Death of a Salesman

1. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

2. has made a reputation for dealing with contemporary political and moral issues. • began writing plays while a student at the University of Michigan, where several of his dramatic efforts were rewarded with prizes. • 1937, during his senior year, one of his early plays was presented in Detroit by the Federal Theatre Project. • 1944 his The Man Who Had All the Luck won a prize offered by New York City's Theatre Guild.

4. first successes--All My Sons (1947; film, 1948), winner of the Drama Critics Circle Award, and Death of a Salesman (1949; film, 1952), winner of both the Drama Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize • Miller condemned the American ideal of prosperity on the grounds that few can pursue it without making dangerous moral compromises. • Death of a Salesman, with its expressionistic overtones, remains Miller's most widely admired work.

7. The American Dream • Traditionally, Americans have sought to realise the American dream of success, fame and wealth through thrift and hard work. However, the industrialisation of the 19th and 20th centuries began to erode the dream, replacing it with a philosophy of "get rich quick". A variety of seductive but elusive strategies have evolved, and today the three leading ways to instant wealth are large-prize television game shows, big-jackpot state lotteries and compensation lawsuits.

8. Declaration of Independence: • We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

9. the Tony Award-winning The Crucible (1953; films, 1956, 1996) examines the witch-hunts in colonial Salem, Mass., and implied a parallel with the congressional investigations into subversion then in progress. • A View from the Bridge (1955) questions the reasonableness of U.S. immigration laws.

12. After the Fall (1964), which includes a thinly disguised portrayal of Miller's unhappy marriage to film Marilyn Monroe, offers a second, candid consideration of the congressional investigations • two one-act plays, Incident at Vichy (1964) and The Price (1968), deal with the universality of human responsibility and the guilt that often accompanies survival and success.

13. later dramatic works include The Creation of the World and Other Business (1972), a play that seemed too didactic for both critics and audiences, The Ride Down Mount Morgan (1991), Broken Glass (1994). • novel Focus (1945) is an ironic tale of anti-Semitism. • The Theater Essays of Arthur Miller were collected in 1978. • in 1987, Miller published Timebends: A Life, his autobiography.

14. How Much things cost in 1949: • Yearly Inflation Rate U.S.A. -0.95% UK 2.6% Average Cost of new house $7,450.00 Average wages per year $2,950.00 Cost of a gallon of Gas 17 cents Average Cost of a new car $1,420.00 Minimum Hourly Wage Rate 70 cents per hourKitchen Table and Chairs $100.00 Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.03

15. 6.75 Richter scale earthquake in Ecuador kills 6000 and destroys 50 towns • Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb. • Federal Republic of Germany officially founded • Indonesia gains its independence From Netherlands • South Africa institutionalizes apartheid.

16. People's Republic of China officially founded. • The Geneva Convention is agreed providing an agreement on the treatment of prisoners • RCA Perfects a system for broadcasting color television • First Polaroid Camera sold for $89.95 • President Harry S. Truman authorizes $16 million in aid for Palestinian refugees

17. The Emmy Awards for US Television first presented • First Volkswagen Beetle The Peoples Car sold in US • The first car with a Porsche badge is shown • Apartheid Made official Policy of National party in South Africa • Twelve nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty establishing NATO (Apr. 4). • German Federal Republic (West Germany) established (Sept. 21).

18. Popular Culture • George Orwell's book Nineteen Eighty-Four is published • 45 rpm discs are introduced • First Polaroid sold for $89.95 • "Mule Train " by Frankie laine • FILM Twelve O'Clock High • Frank Sinatra stars in "On The Town" with Gene Kelly • Rodgers and Hammerstein debut the musical "South Pacific" on Broadway

19. Events • The first Emmy Awards are handed out on January 25, with Pantomime Quiz Time earning top honor as the Most Popular Television Program. • Cable television debuts, bringing better reception to rural areas where the conventional television signal is weak. • Milton Berle hosts the first telethon, which benefits cancer research. • 45 rpm records are sold in the U.S. • Movies • All the King's Men, Twelve O'Clock High, Sands of Iwo Jima, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Third Man

20. Theatre • Death of a Salesman, South Pacific, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes • Entertainment Awards • Pulitzer PrizesFiction:Guard of Honor, James Gould CozzensMusic:Louisiana Story music, Virgil ThomsonDrama:Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller • Oscars awarded in 1949Academy Award, Best Picture:Hamlet (British) (J. Arthur Rank-Two Cities; Universal-International) • Nobel Prize for Literature: William Faulkner (US)

21. Events in Canada: • March 31 - Newfoundland becomes Canada's 10th province. • April 1 - Joey Smallwood becomes the first premier of Newfoundland as a Canadian province • April 4 - Canada joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) • May 4 - Leslie Frost becomes premier of Ontario, replacing Thomas Kennedy • Canadian appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council are abolished, making the Supreme Court of Canada the country's top court • British Columbia gives Asian-Canadians the vote • Stanley Cup: Toronto d. Detroit 4-0