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Abstract Arthur Miller was a Jewish-American playwright. Miller’s career as a writer spanned over seven decades, and at the time of his death, Miller was considered to be one of the greatest dramatists of the twentieth century. Death of a Salesman was Miller’s most famous work, which won him the Pulitzer Prize and transformed Miller into a national sensation. A half century after it was written, Death of a Salesman remains a powerful drama.
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This thesis aims at analyzing the concept and tragedy of American Dream in Miller’s drama Death of a Salesman. As the first great American tragedy, Death of a Salesman addresses the painful conflicts within one family, and it also tackles larger issues regarding American national values. The play examines the cost of blind faith in the American Dream.
The first part of the thesis introduces Arthur Miller and his early experiences and social background of the play. The second part is about the concept of American Dream: The origin and development of American Dream, Willy Loman and His Dream including Willy's own American Dream and his hopes for Biff and Happy Loman. Besides, the thesis also introduces Miller's idea of American Dream in Death of a Salesman, and some successful men in this play, such as Charles, Bernard and Howard. The third part is about the failure of American Dream. The thesis is mainly about Willy Loman's tragedy. Also, Biff, Happy and Linda's tragedies are mentioned in the thesis. Although Linda seems like an unimportant person in Death of a Salesman, her tragedy is thought-provoking. Besides, the thesis includes the reasons for the failure, both objective reasons and subjective reason. The last is about the lessons from Death of a Salesman: lessons from the Lomans', and lessons from Charley and his son Bernard. 10528
Key Words: Death of a Salesman, american dream, tragedy
摘要阿瑟•米勒是一位犹太裔美国剧作家。米勒的职业生涯超过了七十年，在他去世前，一直被认为是二十世纪最伟大的剧作家之一。《推销员之死》是米勒最为著名的作品，该剧不仅为他赢得了普利策奖，也事米勒成为轰动全美的剧作家。在《推销员之死》创作后的半个世纪，这部剧仍然具有影响力。
本文主要分析《推销员之死》中美国梦的含义和悲剧。作为美国历史上第一部杰出的悲剧，它刻画了一个家庭的各成员间令人心痛的矛盾冲突，审视了更宏观的问题——美国国民的价值观。该剧剖析了人民因为盲目信奉美国梦所付出的代价。
本文的第一部分主要介绍米勒、其早年经历及本剧创作的社会背景。第二部分是关于美国梦的内涵：美国梦的起源与发展，威利和他的梦，以及威利对两个儿子的期望；此外，论文还将介绍米勒在《推销员之死》中表达的美国梦，以及本剧中的一些成功人士，例如，查尔斯、本纳德和霍华德。第三部分是美国梦的幻灭。本文主要介绍威利的悲剧。在本剧中，尽管琳达不是重要角色， 但是她的悲剧也是发人深省的；此外，本文还包括美国梦幻灭的主、客观原因。最后一部分是《推销员之死》中所得的启示：从洛曼一家中得到的教训，及从查尔斯和他的儿子本纳德中得到的启迪。
关键词：推销员之死，美国梦，悲剧
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements i
Abstract ii
摘要. iii
1 Introduction. 1
2 The Concept of American Dream.3
2.1 The Origin and Development of American Dream 3
2.2 Willy Loman and His Dream. 4
2.3 American Dream in Death of a Salesman 5
3 The Failure of American Dream.7
3.1 Willy Loman's Tragedy 7
3.2 Other Lomans' Tragedy 9
3.3 Reasons for the Failure of American Dream10