The Death Of A Salesman Paper

Submitted By brooklyn1236
Words: 330
Pages: 2

Brooklyn Brown
November 30th 2014
Theater 130 Section 2

The Death of a Salesman
(The Set Design Paper)

Most of the action is set in Willy Loman's home and yard in Brooklyn, NYC. Because of recent population growth, the Loman’s' house is boxed in by apartment buildings. Throughout the play, the big encroaching buildings are shown to choke the more natural beauty that once surrounded the Loman’s' home. Once there were trees, and once there was enough sunlight to grow a garden. The looming buildings, which have separated the characters from nature, add to their feelings of confinement and desire to escape.
There are a few scenes that don't take place at the Loman’s' Brooklyn home. We see Willy get fired in an office in Manhattan, and he also meets his sons at a Manhattan restaurant. There's also the scene where Biff learns of Willy's affair, which happens in a hotel room in Boston. The Loman house, however, totally dominates the set, perhaps highlighting Willy's longing to provide for his family, and showing that no matter how misguided he is, everything he does in some way revolves around his family.
We should also point out that the play, or at least a good portion of it, is set inside Willy's mind. The audience experiences many of the events through Willy's subjective viewpoint. All the flashbacks and blurred realities are from Willy's point of view. For more on this, check out discussion of realism and expressionism in our "Writing Style" section.

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