Layer III
What the critics argue — and the questions worth arguing back.
Arthur Miller
The New York Times, 27 Feb. 1949
The tragic feeling arises when a character is ready to lay down his life to secure one thing — his sense of personal dignity. Rank does not matter.
Research question: Does Willy Loman meet Miller's own definition of tragedy?
Travis Bogard
Oxford University Press, 1972
Traces O'Neill's development as a lifelong search for form, culminating in the autobiographical late plays.
Research question: How does O'Neill transform private family pain into public art?
John Lahr
W. W. Norton, 2014
Reads the plays through Williams' life, showing how his desires, family, and fears became his characters.
Research question: Where is the line between Williams and Blanche?
Christopher Bigsby
Cambridge University Press, 2005
Positions Miller as a moralist concerned with the individual's relationship to society and the denial of responsibility.
Research question: Is Death of a Salesman a critique of capitalism or of Willy himself?
Imani Perry
Beacon Press, 2018
Recovers Hansberry as a radical intellectual — activist, internationalist, and queer writer — beyond the single play she's known for.
Research question: Why is A Raisin in the Sun more radical than it first appears?
Harry J. Elam Jr.
University of Michigan Press, 2004
Argues Wilson's cycle 're-members' history, using ritual and the supernatural to heal the wounds of the past in the present.
Research question: Why does Wilson stage history decade by decade?
Summaries are study notes; consult the original works for quotation and citation.