Two Pairs of Dramatic Characters

Paper Summary:

This paper compares and contrasts the characters in two plays, "Pygmalion" and "Death of a Salesman." Through this comparison, the reader gleans insights into the character development in each play and the resolved and unresolved issues in each play. The paper gives a brief plot summary of each play and describes the traits of the major characters. Also cited are the unresolved conflicts. The author concludes that both Eliza and Higgins in George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion," and Biff and Willy in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" consistently reveal only half-truths about themselves to each other, and to other characters in the play

From the Paper:

" If "Drama is the art of significant juxtaposition" (H.D.F.Kitto), that is to say that dramatic conflict springs from a dialectical opposition of ideas; e.g., a half-truth in debate with another half-truth, in analyzing two pairs of dramatic "opponent" characters, then, first Eliza and Higgins in George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and second, Biff and Willy in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman one may define the nature of the respective "half-truths" of these characters according to how their confrontations are dramatized and resolved (or not). I will explore the issue of whether the dialectic between either of these two pairs of characters, Higgins and Eliza and Willy and Biff, is ever resolved."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Alexander, Nigel. "Pupil and Puppet-Master: The Creation of a Duchess." In George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. Harold Bloom (Ed.). New York: Chelsea House, 1988. 19.
• Bloom, Harold. "Introduction." George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. Harold Bloom (Ed.). New York: Chelsea House, 1988. iii.
• Jackson, Esther Merle. "Death of a Salesman: Tragic Myth in the Modern Theatre." In Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Harold Bloom (Ed.) New York: Chelsea House, 1988. 7.
• Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. In Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama. 4th Compact Ed. (Eds. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia). New York: Longman, 2005. 1195-1266.
• Miller, Arthur. "Tragedy and the Common Man." Writer's Perspective. In Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 4th Compact Ed. (Eds. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia). New York: Longman, 2005. 1266-1269.

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