谈《推销员之死》中的人物对比

Study on the Character Contrast in Death of a Salesman

《推销员之死》是阿瑟.米勒的代表作。该剧展现了一个普通美国人盲目信奉"美国梦"所付出的代价。为了表现梦想与现实的冲突、成功与失败的主题,米勒在该剧中巧妙地运用了人物对比的写作手法。主人公威利父子在多重角度上与哥哥本和邻居查利父子形成鲜明的对比,前者代表了幻想与失败,后者代表了现实与成功。通过这样的对比,戏剧的主题得到深化,文本所蕴含的深层意义得到推进。

Death of a Salesman is Arthur Miller＇s best play.It tells one big story of missed dreams and unrealized hopes in terms of money and the materialistic pursuit of wealth in America.In order to reinforce the basic theme of the play： reality versus illusion;success versus failure,Miller chooses character contrast as one of the most important writing devices.Willy and his sons are in stark contrast to his brother Ben,his neighbor Charley and Charley＇s son.The former represents a fantasy and failure,while the latter represents the reality and success.