Playwright Arthur Miller died several days ago; and, since then, I’ve been reading what others more famous than I had to say about his work. The general consensus is that what Miller wrote mattered; it mattered not only as good theater but also as a cultural reflection of the last half of the twentieth century in America.
“Death of a Salesman,” written in 1949, is probably Miller’s most recognized and most often produced play. College drama departments, community theaters, and professional acting groups all attempt it, because the characters still resonate after all these years. And, regardless of the quality of the production, both actors and audience get something from it every time.
When I was in college I belonged to the Curtain Guild, a school-sponsored drama club. The group decided to stage “Death of a Salesman” in a workshop. We knew that only other club members would come to see the production, but you would have thought we were headed for Broadway. Arthur Miller made you want to approach his words that way.
He made you think too. “The Crucible,” set at the time of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, was really a statement about the McCarthy era and the effects of hysteria. The underlying theme of “All My Sons” is about dishonesty and greed in wartime; it recycles itself whenever our country is in combat.
Some remember Arthur Miller for being Marilyn Monroe’s husband for five years. Hopefully, those same people have also read his work. Because, in spite of the notoriety that surrounded his relationship with Monroe even after their divorce, his words have influenced us far more than his marriage ever did.
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