Class Notes: 12/13 - 1/07/11

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead


Theatre of the Absurd:

1 no logic
2 no horizon of significance 
3 worlds that the character can't understand.
4 characterized by the absence of things.

Also inspired by "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock":

1 both have a reliance on romantic irony
2 characters have no heroic aspirations




Death of a Salesman
Stuff we discussed:

Ben's function: a father figure to Willy
1 reinforces the father-son dynamic that is present throughout Western Literature
2 Willy chases him throughout the play to impress him

going to Alaska/Africa = extracting resources
    o "A man is not a piece of fruit," says Wily, but he was

Willy constantly contradicts himself

Miller structures his play in accordance with Willy's mind, so flash backs and dreams and such.



Difference between success and happiness:

1 Biff realizes it; Willy and Happy never do.
2 Willy defines success as money and respect and material goods

Brothers motif: Ben/Willy, Biff/Happy

* one brother becomes a salesman, while the other goes away
* Willy/Happy, frozen in boyhood, adopt irrational boyhood dreams

Linda:

1 if she respected Willy, would she allow him to fool himself like this?
2 and the dairy product motif = breastfeeding!
3 Willy as a mothered child:
    o Biff calls him a "prince"
    o the use of the word "gee"
    o his name is not William or Bill but "Willy"
3 Linda mothers him like a small child
    o lets him see things the way he wants to see them; doesn't challenge him
    o tolerates his outbursts like they're tantrums of a child