Arthur Miller\'s Play Is Indeed

¶ … Arthur Miller's play is indeed a timeless work of literature, but not necessarily because it touches the soul and heart and that it can last forever, but because it makes a very keen introspection of the human individuals, including his soul, and Miller's framework is universally valid on any individual we might pick.

The frustration with not being able to rise from the social class in which one is born (Biff says at some point "Pop, I'm a dime a dozen and so are you" (Miller, 1949), which I think is a good line to underline exactly the realization of the child that he will live and die in the same class as his father had), the modern isolation of the individual (maybe there is no better part on the play emphasizing this than Happy's line "My own apartment, a car, and plenty of women, and still, goddamit, I'm lonely" (Miller, 1949)), even if he is member of a family or of society and all the inner struggles of the modern individual -- I think these are timeless motives, because they are so closely related to the characteristics of the modern individual.

I think that the play is timeless also through its indirect connection with the great authors of tragic plays, going back to the Ancient Greeks. With the Ancient Greeks, the tragedy usually followed the downfall of a great man. Miller's play, as an expression of the modern world, in fact presents the reverse path, the ascension of a small, unknown man, through his final deed.

The final scene before the epilogue let the audience understand that Willy Lomax will kill himself in order for Biff to retain the insurance money. It is an act of sacrifice by which Willy creates the premises for Biff to potentially live the American Dream, unlike himself, who has not. The capacity to gives one's life for another man's dream is certainly grandiose, in a tragic manner, timeless and part of Willy's character.

There are certainly other themes that make from Miller's play a timeless one. One of them is the theme of the American Dream. Recurrent not only in the American literature starting with the 19th century, the theme is thoroughly met in every artistic work ranging from theatre to movies, to literature and painting. Additionally, this is a universal theme, already included in some of the European works as well, and most likely a timeless one, something that we are bound to see in the future as well.