Abstract Death of a Salesman is a 1949 play written by American playwright Arthur Miller。 This thesis will give a brief discussion of the influence of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman。 In the first part, it introduces the writer Arthur Miller and his work Death of a Salesman。 Then it talks about the tragic life of Willy and the distortion relationship between Willy and his family。 The conclusion analyses the false value of Willy on wealth, as well as the social factors of Willy’s death。 The paper is written to show the reason why under the negative effect of the American Dreams, many people chose to suicide。 76316

Key words: American Dream; Death of the Salesman; social factors; value

摘要《推销员之死》是美国作家阿瑟米勒1949的剧作。本文将浅析《推销员之死》中美国梦的影响。开篇介绍了作者阿瑟米勒的生平及作品《推销员之死》。随后阐述了威利悲剧的一生及家庭成员之间的关系。结尾分析了威利在金钱上的错误的价值观以及导致威利自杀的社会因素。本文旨在重点分析在美国梦的负面影响下，许多人选择自杀的原因。

毕业论文关键词：美国梦；推销员之死；社会因素；价值观

Contents

1。 Introduction 1

1。1 Introduction to Arthur Miller 1

1。2 Introduction to Death of a Salesman 1

2。 Literature Review 2

3。 The Background of Willy’s Broken Dream 3

3。1 The American Dream 3

3。2 The Great Depression 5

4。 The Causes of the Shattering of Willy’s Dream 5

4。1 Willy’s own tragic life 5

4。2 Distorted relationship between Willy and his family 7

4。3 Willy’s own false consciousness and value 8

5。 Conclusion 8

Works Cited 10

 1。 Introduction

1。1 Introduction to Arthur Miller

Arthur Asher Miller, who was known as the third husband of Marilyn Monroe, was consi¬dered to be “one of the greatest dramatists of the twentieth century”。 “Arthur Miller was America's foremost post-war playwright。 His works, intricate musings on the darkness at the heart of the American Dream, struck a chord with a whole generation of theatre-goers through¬out the world。” (BBC News) 论文网

Arthur Miller was an influential realistic playwright in contemporary American literature。 He was a prominent figure in American theatre for over 61 years, writing a wide variety of dramas, including celebrated plays such as The Crucible (1953), A View from the Bridge(1955), All My Sons(1947), and Death of a Salesman(1949), which are studied and performed worldwide。 Death of a Salesman, one of his representative plays, was an immediate success after its first performance in New York in 1949。 It won both a Pulitzer Prize and a Drama Critics Circle Award。 It also made him accepted as one of the three greatest Ameri¬can dramatists in the 20th century, along with Eugene O’Neill and Tennessee Williams。

 Profoundly influenced by the Depression and the war that immediately followed it, Mil¬ler managed to use a more practical and vigorous way to portray the working class and their lives。 Death of a Salesman successfully unfolded the social problems and family crisis in the period of the Great Depression, showed the common people’s problems, and aroused reson¬ance of those Americans who have suffered from the Great Depression and the failure of the American Dream。