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Arthur Miller’s Ethical Views as Reflected in His Three Plays

Author: LiangXiao
Tutor: WeiLing
School: Suzhou University
Course: English Language and Literature
Keywords: Arthur Miller ethical views social plays The Man Who Had All the Luck All My Sons Death of a Salesman
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Type: Master's thesis
Year: 2011
Downloads: 91
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Abstract

As one of the most influential playwrights in modern America, Arthur Miller is honored as“the American Consciousness”because of the humanity and moral concerns embedded in his plays. Having inherited Herik Ibsen’s tradition of social plays and through the displays of common people’s lives, Miller makes profound analyses about the social problems in his plays to explore the essence of life. Based on Miller’s early trilogy The Man Who Had All the Luck, All My Sons, and Death of a Salesman, this thesis explores the different moral themes involved with a hope to reveal Miller’s own ethical views.The first chapter offers a brief introduction to Miller’s life and his literary career. There are also descriptions of the reasons for the choice of the plays, the main plot of the plays and the related literature review. Chapter two analyzes the father-son relationships and the falling of paternity in the family which are the common themes of the three plays. Through the discussion of Miller’s personal experience and his ethical views reflected in the plays, this thesis illustrates Miller’s profound understandings towards family conflicts, especially the father-son relationships. Miller values family unity, believing that a harmonious family relationship could only be built through the recognition or avoidance of the past mistakes. Chapter three discusses the different moral behaviors of the American public during and after the World War II, which is presented in The Man Who Had All the Luck and All My Sons. Miller concerns deeply for the war’s influence upon people’s morality. Through his plays, Miller expresses his care for the war survivors who had difficulty in adapting to the postwar society, and his condemnation of the war profiteers. Chapter four exposes the dehumanizing modern business world embodied in Death of a Salesman and Miller’s ethical views towards business. Taking the changes of the sales profession through history as an example, Miller indicates that with the advance of modern technology and the economic development, people’s dream of success has been reduced to a dream of business success and he laments the disappearance of humanity in modern business world. From the play, it is easy to see Miller’s reminiscence of the former business virtues and his criticism of the modern impersonal business rules. The last chapter is the conclusion part, which summarizes Miller’s concerns for the social problems reflected in different plays and his unique ethical views. From the chosen plays, the readers could perceive Miller’s good wishes of improving people’s sense of responsibility and morality through his plays.

Arthur Miller’s Ethical Views as Reflected in His Three Plays

Abstract

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