Consider how modern American drama presents the self as fragmented and Essay

Consider how modern American drama presents the self as fragmented and insecure in Death of a Salesman and Cat on a Hot Tin Roo - Essay Example Negative impacts of the depression era and the evil of capitalism have played a pivotal role in the life of American middleclass people. American dramatist Arthur Miller and his followers have often experienced the evil of depression and capitalism (Bryer & Hartig 2010, p. 363). Increasing insecurity in sexual relation among the people also provide contributory causes for insecure existence in modern world. Willy Loman, the central character in Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman fails to understand the real pulse of the society. Therefore he does not find success both in his personal and professional life. He is a self possessed and self-contained man who fails in his personal life and the same failure directs him to his tragic death at the end of the play. Tennessee William’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof presents the conflict of a Southern family. Brick, the husband in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof lead a self possessed life and likes to continue his homosexual nature. At the s ame time, his wife Margaret leads a miserable life to catch her husband’s attention even in the midst of her husband’s negligence. As eminent figures of Modern American drama, Arthur Miller and Tennesse Williams successfully take up the theme of ‘fragmented self’ and ‘insecurity’ in their works Death of a Salesman and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Osgerby 2001, p. 71). ... The playwright portrays the failure of the American success myth and the insecure existence of the personal and financial life of an American middle class man through the character of Willy Loman in Miller’s play (This is just a close reading of the text and you do not need to provide a reference here!). Willy Loman, the central character of the play fails to understand the real pulse of the modern materialist society as well its people. He is a total failure in his personal life as well as in family life and it is this failure that leads him to his tragic death at the end of the play. It is his self-deceptiveness and his blindness to reality that leads him to a world of conflicts. Unable to cope with reality Loman convinces himself that he is successful and the same self acts as an obstacle in his way to reveal his mistake. Death of a Salesman exemplifies the theme of self and insecurity through the despondent life of the protagonist Willy Loman and the other members of his f amily. Each member of Willy’s family feels emotional frustration and insecurity. Willy Loman isolates and alienates himself from his wife, his sons, his fellow beings, and the society because of his conscious efforts to justify his self. In Death of a Salesman Willy’s wife Linda is portrayed as a completely accepting wife and a good mother. It is simply unintentional that Loman’s elder son Biff became the victims of Lawman’s illegal relationship with a prostitute. Biffs’ unhealthy appearance and self-destructive nature haunts Loman as a nightmare but at the same time his distinctive self prevents him to confess his fault. Michelle, in this