 00:06:01,529 --> 00:06:08,410 Despite wanting his father's approval, he doesn't want to be a salesman, but to buy a ranch and raise cattle. 62 00:06:08,649 --> 00:06:13,709 Although Biff knows they are living a lie, they eventually come to terms. 63 00:06:14,189 --> 00:06:16,370 But is this the end of the story, Lourdes? 64 00:06:16,889 --> 00:06:17,569 We'll see. 65 00:06:18,149 --> 00:06:18,709 Okay. 66 00:06:19,769 --> 00:06:20,569 Themes. 67 00:06:21,470 --> 00:06:24,949 In the play we can see the contradiction between two worlds. 68 00:06:26,509 --> 00:06:27,129 Present. 69 00:06:27,589 --> 00:06:27,949 Past. 70 00:06:28,649 --> 00:06:29,089 Success. 71 00:06:29,889 --> 00:06:30,389 Failure. 72 00:06:31,089 --> 00:06:31,709 Dreams. 73 00:06:32,149 --> 00:06:32,670 Reality. 74 00:06:33,949 --> 00:06:34,509 Lying. 75 00:06:34,949 --> 00:06:35,350 Truth. 76 00:06:36,310 --> 00:06:37,230 Betrayal. 77 00:06:37,490 --> 00:06:37,850 Trust. 78 00:06:38,649 --> 00:06:40,029 Okay, so that's all. 79 00:06:40,370 --> 00:06:44,790 Now you know a bit more about the drama produced after World War II in America 80 00:06:44,790 --> 00:06:48,769 and about Arthur Miller and one of his most relevant plays. 81 00:06:49,209 --> 00:06:51,550 But we learned much more about it in class. 82 00:06:51,550 --> 00:06:55,410 We hope you have enjoyed our lesson and we will see you tomorrow in class. 83 00:06:56,189 --> 00:06:58,430 And please don't forget to complete your worksheet. 84 00:06:59,750 --> 00:07:00,110 Bye. 85 00:07:00,430 --> 00:07:00,910 Bye-bye.