Death of a Salesman

The concept of Death of a Salesman involves the tragic tale of a salesman who is married with two sons. He is past his prime and his sales are so slow that he is unable to pay his bills. He also seems to be experiencing some form of dementia as he becomes confused and irritable quite easily. He is torn between a past whose successes were not quite the terrific memories he retains of them and a present without much success at all. As he says to Howard when he is treated without respect, "There were promises made across this desk! You musn't tell me you've got people to see�I put thirty-four years into this firm, Howard, and now I can't pay my insurance! You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away�a man is not a piece of fruit!" (Miller). Because of his perceptions of himself as a failure, Willy has tried and eventually is successful at suicide. The casting of roles is significant in this work because each role has nuances of character that must be satisfied in order to validly recreate the author's intent as written. Pretending a cast could be assembled from all of Hollywood's actors and actresses, the following would be my choice for casting five main roles in Death of a Salesman: Willy-Jimmy Stewart; Linda-Greer Garson; Biff-James Dean; Happy-Montgomery Clift; Ben-John Wayne.

When looking at the character of Willy Loman, it would be quite valid to cast Jimmy Stewart in the role. Stewart has exactly the confused demeanor

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ith the boys which end with exclamations like, "He's dying, Biff" (Miller). Greer Garson had a great range of acting ability, from passionate and emotional to vulnerable and sensitive. She would be great as the long-suffering wife who refuses to accept her husband's failures and is able to support him even if it means telling her children in no uncertain terms that she thinks they are selfish and uncaring when it comes to their treatment of their father. The character of Biff, the self-centered son filled with animosity and resentment because he knows his father is a "fake" would be well served by Brad Pitt. Pitt has shown the ability to look like a typical suburban son who is capable of emotional outbursts and rages of real feeling. He would be excellent at the kind of sarcastic disrespect Biff expresses toward Willy, especially in lines like the following one to Linda, "He's got no character�Charley wouldn't do this. Not in his own house�spewing out that vomit from his mind" and others like "People are worse off than Willy Loman. Believe me, I've seen them!" (Miller). Pitt also exudes a charm and sexual charisma that would make it believable how he could end up adrift like Biff because of always relying on his charms t

Category: Literature - D