Tragedy and the Common Man

Arthur Miller was a notable American playwright, best known for his Pulitzer Prize– and Tony-award-winning play Death of a Salesman (1949). Miller is widely celebrated as one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century, with his plays earning him great critical acclaim during his lifetime and since. His plays have frequently been adapted for the screen.

He was born in Harlem, New York, in 1915 to Polish and Jewish immigrants. The Great Depression of the 1930s brought financial instability to Miller’s once-prosperous family, and his struggles during this time left a lasting impact on his political beliefs. He identified with leftist politics, primarily socialism, and much of his work has been classified as “social drama”—plays in which social issues or plights of common people are explored and in which problems or corruption in society are examined. Miller’s most famous play, Death of a Salesman, is a prominent example, as it questions and critiques the capitalist ideal of the American dream through its protagonist, Willy Loman, a regular American businessman struggling to earn a living and support his family. Much of Miller’s work is more overtly political: His 1953 play The Crucible is an exploration of oppression, fear, and persecution in American society.