Moartea unui comis-voiajor

***Moartea unui comis-voiajor*** (engleză: *Death of a Salesman*) este o piesă de teatru, o tragedie din 1949  scrisă de Arthur Miller. Este considerată cea mai importantă lucrare a autorului, fiind distinsă cu Premiul Pulitzer în 1949, mai multe premii Tony și Drama Desk. A debutat pe Broadway în februarie 1949 fiind rejucată de 742 de ori. Este unanim considerată ca fiind una dintre cele mai mari piese de teatru ale secolului XX.

***Death of a Salesman*** is a 1949 play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. It was the recipient of the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances, and has been revived on Broadway four times, winning three Tony Awards for Best Revival. It is widely considered to be one of the greatest plays of the 20th century.

## Prezentare

 **Atenție:** urmează detalii despre narațiune și/sau deznodământ.
Willy Loman returns home exhausted after a cancelled business trip. Worried over Willy's state of mind and recent car accident, his wife Linda suggests that he ask his boss Howard Wagner to allow him to work in his home city so he will not have to travel. Willy complains to Linda that their son, Biff, has yet to make good on his life. Despite Biff's promising showing as an athlete in high school, he flunked senior-year math and never went to college.

Biff and his brother Happy, who is temporarily staying with Willy and Linda after Biff's unexpected return from the West, reminisce about their childhood together. They discuss their father's mental degeneration, which they have witnessed in the form of his constant indecisiveness and daydreaming about the boys' high school years. Willy walks in, angry that the two boys have never amounted to anything. In an effort to pacify their father, Biff and Happy tell their father that Biff plans to make a business proposition the next day.

The next day, Willy goes to ask his boss, Howard, for a job in town while Biff goes to make a business proposition, but both fail. Willy gets angry and ends up getting fired when the boss tells him he needs a rest and can no longer represent the company. Biff waits hours to see a former employer who does not remember him and turns him down. Biff impulsively steals a fountain pen. Willy then goes to the office of his neighbor Charley, where he runs into Charley's son Bernard (now a successful lawyer); Bernard tells him that Biff originally wanted to do well in summer school, but something happened in Boston when Biff went to visit his father that changed his mind.

Happy, Biff, and Willy meet for dinner at a restaurant, but Willy refuses to hear bad news from Biff. Happy tries to get Biff to lie to their father. Biff tries to tell him what happened as Willy gets angry and slips into a flashback of what happened in Boston the day Biff came to see him. Willy had been having an affair with a receptionist on one of his sales trips when Biff unexpectedly arrived at Willy's hotel room. A shocked Biff angrily confronted his father, calling him a liar and a fraud. From that moment, Biff's views of his father changed and set Biff adrift.

Biff leaves the restaurant in frustration, followed by Happy and two girls that Happy has picked up. They leave a confused and upset Willy behind in the restaurant. When they later return home, their mother angrily confronts them for abandoning their father while Willy remains outside, talking to himself. Biff tries unsuccessfully to reconcile with Willy, but the discussion quickly escalates into another argument. Biff conveys plainly to his father that he is not meant for anything great, insisting that both of them are simply ordinary men meant to lead ordinary lives. The feud reaches an apparent climax with Biff hugging Willy and crying as he tries to get Willy to let go of the unrealistic expectations. Rather than listen to what Biff actually says, Willy appears to believe his son has forgiven him, and after Linda goes upstairs to bed, (despite her urging him to follow her), lapses one final time into a memory of Biff's football career before exiting the house. Biff and Linda cry out in despair as the sound of Willy's car blares up and fades out.

The final scene takes place at Willy's funeral, which is attended only by his family, Bernard, and Charley. The ambiguities at the funeral of mixed and unaddressed emotions persist, particularly over whether Willy's choices or circumstances were obsolete. At the funeral Biff retains his belief that he does not want to become a businessman like his father. Happy, on the other hand, chooses to follow in his father's footsteps, while Linda laments her husband's decision just before her final payment on the house...

"...and there'll be nobody home. We're free and clear, Willy....we're free...we're free..."

## Personaje

* **William "Willy" Loman**: The salesman. He is 63 years old and very unstable, insecure, and self-deluded. Willy tends to re-imagine events from the past as if they are real. He vacillates between different perceptions of his life. Willy seems childlike and relies on others for support. His first name, Willy, reflects this childlike aspect as well as sounding like the question "Will he?" His last name gives the feel of Willy's being a "low man," someone low on the social ladder and unlikely to succeed; however, this popular interpretation of his last name has been dismissed by Miller.
* **Linda Loman**: Willy's loyal and loving wife. Linda is passively supportive and docile when Willy talks unrealistically about hopes for the future, although she seems to have a good knowledge of what is really going on. She chides her sons, particularly Biff, for not helping Willy more, and supports Willy lovingly despite the fact that Willy sometimes treats her poorly, ignoring her opinions over those of others. She is the first to realize that Willy is contemplating suicide at the beginning of the play, and urges Biff to make something of himself, while expecting Happy to help Biff do so.
* **Biff Loman**: Willy's older son. Biff was a football star with lots of potential in high school, but failed math his senior year and dropped out of summer school when he saw Willy with another woman while visiting him in Boston. He wavers between going home to try to fulfill Willy's dream for him as a businessman or ignoring his father by going out West to be a farmhand where he is happiest. He likes being outdoors and working with his hands, yet wants to do something worthwhile so Willy will be proud. Biff steals because he wants evidence of success, even if it is false evidence, but overall Biff remains a realist and informs Willy that he is just a normal guy and will not be a great man.
* **Harold "Happy" Loman**: Willy's younger son. He's lived in the shadow of his older brother Biff most of his life and seems to be almost ignored, but he still tries to be supportive towards his family. He has a restless lifestyle as a womanizer and dreams of moving beyond his current job as an assistant to the assistant buyer at the local store, but is willing to cheat a little in order to do so, by taking bribes. He is always looking for approval from his parents, but rarely gets any, and he even goes as far as to make things up just for attention, such as telling his parents he is going to get married. He tries often to keep his family's perceptions of each other positive or "happy" by defending each of them during their many arguments, but still has the most turbulent relationship with Linda, who looks down on him for his lifestyle and apparent cheapness, despite his giving them money.
* **Charley**: Willy's wisecracking yet understanding neighbor. He pities Willy and frequently lends him money and comes over to play cards with Willy, although Willy often treats him poorly. Willy is jealous of him because his son is more successful than Willy's. Charley offers Willy a job many times during visits to his office, yet Willy declines every time, even after he loses his job as a salesman.
* **Bernard**: Charley's son. In Willy's flashbacks, he is a nerd, and Willy forces him to give Biff test answers. He worships Biff and does anything for him. Later, he is a very successful lawyer, married, and expecting a second son ‒ the same successes that Willy wants for his sons, in particular Biff. Bernard makes Willy contemplate where he has gone wrong as a father.
* **Uncle Ben**: Willy's older brother who became a diamond tycoon after a detour to Africa. He is dead, but Willy frequently speaks to him in his hallucinations of the past. Ben frequently boasts, "when I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. And by God I was rich." He is Willy's role model, although he is much older and has no real relationship with Willy, preferring to assert his superiority over his younger brother. He represents Willy's idea of the American Dream success story, and is shown coming by the Lomans' house while on business trips to share stories.
* **The Woman**: A woman, whom Willy calls "Miss Francis," with whom Willy cheated on Linda.
* **Howard Wagner**: Willy's boss. He was named by Willy, but sees Willy as a liability for the company and fires him, ignoring all the years that Willy has given to the company. Howard is extremely proud of his wealth, which is manifested in his new wire recorder, and of his family.
* **Jenny**: Charley's secretary.
* **Stanley**: A waiter at the restaurant who seems to be friends or acquainted with Happy.
* **Miss Forsythe**: A girl whom Happy picks up at the restaurant. She is very pretty and claims she was on several magazine covers. Happy lies to her, making himself and Biff look like they are important and successful. (Happy claims that he attended West Point and that Biff is a star football player.)
* **Letta**: Miss Forsythe's friend.

## Teatru radiofonic

* 1960 - Traducerea și adaptarea: Alf Adania. Regia artistică: Dinu Negreanu. În distribuție: Jules Cazaban, Clody Berthola, Ionescu Gion, Victor Rebengiuc, Ion Manta, Marius Pepino, Dorin Dron. Regia de studio: Constantin Botez. Regia muzicală: Paul Urmuzescu.

## Ecranizări

* Teatru TV \_ traducere Sima Trandafir

* *Moartea unui comis voiajor*, regia László Benedek, cu Fredric March, Mildred Dunnock, Kevin McCarthy și Cameron Mitchell

* 1951: Adapted by Stanley Roberts and directed by László Benedek who won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Fredric March), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Kevin McCarthy), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Mildred Dunnock), Best Cinematography, Black-and-White and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.
* 1961: *En Handelsresandes död* starring Kolbjörn Knudsen and directed by Hans Abramson (in Swedish)
* 1968: *Der Tod eines Handlungsreisenden* starring Heinz Rühmann and directed by Gerhard Klingenberg
* 1966 (CBS): Starring Lee J. Cobb, Gene Wilder, Mildred Dunnock, James Farentino, Karen Steele and George Segal and directed by Alex Segal.
* 1966 (BBC): Starring Rod Steiger, Betsy Blair, Tony Bill, Brian Davies and Joss Ackland and directed by Alan Cooke.
* 1985: Starring Dustin Hoffman, Kate Reid, John Malkovich, Stephen Lang and Charles Durning and directed by Volker Schlöndorff. See main article: *Death of a Salesman* (1985 film).
* 1996: Starring Warren Mitchell, Rosemary Harris, Iain Glen and Owen Teale and directed by David Thacker.
* 2000: Starring Brian Dennehy, Elizabeth Franz, Ron Eldard, Ted Koch, Howard Witt and Richard Thompson and directed by Kirk Browning.

## Premii şi nominalizări

1949 Broadway
* New York Drama Critics' Circle Best Play (win)
* Pulitzer Prize for Drama (win)
* Tony Award for Best Play (win)
* Tony Award, Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Dramatic)- Arthur Kennedy (win)
* Tony Award, Best Scenic Design — Jo Mielziner (win)
* Tony Award Author — Arthur Miller (win)
* Tony Award Best Director — Elia Kazan (win)

1975 Broadway revival
* Tony Award Best Actor in Play — George C. Scott (nominee)

1979 West End revival
* Olivier Award Director of the Year — Michael Rudman (nominee)
* Olivier Award Actor of the Year in a Revival — Warren Mitchell (win)
* Olivier Award Actor of the Year in a Supporting Role — Stephen Greif (nominee)
* Olivier Award Actress of the Year in a Supporting Role — Doreen Mantle (win)
* Evening Standard Theatre Awards Best Actor — Warren Mitchell (win)

1984 Broadway revival
* Drama Desk Award Outstanding Revival (win)
* Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Play — Dustin Hoffman (win)
* Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play — John Malkovich (win); David Huddleston (nominee)
* Tony Award for Best Reproduction (win)

1999 Broadway revival
* Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play (win)
* Tony Award Best Actor in Play — Brian Dennehy (win)
* Tony Award Best Featured Actor in a Play — Kevin Anderson (nominee); Howard Witt (nominee)
* Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Play — Elizabeth Franz (win)
* Tony Award Best Direction of a Play — Robert Falls (win)
* Drama Desk Award Outstanding Revival of a Play (win)
* Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Play — Brian Dennehy (win)
* Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actress in a Play — Elizabeth Franz (nominee)
* Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play — Kevin Anderson (win); Howard Witt (nominee)
* Drama Desk Award Outstanding Director of a Play — Robert Falls (nominee)
* Drama Desk Award Outstanding Music in a Play — Incidental music by Richard Woodbury (nominee)

**2012 Broadway revival**

* Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play (win)
* Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play — Mike Nichols (win)
* Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play — Philip Seymour Hoffman (nominee)
* Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play — Andrew Garfield (nominee)
* Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play — Linda Emond (nominee)
* Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Play — Brian MacDevitt (nominee)
* Tony Award for Best Sound Design of a Play — Scott Lehrer (nominee)
* Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play — Philip Seymour Hoffman (nominee)
* Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play (nominee)
* Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play — Mike Nichols (win)
* Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design — Brian MacDevitt (win)

## Referințe și note

1. ↑ Format:Cite web
2. ↑ Format:Cite web
3. ↑ Format:Cite web
4. ↑ Format:Cite web
5. ↑ Format:Cite book
6. ↑ Teatru Național Radiofonic - Arhiva program Septembrie 2015

## Legături externe

La Wikisursă există texte originale legate de **Moartea unui comis-voiajor**

Format:Arthur Miller