The Crucible by Arthur Miller | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. During the 1950s American people suffered the issue of McCarthyism which is defined as the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism, and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. In 1953, Arthur Miller wrote a drama titled The Crucible which was based on Salem Witch Trials that happened in Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692-93. The Crucible was partially fictionalized as Arthur Miller presented it as an allegory for McCarthyism and compared the two ills as equally devastating.

The initial British settlers in America were Puritans who were strictly religious and superstitious. They considered material and physical wants, especially sexual desires, as the Devil's work and a threat to society. The Puritans had no tolerance for inappropriate or unacceptable behavior and punished individuals publicly and severely if they transgressed. The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom were executed by hanging (14 women and five men). One other man, Giles Corey, was pressed to death after refusing to enter a plea, and at least five people died in jail. Miller dramatized that unfortunate incident and presented it to explain the atrocious effects of McCarthyism.

Characters of The Crucible:

John Proctor is an honest hardworking farmer of Salem who is married to Elizabeth Proctor. Elizabeth is a voice of reason and adheres to justice and moral principles. She is a character of unimpeachable honesty but she is too strict and cold and this causes issues in her married life with John. Abigail Williams is a seventeen-year-old niece of Reverend Samuel Parris who used to work as a housemaid at Proctor’s home. She seduces John and when Elizabeth comes to know about their affair, she fires Abigail. Abigail is a liar, malicious, vengeful girl who charges Elizabeth of witchcraft to take her place as John’s wife. Reverend Parris is a selfish weak, paranoid, greedy, and suspicious demagogue. Betty Parris is a teenage girl of Reverend Parris who mysteriously falls ill. Parris confers that it is a mysterious illness to hide the fact that his daughter and niece were actually performing witchcraft in the woods at late night. He calls Reverend John Hale from Beverly to investigate the supernatural cause of his daughter’s illness. Rebecca Nurse is an honest, noble, and reputed citizen of Salem who is charged with witchcraft because she was the midwife of Mrs. Putnam who gave birth to seven stillborn babies. Francis Nurse is her husband. Thomas Putnam is the wealthiest landowner of Salem. He is a greedy landlord who pushes his own daughter to charge witchcraft against some people to grab their land. Deputy Governor Danforth is in charge of the Salem witchcraft trials. He is a practical man who thinks less of justice and more of the reputation of his court. Giles Corey is an irascible old man of Salem. Tituba is Reverend Parris’ slave girl from Barbados. Marry Warren is another girl who accompanies Abigail in woods. Ruth Putnam is Putnam’s daughter who accompanied Betty and got ill.

Summary of The Crucible

The Crucible is a four-act play. The play begins in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 as Reverend Parris examines his daughter Betty Parris who is unconscious as she is ill. Last night, Reverend Parris caught her dancing with Abigail, his niece, Tituba, his slave girl, and some other girls in the woods. At the same time, Mr. Putnam and his wife visit him and inform him that their daughter Ruth is also ill. They worry about this mysterious illness by some unnatural cause. Ruth was with Abigail as Mrs. Putnam sent her to talk to Tituba who knows how to talk to the dead. Mrs. Putnam wished to know who killed her seven children who were born dead. As they leave, Reverend Parris tells Abigail that he cannot admit that his daughter and niece were found pursuing witchcraft like heathens in the woods. Abigail says that she will take the charge of dancing and accept punishment but won’t admit to witchcraft. Reverend Parris agrees.

Abigail meets with other girls and threatens them to not to disclose that they were casting spells in the woods. She threatens girls with violence if they reveal that she drank blood and cast a spell to kill Elizabeth Proctor. One of the girls is Marry Waren who is a servant at Proctor’s home. John Proctor comes to find her and sends her home. Abigail talks to him privately and proposes to him but John sternly refuses her. It is revealed that Abigail used to be the housemaid before Marry and she seduced John. When Elizabeth found it, she fired Abigail. John accepted his fault and felt guilty. Abigail becomes angry with Proctor because he refuses to acknowledge any feelings for her.

As Betty wakes up, she hears people singing psalms from outside. As she is feeling guilty about last night’s activities, she cries and shrieks. Rebecca Nurse visits her and calms her down. Rebecca is a sane intelligent person. As she hears Reverend Parris of talking about some unnatural cause for Betty’s illness, she warns him that blaming witchcraft for her illness will cause havoc to society. Reverend Parris decides to call Reverend Hale from Beverly. Mr. Putnam asks Rebecca to visit Ruth who is also ill. Mrs. Putnam is jealous of Rebecca as all her children are healthy while Mrs. Putnam’s seven children died during birth. Putnam, Proctor, and Giles Corey argue over their salaries with Parris. Parris says that he fears some people are trying to drive him out of the town. He denies any mismanagement in their salaries. Proctor and Putnam then start arguing over property rights over a piece of land.

Reverend Hale arrives and investigates Betty. He comes to know that Betty along with Abigail, Tituba, Ruth, and some other girls were dancing in the woods at late night and Tituba conjured spirits. He questions Tituba who admits to seeing the Devil. Abigail also admits to witchcraft but says that she now repents her fault. As Betty wakes up, she tells the names of all the other girls who were with them. Reverend Hale handles the situation with calmness as he doesn’t believe that Betty or Ruth’s cause of illness is supernatural. Meanwhile, when Giles Corey meets Reverend Hale, he asks about the supernatural cause of the girls’ illness. Hale says that he is still investigating. Giles jokingly says that isn’t it because his wife reads some strange books? Reverend Hale asks if his wife has sold her soul to the Devil, to which Giles laughs away.

Eight days later, Marry Warren returns to the Proctor’s home as she was serving in the court. She gives a puppet to Elizabeth that she sewed for her as a gift. She tells John that some girls were accusing Elizabeth of witchcraft but she protected her and the court dismissed the charge.

Reverend Hale visits Proctor’s house and asks him about his poor attendance in the Church. Proctor says that Reverend Parris hardly talks about God. Hale asks him about the Ten Commandments. Proctor spells nine commandments successfully but he fails to speak the commandment forbidding adultery as he feels guilty of his own act with Abigail. At the same time, Marshal Herrick arrives to search Proctor’s house. He informs that Abigail is feeling a needle stab whenever she tries to eat something and she has accused Elizabeth of trying to kill her through witchcraft. As he searches the house, he finds the puppet that Marry gave to Elizabeth. A needle is found stored in that puppet. Herrick arrests Elizabeth and takes her away. Hale questions Marry Warren and she says that Abigail saw her sewing the puppet and storing the needle in it and she framed lies on that.

In the court, Ruth claims witchcraft charges on Rebecca Nurse, and Giles Corey’s wife Martha is also accused of the same. The court convicts Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse as Putnam pressurize Deputy Governor Danforth. Giles Corey tries to defend his wife and tells the court he has proof that Putnam is accusing his neighbors of witchcraft in order to gain their land. Judge Danforth asks Giles the name of the witnesses from whom he got that information. Giles fears that like him and his wife, those people will also be convicted of false charges and thus he refuses to name them. Judge Danforth accuses him of contempt of Court and punishes him to be pressed with a heavy stone till his death.

Danforth informs John Proctor that Elizabeth is pregnant. John seeks Marry’s help to rescue his pregnant wife. Marry Waren visits the court and says that she lied and pretended to see the spirits and falsely accused others of witchcraft. She reveals that Abigail indulged in witchcraft, drank blood, and cast a spell to kill Elizabeth. Abigail and the other girls deny the charges by Marry and they accuse her of sending her spirit to attack them. Proctor then finds no other way but to accept his adultery in court. He denounces Abigail and calls her a greedy lying whore. He tells the court about his affair with Abigail and how Elizabeth fired her to save her married life. He accuses Abigail of lying to get Elizabeth executed to remove the only thorn in her path to become John’s wife. Judge Danforth then calls Elizabeth from the jail and questions her about affair of John with Abigail. Elizabeth doesn’t know that Proctor has already accepted the adultery charges and she doesn’t want him to face any difficulties. Thus, she denies any knowledge of such an affair and claims that her husband is completely honest. John Proctor condemns her of lying to save him as he realizes that now there is no hope for him to save Elizabeth. Abigail sees the weakness and starts attacking Marry Warren, accusing her that she is sending her spirits to kill Abigail. Marry Warren gets weak as she realizes that Elizabeth cannot be protected. She recants her confession of lying about witchcraft and claims that John is the Devil’s man.

Proctor is jailed and announced to be punished to death. Rebecca and Elizabeth also face the death penalty. Reverend Hale visits the jail to convince the prisoners to accept the charges and confess to avoid death but all of them refuse to confess. The day before he is scheduled to be hanged, Proctor decides to write a confession letter and save himself but he destroys the letter before posting it. He is hanged till death. Elizabeth’s execution has been delayed as she is pregnant.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the History of American literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

A Satyre Against Reason and Mankind by John Wilmot

John Wilmot was a courtier of King Charles II during the Restoration period. He was a witty entertainer and learned poet who charmed the monarch. It was the period when the whole of England was reacting against Puritan austerity and spiritualism. John Wilmot emerged on the lines of Cavalier poets, supporting the monarch and satirizing the clergy. He indulged himself in excesses, being a womanizer, alcoholic, and addicted to immoral behavior, he became famous as a rake and died at the young age of 33. He was a well-learned poet who wrote some good works. His contemporary poet Andrew Marvell described him as the ‘best English satirist.’ In 1674, he wrote a poem titled A Satyre Against Reason and Mankind which became his most popular and successful work. In this poem, he offers support for his rakish behavior while satirizing the logical lifestyle in particular and the whole of mankind in particular. He expresses himself as a natural being, an animal dependent on his instincts, and suggests that the five senses a human possesses are superior to the sixth sense that man devises as reason or logic. While trying to satirize reason, the poet uses his own reasoning and suggests that his reason is natural and thus, is better than the false reason humans devise to declare what is good or bad. Wilmont says that ability to use reason or logic makes men compare themselves to God, thus, relying upon logic is actually blasphemous. He also stresses that as mankind gives up their natural instincts in favor of reason, they become baser and tend to exploit each other for no understandable reason. When animals prey on each other it is justifiable because it is out of necessity for food, but there is no way to vindicate men for attacking one another. A Satyre Against Reason and Mankind is not a monologue as Wilmont introduces an adversary to the poet who is a clergyman and like the Anglican Christians of that period, believes that moral certainty could be reached with the aid of reason.

It is a lengthy poem with 22 lines arranged in stanzas of varying lengths. The general format is rhyming couplets while the lines depart from rhyming couplets at some points. The poem strongly appears to support the ideas of Hobbes and Montaigne and other materialistic and libertine philosophers like Lucretius and Epicurus.

Summary of A Satyre Against Reason and Mankind

The poem begins as

Were I—who to my cost already am

One of those strange, prodigious creatures, man—

A spirit free to choose for my own share

What sort of flesh and blood I pleased to wear,

I'd be a dog, a monkey, or a bear,

Or anything but that vain animal,

Who is so proud of being rational.

This sets the poet’s position who believes that animals live a superior life to humans and suggests that mankind is the worst, and the reason for this is the too much pride in humans for being rational. Man believes that his rational faculty is superior to the natural instincts that he can understand through his five senses and depends on his power of logic to guide his actions. He ignores "light of nature, sense, behind" and instead "Pathless and dangerous wand'ring ways" takes. He stumbles from one thought to the next and finally falls "Into Doubt's boundless sea where, like to drown, / Books bear him up awhile," keeping man afloat through "bladders of Philosophy."

However, the poet claims that actions based on instincts are swifter and better while when man indulges himself in reasoning, he losses precious time as he is mortal. The poet says that man tries to evade the fact that he has to die and uses reason as a tool against his mortal being, "In hopes still to o'ertake the escaping light." However, death is inevitable and it occurs more grotesquely, “Then old age and experience, hand in hand, Lead him to death, make him to understand, After a search so painful, and so long, That all his life he has been in the wrong.”

In this third stanza, the poet chides himself too. John Wilmont was a wit, a jester, and a public performer. He says that as the ability to reason filled men with pride, it "drew him in, as cheats their bubbles catch,” which makes him curious to find knowledge and that wisdom ruins his happiness. His ability to think makes him witty and that ensues a "frivolous pretense / Of pleasing others, at his own expense," as wits are like whores. Being a wit himself, the poet expected a similar fate as a whore. The crowd enjoys a wit’s performance and claps for him, but that isn’t the affection for the wit. It's like men enjoy whores in bed but won’t commit to them. While a wit provides momentary pleasure, once that pleasure has subsided, what remains is hatred. Thus, the poet criticizes reason as a false sense created to overrule the less delicate five senses; it is a sense created out of–and to serve–pride. He compares a wise man and a wit as examples of futility and wasted life. He explains that a wit or a performer is clapped by a crowd, "'Tis not that they're beloved, but fortunate, / And therefore what they fear, at heart they hate." He emphasizes fear at many other points in the poem and makes a point that while it is believed that reason can make you free of reason, the reality is just different, your ability to reason promotes fear.

In the fifth stanza, the poet introduces his adversary, a clergyman who opposes his idea and tries to defend reason, making it a debate. " 'What rage torments in your degenerate mind, / To make you rail at reason, and mankind.'" The clergyman claims that reason dignifies man and makes him better than beasts. He asks the poet to remember that man was made in God’s image, was given an eternal soul, and “this fair frame in shining reason dressed /To dignify his nature above beast.” He says that God gifted man with rational faculty to "take a flight beyond material sense" and "Dive into mysteries, then soaring pierce / The flaming limits of the universe." The poet then argues that he is willing to relent if his adversary can name a single person worthy of being called “reasonable.” He then offers many examples of such people who according to the poet, represents false reason and says "This supernatural gift that makes a mite / Think he's an image of the infinite."

The poet then claims that such a belief that reason is the supreme gift is an artificial argument to substantiate a man’s pride that tempts him to feel like God. "A whimsical philosopher / Before the spacious world his tub prefer," the poet attacks the popular idea of Diogenes that one practices virtue by resisting all pleasure. The poet says that for this false notion, many retire from life simply to think, but that thought should be "given for action's government," and to cease action results in impertinence. Thus "Our sphere of action is life's happiness, / And he that thinks beyond thinks like an ass."

In the next stanza, the poet suggests that his own reason for considering his natural five senses superior to reason is right and vows to obey it, as it is distinguished from false reasoning by sense, giving "us rules of good and ill" and boundaries for "desires, with a reforming will / To keep 'em more in vigour, not to kill."

In the next stanza, the speaker again attacks those who consider themselves reasonable and wise. He says that wise men attain reason "By surest means." Here, the poet attacks a contemporary adversary politician Sir Thomas Meres, who was a prominent Whig Party member. The poet compares him to a dog and suggests that a hound may be more reasonable than him who considers himself wise. The poet again describes the superiority of beasts over mankind and says that a beast kills only for practical reasons, while, a man lacks any reason for the various atrocities he commits. Man betrays his fellow man through fear.

Not through necessity, but wantonness.

For hunger or for love they [beasts] bite, or tear,

Whilest wretched man is still in arms for fear.

For fear he arms, and is of arms afraid:

From fear, to fear, successively betrayed.

Base fear, the source whence his best passions came.

His boasted honour, and his dear-bought fame

At the end of the poem, the poet offers a chance for himself to be proven wrong, but only if a just man can be found. This idea of a “just man” doesn’t suggest that the poet believes that mankind can improve, but rather it is him supporting his own argument because he knows that this man does not exist, nor can ever exist. The ending lines are "If such there are, yet grant me this at least, / Man differs more from man than man from beast." The poet suggests that a just man cannot exist, and if it ever appears, then it will be observed that he, the just man differs from the current mankind more than he differs from the beast. Again, the poet claims that a “just man” will be more like an animal rather than mankind having pride in their reason.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the History of English Literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

William Dampier | A New Voyage Round the World

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. William Dampier was an English explorer, navigator, and naturalist. Like his predecessors Sir Walter Raleigh and Samuel Purchas, he was a pirate supported by the British crown and Royal Navy. He became famous as the first person ever to circumnavigate the world three times. In 1697, he wrote and published A New Voyage Round the World which was his autobiography in which he described his journeys around the world. He described his exploration of Australia in this book and impressed the Admiralty. After the success of A New Voyage Round the World, he gained the command of a British Royal Navy ship and made further voyages to Australia while making some important discoveries in Western Australia. He was a naturalist who liked to explore the flora and fauna of the new lands. He was amongst the first Britishers to use the terms like barbecue, avocado, and chopsticks. He names many plants that were not known to English people before.

In 1704, an English naval person Alexander Selkirk became a castaway after being marooned by his captain, initially at his request, on an uninhabited island in the South Pacific Ocean. He was under the command of William Dampier. He was rescued by William Dampier in 1709 after he had spent 5 years on that uninhabited island alone. By the time he was rescued, Selkirk had become adept at hunting and making use of the resources that he found on the island. He was the crew member of William Dampier and later became the inspiration for Daniel Dafoe’s fictional character Robinson Crusoe in his novel The Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe which was published in 1719. Dafoe was inspired by A New Voyage Round the World written by William Dampier. Dampier also inspired Jonathan Swift who wrote Gulliver’s Travels in 1726. Swift mentioned Dampier in his book as a mariner comparable to Lemuel Gulliver. Swift parodied Dampier’s ‘A New Voyage Round the World’ at many places in his satirical novel.

William Dampier was a keen observer and he used to note down the new species of plants and animals that he observed on the new lands he explored. Charles Darwin also made use of his book A New Voyage Round the World and quoted Dampier's observations on the behavior of turtle doves in the Galapagos Islands as "Dampier also, in the same year (1684), says that a man in a morning's walk might kill six or seven dozen of these doves."

Along with A New Voyage, Dampier wrote some other books in which he continued describing his new voyages.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the History of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Death of a Salesman is probably the most successful and much talked about stage play by Arthur Miller that was first performed in 1949. It is a two-act play in which the story of protagonist Willy Loman is depicted using a montage of his arguments, memories, and dreams. It is a tragedy of the common man. In the same year (1949), Arthur Miller wrote and published his essay Tragedy and the Common Man in which he presented his reason to make an ordinary American man the subject of a theatrical tragedy. He suggested that the modern world is not gullible, it is more skeptical about the idea of heroes. Thus, the audience cannot understand how tragedy with its tragic hero is relevant to the modern world. On the other hand, Miller argued that the world is full of heroes. According to Miller, a hero is anybody who is willing to lay down his life in order to secure his ‘sense of personal dignity. It doesn’t matter what his social status or background is.

Death of a Salesman is a prime example of Miller’s thoughts on the tragedy. Willy Loman is a traveling salesman. His tragedy is brought about partly by his own actions, but the desperate situations in which he finds himself because of the harsh, competitive, and unforgiving world of sales also are responsible for that. In a world where if he cannot make money as a salesman, he has to think of something else to acquire money so that he can provide a two-time meal to his family and offer a secured adobe. In the Tragedy of the Common Man, Miller argues that theatrical tragedy is dependent on a common ‘man’s total compunction to evaluate himself justly.’ However, while trying to do so and maintaining his dignity, the tragic hero often loses his life. Such a tragedy will prompt the audience to think about what is wrong with society and situations and how they can be changed for the better. The story offers a contrast between the American dream and American reality.

Characters of Death of a Salesman:

Willy Loman is a 63 years old traveling salesman. He has recently lost his job. He is unstable, insecure, and self-deluded. Linda Loman is Willy’s loyal and loving wife Willy is a responsible family man who loved his family, but he had an extramarital affair once that he broke pretty soon. Linda knows and understands realities better than Willy but she remains passively supportive of Willy. She wishes her grown-up sons Biff Loman and Happy Loman help their father. Biff Loman is Willy’s 32-year-old son. He was a football star in his school but dropped out because he couldn’t pass the math exam. He is well-built and handsome. Happy Loman is Biff’s younger brother. He is not happy within himself but pretends to be happy in front of all others. He always tries to win the approval of his parents but miserably fails. Charley is Willy’s neighbor. Charley and Willy do not like each other much, yet, they are friends. Charley cares for Willy and tries to help him. Bernard is Charley’s son. He used to be a huge fan of Biff during his school days. He isn’t as well-built and handsome as Biff is. But he is a successful lawyer. Ben Loman is Willy’s elder brother who became a rich diamond merchant after his tour to Africa. He died years ago but Willy keeps remembering him and has hallucinations of him. Howard Wagner is Willy’s boss who fires him from the job.

Summary of Death of a Salesman:

The play begins as Willy Loman returns home from his tour. Linda notices Willy is confused, disturbed, and tired. Willy met an accident and had to return halfway through his tour. As Linda worries, Willy tells her that nothing has happened but says that he doesn’t remember all of the details of his trip. Linda tells him that he should rest for a while. She tells him that he should now change his job as a traveling salesman and should work in New York. Willy says that he feels he is not needed in New York. He says that had Frank Wagner been alive, Willy might have been in charge of New York. But Frank’s son Howard Wagner is his current boss and Howard doesn’t like him much. Linda informs Willy that both of their sons Biff and Happy are at home as Happy has arranged a double date for them. She tells Willy not to lose his temper on Biff. Willy on the other hand says that he feels Biff has some resentment against him.

In the other room, Biff is discussing with Happy. Biff is 34 years old well-built handsome guy while Happy is two years younger. Happy is equally good looking but he is not self-assured. Biff says that Willy’s health is deteriorating. He complains that Willy continues to mock him, but Happy says that he merely wants Bliff to live up to his potential. Bliff isn’t too sure of his potential. He says that he tried more than a dozen jobs since he left home before the war but was fired from all of them. He wonders if he can do any job. He reminisces about the countryside, herding cattle, and dreams about farming land. Happy says that he has many girls, and he maintains a car, yet he feels unsatisfied. He says that he doesn’t respect any girl he has seduced till now and he is still longing for a girl of character like their mother to whom he may marry. Bliff thinks that he may try going back to Bill Oliver for whom he worked in the past.

Willy, on the other hand, is thinking of the past when Bliff and Happy were kids. Happy complains that he is losing weight while Bliff shows a football to Willy that he took from the locker room. Willy is happy about Bliff’s success at football field and says that one day, Bliff will have a bigger business than Charley’s because while ‘Charley is liked, he is not well-liked.’ At the same time, Bernard enters their home and says that he is worried that Bliff will fail math class and will not be able to attend UVA. Willy isn’t worried at all, he tells Bernard not to be a pest and go away. He then tells Bliff that like Charley, Bernard is liked, but not well-liked. He says that Bernard will not succeed in business despite his good grades as Bliff can because success in business depends on personality and not grades. He says that Bliff has a much better personality than his.

The scene changes and we see a woman with a scarf in a hotel room. Willy tells her that he gets lonely and worries about his business. The woman says that she chose Willy because of his sense of humor. Willy promises the woman that he will see her the next time he visits Boston.

The scene changes again as Willy meets Bernard and asks him to give answer keys for the Regent’s exam to Bliff. Bernard however refuses to do so as it is a state exam. Linda complains about Bliff being too harsh against girls and Willy scolds her and asks if she wants his son to be a worm like Bernard.

Willy returns to the present as Happy approaches him. He tells Happy how he met an accident on his tour. He wonders why he didn’t go to Africa with Ben, his elder brother who got hold of some diamond mines in Africa and made huge riches. Happy reassures Willy and says that he will make him retire decently. Charley visits their home and plays cards with Willy. He offers a job but Willy refuses. Willy tells Charley that his elder brother died in Africa a few weeks ago. Willy then starts hallucinating while imagining Ben visiting him and asking about their mother. Charley leaves him alone.

Willy continues his imagination of the past when he introduced Ben to his sons. He then sees Charley reprimanding him for letting his sons steal from a nearby construction site. Willy tells that his sons are fearless. Charley chides that such fearlessness often leads people to imprisonment to which Ben retorts that such fearless characters succeed in the stock exchange.

In the present time, Bliff and Happy ask their mother for how long Willy is talking to himself like this? Linda answers that this has been going on for years. She complains Bliff that he is not helping his father at all. She informs them that recently Willy tried to kill himself by driving his car off the bridge. She says that earlier too Willy tried to commit suicide by hooking a tube up to the gas heater in the basement. She says that Willy is not a great man but he is a human being and he needs attention. Bliff understands the situation and promises that he won't argue with his father anymore and will go to Bill Oliver to talk about a sporting goods business he may start with his brother Happy. Willy feels good about this and claims that had Bliff stayed with Bill Oliver, he would be on the top by now.

The next day, as Willy is sitting in the kitchen with Linda, she asks him to talk to his boss to let him work in New York so that he may get rid of his traveling job. Willy goes into the past again. He visited Howard Wagner's office where he showed his new wire recorder. Willy asks Howard to let him work in New York as it is the time he should get settled. Howard says that Willy is doing good as a traveling salesman and refuses to listen to him as he walks away. As Willy is still in his office, he thinks had Howard’s father been his boss, he would have listened to him. He accidentally puts on the wire recorder and is startled by its voice. He shouts for help. As Howards returns to his office, he gets angry at Willy and fires him from the job.

As Willy gets back to the current time, he decides to visit Bernard at his office. He asks Bernard what led Bliff to failure while he was a promising football star? Bernard asks why Willy didn't make Biff to go summer school so that he could go to UVA. Bernard pinpoints the timing of Biff's failures to his visit to his father in New England, after which Biff burned his UVA sneakers. He wonders what happened during that visit. Charley enters the office at the same time and offers a job to Willy as he knows he has lost his job. Willy refuses again out of his pride and Charley chides him. Willy says that a man is worth more dead than alive. As he leaves the office, he says that though he doesn’t like Charley but Charley is the only friend he has got.

From the office, Willy goes to the restaurant where his sons are having a double date. Happy refuses to recognize his father in front of the girls as he has told them lies about him being a successful businessman and Bliff being a successful football player.

Willy goes into the past again as he sees himself in the hotel room at Boston with the same woman. Bliff visits him in Boston and begs his father to talk to Mr. Birnbaum to change his marks in maths and allow him pass the exam. At the same time, the woman enters the room from the bathroom. She is half-naked. As Bliff sees her, he realizes that his father is having an affair. Willy makes the woman go away and admits the affair to Bliff but promises that the woman meant nothing to him and that he was lonely. Bliff has lost confidence in his father and he runs away.

As Willy returns to the present, a waiter informs him that his sons have left him alone. He goes back to his home. When Bliff and Happy return home, Linda accuses them of leaving Willy alone. She asks them if they even care if their father lives or dies? Bliff and Happy feel sorry and Happy says that he will soon marry and settle in life. Willy is planting some seeds in the garden as he dreams of his own funeral. Ben tells him that he will be a coward if he commits suicide. Willy faces Bliff and says that Bliff has ruined his life in spite of his father and refuses to take the blame for Bliff’s failure. Bliff gets angry again and confronts his father. He tells Linda that it was not Willy who attached the rubber tube to the gas heater but it was him. He further tells that his parents couldn’t contact him for three months when he left home because he was in jail. As he admits all this, he starts crying and embraces Willy and says that he and Bliff are ordinary men, they are not heroes. But Willy says that Bliff can still prove his mental and succeed in life. He is happy that his son cried for him. He starts talking to Ben in his hallucination and rushes out of his house in his car. He meets an accident and dies. At his funeral, only his two sons, wife Linda, and neighbor Charley is present. Linda wonders where are other people. He cries at his grave and tells how she succeeded to pay the loan on their home through his insurance money. Bliff says that Willy had wrong dreams but Charley says that a salesman must dream and that for a salesman there is no rock bottom in life. Bliff says that he will leave the city and asks Happy to accompany him. But Happy says that he will stay in New York and prove that his father did not die in vain. Everybody leaves for the house but Linda remains there at Willy’s grave, telling him, how she paid back the loan on their house in full.

Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage by Jeremy Collier

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Jeremy Collier was an English non-juror bishop and theologian who chose to be a strong English theatre critic during the Restoration period. He was born on 23^rd September 1950, and he experienced the days of the Protectorate when all theatres and other forms of entertainment were literally banned. A substantial part of the English citizenry always disapproved of English drama. They opposed the increasing profanities and immorality being depicted in the theaters during the times of Ben Jonson, Thomas Middleton, John Fletcher, and others. King Charles II was restored in 1660 and soon the stages of English drama began sparkling again. However, the opposition to theatres persisted. In 1698, Jeremy Collier published a pamphlet titled Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage.

Collier accused the English playwrights and theatre houses of debauching the English citizenry. His main targets whom he directly opposed were William Wycherly, John Dryden, William Congreve, John Vanbrugh, and Thomas D’Urfey. In place of targetting stage art historically, Collier attacked the recent and popular dramas of his time. In his essay, he offered numerous pieces of evidence suggesting how the dramas are affecting the populace and how stage poets use these dramas to profess support for immorality and profanities. He specifically targeted Restoration comedies and mentioned that all of the Restoration comedies lack poetic justice. Vulgar comedies and tragedies depicting clergymen in villainous roles had been a pattern during the Jacobean age too, however, poetic justice was maintained before the Puritans took hold of the crown. However, after the restoration, when the theatres were reopened, Collier complained that the new dramatists forbade the idea of poetic justice.

Poetic justice is the idea that logic always triumphs and logic suggests that ultimately, virtues should be rewarded and vices should be punished. Poetic Justice was recently termed coined by English dramatist Thomas Rhymer. However, the need for poetic justice has been consistent in classical authorities including Aristotle, Horace, Plutarch, and Quintillian. Even William Shakespeare floundered on the lines of poetic justice while Ben Jonson tried to maintain unity and poetic justice in his plays. During the Restoration period, flouted poetic justice by rewarding libertines and punishing dull-witted moralists became a trend. This could have been because during the Civil War, Puritans banned the theatres and after the Restoration, this faction got a chance to lampoon the clergymen. Jeremy Collier strictly opposed and attacked this behavior. He maintained that the only reason for which fiction can be allowed in a civil society is that of Poetic Justice. According to him, dramas should be a means to spread goodness among the people. Dramas should depict how vices are punished and virtues ultimately win. The playwrights of the Restoration period, on the other hand, were ignoring poetic justice in favor of cheap thrills. Collier condemns the characters of Restoration comedies as impious and wicked and he condemned the playwrights for failing to punish the playwrights’ wicked “favorites.” While his accusations were mild, they were comprehensive and he openly blamed William Wycherly, John Dryden, William Congreve, John Vanbrugh, and Thomas D’Urfey along with other playwrights for immorality, profanities, and blasphemy.

As a response, John Dennis published his pamphlet titled The Usefulness of Stage. John Dennis was another contemporary critic of Collier who maintained that dramas are useful for society. John Vanburgh wrote his own retaliation and published it under the title A Short Vindication of The Relapse and The Provok'd Wife From Immorality and Prophaneness in 1698. Vanburgh claimed that Collier is a clergyman and he is more upset by the unflattering depictions of clergymen than actual blasphemy. William Congreve vehemently opposed Collier’s accusation in his essay Amendments of Mr. Collier's False and Imperfect Citations published in 1698. Thomas D’Urfey preferred answering Collier in his upcoming play Campaigners (first performed in 1698) in which he lampooned Collier. Collier relaunched his attack on these playwrights in his next pamphlet titled Defence of the Short View published in 1699.

The comedies of the Restoration period were clearly sexually explicit, and Collier’s pamphlet did trigger a change of pattern. Furthermore, while the playwrights enjoyed free runs during the reigns of Charles II and then James II, William III, and Marry II were not so supportive of English drama.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the History of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

Samuel Pepys | The Diary

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Samuel Pepys was a British Naval Administrator and a Diarist, one of the founders of The Royal Society who later became the president of the scientific organization. However, he was a scientist, nor he had any maritime experience. Yet, he was an able administrator. He is most known for his diary which he continuously wrote every day for 10 years. He was close to both King Charles II and King James II. He was born on 23rd February 1633 and died on 26th May 1703. The detailed private diary that Pepys kept from 1660 until 1669 was first published in the 19th century and is one of the most important primary sources for the English Restoration period. Unlike John Evelyn, he was more consistent about his diary entries. Many of Evelyn’s diary entries were made as memoirs. On the other hand, Samuel made a habit of making accounts of happenings in his diary daily. The diary provides personal revelations and eyewitness accounts of some of the very important incidences of the Restoration Period, including the Great Plague of London, the Second Dutch War, and the Great Fire of London.

Samuel Pepys began writing his diary at a very crucial point in British history and this offers great importance to his entries. Oliver Cromwell died in September 1658 and his son Richard became the new Protector of England. Many factions had tried to establish Oliver as the King of England but Oliver Cromwell refused because of the fear of a possible revolt by Republicans. However, after his death, Richard found it difficult to maintain power and was overthrown in April 1659. The Republicans were gaining strength. The Rump government favored a Parliamentary republic system, however, the army officer opposed it and took control of the offices in 1659. The only possible peaceful solution to these new situations was a return to Monarchy.

Samuel Pepys began writing his diary on January 1^st, 1660. It was a period of political turmoil and the public was fearing of another war and anarchism. Samuel Pepys began noting all the important incidences of the time. On April 4^th, 1660, King Charles II returned to the thrown. Pepys continued writing his diary for 10 years. His diary contains a decade-long record of his private life, his thoughts, and the current socio-political events in more than 1 million words.

Pepys never thought that his diary will become public and will be seen by his contemporaries or other people. He wrote in short hands and used words from other languages including French, Spanish, and Italian. Since he never planned to publish his personal diary, he used many profanities in native English while recording his views in the diary.

Samuel Pepys was not healthy in 1669 and his eyesight was getting weaker. He believed that writing in dim light will cause more problems to him and he may go blind. Thus, he stopped writing his diary in 1669. He made the last entry in his diary on 31^st May 1669.

While his fears could have been correct, he gained better health and never lost his eyesight. However, he never returned to writing his diary again.

John Evelyn’s diary was successfully published in 1818, which inspired John Smith to transcribe Pepys’s diary in simple English. There were many other transcriptions of Pepys’ Diary but all of them omitted the entries in which Pepys mentioned his sexual adventures which were considered too crude by the transcribers. Pepys chronicled the various extramarital liaisons that he had with other women.

Historians use Samuel Pepys's diary to gather greater details of life during the Restoration period. It offers a greater insight into the daily public life of that period because Samuel Pepys wrote about almost everything including personal finances, when he got up in the morning, what he ate, and so on. Not only he chronicled his personal life, but he also mentioned all the important socio-political events of Britain during those 10 years.

Samuel Pepys started chronicling his day-to-day life from New year’s day in 1660 (1^st January 1660) and continued writing every day consistently for 10 days. He broke this habit of his on 31^st May 1669.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

All My Sons by Arthur Miller | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Arthur Miller was an American playwright, essayist, and screenwriter took birth on October 15, 1917, and died on February 10, 2005. Some of his popular plays include All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, and A View from the Bridge. He won Tony Award for Best Author for All My Sons in 1946, while he gained the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Death of a Salesman in the year 1949. His work is known for portraying complex characters who cope with real-life situations and who confront their guilt and remorse for their past actions. His stories talk about the mistakes a person makes and how he looks forward in his life knowing that he has committed a grave mistake.

Arthur Miller wrote his first play No Villain in 1936 while he was still a college student. The play examines the Marxist theory and its inner conflicts using a story of an individual facing problems as a result of a strike. It tells the story of the Simons, an immigrant family, in their parlor, anxiously awaiting the return of their son from university. The Simons were once successful, but appear to have fallen upon rough times.

In 1946, he wrote All My Sons which became his first commercial success. All My Sons is a three-act play based on a true story. In 1941–43 the Wright Aeronautical Corporation based in Ohio had conspired with army inspection officers to approve defective aircraft engines destined for military use. It was covered by newspapers and Miller used the news to make his most successful play.

Characters of All My Sons:

The main character is Joe Keller, a middle-aged businessman who has been exonerated of the charge of knowingly supplying defective aircraft engine cylinder heads during World War II. He cleverly blamed his partner and former neighbor Steve Deever for the whole episode while pretending to be innocent. However, his wife Kate Keller who is in her late 50s knows his secrets. She knows that he is "the guy who made 21 P-40s crash in Australia". Larry Keller is the younger son of Joe and Kate who has been missing for the last three years since he went to participate in the war. Kate believes that he will return and maintains that Anne Deever, who had a relationship with Larry before he went missing, is still his girl. Chris Keller is the elder brother of Larry who returned from World War II two years ago. He respects his father and idolizes him until he comes to know that his father was responsible for the defective aircraft engine cylinder heads. Chris is an idealist and many people don’t like him for that. Chris and Ann have been in contact with each other through letters since Larry went missing. Anne knows that Larry is not going to come back ever and she has moved on. She is trying to make Chris’s parents agree to her marriage to Chris. George Deever is Ann’s elder brother. Like Chris, he is also a WWII veteran. He is a successful lawyer in New York and a close friend of Chris. He was angry at his father for his doing but when he visited Steve Deever, he realized that his father has been wrongly trapped by Joe Keller, and he feels deceived. He decides to convince Anne not to marry Chriss. Dr. Jim Bayliss is a successful doctor and a friend of the Keller family. He wished to be a medical researcher but he acknowledges his responsibility towards his wife and family. Sue Bayliss is Dr. Jim’s wife. She is demanding but affectionate. She is also a friend of Keller’s family but doesn’t like Chriss much. Frank Libbey is one year older than Chriss and George. He missed the draft because of his age and remained at home. He married Linda Lubey who used to be George’s girlfriend before the war. As George went to war, she married Frank and had three children within three years. Bert is an 8-year-old boy living in the neighborhood. He is a friend of Jim Bayliss’s son Tommy. He plays cop-and-robber games with Joe Keller.

Summary:

The play begins at Keller's residence where Joe and Kate Keller live with their elder son Chriss. Joe is a successful businessman living in a luxurious life in an American city. He is living his American dream along with his wife Kate. The only thing that troubles them is their missing younger son Larry who went to fulfill his national duties for World War II but didn’t return. The army declared him missing. While most people know that he is already dead and will never come back, Kate is full of hope and believes that Larry is alive and will soon come back. Larry Keller and Anne Deever were in love and were planning to marry before he went to the war front. Since h was declared missing, Anne moved on and developed a relationship with Chris, Larry’s elder brother and now she hopes to marry him. However, Kate still insists that she is Larry’s girl. Chris has invited her to Keller's residence to make things work for them. Anne’s father Steve Deever and Joe Keller were business partners. During the war, Joe and Steve gained a very profitable project for providing airplane parts to the US Army. One day, Steve found a defective supply of aircraft engine cylinder heads. It was a time of need and the Army was pressurising Steve and Joe to provide the cylinder heads immediately. Joe wasn’t at the factory at that time when Steve called him to ask what should he do. Joe nonchalantly asked him to weld the cracks in the airplane part and supply them to the army. Steve was reluctant but he was under pressure. Joe told him that he had flu and couldn’t come to the factory that day and he will have to send the cylinder heads on his own and he did the same. Thus, they provided such cylinder heads to be used in war aircraft that they didn’t know will work properly or not. Later on, some of the defective cylinder heads busted during the war causing 21 American airplanes to crash and their pilots to die. After inquiry, Steve and Joe were charged and arrested. During the hearing, Joe denied that Steve ever called and informed him about the defective cylinder heads and claimed that Steve is solely responsible for the mischievous act that caused the death of 21 American soldiers. Joe was absent from the factory that day while Steve was there. Steve didn’t have any proof of him calling and informing Joe about the defective heads. He lost the case and was convicted and jailed while Joe was exonerated. Joe’s wife Kate knew that Joe never had any flu and he deliberately didn’t go to the factory to avoid any responsibility in case of a mishap. Steve Deever swore he would never forgive Joe, so Kate worries that Ann will try and harm her family to gain revenge for her father. Thus, she objects to Chriss marrying Anne.

Kate is also hopeful of Larry returning back. She invites Frank Lubbey to check Larry's horoscope to confirm if the day he went missing was fortunate for her. Frank claims that it was an auspicious day for Larry and he couldn’t die that day. This further fills Kate with hope. Joe opposes Kate and says that most probably Larry no more. To this, Kate says that Joe must believe that Larry is still alive, because if he is dead, then Joe is responsible for his death.

George Deever is Anne’s elder brother, a childhood friend of Chriss. He is happy about the prospective marriage of Anne and Chriss. Being a World War II veteran like Chriss and Larry, he is ashamed of his father’s act. Yet, he goes to jail to inform him about Anne and Chriss getting married. At the jail, when George meets Steve he realizes that his father is comparably innocent and the whole plot was of Joe Keller who is the main culprit yet escaped any punishment. This fills him with rage and he decides to stop Anne from marrying Chriss.

At home, Chris and Joe try to suggest to Kate that she should learn to forget Larry. Kate says that Joe should believe that Larry is alive, because if he is not, then their son's blood is on Keller's hands. At the same time, George arrives there and confronts Joe. However, Joe convinces George with his sweet talk that he is innocent. He claims that he was ill and absent the day the incident happened. George gets convinced but after some time, Kate unknowingly says that Joe hadn’t been ill ever for many years. As George notices it, Joe adds that except for a flue that he suffered. While George again gets convinced, Chriss notices something odd in Kate and Joe’s behavior. He again confronts Kate and says that she must understand that Larry is no more. To this, Kate says that Chriss must believe that Larry is alive because If Larry is dead, it means that Joe killed him by shipping out those defective parts. Chriss is devastated after hearing this. Everything is clear to him now. He understands that his own father is the main culprit. Chriss is an idealist who always stands up for the right. But in this case, his most loving father is on the wrong side. He shouts angrily at his father, accusing him of being inhuman and a murderer, and goes away to solitude. 

Kate then confronts Joe and asks him to go to the authorities and commit his crime and accept jail. Joe tells her that whatever he did, he did for the welfare of his family and goes away. Kate confronts Anne again and says that she must believe that Larry is alive and wait for him. Anne then shows her a letter that Larry wrote to her the day before he went missing. The letter written by Larry is essentially a suicide note. Kate comes to know that Larry’s airplane got crashed, but it was not because his plane’s cylinder head was defective. Larry deliberately crashed his plane because he knew that his father supplied defective airplane parts that caused the deaths of other soldiers and he couldn’t bear the shame. Kate is devastated after reading the letter. She asks Anne to hide the letter and not let Chriss or Joe read it. But Anne doesn’t agree with her. As Chris returns, Anne shows him the letter. Chris says that he is not going to send his father to jail but he will leave the family and will not marry Anne too because if he does, Anne will continue to expect justice from him.

Joe enters the room and Chris shows him the letter, saying that Larry knew his father was responsible for the unfortunate deaths of 21 pilots. He reads Larry’s letter aloud. Joe realizes that Larry believed that he is not only his father but he is like a father to all the 21 pilots that were murdered by him. He accepts that he is responsible and agrees to go to jail as all the dead pilots were his sons. He tells Chriss to wait for him as he takes his jacket. But as he goes away, Chriss, Kate, and Anne hear a gunshot. Joe Keller shoots himself and the play ends.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.