1. Compare and contrast the roles of Desdemona and Linda? What support do they provide for their respective husbands? How do they determine the outcome of each tragedy?
2. Can Death of a Salesman be seen as a critique of the "American Dream" or a critique of people investing too much hope in an abstract concept?
3. Discuss Iago's motivations in Othello? Bypassed for promotion and suspicious of Othello's relationship with his wife... Is Iago a victim of an unfair system? Or are the perceived slights only in Iago's mind?
4. What is the function of the requiem scene in Death of a Salesman? How does it alter our interpretation of the action that has preceded it?
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Iago states his two motives for his revenge against Othello as being his suspiscion that Othello has bedded Emilia, and that Iago was overlooked for promotion in favor of Michael Cassio. For me, this does not seem to be enough. He acheives sastisfaction on both points, but there is something else that is driving him to keep going past this. He succeeds in humiliating Cassio from grace, and acheiving the complete trust of Othello, so the promotion bit was satisfied, and in the same token he easily instills the same jealousy that he would feel into Othello. Beyond that, though, I cannot really find any concrete evidence to point in any further direction. I know of theories that say Iago is a devil, or that he is in love with Othello, or that he is rascis, but all of these seem as if they are just unproved ideas. So, my conclusion is that the reader is unable to fully learn what drives Iago throughout the play, which makes him such an uneasy character to analyize.
I think that yes Death of a salesman can be a critique of the American Dream but is also a critique of what the american dream means. Willy has so much hope for this dream from the beginning when he starts his job as a salesman. But the dream means materialistic things if he can achieve this "american dream" then he can have all the things that go along with it. The perfect family, the nice car, the suburban neigborhood, etc. Yet for willy all of his failures come back to that dream, he worrys about not being able to pay the bills and he sees his successfull neigbor charley living out the american dream to the fullest. While i think Miller is critizing the American Dream, i think he critizes more what the american dream can do to people who don't reach it. How materialism can lead you far away from what you were intially seeking, and how in the end money isn't everything. For Lomans they did not succeed in the dream, but in hopes of attaining it they lost their sense of family, the lost value in what they did have, and ultimately they all ended up in pyscological ruts that they were unable to confront. For this family the dream became their ruin. So i believe that miller is critique more than just an abstract notion, or the Dream itself, i think he is critizing what the dream can do, and asking the audience to reaccess the values they live their life by rather than just some false hope in a dream that some have suceeded where others have failed.
2. Can Death of a Salesman be seen as a critique of the "American Dream" or a critique of people investing too much hope in an abstract concept?
Miller’s version of the “American Dream” is not an abstract concept, but rather the hope of achieving the promise that was made at the founding the United States itself. The idea of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Property (later changed to Happiness) means to have made a good living and be happy with it. The Loman’s family failure is not they strive to reach it, for indeed they do, but that they fail to recognize it when it has been there all along. Willie is never content with what he has, even when he was in his prime (thus the cheating), and now that he is in the winter of his life and hardly working, his mental status has gone downhill. He does have the family, and the house, and the car, but all this is over shadowed by his suicidal attempts and Ben (his dead brother), with his colonial ideas. Willy feels that his dream has been taken away from him and/or he never got the chance to achieve more. The result of this is psychological damage, leaving Willy with nothing to live for. So it could be said that Miller is critiquing the “American Dream” and the people in hope of it, but not because it is considered and ‘abstract idea’, but rather a failure to recognize one’s own circumstances and better those before bigger dreams.
Discuss Iago's motivations in Othello? Bypassed for promotion and suspicious of Othello's relationship with his wife... Is Iago a victim of an unfair system? Or are the perceived slights only in Iago's mind?
I studied Othello in depth for the Leaving Cert, and to justify Iago's actions, my teacher lead us to believe that he did it out of pure evil. I have to admit, even after learning about the other possible origins of his motives, I'm inclined to agree with her. His two main reasons are that 1) He believes Othello has slept with Emilia and 2) He's jealous that Cassio was promoted above him. As Michael pointed out, Iago's proclaimed motives are insufficient. This only fuels my belief that he is doing it out of evil and spite. Also, I don't think he's the victim of an unfair system. There are other characters in the play who become victims of an unfair system (Iago's cruelty), e.g. Cassio, Desdemona, Emilia, but none of them take it upon themselves to take revenge on everyone else. It is a defunct in Iago's personality that drives him to such extravagant, violent ends. He is a Machiavellian character - 'the end justifies the means' is a phrase we could very easily believe coming from Iago's mouth. I also don't think the perceived slights are in Iago's mind - Cassio is promoted above him. With regards Emilia, perhaps when Iago proclaims that she has been with Othello, he is using his wife as a metaphor for the prominent status in society which has been given to Othello - a foreigner - above himself.
In conclusion, I still firmly believe that Iago's motives are fuelled by evil.
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