DEATH OF A SALESMAN - Drama - With an Introduction by Christopher Bigsby

Sep 25, 2026

Uploaded by Aditya

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman presents a family and a nation strained by economic collapse and the erosion of the American dream. The introduction by Christopher Bigsby frames the Depression of the 1930s and the assumptions surrounding the 1929 crash, emphasizing how optimism and national myths persisted despite political and financial upheaval. The text outlines key parts of the work, including acts and a requiem, and situates the drama within Miller’s broader theatrical achievement.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages142

Reading Time3 h 39 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction by Christopher Bigsby

Act One

Act Two

Requiem

Cast

penguin twentieth-century classics DEATH OF A SALESMAN Arthur Miller was born in New York City in 1915 and studied at the University of Michigan. His plays include All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), A View from the Bridge and A Memory of Two Mondays (1955), After the Fall (1964), Incident at Vichy (1965), The Price (1968), The Creation of the World and Other Business (1972), and The American Clock (1980) . He has also written two novels, Focus (1945) and The Misﬁts, which was ﬁlmed in 1960, and the text for In Russia (1969), Chinese Encounters (1979), and In the Country (1977), three books of photographs by Inge Morath. His most recent works include a memoir, Mr. Peters’ Connections (1999), Echoes Down the Corridor: Collected Essays 1944–2000, and On Politics and the Art of Acting (2001) . Timebends (1987), and the plays The Ride Down Mt. Morgan (1991), The Last Yankee (1993), Broken Glass (1994) . He has twice won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and in 1949 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Gerald Weales is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Religion in Modern English Drama, American Drama Since World War II, The Play and Its Parts, Tennessee Williams, The Jumping-Off Place, Clifford Odets, and Canned Goods as Caviar: American Film Comedy of the 1930s. Mr. Weales is the editor of Edwardian Plays, The Complete Plays of William Wycherley, and The Viking Critical Library edition of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. He has written a novel, Tale for the Bluebird, and two books for children. Mr. Weales won the George Jean Nathan Award for Drama Criticism in 1965. BY ARTHUR MILLER DRAMA The Golden Years The Man Who Had All the Luck All My Sons Death of a Salesman An Enemy of the People (adaptation of the play by Ibsen) The Crucible A View from the Bridge After the Fall Incident at Vichy The Price The American Clock The Creation of the World and Other Business The Archbishop’s Ceiling The Ride Down Mt. Morgan Broken Glass Mr. Peters’ Connections ONE-ACT PLAYS A View from the Bridge, one-act version, with A Memory of Two Mondays Elegy for a Lady (in Two-Way Mirror) Some Kind of Love Story (in Two-Way Mirror) I Can’t Remember Anything (in Danger: Memory!) Clara (in Danger: Memory!) The Last Yankee OTHER WORKS Situation Normal The Misﬁts (a cinema novel ) Focus (a novel ) I Don’t Need You Anymore (short stories) In the Country (reportage with Inge Morath photographs) Chinese Encounters (reportage with Inge Morath photographs) In Russia (reportage with Inge Morath photographs) Salesman in Beijing (a memoir) Timebends (autobiography ) Homely Girl, A Life (novella) COLLECTIONS Arthur Miller’s Collected Plays (Volumes I and II) The Portable Arthur Miller The Theater Essays of Arthur Miller (Robert Martin, editor) VIKING CRITICAL LIBRARY EDITIONS Death of a Salesman (edited by Gerald Weales) The Crucible (edited by Gerald Weales) TELEVISION WORKS Playing for Time SCREENPLAYS The Misﬁts Everybody Wins The Crucible DEATH OF A SALESMAN Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem ARTHUR MILLER WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY CHRISTOPHER BIGSBY p PENGUIN BOOKS penguin books Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Putnam Inc. , 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. Penguin Books Ltd, 27 Wrights Lane, London W8 5TZ, England Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2 Penguin Books (N.Z.) Ltd, 182–190 Wairau Road, Auckland 10, New Zealand Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Ofﬁces: Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England First published in the United States of America by The Viking Press 1949 Published in a Viking Compass Edition 1958 Published in Penguin Books 1976 This edition with an introduction by Christopher Bigsby published in Penguin Books 1998 Cop

FAQs

What historical background does the introduction emphasize for Death of a Salesman?

The introduction highlights how the 1930s Depression seemed to break America’s promises, pointing to the stock market crash of 1929 and the fading of optimistic national confidence.

How is Death of a Salesman structured in this edition?

The contents list Act One, Act Two, and a Requiem, followed by a Cast section.

Who wrote the introduction included in this edition?

The introduction is by Christopher Bigsby.

Sep 25, 2026

Uploaded by Aditya