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I ARTHUR MILLER ructure i1 .0 Objectives

his unit will examine the growth of American front its beginning in the 700 Century till the 19403, the era when the modem America drama emerged. merican Drama achieved recognition with the realism of plays by Eugene O7 eill, Arthur Miller and Tennesse Williams.

eatre season presented more British plays than American plays. The common

to copy Br~tishmodel till the early 20thcentury. For this reason critics claini that American Drania was born only at die end of the World War I with Eugene 0' Niell in the 1920's. By the end of 19thcentury America11 Drama had moved towards realism. Realism dominated both comedies and tragedies even in the and as the century advanced, American Drama took up broader issues of race, gender, sexuality and death. 10.2 AMERICAN DRAMA AROUND ARTHUR

Beginnings of American Drama: 1600s and 1700s Little theatrical activity took place before the mid-18th century because the early settlers of American colonies faced harsh living conditions after migrating to this alien land. Their belief in hard work, frugalit4 and piety also disallowed them from indulging in theatrical activity so much so, that the play Ye Bare and Ye Cubb produced ic 1665 and probably the first theatrical performance in America led to the trial of actors. In the 18th century many colonies in America enacted laws forbidding the performance of plays, because of the purita'n belief that the seventh of the ten commandments in the bible did not allow dancing and enacting plays. However, opposition to theatre did not last long. Aware of the new cultural beginnings, the colonies wanted to brush up their iiitellectual and oratorical skills by theatrical actikilies. The 17thcentury colleges in several colonies allowed tlieatr~calactivity after much hesitation which they thought could benefit students to utilize their Artlrur Miller speech skills in tlieir careers such as business and law. To meet this requirement, the first play Androboros (1774) written by Robert Hunter, an Englisli Governer, came as an attack on his political enemies, despite New York's Antitheatre Law. This play establislied the tradition of political satire charting out the course that American Drania was to follow for the next two centuries. Several popular plays of this period were The Paxtor~Boys (1 732), The Trial c!f'Atticus (1 77 1) whose authorship is not known and Robert Munford's The Candiates of the Hunzours of'

Before more plays appeared, a group of British professional actors fornied a touring circuit in the 1750s and this group in tlie early 1760s was known as The American Company. In 1767 they staged a play The Prince oJ'Parllzia, a tragedy by Thomas Godfrey, the first professional production of a play written in America. During the American Revolution, many professional actors moved to Jamaica. During the period of American Revolution (1 775-1783) satirical plays were written either supporting British control of the colonies or attacking it. The Battle of Brooklyrl wliich was pro-British and written anonymously, satirized leaders like George \lashington. Mercy Otis Warren, tlie strongest American dramatic voice of tlie revolution presented the revolutionary cause in her plays The Adulateur (1 772) Tlze Defeat (1 773), The Group (1 776) and The Blackheads (1 776). A play by Robert Munford Tlze Putr*iots (1779) attained true dramatic character by taking a neutral stance and attacking both sides for their intolerance. The professional actors who had moved to Jamaica during the American Revolution were touring America again in mid 1780s. America became a nation in 1783 tlirough a victory against tlie British colonial power. Robert Taylor was the first playwright of to write the finest American play of the 1 SthCentury, Tl~e Contrast (1787). This five-act comedy that satirises the customs of tlie upper classes is written in the format of British Coniedy owing much to Sheridan's The Scl?ool .for Sandal (1 777). American Drama: 1800s William Dunlop introduced melodrama in his plays, the most prevalent dramatic form in the 191h century. The credit for giving drama its most important characteristic, dramatic conflict also goes to him. Most of his plays were adaptations or translations from tlie French and German. The Protagonist Major John Andre in Dunlop's play A~~dre(1 798) sliows admirable qualities by saving a young American Captain despite George Washington's unqualified antilgonism towards him for conspiring to destroy an American garrison. Majority of the plays written in America in tlie 19Ih century were largely produced for co~n~nercialpurposes to benefit the heterogeneous public residing all over A~nerica whose prima~yinterest was seeing the shows and tlieir favourite actors performing in these plays. Most of tlie plays were not published but were meant only to be seen and not to be read; as a result they are now irrevocably lost. One of Dunlop's contemporaries James Nelson Barker produced some of the best- known works Mat-r~~ion(1 812) and Superstition (1 824). The latter a romantic tragedy based on specific American situations, was set in New England and explored the themes of isolationism, bigotry and intolerance. The Indian Princess (1808) written by him was the first play to explore native American tliemes and characters. It told the story of Pocahontas, a native American woman wllo married in English man. The no st well-known of such drama was Metar~~oru(1828) by John ely popular actor encouraged tlie \\riti~igof .4nierican romantic playb. The American Drama around Arthur Miller nicrican play of the time was I;'I'UIIC.O.SL:U Rilrlii~i(!855), a romantic ragedy by George Hen~yBoker. Br.tr,ic.r: 771e Fill/ (!f' Turirclrtiil ( 1 8 19) by oward Payne and Tile Gltrciitrfar (I 8-3 I) by Robert Montogon~erq.Bird were merical-: Romantic tragedies tliat merely promoted the aesthetic values ol' cis~n\vithoi~t fu~tlierinp the cause of the American Drarna.

rrest began to offer annual awards fhr new pl:q s with American o receive the award was A/fc/u~rlor.cl.?do orie kind of drama going masses of Anierica: play-goers were ready to welcome lay tliat the actors could perfonii well. The larnyooning of tlie ed their waning interests and by inid-century tliey started fading. eonomic te~isionsin Anierica tliat brought about the civil war in Harriet Beeclier Stone's novel I:itcle Rm~:sC'ubin. The el for tlie stage by G. L. Aikeli was a prcat success that was a and survived well illto the twentieth century. the Nineteenth Century

ong hero in tlie nick of time after fighting insur!nountable esses to issues of family, social position and wealth. a

z individual. 'Its appeal to tlie genel.al public lay in its tifiable character types and in si~~iple,fb~.~iiulaic plots tliat to any setting, character or ebe~~tdesired.' (At?~ericnrz

lie great tlexibility of these plays made tlienl easily adaptable to any type of udience, allowi~igactors to use tlieir talents freely. taki~~gadvantage to present a .ide range of materials. Tlie popular plays in tliis genre are Boucicault's Tile our of tlic Nc.~r'York (1 857), Daly's Ut~dcrthe (iusligiit (1857): and Belasco's e Girl qj /he Golu'c.rr L6bst and The I9c.ur.t of ,44~iryl~i1rd( 1 85 7 j. Tlie popi~larity melodraniatic for~l-Itliat had begun in tlie 1 St'? Century cotitinued through tlie 19"'

ealism in American Drama raliia aftel. tlie Civil war was marked by a steady shift tou,ards realisni illu~i~inating the scene of humble life. criticizi~igsocial co~iditiorisand creating believable characters. Concerued with a faithful representation of lit2 the playwriglit concentrated on middle-class life and preoccnpations, avoiding larger and more dramatic issues. The scenes had three dimensional settings and tlie actors spoke authentic soi~~ldi~ig dialogue. While tlie melodramatic plots prevailed, the playwrights gradually movcd towards psychological realism, i~ifluericedby He~irikIbsen, a Norwegian playwright.

Tlie late 1 9'h Century works, Bro~isoti Howard's Slrenuri~loah (1 874). Steele Mackaye's Hazel Kirke (1 880) and Willia~iiDean Howell's A4ou,se Pcry (1 889) are ~iotablerealistic plays. Bro~iso~iHoward was niore concerned with ~noralsthan morality. Kealistn reached new levels in tlie last decades of the 19'"'century and the first decades of tlie 20th centurq; concer~iedwith the social issues of tlie time. Benson tloward's -4 Texas Sicer (1 896), Tile Bunker's Daughter (1 873) and Herrviettu (1887): A Trip lo Tolvl? (1891) Edward Harringan's Datl s fiibul~~rio~a(I 884) and Benman Tliomson's The 0/dEIonresteuci (I 886), A. Herne's A4argarc.l FIetrti~zg(1 890), S/?ore Acres (1 892) and Griflilli Duvellpor-t (1 899). A. Herne known for powerful acting and excellerit stage ~nanagementwrote Mcrrgarct Flenzing (1 890) his greatest achievement. 'He created an lbsenesque heroine wlio was not merely capable by cliallenging convention but who deftly asserted her 7 Artliur Miller autonomy wit11 marriage'. (A Critictrl Itltrodirctio?~lo fiventielh Ccn/u~vArneric>cllr Drartr~rC. W. E Bigsby) His plays had clarity and simplicity. Among the late nineteenth-century draniatists David Belasco, Steele Mackaqe and William Gillete were closely associated with tlie theatre business, Belasco onc of the most well known producer also directed his own play. His play T/ICGirl of the Golclelr West (1905) deals witli rural California in the niid-19"' centurj Gold Rush Days. Mackaye mostly wrote rornantic melodramas, arnong them tlie most powerful was Hazel Kirkc! (1880), a tnelodrania without heroes or villains. The play's tlielne was familial niisunderstanding. The play was also notable for its niore natural dialogue. Realistic portrayals of sensational subjects were comnionly used in the plays of this period.

Clyde Fitch in the early 1900's \\rote The Cily (1 909), an entertaining satire using natural dialogues that delved into the evils of shady business and drug addiction. Fitcli was also tlie first American playwright to write a subtle kind of satire. Social tensiotis in America began to be explored by playwriglits leading up to the First Worlti War ( I9 13- 19 18). William Vaughn Moody's The Grecrt Divide (I 906), Racliel Crothers' A Man h FVorld (1909) and Langdon Mitchell's The New York Idea flYll6i) addressed social issues meaningfi~llywhile managing to entertain the audience. The American family, its development and disintegration that donlitiated the plays of this period also became a recurring tlienie of playwriglits of the 20"' Century. In the early part of the 20thCentury there was a new artistic awakening witli a host of American playwriglits forming an amateur group, the 'Province Tow11 Players', for promoting American Drama and producing new plays exclusicely by American playwrights. The ef'forts of this amateur group set a new course for Aniericari theatre in the modern period, while also launcliing careers of Eugene 0' Neill and . Based on a jounialistic investigation, Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles (1916) was among its first productions. The play's uniqueness comes out with the main character, the wife who is never present on stage. Eugene 0' Neill's play The Hairy Ape (1922) was the first to introduce in American Drama. Developed in Germany in the early 20"' Century, expressionism was a movement in tlie visual, literary and performing arts tliat expressed subjective feelings and emotions rather than depicting reality objectively. In expressionism the artist is not concerned witli reality as it appears but presents the inner nature with the emotions aroused by the subject. Concerned witli the nature of man and the forces tliat move him, Eugene 0' Niell's plays involved characters on tlie fringes of society while including speeches in American vernacular for the first time. The other prominent playwriglits were John Reed, Louise Rrqant, Max Eastnlaii and Ida Ruah, and Edna St. Vincent Millay.

In tlie 1920's the most important plays were professionally produced in stage. The plays of the 1920s and early 1930s were incisive and exciting such as Laurence Stalling and 's Whal Price Glory (1924). Some remarkably fine plays were produced such as Eugene 0' Neill Strarzge Interlude (1928), Mourning Becomes Ekectra (193 I), lightly satirical play in such as Philip Barry's Holiday (1928) and S. N. Behrman's End of Sunirner (1936) were produced. 's Abrahnnlk Bosom included African American Characters in his plays. Lyricist Oscar Hammerstein 11 and composer Jerome Kern's Slrou) Botrt (1 927), a musical productio~iwas adapted from a novel of the same name by author Edna Ferber, the first American musical to fully integrate music with meanirigful and consistent dialogue. The econoniic collapse of the great Depression of the 1930's led to the permanent closure of many theatres in America. The new sound technology in America gave voice to the niotioli pictures. As a ~osulr,the nurrlber of il~ealeigoersdeclined 8 severely in the 1930s. A new wave was seen in the drama of the 1930s that tackled iiornic sulTering, left wing political ideologies and fears of anotlier world war. American Drrmr around Arthur Miller rd Odet's Wuiting for Lefly (1935) debated the pros and cons of capitalism Awake arzd Sing! (193 5) dealt witli tlie 1930s anxieties. 's e Children k Hour (1934) displayed social conscience.

he mid-40s tlie most striki~ignew writings for tlieatre emerged in tlie works of hur Miller and . The latter contributed marly psychological s of disillusion such as A Street Car Numed Desire (1947)' Cat on a Hot tiri (1955) and The Glass Meizagerie (1 944). Arthur Miller's modern tragedies So~s(1947) and Death ofa Snlesnia17 (1949) combined realistic characters cia1 issues. During tlie 1950's Miller's chief contributions were and A fi/iew fro111 the Bridge (1955), while Tennessee Williams play Lorlg

1 h .Jourr~eyinto Aright ( 1956) received the Pulitzer Prize posthumously. Most nou us among new playwrights, wrote Conle Back, Little Sheba 950), a realistic play. Late 1950's also saw new African American playwriting ith Lorraine Hansberry's well- acclaimed play Raisin in the Sun (1959). A major ramatist of tlie 1960's wrote absurdist plays such as Zoo Story 1959) arid Who 's AfLaid of Mrginicr Woolf(1962) that examined unsympatlietically lie modern conditions influenced by European playwrights Jean Genet, Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco.

The 1990s saw the exciting return of two notable playwrights who, thought cr~tics, had finislied their careers. Artliur Miller's (1944) and Edward Albee's Three Tall Worlien ( 1944) received widespread acclai~iiwitli Albee's work winning tlie Pulitzer Prize while Miller's last play Fini~hingthe Picture was produced in 2004. Albee continues to give biting satirical coni~nentarieson modern society in new works sucli as The Goat or Who i~Sylvia (2002.

Realism continued to be the primary form of dramatic expression in the 20thcentury and as the century progressed many talented new dramatists came to the fore witli broad issues such as civil rights and the devastation wrought by the AID'S epidemic. In the mid-1990s and beginning or 21" Century. block buster niusicals eliminated new co~n~nercialtlieatre in the Unites States targetting the younger audience who were attracted more by films, television and computer entertainment. Economic difficulties resulted in plays with single setting and lesser characters that would make them less expressive but also less ambitious. Many playwrights started writing plays with film and television adaptation in mind to reach geograpliically diverse audience, making tlie A~nericantheatre specialized in its alternative

10.3 ARTHUR MILLER: LIFE AND WORKS

In 1920 when the World War I had come to an end, it was tinie in America of the great depression that had deeply wourided tlie American economy and also its psyche. The U.S. prosperity in the 1930s had faced a steep though short decline. Througliout the decade around 600 banks failed along wit11 20,000 business concerns. Mining, farming and textile industry were on the decline. As a result there was unemployment. It was during this interesting period of history of America that Artliur Miller was born.

Arthur Miller (1915-2005) an Amer~canplaywright, essayist and author was born of moderately affluent Jewish American parents lsadore and Augusta Miller on October 17, 1915 in in New York City. His father was an illiterate immigrant from but came to own a coat maoufactu~ing business employing a thousand workers, which was with the 1929 Wall Street Crash. Thereafter, the family moved to a smaller house in Broohlqn. The sudden change in fortune had a strong impact on Miller, Miller was fortunate enough to withdraw his entire savings of twelve dollars a day to buy himself a bicycle before the United States Bank closed 9 donil. Miller, thougli, was not very lucky as liis bicycle was stolen the same xveei; and he ri-alized that no one uas immune from tlie disaster of Depression. Reca~~seof tlie effects of Depression, Miller's contlition was financially urlsound :iud IIC could not attend tlie universit: in 1932 afier graduating from high school. After tahing admrssion at the U~iiversityof Michigan in 1934 Miller took up a su:cc~s~onof small jobs such as delivery boy, disli\vasher, waiter. warehouse clerk, singer in a local radio station, mice attendant in a laboratory, truck driber , tanker. sealnan, fhctory labour; arid shop fitter's helper to pa! for liis tuition. Millcr studied jourrialis~nfrom tlie University of h4icIiiga1iuliere he ran a student newspaper with a group of others and became its reporter as well as night editor of that helped him earn money. Artliur Miller was greatiy influenced by his critic and teacher Kenneth E. Kowe, of tlie Iini~ersiqof Micliigao Drama Department arid after reading his book Wite Thut f'k~j..'there was no lool\ing back ibr Miller, He \\rote one play after :~notIier and for- rive years he succeeded in wineirig tlie Aver4 given yearly at Micl~iganfor the beht original play. During one of the vacatioiis lie went to Chicago and sam the performance of Cliflord Odet's play +Awake trnd Sing'. Tlie playes message 'Life should Iiave some digliity' liad a deep and lasting impact on him. Miller wrote his first work No LTllirrr? for which lie won tlie Avety Hopwood Award. This play is about a small garnnetlt manufacturer and his University educated son, Arnold Simon, based on joung Arthur. Irr 1937 Miller wrote another play Honours at Dm~rzwhicli also won the Award. Tliis play is about the Depression era. dealing witli the liopes arid heartbreaks of tlie Zabriski family. He won several other awards for play writing and witli his record of prizes, he had little trouble joining Federal Theater Project, a nation-wide organization established to provide jobs in the theatre to iuie~nplojedwriters, actors, directors and designers for a salary of $ 22.77 a week. He liad to report at tlie Federal Theater Project Office everyday and at night lie coilti~~uedwriting plays on his own. He co~npletedliis play called Montezuma that concerned the conquest of Mexico. However the project had to close in 1940 as tlie congress worried about possible commu~listinfiltration. Miller started working in Broohlyn Navy Yard. He also continued writing radio plays some of which were broadcast on CBS (Colurnbia Workshop). On August 5, 1940 Miller married his college friend Mary Slattery, the daughter of an insurance salesnian. The couple had two children Jane and Robert. Robert later became director, writer and producer of tlie 1996 movie versioli of The C'rtrcihle. Miller's injury in the left kneecap while playing football in high school exempted him from military service during World War 11. In 1944, Miller wrote The Marl Who had AN the Luck, that was produced in New York. It won the Theater guild's Natioraal Award. Despite it being awarded, the play closed after only six perfonnances. The next few years were a difficult time for Miller. He published his first novel but the novel was little know\\. 's and John C. Holm's Three Man on a Horse was adapted by lii~n for radio. During wartime Miller wrote a play AIf nzy Sons that was produced at the Coronet Theater in 1947. It was an immediate success and ran for three hundred and twenty-eight perfonnances. Despite receiving criticism for being unpatriotic, AN Sons won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award and two in tlic year 1947. Tliis play is about a factory owner who sells faulty aircraft parts during World War 11.

111 1948 Miller built a s~nallshed in Roxbury, Connecticut, in which lie wrote Dealh 10 of u Sulesr~rnrr witlii~i six weeks. The play was premiered on Broadway on American Drama arou~td uary 10, 1949. at the Morocco Theatre New York City. The Drulh cf LI Arthur Miller becatne his best known work winning '. New

the Belgiuln opening of The Crucibke in 1954. In 1958 the court of appeal

oint bill with one of his lesser known plays, .4 Mentory of Two Moildays. The lowitig year Miller revised this one act versioii play and changed it into a two-act rsion which Peter Brock produced in . June 1956 Miller divorced his wife Mary Slattery arid later that month, married arilyri Monroe. Miller had met Monroe for the first time in 1951 after which they d 3 brief affair and kept in touch with each other since then. After his conviction s overturned, Miller started work with his film A4isfit.s in which his wife Monroe ed. He wrote this film as a gift for Monroe who lost a child in pregnancy. ortly before the film's premiere the two had already divorced. A year later arilyn Monroe died of overdose of drugs and on February 1962, Miller married for third time, Austrian photographer Irige Morath. Their first child Rebecca was orti in September the same year followed by their second child Daniel in November,

n 1964 Miller's next play Afrer the Fall was released several years later after his st work. A strongly autobiographical work, it was based on his personal views of

Price was his most successful play tliat appeared in 1968 since Death ofa snzan. 'I'Ilis play was published in a year that was characterized by trauma in ietnatn and assassinations at home. is based on two brothers who

In 1980 Miller returned to his past by writing a play that is set during the depression years. In the 1990s Miller wrote plays such as The Ride Dowii Moztrlr Morgan tliat was produced ill 1993 and produced A rtltur Miller In 1994 he \\rote anotlier play Broken Gloss set in 1938 set in the tirnes of Nazi persecution of the , but relates to a moral and political paralysis recreated in contemporary Europe.

In 2002 Miller was tlie first U.S. recipient to be lionoured witli Spain's prestigious Principe de Asturias Prize for Literature. Miller's last play, Fini.~liingthe Picttn-c was produced in 2004 arid depicted the making of Mi$@.

After 's death in 2002 the eighty-nine year old Miller was in love witli Agnes Barley, a thirty-four year old artist and intended to marry her afier living witli her at his Connecticut farm for two years.

Miller died of heart failure at his Iiome in Roxbu~y,Connecticut, on February 10, 2005 at the age of 89. At the time of his death Arthur Miller was considered one of the greatest American playwrights. '~hroughouthis life Miller remained socially active and wrote with conscience. clarity and compassion. His work is infused with his sense of responsibility to humanity and to liis audience. 10.4 MILLER'S MAJOR PLAYS

Death qfcr S~~lesrrlcrnwas publislied in 1949 and is considered a classic of American theatre. This play was a caustic attack on the Alnerican Dream of achieving wealth and success without regard for principle. Enthusiastic reviews were written on this play. Decrll? oja Salest)~a~~was the first play to win three major awards. It received the in 1949, Tony Award for best play as well as the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for best play. Death of u Sulesrnaii lielped Miller to become an internationally known playwright.

Decrth ofa Sole~tnanfinds the main character Willy Lo~nanin his sixties struggling to come to grips with the fact tliat his is unattainable. Willy places great importance on supposed native charni, ability to make friends, stating tliat once lie was known throughout New England, driving long hours but making unparalleled sales. liis sons Biff and Happy were the pride and joy of the neighborhood, and liis wife Linda was smiling throughout the day. Willy Lonian might have been a superb craftsman. but he is forced by the demands of a ~nechanizedworld to run in search of financial wealth.

Willy is a traveling salesman for Wagner Company for thirty four years. But as time passes, life for him seems to be slipping out of his control. He has worhed hard liis entire life and likes to think tliat he is indispensable to the company in tlie New England territory. He closes deals witli contractors on tlie phone - since increasing episodes of anxiety and depression are impairing liis ability to drive. Soon all of his aspirations fail and he is thrown out of his job as the owner of the fir111tliat did not pay enough for his survival and told him that he could no longer represent the tirm in New England because he was doing harm to the company. Loman's fortunes change drastically, he has to depend on loans from his friend Charley to make ends meet. His thirty-four year old son Biff is unable to settle down. The younger son is also on the look out for some job in order to settle in life. Charley on the other hand becomes a successful businessman. Bernard becomes an excellent lawyer.

Witnessing his failure. Willy clings to his sons hoping that they might succeed. Loman cannot accept tliat his life has been a failure and that Biff is not interested in big business. He decides to cornrnit suicide in tlie hope that at least tlie insurance business will help Biff become successfi~l.The play ends with his family and only friend Charley grieving by his grave side.

'The play resembles a stream of consciousness accou~itand Miller uses this device 12 to conlrast Willy's dreams and the reality of his life. It also helps to contrast the racters in sympathetic as well as villainous light while it unfolds the story. Miller American Drama around s not allow the audience to be the peniianent judge. Their opinions keep shifting Arthur Miller abi ut each of the characters. 7% Crucible written in 1952 was first performed on Broadway on January 1953. 111 play is set during the 1692 Salern witchcraft trials of Salem, Massachusetts. F:e erend Paris, a despised local preacher discovers tliat some young girls were pe forming a sinful witli the slave in the woods. One of the girls was F'a 1is's daughter, Betty who becomes unconscious on being discovered by her when they come to know that witchcraft is being practised. authority on witchcraft is sent for investigation. Abigail the unofficial leader of the group of girls is questioned regarding the took place in tlie forest. Abigail denies that there was any kind of and says tliat she and tlie girls were orily performing dance. following Abigail's instructions. Abigail and John Proctor slie was working in his house arid still slie was obsessed

'r1 e witch trial begins and Abigail and other girls lie and accuse others of witchcraft. 1M ny villagers are found guilty of denial of witchcraft and are executed. Many

IN men are brought to trial as well including Jolin Proctor's wife. Judge John I? ctor has to confess his adulterous relationship in order to save his wife from 13 ing hanged based upon the accusations brought by his own former lover. The P ctor's wife lies about the adultery in order to save her husband's name and the I dges beliebe her. Proctor is given chance to save his life on condition that he 11 lnes people who practice witclicraft. Proctor chooses to die than to betray liis fr ends and neiglibours. Tlie play ends with Proctor being led for execution.

View front the Bridge is a play written by Arthur Miller in 1955 arid was i as a one act verse drama on Broadway in 1955. In this play Miller takes of illegal immigrants smuggled into the Brooklyn water front from Sicily tlirougli friends and relatives familiarly called 'Submarines' The tlie play is Eddie Carbone who, in a passion ofjealousy informs on liis He is an Italian American longshoreman who lives with his wife niece Callierine but as tlie play moves ahead his feelings for an u~lwittingsexual attraction. Beatrice's two cousins Marco illegally from Italy in the hope for a better life here For Eddie 'It's an honour' to give the man falls for the young arid charming Rodolfo. ~JddieCarbone gets jealous and takes out faults witli Rodolfo, accusing him of not irig right (homosexual). He backs up his argu~iientby using Rodolfo's effeminate alities such as dress-making, cookirig and singing. lien Catherine wants to marry Rodolfo, Eddie in his desperation to split them to the Immigration Bureau tliat he is giving refuge to two illegal immigrants. no longer respected by his friends and family for betraying the men. The vous revenge on Eddie once he is out on bail. Out on bail, Marco ~liodraws a knife in order to avenge Iiini.

play comes to a clinlax witli the figlit between Eddie and Marco. Eddie Marco witli a knife but stronger Macro turns the blade into Eddie killing him dies in Beatrice's arnis at the end of the play.

11 Mv Soris opened on Broadway at the Cororiet Theatre on January 29, 1947 and ar n for 328 performances. Tlie theme of tlie play is that of moral responsibility in where neiglibours gather on a surnmer's evening. Ann Deever is supposed to come rrorl~New York to cisit Chris, Joe Keller's tliirt>-two years old son. 5he was pre\,iously engaged to L,arrj, brother of Chrisand a pilot by profession. He lost his life in an air crash in the Second Ubrld War. Kate Keller his mother refuses to accept that he is no more. Moreover. Ann is Joe Keller's bus~nesspartner Steve Dee\er's daughter whose father is jailed for supplying damaged engines to P-40 fighter planes, killing twenty-one pilots. Keller was the one to have instructed Steve Deecer to provide damaged engines after repair to the Air Force. On discovering the truth, George her brother comes to take away Ann from the Kellers. Despite knoliing tlie truth Ann still wants to rnarry Chris. She has a letter that she shows to Kate Keller and Chris that reveals that L,arry's death was a suicide. Ashamed of liis frttlier's crimil~alacts, Larry deliberatel), air crashed liis plane and died. Cllris had a \ague idea about liis father's crime in the beginning but once it is confirmed, it Iiorrifies him and lie \\ants to send his father to prison so that he realizes that he is rebponsible not o~ilyto his family bllt to the society at large. Realisi~ighis guilt Joe Keller shoots himself. In this play Miller deals with the consequences of man's dereliction. 10.5 LET US SUM UP

In this unit ue have tried to sum up American Drama from the time iininigrant settlers occupied American colorlies from tlie 171h centilry to the around tlie period when renowned dramatists, Eugene 0' Niell, Tennessee Williams and Arthur hl ~ilerreached proround levels of psychological realism. ."- -- 10.6 EXERCISE

I. Name the ~najorplays oEArtl~urMiller. 2. Name the first theatrical performance of America that led to the trial of actors. 3. Examine tlic growth of American drama during the seventeen, eighteen and nineteenth centuries.

4. How did t-lenrik Ibsen contribute to the growth of modern American drama?