American Dream and Idealism in Death of a Salesman 《销售员之死》中的美国梦与理想主义Chapter! IntroductionArthur Miller’s play，Death of a Salesman, which won the Pulitzer Prize in1949, was comparable to O’Neill at his best. Death of a Salesman was that wonderof wonders，a masterpiece that came easily. The play tells through flashbacks intercut into present-day action, of the false aims，degradation，and final decline of a salesman who believes he is “vital in New England” but who，in reality，is a failure—as salesman, as father，and as husband.The drama tells how its protagonist，Willy Loman，a middle-class salesmanwhose youth is but a memory，decides to end his life in order to get the insurance money for his family. He is loved by his wife, Linda, and he has two sons, Biff and Happy，whom he has tried to raise to become men of influence and power. The whole life of Willy Loman is filled with idealism. This paper is about to analyzethat idealism is the root of his tragedy. Idealism leads to his ultimate psychological downfall. His life principles，snobbish sense of pride and ego all step from his idealism. Idealism is an addiction that makes Willy Loman9s entire life a tragedyin which he can never harmonize his dreams with reality. His idealism, in fact，isthe tragedy of his whole family. In other words，it is the idealism that forces him to commit suicide because of his failure in the real world.This paper is made up of five parts. Part one is the introduction，which gives a brief comment on the thesis. In part two, some basic notions involved in idealismare presented. Part three mainly investigates the idealism that is shown in the main characters and their tragedies caused by the idealism and Part four aims to explorethe relationship between idealism and American Dream. Finally，the conclusion is made in Part five.Chapter 2 Basic Notions Involved in IdealismIdealism is the main reason of Willy Loman’s tragedy as well as the basicconcept of the paper. So in order to have a better understanding of this play, some basic notions about idealism are quite necessary.2.1Interpretation of IdealismIdealism，the attitude that places special value on ideas and ideals asproducts of the mind，in comparison with the world as perceived through the senses. Idealism in literary is a form that emphasizes the representation of the subjective ideal with a straight feeling expression. The basic features of idealism literature are desirability, performance and unreality. Idealism literature mustsurreal reality，stand out subjective. The values of idealism literature in the new period show an essentially accordant trend with that of the social mainstream ideology. Since 1990, with further practice of social and economic reforms and the western nihilism’s impacts on the society，the values of idealism literature hence deviated from that of the societal mainstream，and more and more sharp conflicts appeared. The position of idealism is fully shown in such aspects as theiropposition of market economy values and their maintenance of the stability of values，and oneness of value tropism.In art idealism is the tendency to represent things as aesthetic sensibilitywould have them rather than as they are. In ethics it implies a view of life in whichthe predominant forces are spiritual and the aim is perfection. In philosophy theterm refers to efforts to account for all objects in nature and experience as representations of the mind and sometimes to assign to such representations ahigher order of existence. It is opposed to materialism. Plato conceived a world in which eternal ideas constituted reality，of which the ordinary world of experienceis a shadow. In modern times idealism has largely come to refer the source of ideasto man’s consciousness, wher eas in the earlier period ideas were assigned a reality outside and independent of man’s existence. Nevertheless, modern idealism generally proposes superhuman mental activity of some sort and ascribes independent reality to certain principles，such as creativity, a force for good, or an absolute truth. The subjective idealism of George Berkeley in the 18th centuryheld that the apparently objective world has its existence in the consciousness of individuals. Immanuel Kant developed a critical or transcendental idealism in which the phenomenal world, constituted by the human understanding, standsopposed to a world of things-in-themselves. Ralf Waldo Emerson is a representative of transcendental idealism. The post-Kantian German idealism of J. G. Fichte and Friedrich von Schelling，which culminated in the absolute or objective idealism of G. W. F. Hegel，began with a denial of the unknowablething-in-itself，thereby enabling these philosophers to treat all reality as the creation of mind or spirit. Forms of post-Kantian idealism were developed in Germany by Arthur Schopenhauer and Hermann Lotze and in England by Samuel Coleridge; forms of post-Hegelian idealism were developed in England and Franceby T. H. Green，Victor Cousin, and C. B. Renouvier. More recent idealists include F. H. Bradley，Bernard Bosanquet，Josiah Royce, Benedetto Croce，and theneo-Kantians such as Ernst Cassirer and Hermann Cohen.2.2The Development of IdealismIn the book named the Commentary on the background of the AmericanLiterature, the author said that the two words idealism and chance had been alwaysin the mind of American people. And American is just the country that developed with the theory. The people who first immigrated to American are Christian. They come to the new land in order to run from religious persecution. To some extent，they are the idealist who hold the view that they can be free in this new land and to be successful. Just as their English brothers，the American people is also the realidealist，they want the church to be pure again. Without doubt，the faith and exceptions of idealism from the religion have a great effect on their sons.The belief that personal beings (e.g.，God/s，angels & spirits) preceded the existence of insentient matter seems to suggest that an experiencing subject is a necessary reality. Also, the existence of an omniscient God suggests，regardless of the actual nature of matter, that all of nature is the object of at least consciousness. Materialism sees no incoherence in a scenario of there being a cosmos where no sentient subject ever develops; a wholly unknown universe where neither any subject, nor any object of a subject’s experience ever exists. Historically，Mechanistic Materialism has been the favorite viewpoint of Atheist philosophers. Still, idealistic viewpoints that have not included God, supernatural beings, or apost-mortem existence have sometimes been advanced.The theology of Christian Science includes a form of subjective idealism: itteaches that all that exists is God and God’s ideas; that the world as it appears tothe senses is a distortion of the underlying spiritual reality，a distortion that may be corrected by a reorientation (spiritualization) of thought. Such a reorientation，Christian Science teaches，results in healing, as the world of appearance adjusts to approximate more nearly to the underlying divine reality. Christian Science is consequently a form of monistic (theistic) idealism, since it teaches that there is inreality no matter: all is Spirit (God) and its manifestation. In Christian Science teaching, there is no ultimate division or dualism between Spirit and its expression (the spiritual universe including the true identity of each one of us) any more than there is between the sun and the light which shines forth from it.In 1776，the American claimed independence. The declaration ofIndependence says that everyone who lives in the American could be equal. Andthey have the right to pursuit happiness, freedom as well as wealth. Though those exceptions do not come true，the faith of idealism becomes the important part ofthe American myth and also fuels the development and social reform of American. Ralph Waldo Emerson is the leader of transcendentalism in American literature.He once focused on the necessity of idealism, he firmly believed that idealism can make bad things to good and can also make good things to bad. Though hisidealism has been gotten criticized，lots of authors are also on his side. Walt Whitman is just one of them. He welcomes idealism, respect，freedom andhard-working. His Songs of Myself to construct a idealism society withoutclass.In the 20th century, the way of live and thinking has changed a lot. Success is measured by wealth，the wealthy people is looked upon as heroes. The dream of being a rich man and going into the high class devours the soul of men. Death of aSalesman just come under the circumstance, Willy is just one of the victims in idealism.Chapter3 American Dream and IdealismA large number of critics agree with the idea that American Dream is themain reason of the protagonist Willy Loman’s tragedy. While American Dream has inspired American people to fight for their dreaming lives for centuries in the reality. It is not fair to say that the tragedy of Willy Loman all dues to theAmerican Dream. The personal idealism of Willy is the root of his tragedy. So a better understanding of the relations between American Dream and Idealism is significant.3.1The Features of American DreamAmerican Dream is a unique phenomenon in the culture of the United States. Broadly speaking，American Dream is a national idealism of democracy，equality and freedom. It is a dream that could be realized through diligence and selfdiscipline from a limited point of view.It often presented to us as the idealistic vision of a married couple with two or more children，owning a home in the suburbs and driving one or more large cars.Everyone is solvent and well-fed, the man is king of his family，God is in His heaven and all is well with the world. It has a fifties flavor to it，this originalvision- Dad in his hat，Mom in her girdled dress and pearls，and Dick and Janewith a ball and doll. Everyone knows their place and is in their places, obedient tothe Dad，loving to the Mom.The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States of America inwhich democratic ideals are perceived as a promise of prosperity for its people. Inthe American Dream, first expressed by James Truslow Adams in 1931，citizens of every rank feel that they can achieve a ’’better，richer，and happier life.11 The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the second sentence of the “Declaration of Independence” which states that ’’all men are created equal” and that they are’’endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness••’Since the early 19th century，the United States has regarded and promoteditself as a beacon of liberty and prosperity achieved through a combination of the philosophical and ethical principles propounded by its founders and implementedin their most perfect form. In tandem with this is its natural wealth and bountywithin the New World.The meaning of the ’’American Dream” has changed over the course ofAmerican history. While historically traced to the New World mystique — the availability of land and the continuing American expansion — the ethos today simply indicates the ability，through participation in the resonant society and culture of the United States，to bring prosperity to oneself. According to the dream, this includes the opportunity for one’s children to grow up and receive anAmerican education and its consequent career opportunities. It is the opportunityto make individual choices without the restrictions of class，caste, religion，race, or ethnic group.3.2The Differences between Idealism and American Dream American dream is related to idealism in some aspects. It has been blamedfor overinflated expectations. Some commentators have noted that despitedeep-stated belief in the egalitarian American Dream, the modern American wealth structure still perpetuates racial and class in equalities between generations. These commentators note that advantage and disadvantage are not always connected to individual success or failures，but often to prior position in a social group. All of those have something in common with idealism.However，as a traditional value in the United States, American Dream hasinspired a lot of American people to live and to exploit in the new land for a happy life depending on their own ability. This is just the energy for the development ofthis country as well as the people there. While idealism holds some ideas that people cannot get in the real world. Idealism always makes people hide from the reality and live in the ideal world. So American Dream and idealism has the basic difference.Just like Willy Loman in the play，it is willy’s idealism that truly destroyshim. Although American Dream has an effect on him, the primary cause of his failure and suicide is his idealism. He has many opportunities to save himself, he can choose to accept the job offered by Charley，he can choose another job for living, he can make a new start on his own. However, he cannot give up idealism which means everything to him. So his idealism is different from American Dream in some way. American Dream inspires people to keep tying for happiness, for the family. American Dream inspires people never to give up even though you face difficulties. While idealism let people live in the unrealistic world which you never get rid from it.Faced with the decline of the salesman，Willy Loman can choose anotherway for living. But he also insists on his principles，he cannot confront the reality. The idealism is full of his mind. So it is fair to say idealism is the main reason for his death. And this is just a good example to say that American Dream is different from idealism.Chapter4 Idealism and Tragedy in Death of a SalesmanWilly Loman is an idealist, he believes that everybody lives in this countryis equal. People can be rich and successful only by hardworking. He uses all his life to pursue the dream and creates a perfect world for himself. In this world，he has his own principles to be successful and is respected by others. American is a great country where people have dream can succeed. However，he never realizes that the real world has changed. His idealism is doomed to be a tragedy in the end.4.1Willy’s Dignity as one kind of his IdealismHis dignity was the characteristic that Willy Loman had which made him a loser. Willy Loman did not stop pursuing his dignity all his life. When Willy Loman was too old to travel around to sell the products successfully, he went to his boss to ask for transition to New York to work there，but his employ fired him. Willy Loman was jobless with a family to support. When his boss asked him why he could not asked his sons to give him a hand. Willy did not tell the truth; instead, he told lies to defend his dignity.Howard. Where are your sons? Why don’t your sons give you a hand?Willy. They are working on a very big deal.Howard. This is not time for false pride. Willy, you go to your sonsand tell them you are retired. You have got two great boys，haven’t you?Willy. I cannot throw myself on my sons. I am not a cripple.（汪义群78）Here we can see the old man defend his dignity even when he was in trouble.He could not acknowledge that he was old and he could not work well any longer.He even could not acknowledge that he needed to depend on his sons to make a living. It is because that he is an idealist. To receive all of those would mean thathe was a failure. It was a shame for him when he was dreaming to be successful all through his life. He could not bear to be a failure.He went to Charley，his friend，to borrow fifty dollars every week and bringthe money home to Linda，lying that the money was his salary. He just did notwant his wife to know the truth that he was fired and he had ended his career as a salesman. Charley would like to offer him a job so that Willy could solve his financial difficulties. But Willy could not allow himself to take that job because ofhis dignity and pride，since he knew that the work was offered by Charley just out of compassionate friendship to help him out of the trouble. Willy could not acceptthe job also because he could not accept that he was a failure.Charley. Now listen，Willy. I know you don’t like me，and nobody can say I am in love with you，but I’ll give you a job. Because—justfor the hell of it，put it that way. Now what do you say?Willy. I just can’t work for you. Charley.Charley. What are you jealous of me?Willy. I just can’t work for you. Don’t ask me why.(Carson 99)This conversation is another good example to show the idealism in WillyLoman. In order to live in his idealism world，he could not bear any help from anybody. This is one of his principles.4.2Escape from Reality as one kind of his Idealism4.2.1Personal AttractivenessThe most dominant idea running throughout the play is that a person must benot just liked but well-liked. To Willy，this idea is paramount. If a person iswell-liked, then the entire world opens up for him. Willy took this idea from an old salesman named David Singleman who was so loved and respected that all he hadto do was to go into a town and pick up a phone and then could place many orders. And when Dave Singleman died at the age of eighty-four, buyers and salesmen from all over the country came to his funeral. That was a time when sellingdepended on the personality of the salesmen and not on the product that he was selling.Willy Loman had deep faith in his dream that he could be rich by hard-working and well liked. He always indulged in his dream that he would be liked by everyone wherever he went. So he never doubted his dream because ofDavid until he was fired by his boss. As a salesman he never knew the truemeaning of selling things，as his friend Charley pointed out:” you named him Howard，but you can’t sell that. The only thing you got in this world is what youcan sell. And the funny thi ng is that you are a salesman and you don’t know that.”(Bronin 199).This is just an example of his idealism. He could not back to the real world which was full of cruel things he did not want to face. So he resorted to his ideal principles in order to keep living in idealism.4.2.2Self-deluded ConfidenceWilly Loman tended to idealize the people as well as the society. He pursuedhis dream with passion and spent all his life on this dream which would nevercome true. He also gave his children this kind of thinking. His older son Biff is popular in his school. So he firmly believed that this attractiveness will make his son succeed finally. He ignored the stealing things of Biff and regarded it as the step to succeed. Willy admired his father，brother and Dave Singleman. He madeup a lot of stories one after another and believed that he would be one of them in the society.Willy Loman was also a proud spirit which was shown in the play. Hethought that he was the most important person in his company. He cheated his family about his salary so that he must borrow fifty dollars from Charley but was not willing to accept the job offered by Charley. That was because he looked down upon Charley who was not a real man in his heart. In his view, the son of Charley was an idiot who never compared with his Biff. Biff would be more famous and successful.This kind of self-deluded confidence was the energy for him to survive inthis cruel world. However，the golden time of salesmen had passed in the 20th century. They must compete not only with the salesmen but also with millions of stores. In the real business world, Willy Loman was just an unimportant person. But he could keep pretending to be a successful salesman by his self-deluded confidence.So we could say that just because he could not face the reality, like he hadbeen fired and his son could not make him satisfied. He would just live in his idealism world so that he can retrospect some pride things he had made before. This is the only way he could get pride and dignity. It was known that Willy wasnot born with idealism. When he faced so much unfortunate and cruel realities, he could not understand why the tragedies happened to him. So he would only resortto idealism for help. Thirty years’ hard-working just got this cruel end，he suffereda lot and even could not get through. So he had to commit suicide to help him get away from reality. This is the peak of idealism in Willy. However，until the last moment before his death, his thought was still filled with idealism. He imaginedthat his funeral would be large. Lots of people would come from different states to attend the funeral. He also wanted to leave his insurance money to his family. Buthis dream would never come true in reality. In this cruel world，he was just a small potatoes though he thought he was famous and successful. He would never get attention even he died. It was just a perfect daydream about the insurance. The insurance would prepare different excuses to refuse to pay for the money.4.3 Self-destruction of Willy LomanIn Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman's life seemed to be slowlydeteriorating. It was clear that Willy’s predicament is of his own doing，and thathis own foolish pride and ignorance led to his downfall. Willy’s self-destruction involved the uniting of several aspects of his life and his lack of grasping reality in each, consisting of, his relationship with his wife，his relationship and manner in which he brought up his children，Biff and Happy，and lastly his inability toproductively earn a living and in doing so, failure to achieve his idealism.Willy’s relationship with his wife was clearly a cause of his collapse. Willy neglected to demonstrate honesty in his relationship with his wife. The reader was told of Willy\s past and how on business trips he would deceivingly find himself a woman to spend the night with. When Willy was no longer able to make a livinghe borrowed money from his friend，Charley, and claimed that it was money that he had made. As Willy’s condition slowly deteriorates，he set up tubing, which he planned to hook up in a fashion with intent of suicide. He neglected to tell Linda how he felt. Due to Willy’s lack of honesty with Linda, she too was not honestwith him. She was aware that Willy wass borrowing money from a friend, but didn’t say anything about it. After Willy was unable to complete a drive to New England，due to his obviously deteriorating condition，Linda avoided reality and made excuses for Willy. As Miller wrote，"Maybe it’s your glasses. You never went for your new glasses.”（李思洁88）.As Linda became knowledgeable that Willy was planning to kill himself，she didn’t confront him and acted as if nothing was wrong. Clearly，if Willy was more honest with his wife, she would have returned the openness，and perhaps talked out the obstacles Willy was facing.The way by which Willy brought up his children was another factor that ledWilly to his defoliation. Willy brought up his sons with little focus on school.Self-image and pride were enforced before education. As his sons grew up, they had little foundation，and were clueless. Willy, however，was in his own fantasy world. He was unable to distinguish between reality and illusion. He believed that his sons were great men who have what it takes to be successful and beat the business world. However，he was mistaken，for in reality，his sons weren’t，and couldn’t be successful. Willy himself couldn’t cope with the outcome of his boys and often contradicted himself. At one point in the play, Willy said, "Biff is a lazy bum. Moments later in the same conversation with Linda, Willy added, "There’s one thing about Biff, he is not lazy’’(Altick 189). Even when confronted by his boys，Willy was unable to deal with the truth that his sons would not amount to very much at all. He ignored reality very well, and instead of pointing out that Biff hadn’t established himself yet, Willy told Biff，"You’re well liked. And I’m telling you，Biff，and babe you”(Batespm 78).The boys were clearly aware of their status and the status of their father，and Happy was found putting Willy\s personality in a nutshell，’’Well，let’s face it: he’s [Willy] no hot-shot selling man. Except that sometimes，you have to admit he’s a sweet personality’’(Perinks 98).Obviously Willy’s failure to bring up his children effectively, and his delusional thinking including denial of reality helped fortify his depleting condition and confusion.The single most weighted factor that edges Willy to his demise was hisinability to make a living and achieve his idealism. After being a salesman formany years，Willy just couldn’t cope with the fact that he hadn’t been successful at all. He believes that he is a terrific salesman. His imaginative thinking wouldn’t lethim accept the fact that he had become a failure instead of a wealthy bussinessman. Willy believed that to be well liked is the means to being successful. Willy also struggled through confusion and contradicts himself，’’I’ll go to Hartford，I’m very well liked in Hartford，the trouble is，Linda，people don’t seem to take to me n（'汪义群36）.This showed how Willy has no self-image，and therefore could not survive in the business world. His lack of grasping the obvious was truly a downfall. One critic stated，H We do not learn about Loman’s dilemmas through Loman’s eyes，because we know more about his failures than he does”（凯瑟琳休斯68）. Clearly，Willy was too foolish to be able to decipher that he was a failure in the business world. Since Willy couldn’t earn a reasonable living to support his household, he relied on borrowing money from his neighbor，Charley. When Willy’s boss, Howard，relieved Willy of his position, he was completely distraught and in disarray. Charley often offers Willy a job，however he was too senseless to ever except the offer. In fact，in reply to Charley’s offer，Willy responded that he already had a job, purely out of stubbornness and foolish pride. Willy’s idealism was to become a successful businessman, this was never achieved，and as Jonathanstated, "Willy has lost at trying to live idealism"（郭继得30）.Biff and Happy were both aware that Willy’s dream was to become number one，and Biff spelled it outto his father that he would take that ’’phony dream” and burn it. Willy’s failure and lack of reality were a major factor to his decline.Clearly，Willy’s destruction was due to his own doing. He failed to establishan honest relationship with his wife. Willy brought his children up based on his crooke d beliefs and his imaginative ’’cookie cutter.1 world. Willy also failed to make anything of himself，achieved the idealism and faced reality. All of the previously mentioned factors were in complete control of Willy throughout his life，however his foolish pride and stubbornness led to the wrong choices，which ultimately led to his downfall.4.4 The Choice of Willy’s TragedyWilly Loman is loyal to idealism. We can say that his life is up to theidealism. However，when his idealism face cruel realities in the real world，his tragedy is reasonable. The idealism is challenged by the reality，his rules will be broken. So death is the best solution to the dilemma. A man dominated by idealism and makes wrong choice is the real reason for his death. Idealism is doomed to his choice of tragedy.In this play，the suffering of Willy has a clear comparison with that of。
