Review of Drama: King Lear and Death of a Salesman

Conflict


King Lear
1) The leading character, King Lear, wished to divide his kingdom based on how much his daughters claimed to love him and retire by living for different periods of the year at each daughters house.

2) What stood in his way was the fact that his eldest daughters id not truly love him as they professed but rather, they simply wanted his kingdom; so instead of accommodating their father when he wished to stay at their homes, like they promised, they turned him away.

3) The high point of King Lear is when his eldest daughters and Edmund die; Lear finally comes to his senses and then dies on the body of the only child who loved him, Cordelia.

Death of a Salesman
1) The leading character in this play wanted to be the perfect salesman and become successful as his brother, Ben.

2) It was Willy's own personality that stood in his way. Willy was delusional and refused to acknowledge his short-comings and failures.

3) The high point of this play is when Biff tells his father   that they are both a "dime a dozen" and admits that he is sorry for causing his father hurt . After this the father-son conflict ends and Willy realizes that Biff still loves him and always has.

Character Analysis


King Lear
1) The characters in King Lear are true to life. We see human nature coming out in the plays characters especially greed (through Lear's eldest daughters), unconditional love and loyalty (through Cordelia and Kent) and human folly in Lear's love of flattery.

2) Most of the human characteristics in King Lear is revealed through the dialogue and actions the characters carry out.

3) The driving force behind King Lear is his need for flattery. His madness also contributes as his mental state is quite unstable. This causes him to make rash decisions.

4) When King Lear does change and comes to his senses, it is because his beloved daughter, Cordelia, has been executed. This is true to life because the loss of a child could change any parent.

Death of a Salesman
1) The characters in this play are true to life, especially Linda. The characters all display the flaws in humans. For example, Willy and his mental illness, Biff with his inability to complete things he has started. also in Happy's need for his fathers approval and attention and in Linda's support of her husband.

2) The characters in this play, like in King Lear, are revealed through dialouge. Also, through their actions toward each other.

3) The driving force behind Willy is his need to be the "perfect" salesman and to emulate his brothers success. This need eventually drives him to madness. This was mainly because he became delusional and had visions of his brother visiting and telling him that time is running out and constantly reminding him that "he went into the jungle at 17 and came out rich at 21". This may have caused Willy feel that he is inferior.

4) Willy changes, in a sense both for the worst and for the better, when Biff admits that he is sorry for causing him hurt. Willy changes for the better in the sense that he now has relief from believing that his son had no respect for him and did not love him. He changed for the worst in the sense that he now believed that he needed to help Biff get a start in life and to do this he needed money; Willy is convinced that his life insurance will be that money, he then commits suicide.

Setting


King Lear

Critical Standards useful for Drama, Novel, Motion Pictures


King Lear
1) The chief emphasis in King Lear is the human character greed. Almost everyone  in the play is trying to get more of something; Lear wants more flattery, his eldest daughters want power and Edmund wants wealth.

2) The purpose of the play King Lear is to illustrate what greed can cause people to do.

3) This play is realistic as it does not romantasize or sugar coat the greed of the eldest daughters or their mistreatment of their father. It also shows vividly how greed can cause families to fall apart. This is seen when Goneril and Regan have their younger sister killed and Goneril then kills her sister and herself. Their father then gives up hope and dies. In the end, the entire family dies simply because people wanted more than they had.

4) Yes, the play King Lear shows life as it is.

5) This play does present problems with human relationship. This is seen through Regan and Goneril's jealousy of Lear's love for Cordelia.

6) No, this play does not glamorize life or give a Disney ending; in fact, all the major characters DIE.

Death of a Salesman
1) The emphasis in Death of a Salesman 

hurt as a theme in clear light of day

The novel Clear Light of Day has several different themes with one of the underlying tones being hurt. The setting of the novel is in a time when India was going through a  time of change which caused rioting and the death of many young people. Because of this it can be said that the entire nation of India was in pain. This can again be seen when Gandhi was murdered. Raja, who was sick at the time, became so outraged that Bim has to tell him to calm down before his condition became worst.
The most obvious cases of hurt in the book however, focus on the main characters; Bim, Raja and Tara; the children of the Das family. As the book progresses one is able to see the ways in which the siblings hurt each other, whether on purpose or un-knowingly.

One of the most focused upon incedent of hurt in the book is what Raja did to bim and her persapective on it. Raja and Bim, as young children had always had a close relationship. As they got older however, Raja seeks "freedom" from the "dead house" which he has been confined to all his life. He eventually leaves Old Dehli in search of the Hider Ali's who had moved because of the rioting. Bim however, sees his decision as a direct insult to her and also sees it as him abandoning her after she had looked after him during his long sickness. After a while, Raja eventually marries Hider Ali's daughter and because of this he become Hider Ali's son. Raja then becomes Bim's land-lord and rather than telling her that she no longer has to pay rent because of their family bond, he tells her that the rent will remain the same. Bim is again insulted and hurt.

Another incident of hurt in the book involves Bim and Tara. When Tara was young, she had very low self esteem and confidence. She thought that if her long hair had a bit of curl to it she would be more beautiful. Bim, upon hearing Tara express her desire for curly hair to their aunt, then tells Tara that if she were to cut her hair it would grow back with curls. This  was of course a lie. Bim then takes her up to the roof and proceeded to cut all of Tara's long hair. Tara, after being informed that when her hair did grow back, it would be exactly the same, breaks down and cries realizing what a crule thing Bim had done to her. Tara decides that she would never forgive Bim.

Towords the end of the book, we are able to see once again that Bim feels hurt and abandoned. Both her siblings have long been married and moved out. She had been left in the "dead house" had not and was now left to take care of Baba the rest of her life. She feels betrayed at being left behind. Raja never visits and  the now refined and seemingly self confident Tara, only visits evry three years. Because of this, Bim may feel that she has been cheated and dealt an unfair hand by life.

We are able to see that all the siblings have in some way hirt each other; Raja, by "abandoning Bim, Bim by cutting Tara's hair, and Tara by abandoning Bim as well.

Baba's significance within Clear Light of Day

In the book Clear Light of Day by Aniita Desai, Baba is the youngest child of the Das family. He was born when the mother seemed to be aged, because of this he was born with disabilities and mental developmant problems. While growing up, Baba took a long time to learn to walk and he never quite learned to speak. It was their aunt,Mira, who took an intrest in him as a child because his mother thought of him as a distraction from her "bridge" games. Aunt Mira thought him how to dress himself and become somewhat independant. she gave him some pebbles as toys when he was young as toys and Baba still had them, and still played with them even when he was a grown man.
Although Baba is very quite in the book, his presence is always felt. His playing with the pebbles, by scattering them and gathering them up again, was a constant sound within the book. It was stated on page 62 that "Everyone in the household knew the sound they (the pebbles) as he scattered them across the tiles. . .  It was the sound of the house, as much as the contented muttering of the pigeons on the veranda. it gave time a continuity and regularity that the ticking of a clock in the hall might convey in other homes". Here we are able to see that Baba's presence is indeed felt as it is part of the make-up of the Das family's home.
We are again able to see Baba's quite role when Bim is waiting up for Tara to return from one of the outings with the Misra sisters. Bim is waiting on the veranda and Baba is there with her, playing with his pebbles. Baba serves as a type of companionship or friend for Bim in this scene.
Baba is also significant in that he has taken over his fathers role at the office upon his death. The role was originally intended for Raja, but he adamantly refused to walk in his fathers footsteps. Raja then suggest that Baba deal with the paper-work. Upon hearing this, Bim ridicules Raja for even suggestiing such a thing knowing Baba's state. The clerks who worked under the father however stated that Baba would not really need to come to the office because the father rarely did anything but sign papers. all the work was left up to the clerks. Baba is significant here because, in a sense, he has taken over his fathers role as provider for the family, although he is not really aware of this fact.
Baba's presence is also impertant as a source of comfort for Bim. This is seen when Baba plays music on his record player at a very loud volume. she seems to prefer the noise to the quite of the house. It serves as a distraction from all her worries.
We are able to see Baba's significance in the book because he serves as a source of distraction for bim and a comforting presence. He is a very big part of their lives because his presence and little noises are a part of the make up of the house. Baba is also needed because he has stepped in, albeit, unknowingly, into his fathers role at the office and, in my view, family provider.

comments on video

dime a dozen . . . .
in this scene, biff finally confonts his farther about his lack of success and the fact that he was trying to commit suicide. willy of course denies that, he then tries to walk away but biff attacks him and makes him sit and listen. he then tells his father that he is nothing special that both willy and himself were a dime a dozen. willy denies this as well. he shouts that he is "willy loman", meaning he is an individual.
this scene is dramatically significant because it is here that the audiance sees that biff realizes that the dream he was working for was nothing. he realizes that his father has caused him to be a fool; filled his head with hot air.
i believe this is the point where both willy and biff come to a bit of an epiphany. biff realizes he is fighting for something worthless and willy realizes he has lost the respect of his son.

is willy lomans family responsible for his demise?

I do believe Will's family holds some responsibility for his demise.
Firstly, Linda refused to confront Willy although she knew he was trying to kill himself. If she had at least tried to ask him about it he may have changed his mind. Instead she puts the pipe back in his reach regardless. She also supports his every word, thereby filing him with even more hot air. I believe if she was at least honest to herself and helped him face reality he may not have committed suicide.
Willy's sons were also responsible for his death. Biff caused his father grief by being a disappointment who Willy had placed all his hope in. Then he when he confronted Willy on being a failure himself I believe this pushed Wily to his death even faster.
I also believed that Happy contributed to his fathers demise. This is said because he was an utter failure. He had pride in being the assistant to an assistant. I think his father realized that both his sons were just like him. Failures.

tragic characters: lear and willy

I do believe that Willy and Lear are tragic characters.
 Willy put his whole life into his sons, Biff and Happy, and they turned their backs on him. Willy always believed that biff would be this great, successful businessman and it turned out that Biff is still searching to find himself, which disappoints Willy. He feels he is responsible for Biff's failure and that his favorite son hates him. This guilt eventually leads Willy to commit suicide believing that this was the only way to restore Biff's respect for him. This is tragic because Willy truly hopes this is the answer but in reality he does nothing but hurt his son and family further.
Lear does not learn his mistake until it is too late. He has given his kingdom to his two greedy daughters and banished the one who truly loves him. This causes him to suffer from regret; it is so intense that Lear eventually goes mad. Lear thinks he has lost Cordellia's love, just as Willy thinks he has lost Biff's. He then tries to rectify this but in the end, all his daughters die and he dies from grief. 

comparison between willy loman and king lear

similarities
-both lear and willy are leading characters in their plays. 
-lear flaws caused his family to be hurt, likewise, willy's suicide caused his family emotonal hurt.
-for both fathers there is a breakdown in the relationship with their favorite child. in willy's case this occurs because biff finds him cheating. with lear its because he banished cordellia,
-both characters have mental issues. 
-both characters are blind to reality.


differences
-willy's death benefits his family in that they now have money from his insurance.
-willy has the support of his wife while there is no wife present in king lear.
-their flaws are different, willy has a fragmented view of the american dream while lear is blind to the fact that his eldest daughters do not love him.

mini quiz: Cause of relationship change for Willy and his sons

Willy Loman is the main character in the play death of a salesman. He has two sons, Biff, the eldest, and Happy. There relationship is quite stable and the boys look up to their father as the ideal role model. They follow any and all advice he give them. Willy essentially spoils his sons, for example, when they were young and stole for a construction site, he laughs and commends them, he even encourages them to continue. His sons believe that their father is very successful as he is well liked and aspire to be just like him. They hold him in high regard and are obviously cherish any attention he gives to them. We see this when he says that one day he will take his boys on a trip with him and they become very excited and even offer to carry his bags.

The relationship between Biff and his father is especially close. Biff seems to be the favorite son as his father, throughout the play pays him more attention and encourages him more than he does with Happy. For example, when Biff flunks math, he immediately runs to his father to fix the problem he faces as he will need to take summer school to graduate. Willy, upon hearing this, decides he will go down and speak to the math teacher and get him to carry up Biff's grade. He believes he will succeed because he is well liked by many.

It is at this time that the relationship between Biff and his father changes. When Biff goes to seek out his father in Boston to fix the summer school problem, he finds out something about his father that will change his life. Upon walking in to Willy's room Biff begins explaining the problem, after his father promises to fix it, they begin laughing. It is at this time that "The Woman" makes her appearance. She walks out of the room stating that they were leaving her out of the fun. Willy tries to get her back into the room, it is too late however, as Biff already realizes what was taking place. Willy still tries to convince him that it is not what he thinks and that when he grows up he will understand. Biff storms out. after this, their relationship will never be the same.

Biff has come to realize that his father is a fraud. He is not the ideal family man he wants everyone to think he is. He cheats on his wife while away on business trips. Later in the play, we are able to see how strained the relationship has become. Biff no longer stays at home as much as Happy; and whenever he does visit, his father is constantly aggravated, wondering why his son is not successful. Biff eventually confronts him when Happy decides to take them out to dinner to celebrate the success of the business venture they are about to undertake. Biff was to take their business proposal to an old successful acquaintance. Willy comes to the dinner anticipating hearing how successful his eldest son was. When Biff tries to tell him that he was unsuccessful and their old "friend" did not even remember him, Willy keeps interrupting putting words in Biff's mouth. Biff becomes frustrated and in essence tell him to shut up and listen to the truth. He tells him that he is not successful and it is time he accepts it. Willy goes into a panic realizing that he really was not a success and thinking that Biff, his favorite son, hates him.

The events at the dinner along with everything else and the influence of Ben's voice in his head, eventually leads Willy to commit suicide so his family can get his insurance money. He believes he death would bring him back into the graces of his son. we are however able to realize that it does not because he only hurts his wife and children.

It is only the relationship between Biff and Willy that seems to change as Happy seems to be unaware that his father has been unfaithful as he still aspires to be just like him; well liked, especially with women. Therefore, it can be said that it is only the relationship between Biff and his father that really breaks down.

dramatic significance of characters in D.O.S

willy loman- he is a representation of the wrong view of the american dream. this is said because he thinks the american dream is all about getting rich, he does not realize that there is much hard work involved.

linda loman - she is willy's rock. she is the most stable character in the play. she seems to represent what wives were like at the time the play was written.

charlie - he is willy's neghbor, and as admitted by willy, his only friend. he serves as a voice of reason to willy. he tells him plainly what he think, at the same time, he is sensitive to willy's needs and helps him out when his trade begins to fail.

ben- he represents those few people who come to easy success, he seems to be very lucky. his voice is also one of the drving forces behind willy's deteriorating mental state. willy tries with all he has to find out the secrets to success.

the woman - she serves the purpose of reminding us that the illusion that willy put off as being perfect was false. she also aids the breakdown of the relationship between willy and biff.

biff - he represents reality. he accepts the fact that he has failed and confronts his father on deluding himself.

happy- he is a clone of his father, his biggest talent is the ability to delude himself. he is destines to meet a similar faith as his father.

character sketch for death of a salesman

willy loman - willy is the main character in the play. he is seen as a confused man who does not really understand life or the dream he is working towards. he has a skewed idea of what the american dream is. he believes it is being well liked and having many women. he instills these values into his two sons biff, and happy. because of his beliefs that it is necessary to be well liked by women he eventually cheats on his wife with "the woman".

willy is also delusional as he constantly sees and hears his older more successful brother, ben. ben constantly ridicules him as he does to himself for not taking the opportunity to go to alaska with him.

he may also be suffering from alzheimer as he constantly forgets things that he has just said or done. he is also seen on many occasions reliving moments from the past and communicating with figments of his imagination.

willy is not a very good role model for his sons. when they were young and stole limber from a construction site, instead of punishing them, he encourages them. wily is also verbally abusive to his wife linda, telling her to shut up more than once when she tried to contribute to a conversation he was having with his sons.

linda - this is willy's wife and mother of his two sons. she is quite loyal as she is not seen associating with other males in the book. she loves her husband as can be seen when she attempts to get rid of biff because he is upsetting his father with his presence. also, at the funeral, she keeps asking why no one came. this shows that she expected her husbands many "friends" to be there.

she is very docile. linda does not contradict her husband in anyway even though he contradicts himself. she supports and agrees with his every utterance. in my opinion, she does not seem very confident in herself as she is so "hung-up" on willy. she keeps track of all the bills and when they seem high, willy yells at her and she simply takes it.

charley - he is willy's neighbor and seemingly, his only friend. he helps willy when money is low by giving him $50 every week because he is not making sales. he even offers him a job, which willy refuses because of his pride. he is not very fond of willy but he recognizes his need and seeks to assist him.

ben - this is willy's older much more successful brother. he is consantly seen in the play as a huge influence on willy. willy keeps repeating that his brother "walked into the forest and walked out rich". this assists in giving willy a skewed vision on what success is as he now believes that there is reall no hard work involved.

the woman - this is a woman who willy has an affair with while on one of his trips to boston. she helps to disillusion biff as after finding out about the affair he realizes his father i a fake. she essentially ruins biff's high opinion of his father.

biff- thisw is willy oldest and favorite son. he is confident that his son will be a success, just like his father. when biff was in high school he was very proud when his friends all followed him and did whatever he said. this proved that ben was "well liled" an essential quality for a man to have according to willy.

biff has the highest admiration for his father. this is however ruined after he finds out that his father is cheating on his mother while away on his business trips. he realizes that his father has instilled in him useless values and that is father is a fraud. he eventually confronts his father, forcing him to realize that he has the wrong view of what success really is and that it is essentially his fault his sons are unsuccessful.

happy - happy is the younger son. he believes everything his farther says and tries his hardest to emulate him. as a man he is not very successful as he is an assistant to an assistant. he however is "well liked" especially by the women. he however lies without guilt to get the women and seem to be fine with it.

happy does not recognize his father for what he is as biff does. instead he tries to be just like him. involving himself in scams to get rich.