Understanding Arthur Miller

by Alice Griffin

Alice Griffin's comprehensive appraisal of Arthur Miller's theatrical canon illumines the international importance of a playwright whose work is a mirror of American life. Griffin demonstrates that Miller's plays, though seemingly centered on uniquely American issues, speak to audiences from Brazil to Russia, Iceland to China - the last being a country where Death of a Salesman has enjoyed tremendous popularity despite the unfamiliarity of the Chinese people with Willy Loman's occupation. Griffin discusses Miller's major plays in depth, analyzing characters, plots, themes, dramatic effects, and language. She also reviews his one-act plays of the 1980s, which are growing in popularity; the longer plays from the 1980s for which little commentary exists; two significant plays of the 1990s, The Last Yankee and Broken Glass; and Miller's screenplay for the film version of The Crucible.