Rachel Blackwell
November 29, 2004
Death of a Salesman

                      Dreaming American: Dreamin or Screamin?

      Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is the quintessential story of a man
chasing the American dream. Willy Loman spends his life pursuing the
American dream. But what is the American dream? And why does it ruin this
man’s life? Well, Americans are after success and, as Willy is so
obsessed with, being “well-liked”. Willy’s version of the American dream
is being able to provide for his family and being a successful
businessman that everyone loves. The tragedy of Willy is that he does not
even hope to be more than middle class. Middle class life is what he
strives for. But this American dream ruins the Lomans.
         Willy cannot deal with the fact that he is not successful or an
upstanding citizen. He lives in delusion about what his life
really is and when it all comes crashing down around him, he
cannot deal with it and kills himself in hopes of helping his
son. Unfortunately Willy also forces his delusions on the rest of
his family. His sons are scarred from the way they have been
raised. Biff things that he can be successful without having to
work, because his dear old dad has always told him he will go far
even without studying. Happy has learned that he will just never
be as good as his brother Biff and that the things he wants are
not important in his father’s eyes.
      Biff is a very interesting character because he loves and believes in his
father so much and yet he is the one that catches Willy in his affair.
This is devastating for Biff and he commences to live in delusions of his
own. But it is Biff that helps Willy see reality and in the end is able
to see the errors that Willy made. Biff finally realizes that Willy was
wrong and his dream was wrong. Happy, unfortunately, is still trying to
make his father proud. The so-called American dream chews up the Loman
family and spits them out. And that is a tragedy.
      Willy Loman has often been compared with Oedipus and often seen as the
contemporary tragic hero. However, Willy doesn’t quite have all the
Aristotelian characteristics of a tragic hero. Tragic heroes need to have
some fall from greatness. Unfortunately, Willy was only great in his own
mind. So the tragedy of Willy Loman really happens only in his own mind
and has no basis in reality, except the fact that it is tragic that this
man is so delusional. In his mind, Willy is a great, “well-liked”
salesman. By the end of the play he realizes that he is not quite as
great as he thought he was and finally sees reality. Then, in his mind,
Willy makes the great sacrifice of his life to help Biff. Whether or not
Willy’s suicide will really help Biff is immaterial because Willy thinks
that he is making a sacrifice. This shows him as a good man that is not
trying to ruin his son’s life. So Willy Loman is a victim of the American
dream and a tragic hero.

200 WORDS

Rachel Blackwell
October 14, 2004
Miss Julie Response

       Miss Julie is a character with a lot of problems. She does not know
what she wants and she leads to her own demise. While I do not like
the character of Jean and I think he is cruel to Miss Julie, she
herself is the reason for her downfall. Miss Julie's upbringing is
very strange. Her mother was basically a man-hater and burned down
the house to seek revenge on her father. Her father does not really
seem to be a presence in her life. He is there, but he does not
really strike me as the "hands-on" type of father. Miss Julie, as
far as I can see, has had to raise herself. So her father being the
only male figure she could look up to is not a particularly strong
presence in her life and she has learned to hate men from her
mother.
       However, as is common with things we are taught to avoid, Miss
Julie is drawn to men. Of course, she is drawn to men naturally as
a woman. But she is also drawn to men because of her disgust for
them. She wants to control them and enslave them. Therefore, Jean
works perfectly as a lover for her. He IS her slave already. I
definitely think it is Miss Julie that goes after Jean. He may
decide to jump at what looks like a good thing for him, but she put
the idea out there first. After they have slept together (which I
think they did) and don't know what to do next, Miss Julie seems to
beg Jean to take control and be a "man". Suddenly she no longer
wants to dominate the situation. No other man has ever submitted to
her will like Jean and after she has won him, she does not know
what to do next. So she begs him for answers. And Jean, having
pined over Miss Julie since he was a child and now realizing it
wasn't as great as he thought it would be to get her, revels in her
hysteria. He enjoys seeing her look to him for answers and be so
distraught. I think Julie was just one confused girl that ran into
the wrong guy one midsummer's eve.

Christina Welch
Dramatic Literature
Midterm Paper Outline

Title/subtitle
A Doll's Dance: Nora Overcomes Her Spider Bite

Intro
Nora is played with like a little doll on the end of Torvald's 
string.  But Nora's strong character will send her dancing circles 
around Torvald and overcoming her spider bite.

3 points (body)
1.  How Nora relates to the Tarentella: spider bite- Torvald and 
letter,the legend,  fast tempo and keys, number of dancers, ect...
2.  How Nora overcomes the spider bite: masculinity, leaves Torvald, 
tragic hero
3.  Will the spider bite again?: Will Nora be the spider? What 
happens when Nora leaves the house? Effects...

Conclusion
Nora taken control of her own life.  She has ridded herself of the 
poison of Torvald.  A tragic ending for a tragic hero....

References/biblio more to come? not all of these?

123HelpMe.Com.  "The Tarantella Dance in A Doll's House".  July 31, 
2004.       

Classic Notes. "Themes/Metaphor/Symoblos: Tarantella".  July 31, 
2004.  
      

Kennedy, X.J. and Dana Gioia, eds. Literature: An Introduction to 
Fiction, Poetry,       and  Drama. 8th edition.  New York: Longman, 
2002.

Rising, Gerry. Buffalo News. February 3, 1997. July 31, 2004. 
      

Streetswing: Dance History Archives.  "La Tarantella". July 31, 2004. 
      

Wikipedia. "A Doll's House". July 31, 2004. 
      

Rachel Blackwell
October 13, 2004
Midterm Paper Outline

Title: “Tragedy, Thy Name is Woman!”

Introduction: Women as tragic figures were a revolutionary idea when
Henrik Ibsen wrote A Doll House. Nora’s womanly worries in life were
considered trite and unimportant, but she proves that the female tragic
hero can be just as interesting as Hamlet or Oedipus.

I.      How Is Nora Tragic (Aristotle’s Definition)
      a.Must be a good person
            i.Tries to save Torvald by getting the loan
      b.Possess a tragic flaw
            i.Thinks of Torvald before herself
      c.Responsible for their own fate
            i.Makes her own choices
      d.Doomed to make the wrong choice
            i.Neither staying or leaving will make her truly happy
      e.Fall from happiness
            i.Her doll’s life is shattered

II.      Nora vs. Oedipus
      a.Oedipus is noble, Nora is not quite rich
      b.Oedipus tears out his own eyes, Nora leaves her family
      c.Oedipus and Nora both fall from happiness

III.      Why the Heroine is More Compelling/Dramatic than the Hero
      a.Nora is easier to relate to than Oedipus
      b.Women have more inner conflict with themselves
      c.Women have been ignored for so many years
      d.“Behind every great man is a woman”….

Conclusion: Looking at things from a woman’s perspective makes life very
different. The life of a woman was ignored and overlooked for so many
years that when characters like Nora finally brought to light some of the
struggles of the common housewife, people were engaged.

References:
Text of Ian Johnston’s Lecture
http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/introser/ibsen.htm

Aristotle’s Tragic Hero
http://brainstorm-services.com/wcu-lit/tragedy.html

Ibsen Contrasted with Antigone
http://www.courseworkbank.co.uk/coursework/ibsen_contrasted_antigone_2/

Commentaries in the Dramatic Literature Book on A Doll House

eNotes: Masters ***