THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE MUSIC SCENES IN DEATH OF A SALESMAN

ЗНАЧЕНИЕ МУЗЫКАЛЬНЫХ СЦЕН В ПЬЕСЕ «СМЕРТЬ КОММИВОЯЖЕРА»

Овсепян Юрий Арменакович

студент, факультет иностранных языков и регионоведения, Московский Государственный Университет имени М.В. Ломоносова,

РФ, г. Москва

АННОТАЦИЯ

В статье автор анализирует значение музыкальных сцен в пьесе «Смерть Коммивояжера». Цель работы – рассмотреть сцены, в которых драматург Артур Миллер отдает предпочтение музыке словам, а также выявить их скрытые смыслы.

ABSTRACT

In this article, the author analyzes the contribution of music scenes in Death of a Salesman by studying the scenes where Arthur Miller uses music instead of words, and discerning their hidden meanings.

Ключевые слова: американская мечта, американская литература, музыка, пьеса.

Keywords: American Dream, American literature, music, play.

A French author, poet, and statesman Alphonse de Lamartine once stated: “Music is the literature of the heart; it commences where speech ends.” This play is clear evidence of how true and relevant this quote is. In this article, I would like to have a closer look at music scenes in one of the most mysterious and moving plays of Arthur Miller. The main aim of my article is to prove that the choice of music scenes is not random. Every music scene has a certain purpose and cannot be ignored. Paying more attention to music makes the play more logical, consistent and comprehensive. In my opinion, the most efficient way to prove the unimpeachable input of music scenes is to explain their significance and correlations with the main ideas of the play.

Generally speaking, the flute has an immense role in the way we perceive this play. The play starts and ends with it. The flute is heard every time we enter the scenes of Willy Loman's, the protagonist's, dreams and aspirations. An attentive reader might notice that the flute is always beyond Willy's hearing range though not beyond his awareness. Put in other words, the flute has become an indispensable part of his life and, thus, he takes it for granted. This idea is confirmed by the episode where the flute stops playing and makes Willy somewhat voiceless. In this connection, it is worth noting that the concept described above is well elaborated. The author says that the flute sounds in the distance when Willy is dying to emphasise its inherent role in the life of the main character. Hence, the music scenes are meant not only to foster our imagination but also to make the play more profound and meaty. Further below, I would like to dwell on the most prominent sounds that we can hear throughout the play.

At the beginning of the play, we can hear the flute and its 'small and fine’ notes. Immediately after, we get to know the first character and the main one, Willy Loman. He's rather melancholic and somewhat hapless. How does his character relate to the music we hear at the beginning? The answer to this question does not lie on the surface. Let us have a look at the lifestyle of the character; this is how we can account for the choice of music and its pertinence in this scene. Mr Willy Loman lives in a house that is completely encircled by flat blocks. I assume that this contingency is the root reason for his failures which drove him into a deep depression. Firstly, Willy tries to grow flowers in his backyard but fails as the garden lacks sunlight. Secondly, his favourite pastime – observing the star sky – is no longer possible because of those tall buildings. The passion for growing flowers and looking at the sky full of stars is the key to his soul. Thus, we hear this tune at the beginning, which stands for nature-the sky, trees and grass. However, this is the representation of the things that elated him. As a whole, Willy's passions and positive memories in connection with nature are conveyed by the means of 'small and fine’ notes.

I have already mentioned, Willy is mostly perceived as pessimistic and disillusioned. Arthur Miller did not only express it by the power of the word, but also by the means of nonverbals, such as music. He introduces Ben's, Willy's adventurous brother's, ‘idyllic’ melody that constitutes Willy's thwarted aspirations - his failure to make his American Dream come true, which completely frustrated him, as far as his perception of his life destination is concerned. This idea is reaffirmed when we hear the tune for the second time when Willy is going deep in his suicidal thoughts after being dismissed. Willy's suicidal tendencies do not baffle or scare Ben. Quite the contrary, he supports his brother's suicidal thoughts. This is the episode where we can hear the “idyllic” melody for the last time. It cannot be ignored that the author deliberately chose this tune for the previously mentioned episode. The "idyllic" tune resembles Ben's and Willy's father's one, who made large profits on selling homemade flutes. The melodies are as similar as the fates of Willy and his father – at the end, Willy meets the same fate as his father: he does not find a better solution but to abandon his family. Willy could have gone his brother's way and become an adventurous diamond seeker in Alaska or a lion-tamer in Africa if he had been as brave and fearless as his brother. In fact, like his father, he found more joy in creating wooden flutes and making a living of them in rural frontier areas. Yet for the same reason, he refuses to try his luck and push himself to the limits. Instead, he opts for staying in the urban area working as a salesman, which he thought would bring him more stability, but, as a matter of the fact, put him in a rut. By and large, Willy's sorrow and frustration, which resulted from his severing the ties with nature, are reflected in an ‘idyllic’ tune of his successful brother Ben.

The music scenes in the play are so pertinent and well-chosen that sometimes we take them for granted. One of such scenes is where we can hear whistling. Whistling is generally associated with a respite after work or stress-reducing nonverbal that people might use arbitrarily. However, some people hate whistling and even hearing that sound. One of those people is Willy's younger's son, Happy, who is firmly convinced that whistling is for irresponsible people. This slightly damaging remark was addressed to Willy's elder son, Biff, who does not mind whistling at all and is even delighted to hear it. The question of whether Happy is rightful to make such comments is not easy to give an answer to. There cannot be any doubt, Happy is more responsible and business-minded than Biff who is rather sensitive and vulnerable. As we can see, they both inherited certain character features of their father. Biff's idealistic dreams are often shattered by Happy, who tries to talk sense into his elder brother. Happy is sure that dreaming is not enough for achieving success – it is also paramount to work hard and play hard in order to be successful and live a happy life. Yet these ideas are the ones that his father, Willy, instilled in him. It is more than obvious that Willy's prejudices and illusions are being shattered throughout the play. For the same purpose, Arthur Miller introduces the same sound yet from a completely different angle. In the second Act, Willy gets completely confused when his boss, Howard Wagner, a successful and respectful businessman, is whistling on the audio recording he decided to play for Willy to understand that his prejudice is completely wrong - success is not equal to being rich or happy, success is the ability to enjoy what you love doing. On the whole, the sound of whistling does not necessarily represent irresponsibility or unwillingness to work. To my mind, whistling is a delineation of harmony and serenity of mind.

As I have already mentioned, both sons, though demonstrating different personal features, are sort of parts of their father's personality. Artur Miller reaffirms this idea by introducing boys’ "gay and bright" melody. It is heard for the first time when Willy tells his sons that happiness could be found in richness. Before Willy's disloyalty was revealed, he more or less got along with his sons. After its exposal, Willy is rather nostalgic about those times when he had decent relations with his sons. In the end, Willy is so hopeless that asks his son, Biff, if it is possible to return those happy moments. This is another episode where the "gay and bright" tune is heard. In my view, the boys’ tune is a representation of money-minded Willy whose illusions about happiness based on material well-being bring him to self-annihilation.

Apparently, musical themes are especially dynamic at the end of the play. The "faint and high" tune which morphs into "an unbearable scream" can be heard when Willy is rushing off the car. These sounds stand by Willy Loman's psychological problems that are reflected in his struggle with the inner voices. Willy's long and torturous path to success ends with his death. Arthur Miller also makes the music scenes less terrifying – paradoxically, as I have already mentioned, in the end, we can hear that lovely 'small and fine' tune that is a reminder of the protagonist's true identity and passions.

In conclusion, having analysed several music scenes in this play, it cannot be refuted that Arthur Miller used them not only for entertainment purposes, but rather to make it more exhaustive, somewhat enigmatic, and structured. Music scenes contribute a lot to the character portraits, their actions, thoughts, dreams and relationships with each other. They also give us a comprehensive insight into the main ideas the author develops in this play.

Reference:

1. Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman: Revised Edition. Penguin, 1996.