摘   要

作为米勒的代表作，《推销员之死》表面上刻画了一个家庭成员之间令人心痛的矛盾冲突，实际上触及了美国价值观等更为宏大的问题。该剧剖析了人们因盲目相信美国梦所付出的代价。米勒控诉美国社会兜售的一个神话。这个神话是围绕二战之后兴起的资本主义物质至仁主义建立起来的。这种物质至上主义抹杀了人生真谛，模糊了美国的立国者们当初倡导的道德观念。这种物质至上主义就是当今人们普遍意识到的消费主义，它鼓励人们极可能多地攫取商品并月_将人生的意义建立在商品消费上。《推销员之死》虽未直接指出，但却清楚地表明，对这种物质至上主义的盲从有把自己变成消费品的危险。
尽管《推销员之死》并不长，但却充满了各种各样的象征，使得该剧仅仅通过一个家庭的悲剧就得以展示消费主义时代美国的命运乃至人的本质。意识流手法在现代主义小说中得以广泛运用，但在舞台上的运用却需要技巧和勇气。梦幻与现实交融的手段营造了一种梦幻般的氛围，其象征意义不言而喻。

关键词:阿瑟•米勒;  《推销员之死》;  美国梦;  罗曼

Abstract

As Miller’s masterpiece，Death of a Salesman addresses the painful conflicts Within one family on the surface and actually tackles larger issues regarding American national values. The Play examines the cost of blind faith in the American Dream. Miller charges America with selling a false myth constructed around a capitalist materialism nurtured by the Postwar economy, a materialism that obscured the personal truth and moral vision of the original American Dream described by the postwar economy, a materialism that obscured the personal truth and moral vision of the original , American Dream described by the country’s founders. This materialism, which is now widely recognized as consumerism, encourages people to snatch as many commodities as possible and base the meaning of their life on the consumption of these commodities. Death of a salesman does not directly point it out, but clearly shows that those who are falsely convinced by this materialism are at the risk of being commodities.
Short play as it is, Death of a Salesman is full of symbols, which help reveal the fate of the country in the era of consumerism and even human nature through a single family’s tragedy. Stream-of-consciousness has been widely adopted in modernist fiction, but its application to the stage demands both courage and skills. By mixing up the illusion and the reality in the play, Miller successfully develops a dream-like atmosphere. The symbolic meaning is too obvious to ask for any interpretation.

Key words: Miller;   Death of a Salesman;  American dream;  Loman 

1  Introduction
Death of a Salesman, Miller’s most famous work, addresses the painful conflicts within one family, but it also tackles larger issues regarding American national values. Once it was one of the most revealing volumes ever written on the making of theatre. In 1983, Arthur Miller was invited to Peking to direct the first Chinese production of Death of a Salesman. This book is the diary he kept of the six to seven weeks it took to rehearse the play. It was not just a record of a slightly eccentric theatrical venture. It ranges back to the author's experience as a liberal in postwar America; and forward to thoughts about China.