Comparison of Death of a Salesman and The Glass Menagerie Essay

Example: I asked Gina to accept my hand in marriage. She then smiled and as I awaited her response, her face appeared to diffuse just as leisurely as a dinner candle that is dripping its’ melting wax onto the fibers of an Egyptian, cotton tablecloth. The sentence example preceding this paragraph can be perplexing to any reader when any additional details are not given that describe the context in which this sentence has been written. Devoid of any transition in the opening sentence of this paper, the audience may not be able to discern whether the actions in the sentence are real or part of a dream or some alternate reality. As any author or playwright attempts to transition his story from one reality to an alternate reality, it is his responsibility to noticeably or inconspicuously guide his audience into the next scene or alternate reality of the story. Not doing so can lead the audience into confusion and misperception of the intentions of the author. Playwrights Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller have both similar and contrasting ways in which they apply their non-realistic techniques, with the purpose of elucidating any transitions from the stage or script to the intended audience. Subsequently I will explain my examination, both comparatively and contrastively, of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman along with Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie and each playwright’s application of non- realistic technique. The first major transition in Death of a Salesman transpires as the main character, Willy Loman, is imagining that his teenage sons, though now both in their 30’s are washing his fairly new Chevy automobile. The audience... ...Miller’s non-realistic approach was abstract and metaphoric, while Williams’ non-realistic approach was conveyed as a memory of certain times and places with events and actions that did happen. I have a personal affection and admiration for the abstruse but I’d perhaps better receive the message in Death of a Salesman by witnessing the story on stage or on film. I admire the straightforward approach that Tennessee Williams took in writing The Glass Menagerie. Williams’ approach allowed for easier reading on paper. My eyes and mind now instinctively move toward the future. Works Cited Miller, Arthur. "Death of a Salesman." 1949. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. E. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2012. Print. Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. New York: New Directions Publishing, 1945.