Dreams and Escapism within Death of a Salesman and Road Essay

last of a Salesman was written in 1949 in New York, right field on the brink of a consumerist explosion. The American Dream that people had worn proscribed(p) his life in pursuit of was suddenly altered and became highly materialistic. This remaining people, such as the character of Willy Loman, questioning their life and feeling monastic from this new wave of materialistic intake and the abandonment of self sufficiency. along with this, other crops such as Cartwrights Road was written and aline in eighties Britain, in a northern Lancashire town.This was a measure of high unemployment, in particular in the North, under Thatchers conservative power. The running(a) class were hit hard and many declined into poverty, any dreams at this intimate would appear hopeless faced with recession and a government that showed no remorse to the characters depicted in Road. Both were faced with ms of spectacular change that some(prenominal) sets of characters could non adjust to cope with, which is where escapism is used. In the introduction of the play, Miller proves to his audience that dreaming is evident in Death of a Salesman.An air of the dream clings to the place, a dream rising out of verity. By using the phrase rising out this indicates that this dream is a way of escaping, this sets the scene and tone of the whole play and how Willy is in a constant dream, unable to acknowledge the frankness of his existence. The mental synthesis of the play is constructed like a stream of consciousness passim, adding to the over every(prenominal) theme. Parallel to this, the structure in spite of appearance road is fragmented to emphasise the state of life at bottom Road and overly to represent the broken relationships.The characters within Road practice no effort to disguise the misery and reality app argonnt in their lives and portray it at face value through various monologues, which although are not structurally reality orientated the messages within the m are. They are rise of hopelessness and failed dreams and so for many escapism is taking refuge in sex and alcohol to numb the despair and even starvation in an extreme case, as being a way out. However, some characters start escapism through hallucination and Skin-Lad turned to religion to resolve his despair. another(prenominal) figure of speech of escapism used is taking refuge in the past.Willy eternally encloses himself in past situation, re-living them and even having conversations with characters that are only apparent in his own mentality. The positioning of scenes such as these let the imagined characters break all boundaries by entering or leaving rooms through walls. This hike up represents the fragile psychological state of Willy and how his mind has no restrictions and is unable to scar reality from creations of his own mind. Willy constantly refers to the past as more desirable, the depression time Willy is seen lapsing off into the past is when he encounters B iff aft(prenominal) arriving home.The conversation between Willy and Linda reflects Willys disappointment in Biff and what he has become. After failing to deal adequately with his feelings, he avoidances into a time when things were better for his family. The fact he is more engrossed with memories than the present day, shows his willingness to dodging to the past where his life was once idyllic, and his lack of compassion to stay in reality. This type of escapism can also be identified within Road, particularly in Jerrys monologue where the opening line states I cant get over it. I cant get over the past, how it was. I just cant.He goes on to further reveal to the audience about the time he spent in the RAF on national service. Similar to Willy, as he is reminiscing, his dream enters into reality. As he describes certain objects he reaches out to look them as if they are still there. This device is used to create a link between past and present and dream and reality. It is obvi ous some(prenominal) characters use the past to cover the present reality. The actors line within Road, particularly within the monologues, does not provide a realistic representation of the characters veritable(prenominal) vernacular which is usually gutter language.This is used to create a crinkle against themselves and their lives, another way to separate themselves from their reality. The text adapts a poetic sonority which seems unfitting for the topics being covered. Ive been done by them, it, the crushing pitch of ignorance it has a strange beauty, just like road itself. Humour is also present throughout to divert away from what would be considered tragic occurrences nonetheless this is occasionally interrupted by graphic realism, such as Claire and Joeys untimely death through starvation.But true to the structure of the play, it is cursorily overlooked by the narrator, Scullery who simply states Hey, wes gonna miss last orders which would not be considered a realistic reaction. However, within Death of a Salesman the language which is used is typical of the characters. It is the context in which it is presented that provides the difference, particularly Willys conversations with characters which are not present. The end of Road depicts a group of characters chanting together Somehow a somehow a somehow Might escape.This is an unrealistic technique used to restore the hope and dreams that had been diminished throughout the entirety of the play. It also re-assures the audience that there might be somehow out of this squalid existence that has been portrayed, and that even after everything, there is inherent hope. However, in complete contrast to this Death of a Salesmans remainder scenes portrays Willys funeral. His constant dream-like existence is finally exposed to show Willy for who he really was.The reality is enforced and everything dream-related has died with Willy, leaving the harsh truth. In both plays, dreams and escapism are used tho roughly to uplift the tragic reality of the era in which the plays are set. Although, different strategies in both are used to cope with harsh realities they both provide a form of escapism for the characters and audience alike. Whether this is the humour, drink, sex and drugs present in Road or the constant reliance on the past and denial of present reality featured in Death of a Salesman.