Death of a Salesman Study Guide

DEATH OF A SALESMAN

By Arthur Miller
Directed by Dean Gabourie

GRADE RECOMMENDATION

Grade 9+

CONTENT ADVISORY

Please see the show page for a detailed advisory.

SYNOPSIS

Willy Loman, an aging travelling salesman, grapples with the fading promise of the American Dream as his career falters and his sense of purpose slips away. Haunted by memories and regrets, he drifts between past and present, clinging to hopes he once held for himself and for his sons. Biff, once the focus of Willy's ambitions, returns home disillusioned, and their fractured relationship forces both men to confront painful truths about success, identity and expectation. As financial pressures mount and family tensions rise, Willy's grasp on reality loosens, leading the Lomans to reckon with the cost of aspiration and the fragile line between hope and delusion.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS

Global Competencies or Transferable Skills: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving; Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship; Self-Directed Learning; Collaboration; Communication; Global Citizenship and Sustainability; Digital Literacy

Grades 9-12

The Arts
Canadian and World Studies
English
Health and Physical Education
Social Sciences and Humanities
Technological Education

Post-Secondary

Suitable for courses in disciplines such as Arts, Cultural Studies, Comedy, Creative Writing, Dramatic Arts and Theatre, Economics, English, Fine Arts, Gender Studies, History, Literature, Philosophy, Social Development Studies, Teacher Education

THEMES

The American Dream
Ambition, Dreams and Unfulfilled Potential
Despair and Hopelessness
The "Everyman"
Fathers and Sons
Generational and Gendered Expectations
Identity and Self-Worth
Isolation and Loneliness
Masculinity and Pride
Materialism and Social Disparity
Memory, Reality and Illusion
Success and Failure
Trust and Betrayal

DISCUSSION AND REFLECTION QUESTIONS

PRE-SHOW QUESTIONS

Based on the title Death of a Salesman, what do you expect the play to be about? Do you think the title suggests a literal or figurative death? Why? Explain your reasoning.
What do you already know about the American Dream? How is success usually defined within the idea of the American Dream? Who benefits the most? How does this concept present itself in Canada? Explain your thinking with specific examples.
How do you define success? Do you think society defines it in the same way? What could help people feel valuable when the world measures success in ways that might not align with their values, circumstances or viewpoints?
In your opinion, what are the three most important values a family can have? How might conflicting values create tension and misunderstandings between family members?
What is the difference between being admired and being loved? Why might it be easy to confuse the two? Explain your thinking.
What does the phrase "amount to something" bring up for you? What images, feelings or ideas come to mind when you hear that phrase?
Why do some people find change harder than others? Why do you think people have such strong responses to big changes in society, culture and technology? What does it tell us about their relationship to both the past and the future?
How do changes to the places we live impact our emotions, memory or sense of belonging?
What do people tend to try to keep private from their neighbours or people who live nearby? How do feelings like pride, shame or embarrassment shape what neighbours may choose to share or keep private? Does this differ depending on culture and where or how people live? Why or why not?
How are expectations about gender roles reflected in family dynamics? How might these expectations have looked different in the 1940s compared to today? How might they be similar? In what ways do gendered expectations shape what people feel they can say or do?
In a stage play, how can design elements such as lighting, sound, costumes or set changes show you that time has passed?
How can the musical composition or sound design in a play shape our emotional responses to a scene or to the play as a whole? Think about a time when music/sound or a specific musical instrument affected how you felt while watching a play, movie or show. Do you think you would have felt differently if the music were different or absent altogether? Explain your thinking.

POST-SHOW QUESTIONS

How did the music and sound design in Death of a Salesman shape your emotional response to a scene or the play as a whole?
What specific design elements signaled that Willy Loman was entering a memory or flashback? How did these choices affect your understanding of the scene and/or play?
Linda's final monologue includes significant repetition. What impact did this have on you as an audience member? What does it reveal about her thoughts, perspectives or emotions?
Willy becomes so determined to plant seeds in his garden that he does so at night. What does this moment suggest about Willy's emotional state, mental well-being and role within the family? Explain your thinking.
What is Willy's favourite food? How does this food provide him with comfort? How does his reaction to the different versions of this food reflect his shifting mental state and his feelings about change or loss?
How does Willy's desire for success impact his relationship with Biff and Happy? In what ways do Willy's beliefs strengthen or damage their relationship? What parallels do you see between Willy and his sons? In what ways are Biff and Happy different from their father?
Can pride be both a strength and a weakness? Explain your thinking using examples from the play or other dramatic and literary works or media texts.
Arthur Miller wrote Death of a Salesman in 1949. What aspects of the play reflect the values or anxieties of that time period such as expectations about gender, work, money, the American Dream, success and mental health? In what ways do these themes still feel relevant today?
Throughout the play Willy struggles with feelings of regret, pride and frustration. How do these emotions affect the way he thinks, acts and interacts with his neighbours?
What do you imagine happens to the Loman family after the play ends?
Are there any unintentional harms that might be caused through the production of this play? If so, what are they and what might be done to take care of the artists and audience members participating in the work?

MINDS ON

Objective: Students will engage with the characters and themes of Death of a Salesman by imagining an alternative ending. They will explore the characters' hopes, dreams and plans, considering how personal choices and social circumstances shape life outcomes.

Materials:

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
Laptops/tablets
Writing paper
Writing utensils

Directions:

With your students, briefly summarize the ending of the play and Willy's tragic choice. With Willy's suicide, this is a sensitive and difficult discussion. Suggested resources to support students are included in the Resources section of this guide.
Ask students to imagine an alternate version of the ending where Willy does not leave the house and get in his car. While Willy is still fired, in conflict with his sons and wife and experiencing distress and desperation, there is hope for a different way forward.
Invite students, imagining this alternate ending, to choose one of the characters in the play – Willy, Linda, Biff or Happy – and to imagine what else could be next for them.
- What are your chosen character's plans and hopes for the foreseeable future? What do they want?
- What problems or challenges do they need to address?
- How might they grow or change in the next 5-10 years?
Invite students to make a mind map to explore their chosen character.
Ask students to repeat this exercise with another one of the main characters.
Now that students have imagined a new ending for a couple of chosen characters, invite them to engage in the process of writing an alternate ending for the play as a whole, working alongside their peers.
Invite students to work in groups of four so there is one of each of the main characters. Some students may have to work with the second character they chose earlier in the exercise.
In their groups, ask students to share their character and the new hopes, dreams and plans they have in the new ending they have imagined. Invite them to compare and contrast their newly imagined futures, finding commonalities together.
Then, ask students to choose a single alternate ending to write together either through exposition or dialogue that mirrors Miller's style. They may choose common elements from each of their imagined endings or just one of the four to focus on.
Ask each group to share their work with the rest of the class.

DEBRIEFING QUESTIONS:

How did your own interpretation of your character change when bringing that into your work as a group?
Did seeing how your peers interpreted the characters change your understanding of the play? If so, how?
In what ways did imagining a different ending change your perspective on the characters?
How did you capture your character's "voice" or essence in your writing?
What did you learn about the choices and circumstances shaping the characters' lives that you think applies to the real world in which you live today?

POSSIBLE EXTENSIONS:

Act It Out

If students have written their alternate ending in dialogue, give them time to rehearse their piece.
Invite each group to share an excerpt of what they have created.
Ask students to reflect on the following: Did you notice anything about your character's priorities, fears or personality when performing that you hadn't thought of before or included purposefully in your writing?

Modern Adaptation

Have students consider the play if it were set in 2026: What do you imagine Willy's job might be? Would he have the same challenges? Would the tragedy of the story play out in the same way? Why or why not?
Invite students to engage in the process of writing their modern adaptation into a script.

Character Correspondence

Have students write a series of letters over a period of time for their chosen character, exploring personal growth and challenges, and communicating these to the other members of their family.
Invite students to consider: Who in the family is the letter addressed to, and why? What news is your character sharing? How does the character's personality shape the way they write?

About the Play

DEATH OF A SALESMAN

By Arthur Miller
Directed by Dean Gabourie

Download House Program

GRADE RECOMMENDATION

Grade 9+

CONTENT ADVISORY

Please see the show page for a detailed advisory.

SYNOPSIS

Willy Loman, an aging travelling salesman, grapples with the fading promise of the American Dream as his career falters and his sense of purpose slips away. Haunted by memories and regrets, he drifts between past and present, clinging to hopes he once held for himself and for his sons. Biff, once the focus of Willy's ambitions, returns home disillusioned, and their fractured relationship forces both men to confront painful truths about success, identity and expectation. As financial pressures mount and family tensions rise, Willy's grasp on reality loosens, leading the Lomans to reckon with the cost of aspiration and the fragile line between hope and delusion.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS

Global Competencies or Transferable Skills: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving; Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship; Self-Directed Learning; Collaboration; Communication; Global Citizenship and Sustainability; Digital Literacy

Grades 9-12

The Arts
Canadian and World Studies
English
Health and Physical Education
Social Sciences and Humanities
Technological Education

Post-Secondary

Suitable for courses in disciplines such as Arts, Cultural Studies, Comedy, Creative Writing, Dramatic Arts and Theatre, Economics, English, Fine Arts, Gender Studies, History, Literature, Philosophy, Social Development Studies, Teacher Education

THEMES

The American Dream
Ambition, Dreams and Unfulfilled Potential
Despair and Hopelessness
The "Everyman"
Fathers and Sons
Generational and Gendered Expectations
Identity and Self-Worth
Isolation and Loneliness
Masculinity and Pride
Materialism and Social Disparity
Memory, Reality and Illusion
Success and Failure
Trust and Betrayal

Discussion Questions

DISCUSSION AND REFLECTION QUESTIONS

PRE-SHOW QUESTIONS

Based on the title Death of a Salesman, what do you expect the play to be about? Do you think the title suggests a literal or figurative death? Why? Explain your reasoning.
What do you already know about the American Dream? How is success usually defined within the idea of the American Dream? Who benefits the most? How does this concept present itself in Canada? Explain your thinking with specific examples.
How do you define success? Do you think society defines it in the same way? What could help people feel valuable when the world measures success in ways that might not align with their values, circumstances or viewpoints?
In your opinion, what are the three most important values a family can have? How might conflicting values create tension and misunderstandings between family members?
What is the difference between being admired and being loved? Why might it be easy to confuse the two? Explain your thinking.
What does the phrase "amount to something" bring up for you? What images, feelings or ideas come to mind when you hear that phrase?
Why do some people find change harder than others? Why do you think people have such strong responses to big changes in society, culture and technology? What does it tell us about their relationship to both the past and the future?
How do changes to the places we live impact our emotions, memory or sense of belonging?
What do people tend to try to keep private from their neighbours or people who live nearby? How do feelings like pride, shame or embarrassment shape what neighbours may choose to share or keep private? Does this differ depending on culture and where or how people live? Why or why not?
How are expectations about gender roles reflected in family dynamics? How might these expectations have looked different in the 1940s compared to today? How might they be similar? In what ways do gendered expectations shape what people feel they can say or do?
In a stage play, how can design elements such as lighting, sound, costumes or set changes show you that time has passed?
How can the musical composition or sound design in a play shape our emotional responses to a scene or to the play as a whole? Think about a time when music/sound or a specific musical instrument affected how you felt while watching a play, movie or show. Do you think you would have felt differently if the music were different or absent altogether? Explain your thinking.

POST-SHOW QUESTIONS

How did the music and sound design in Death of a Salesman shape your emotional response to a scene or the play as a whole?
What specific design elements signaled that Willy Loman was entering a memory or flashback? How did these choices affect your understanding of the scene and/or play?
Linda's final monologue includes significant repetition. What impact did this have on you as an audience member? What does it reveal about her thoughts, perspectives or emotions?
Willy becomes so determined to plant seeds in his garden that he does so at night. What does this moment suggest about Willy's emotional state, mental well-being and role within the family? Explain your thinking.
What is Willy's favourite food? How does this food provide him with comfort? How does his reaction to the different versions of this food reflect his shifting mental state and his feelings about change or loss?
How does Willy's desire for success impact his relationship with Biff and Happy? In what ways do Willy's beliefs strengthen or damage their relationship? What parallels do you see between Willy and his sons? In what ways are Biff and Happy different from their father?
Can pride be both a strength and a weakness? Explain your thinking using examples from the play or other dramatic and literary works or media texts.
Arthur Miller wrote Death of a Salesman in 1949. What aspects of the play reflect the values or anxieties of that time period such as expectations about gender, work, money, the American Dream, success and mental health? In what ways do these themes still feel relevant today?
Throughout the play Willy struggles with feelings of regret, pride and frustration. How do these emotions affect the way he thinks, acts and interacts with his neighbours?
What do you imagine happens to the Loman family after the play ends?
Are there any unintentional harms that might be caused through the production of this play? If so, what are they and what might be done to take care of the artists and audience members participating in the work?

Minds On

MINDS ON

Objective: Students will engage with the characters and themes of Death of a Salesman by imagining an alternative ending. They will explore the characters' hopes, dreams and plans, considering how personal choices and social circumstances shape life outcomes.

Materials:

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
Laptops/tablets
Writing paper
Writing utensils

Directions:

With your students, briefly summarize the ending of the play and Willy's tragic choice. With Willy's suicide, this is a sensitive and difficult discussion. Suggested resources to support students are included in the Resources section of this guide.
Ask students to imagine an alternate version of the ending where Willy does not leave the house and get in his car. While Willy is still fired, in conflict with his sons and wife and experiencing distress and desperation, there is hope for a different way forward.
Invite students, imagining this alternate ending, to choose one of the characters in the play – Willy, Linda, Biff or Happy – and to imagine what else could be next for them.
- What are your chosen character's plans and hopes for the foreseeable future? What do they want?
- What problems or challenges do they need to address?
- How might they grow or change in the next 5-10 years?
Invite students to make a mind map to explore their chosen character.
Ask students to repeat this exercise with another one of the main characters.
Now that students have imagined a new ending for a couple of chosen characters, invite them to engage in the process of writing an alternate ending for the play as a whole, working alongside their peers.
Invite students to work in groups of four so there is one of each of the main characters. Some students may have to work with the second character they chose earlier in the exercise.
In their groups, ask students to share their character and the new hopes, dreams and plans they have in the new ending they have imagined. Invite them to compare and contrast their newly imagined futures, finding commonalities together.
Then, ask students to choose a single alternate ending to write together either through exposition or dialogue that mirrors Miller's style. They may choose common elements from each of their imagined endings or just one of the four to focus on.
Ask each group to share their work with the rest of the class.

DEBRIEFING QUESTIONS:

How did your own interpretation of your character change when bringing that into your work as a group?
Did seeing how your peers interpreted the characters change your understanding of the play? If so, how?
In what ways did imagining a different ending change your perspective on the characters?
How did you capture your character's "voice" or essence in your writing?
What did you learn about the choices and circumstances shaping the characters' lives that you think applies to the real world in which you live today?

POSSIBLE EXTENSIONS:

Act It Out

If students have written their alternate ending in dialogue, give them time to rehearse their piece.
Invite each group to share an excerpt of what they have created.
Ask students to reflect on the following: Did you notice anything about your character's priorities, fears or personality when performing that you hadn't thought of before or included purposefully in your writing?

Modern Adaptation

Have students consider the play if it were set in 2026: What do you imagine Willy's job might be? Would he have the same challenges? Would the tragedy of the story play out in the same way? Why or why not?
Invite students to engage in the process of writing their modern adaptation into a script.

Character Correspondence

Have students write a series of letters over a period of time for their chosen character, exploring personal growth and challenges, and communicating these to the other members of their family.
Invite students to consider: Who in the family is the letter addressed to, and why? What news is your character sharing? How does the character's personality shape the way they write?

CONNECTION TO THE ARCHIVES

In 2024, our production of Salesman in China (pictured here) followed the experiences of a theatre company preparing a production of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. In total, the Stratford Festival has produced five Miller works including Death of a Salesman (1983 and 1997), The Crucible (1975 and 2019) and All My Sons (2016). Across cultures, very old plays continue to be produced alongside new plays. Why do you think we so often re/turn to old stories? What might classic plays provide that plays from within our own time period cannot?

Salesman in China, 2024

Adrian Pang as Ying Ruocheng playing Willy Loman in Salesman in China (Stratford Festival, 2024). By Leanna Brodie and Jovanni Sy. Suggested by The Memoirs of Arthur Miller and Ying Ruocheng. Chinese translations by Fang Zhang. Directed by Jovanni Sy. Set design by Joanna Yu. Costume design by Ming Wong. Lighting design by Sophie Tang. Music and sound design by Alessandro Juliani. Photography by David Hou.
Stratford Festival Archives, GPO.2024.009.1604

The Stratford Festival Archives maintains, conserves and protects records about the Festival and makes those materials available to people around the world. Their collection contains material ranging from 1952 right up to the present and includes administrative documents, production records, photographs, design artwork, scores, audio-visual recordings, promotional materials, costumes, props, set decorations and much more. These materials are collected and preserved with the aim of documenting the history of the Festival, preserving the page-to-stage process, and capturing the creative processes involved in numerous other activities that contribute to the Festival each season.

RESOURCES

Study Guide PDF

Stratford Public Library's 2026 Season Reading Lists

STUDY GUIDES

View all 2026 Shorts and Study Guides for selected 2026 plays, along with those from previous seasons, free of charge.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Arthur Miller and Death of a Salesman

Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller's Lasting Impact | NPR

Death of a Salesman | Britannica

Death of a Salesman | The Play Podcast

Death of A Salesman: A Play That Resounds in the Heart and the Gut | Charles Isherwood | The New York Times

Death of a Salesman at Fifty: An Interview with Arthur Miller | Colby H. Kullman | Michigan Quarterly Review

Reading Guide from Death of a Salesman | Penguin Random House Canada

Miller, Arthur and Gerald Weales (Ed.). Death of a Salesman: Text and Criticism. 1967.

The American Dream

American Dream | Britannica

The Tragedy of American Exceptionalism in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman | Nicholas Marcelli | Forbes & Fifth

What Was the American Dream? | Alex Russell and Maria Sestito | Letters and Science

Mental Health and Suicide Prevention

9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline | Government of Canada

Canada Suicide Prevention Helpline 1-833-456-4566

Hope for Wellness Helpline 1-855-242-3310 (available 24/7 to Indigenous people across Canada)

Kids Help Phone 1-800-668-6868 I Text 686868

Let's talk about dementia, mental illness and mental health | Alzheimer Society

LGBT Youthline

Provincial Mental Health Supports | CMHA

U.S. Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255

BOOKING INFORMATION: TICKETS, WORKSHOPS AND CHATS

STUDENT MATINEES

You may book any available date, but selected student matinee performances for this show are at 2 p.m. on the following dates:

Tuesday, May 5
Friday, May 8
Wednesday, May 13
Thursday, May 21
Tuesday, June 2
Tuesday, June 9
Friday, June 12
Tuesday, June 16
Thursday, June 25
Thursday, September 10
Wednesday, September 16
Tuesday, September 22
Tuesday, September 29
Friday, October 2
Tuesday, October 13
Tuesday, October 20

WORKSHOPS AND CHATS

Visit our website or contact us at educate@stratfordfestival.ca to book:

InterACTive Preshows
Collaborative Learning Workshops
Customized Workshops
Post-Show Chats
Behind-the-Scenes Tours

2026 SEASON SPONSOR

The 2026 Season is generously supported by Ophelia Lazaridis

PROUD SEASON PARTNERS

BMO Canada Life RBC

Production Underwriters: The Harkins-Manning Family in memory of Jim & Susan Harkins

Production Co-Sponsor:

VFG

TOOLS FOR TEACHERS

Tools for Teachers includes InterACTive Preshows, Study Guides and Stratford Shorts sponsored by

Canada-Life_White(1)

Connection to the Archives

CONNECTION TO THE ARCHIVES

In 2024, our production of Salesman in China (pictured here) followed the experiences of a theatre company preparing a production of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. In total, the Stratford Festival has produced five Miller works including Death of a Salesman (1983 and 1997), The Crucible (1975 and 2019) and All My Sons (2016). Across cultures, very old plays continue to be produced alongside new plays. Why do you think we so often re/turn to old stories? What might classic plays provide that plays from within our own time period cannot?

Salesman in China, 2024

Adrian Pang as Ying Ruocheng playing Willy Loman in Salesman in China (Stratford Festival, 2024). By Leanna Brodie and Jovanni Sy. Suggested by The Memoirs of Arthur Miller and Ying Ruocheng. Chinese translations by Fang Zhang. Directed by Jovanni Sy. Set design by Joanna Yu. Costume design by Ming Wong. Lighting design by Sophie Tang. Music and sound design by Alessandro Juliani. Photography by David Hou.
Stratford Festival Archives, GPO.2024.009.1604

The Stratford Festival Archives maintains, conserves and protects records about the Festival and makes those materials available to people around the world. Their collection contains material ranging from 1952 right up to the present and includes administrative documents, production records, photographs, design artwork, scores, audio-visual recordings, promotional materials, costumes, props, set decorations and much more. These materials are collected and preserved with the aim of documenting the history of the Festival, preserving the page-to-stage process, and capturing the creative processes involved in numerous other activities that contribute to the Festival each season.

Resources