Abstract：Arthur Miller, considered as “the conscience of the American Theater”, is one of the most important realistic playwrights in the early 20th century. Contrary to the commercial drama for pure entertainment in his time, his works focus on family, morality and personal responsibility, which have a tremendous impact on American society. In the play Death of a Salesman, Miller untraditionally lets an ordinary person Willy Loman as the tragic protagonist, portraying the distressing conflicts among family members as well as the practical problems that confront them in social life. He revalued the national value systems, and exposed the cost of blind faith in American dream.
Based on a close reading of Death of a Salesman, the thesis studies the conflicts between members in the Loman family, so as to explore Miller’s understanding on family and modern society, as well as his reflection of the relationship between family and realism. The thesis can be divided into five chapters. The first chapter is a brief introduction to Arthur Miller and his masterpiece Death of a Salesman. The second chapter talks about Miller’s view of family in his dramas. The third chapter explicitly analyzes the family problems between Willy and his wife Linda, Willy and Biff, the first son as well as with his second son Happy. The fourth chapter explores the reasons for those problems in Willy’s family. And the last chapter is the conclusion.
Key words: family problems Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller American dream
摘要：阿瑟·米勒是美国现代文坛一位重要的现实主义剧作家，被誉为“美国戏剧的良心”。米勒反对商业化、纯娱乐的庸俗戏剧。他的作品着重于家庭、道德和个人责任感，对美国社会产生了极大影响。在《推销员之死》一剧中作者一反传统，让一个小人物威利·罗曼成为悲剧主角，刻画了一个家庭的各成员间令人心痛的矛盾冲突以及他们在社会生活中所面临的现实问题，审视了当时美国国民的价值观，剖析了人们因为盲目追求美国梦所付出的代价。
本文从《推销员之死》这个文本出发，分析罗曼一家家庭中成员各自的角色作用以及家庭成员之间的矛盾冲突，从而探讨米勒对家庭与现代社会的理解，以及他对现代家庭与现实主义之间关系的思考。本文分为五章，第一章是对阿瑟·米勒及其作品《推销员之死》的简要介绍，第二章谈论的是关于阿瑟·米勒戏剧中家庭思想，第三章主要是关于威利和琳达、比夫以及哈比之间的家庭矛盾的分析，第四章是对导致家庭问题的原因的分析，最后一章是本文的总结概括。
关键词: 家庭问题；《推销员之死》；阿瑟·米勒；美国梦
