Death of a Salesman Act 2

Death of a Salesman – Act 2

Willy’s tragic decline: Causes? Effects? Significance?

At the start of Act 2, what are the things that Willy values and what threats to his sanity, esteem and, ultimately, his life are there?

Positives/Hopes Negatives/Threats Seeds Money Meeting with Howard to get off the road.

Are there any qualities that are hard to place? e.g pride

I’ve divided the Act up into the following sections, although they often blend and blur into each other.

1. Willy and Linda p.71-75 (p.55-9) 2. Linda on phone – p.76 3. Willy and Howard – p.76 – 84 4. Ben/Willy/Linda – The Alaska choice – p.85-86 5. Ideal Family Flashback – p. 86-90 6. Willy/Bernard/ Charley – The present p.90-98 7. The restaurant p. 98-116 8. The revelation in the hotel –p.116-121 9. Willy leaves restaurant p.121-122 10. Family confrontation – p.123 – 136 11. Requiem 137-9 As you read, discuss and note each section try to analyse the following:

 What causes the degeneration?  How does he cope or fail to cope?  How are the internal and external tensions shown?  How is his decline presented through the language and staging?  What effect does this have on the audience?

After this we need to consider:  How does this compare or contrast with Glengarry Glen Ross (and, soon, A Doll’s House)?  What questions does this help me answer?