Arthur Miller's Contentious Dialogue with America

Louise Callinan Revered Abroad, Abused at Home: Arthur Miller’s contentious dialogue with America A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at St Patrick’s College, Dublin City University Supervisor: Auxiliary Supervisor: Dr Brenn a Clarke Dr Noreen Doody Dept of English Dept of English St Patrick’s College St Patrick’s College Drumcondra Drumcondra May 2010 I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme of study leading to the award of PhD is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such work has-been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. Signed: Qoli |i/U i/|______________ ID No.: 55103316 Date: May 2010 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am forever indebted to Dr. Brenna Clarke for her ‘3-D’ vision, and all that she has so graciously taught me. A veritable fountain of knowledge, encouragement, and patient support, she- has-been a formative force to me, and will remain a true inspiration. Thank you appears paltry, yet it is deeply meant and intended as an expression of my profound gratitude. A sincere and heartfelt thank you is also extended to Dr. Noreen Doody for her significant contribution and generosity of time and spirit. Thank you also to Dr. Mary Shine Thompson, and the Research Office. A special note to Sharon, for her encyclopaedic knowledge and ‘inside track’ in negotiating the research minefield. This thesis is an acknowledgement of the efforts of my family, and in particular the constant support of my parents. I am blessed for the opportunities that you have so selflessly afforded me. A special thanks also to Michelle and Sarah, and all the Callinan’s and Mullery’s absent and present. To my friends for their faith, and refusal to give up on me; in particular to Triona, Miriam, and Grace. And not least to Joseph, for his patience, and so much more. CONTENTS Introduction 1-15 Chapter One: The Crucible (1953) and the politics of freedom in the America of Senator Joseph McCarthy 16-62 Chapter Two: After the Fall (1964) and the spectre of Marilyn Monroe 63-109 Chapter Three: The Price (1968) and Vietnam -a veiled response or an elaborate self-justification? 110-142 Chapter Four: The Archbishop’s Ceiling (1977) as a self-reflexive analysis and meditation on the status of the writer in America 143-180 Chapter Five: Danger: Memory! (1987) and the decay of liberal values in America 181-219 Chapter Six: ‘The sickness of the soul’ of the American Dream - depression as an allegory for the destructive potential of the American Dream in The Last Yankee (1993) 220-255 Chapter Seven: Resurrection Blues (2002) and the commodification by the media in America 256-297 Conclusion 298-307 Works Cited 308-347 Appendix i-x ABSTRACT Revered Abroad, Abused at Home: Arthur Miller’s contentious dialogue with America Xouise Callinan Although Arthur Miller is renowned as one of America’s greatest playwrights, his reputation is founded largely on his early plays, and in particular All My Sons (1947) and Death o f a Salesman (1949). His playwriting career spanned across a sixty-year period, yet his acclaimed plays were all produced during its first decade. The aim of this research is to tackle the myopic critical focus on his classic plays by examining works that were highly criticised in his own country at the time of their first production and devoting particular attention to his later and lesser-known works. The more inclusive approach highlights their significance within his oeuvre and traces the development of his aesthetic. A close examination of a play from each decade of Miller’s career is carried out in order to chronicle the decline in his critical popularity in America. The research significantly offers socio-political and cultural reasons for their negative treatment. His appearance before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1956, and the controversy sparked by the perceived negative portraits of his former wife Marilyn Monroe in his plays had a seminal impact on public perception of the playwright. His critical perspective on American society served to alienate American audiences and led to a disparity in the reception of his later plays. The depreciation of Miller’s reputation in America coincided with his ascension to critical acclaim in Europe, The research thus makes reference to the response to Miller in Britain, in particular, where he is the most frequently produced playwright after Shakespeare. The British context serves to augment the fact that the plays discussed in this research merit inclusion in the scholarship on the playwright. His later plays are increasingly relevant to the current global environment and warrant revival and consideration in the reputation of Arthur Miller. Introduction Arthur Miller is acclaimed -as one of the greatest American playwrights of the twentieth century. However, underneath this reputation lurks the paradox of his complicated relationship with his native homeland. Miller’s career spanned over six decades, yet his esteemed status in America is mainly based on the successes of his early career. To a large extent, his later plays fell into critical neglect in America, while receiving critical acclaim in Europe. In Britain alone, Miller’s popularity is reflected in the fact that he is the most frequently produced playwright after Shakespeare. The lack of popularity of Miller’s later plays in America resulted in a dense critical focus on his early work. This research aims at a more inclusive perspective and accordingly focuses predominantly on the latter plays of Miller’s career. It thus aims to address the noteworthy gap in the critical commentary on a playwright that occupies such a prominent position in the history of American theatre. The thesis explores the evolution of Miller’s thought and highlights the importance of his lesser- known works to his oeuvre. In order to account for the lacuna in popularity and scholarship on Miller, it is important to consider the contentious nature of his relationship with America. As a result, the initial response to Miller’s plays in America forms an aspect of this research. The research demonstrates that the reception of his plays was the culmination of socio-political and cultural factors. The critique of American society inherent in his work was wide ranging and his counter-cultural position antagonised American audiences. Miller’s position of defiance before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1956 had a seminal influence on how he was perceived on both personal and professional levels. In spite of the shift in the political climate and the denouncement of the crusade as specious, Miller’s reputation failed to be fully restored. A resentment toward the moralising of the playwright escalated in the public mindset and his plays were regarded as condescending attempts to assert his morally superior attitude. Miller may have been officially vindicated of charges of treason, yet the criticism of America implicit in his plays appeared to imply a pseudo treacheiy to the public psyche. Furthermore, the perceived negative portraits of his second wife, Marilyn Monroe, in his later plays was believed to seriously undermine Miller’s entitlement to moral judgement. The moral intentionality that had secured the success of both All My Sons (1947) and Death of a Salesman (1949) became increasingly regarded with distaste in America. This resentment was accentuated by Miller’s participation in ariti-war and civil rights demonstrations and his involvement with PEN. In 1965, Miller became the President of the international organisation of ‘poets, playwrights, editors, essayists and novelists.’ PEN was established to ‘promote intellectual cooperation and understanding among writers’ (Abbotson, 2007, 446), and to defend literature against threats to its survival largely in the form of censorship and political oppression. As Miller’s career progressed, he adopted a more European sensibility and this was a contributoiy factor in the negative response that his later plays generated in America. Miller’s shift to a more European orientation coincided with his third marriage to the Austrian photographer Inge Morath. The couple travelled extensively, and Miller was exposed to the experimentation on the European stage that was largely disregarded by the commercial vicissitudes of American theatre. Miller’s plays remained quintessentially American, yet the manner in which the subject matter was treated was generally more congruous with the European tradition in terms of his experimental style and his tragic vision. Miller’s commitment to innovation and expanding the boundaries of form lay outside the commercial interests of mainstream American theatre. His emphasis on collective consciousness drew him closer to the European mindset. Miller’s plays failed to adhere to the conventions of one particular movement, and a mutation of European generated styles was evident in his later works. From the outset of his career, Miller’s plays expressed a commitment to the Ibsenite tradition. However as his career evolved, his plays employed Brechtian and Beckettian techniques associated with the post-Second World War reaction. While Miller initially resisted the plays of the Absurdist theatre, he became increasingly drawn to their mode of expression in his later plays. Miller was not a static dramatist and the continued vacillating styles that he employed helped to alienate American audiences that desired to comfortably locate his works within a particular niche created by the popularity of All My Sons (1947) and Death of a Salesman (1949). His later plays commonly defied the horizon of expectations established by his classic works. The dedication of the playwright to innovation and experimentation was detached from the evolution of the American theatre, and instead reflected a personal organic development.

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