Arthur Asher Miller New York, United States, was born in October 17, 1915 / and died in Roxbury, United States, February 10, 2005 is an American playwright, and writer 

 Miller is an important figure in 20th century American literature and cinema. He has written a lot of topical famous plays, the best known of which are The Witches of Salem (The Crucible) and Death of a Salesman (Death of a Salesman) 3 which are still frequently performed. Miller is also known for his brief marriage to Marilyn Monroe which lasted only 5 years because marilyn dead shortly after.

Arthur Miller was born to middle-class Jewish Polish immigrant family in Brooklyn, The father is ruined by the Great Depression, and the family moves to Harlem. His writing is influenced by this event.

On February 17, 1962, Arthur Miller married Inge Morath. They had met when she and other Magnum photographers were reporting on The Misfits. They will have two children, Rebecca and Daniel.

One of his kids, Daniel is suffering from Down syndrom. Miller placed him in an institution in Roxbury and never visited him unlike his wife.

In December 2004, Miller announced that he had been living with Agnes Barley, a 34-year-old artist, since 2002 and that they were planning to get married. However, Miller died at home on February 10, 2005, of cancer.

 Willy is described as an exhausted man. The way he talks make him look as if he were out of touch. He also seems to be really into his job, ready to go back even if he is tired to death. He is also quite tough with his son, Biff. He easily gets angry. 

 Biff admires his father, he wants him to be proud but still thinks he is not. He thinks his dad is always mocking of him because he is not good enough.

Linda truly loves her husband. But she also thinks he is too harsh with their son Biff. She wants Willy and Biff to end fighting . 

Happy looks closer to his dad than Biff does. 

 We don’t learn a lot about Willy from the way he behaves to others. Except maybe the fact that if he is tough with his son because he wants the best for him. He is trying to protect him in this way.

I also think he is really in love with his wife. Even if he gets easily angry  he immediately turns soft and gentle when he realizes he maybe was too harsh to her. Moreover, he doesn’t want her to be worried about him. He tries to protect her too. 

 We learn that Willy is easily getting angry, always on the defensive and touchy. But he can also be gentle to his wife or nostalgic when he thinks about the youth of his kids. 

We learn with the flashbacks that being a salesman was just a provisional job at the beginning. At a moment he says that he will be able to stop traveling around the country and stay at home with his sons soon. But we do know that it never happened, at the present time of the play he is 60 years old but still traveling for his job. 

 He is not really into reality. He often sees flashbacks of the youth of his boys, he also talks to himself like if he was talking to his son. He remembers the good times and tries to live it again 

His greatest strength ,which is also his greatest weakness, is that Willy wants the best for his wife and his sons but he really doesn’t know how to do or act. He is often too harsh with them. He tries to protect them but in reality he hurts them without realizing it. 

Compared to now, Willy has completely changed his mind about New England. He seems not to like where he lives with his family, he thinks that “the street is lined with cars, there is not a breath of fresh air in the neighbourhood, the grass don’t grow any more, he can’t raise a carrot in the back yard...” He is not satisfied with New England, he would like there to be laws against apartment house and he is nostalgic about the time where in the street there were lilac and wisteria. For him, the reason why the streets and the neighbourhood have deteriorated is that there are more and more people in this country which is ruining this country by getting out of control. 

Linda and him would like to go back to New York, especially Linda but Willy says that in New England he is vital for his job and in New York they don’t need him, that’s why they have to stay in New England, even if they don’t like this place any more. 

In the present, Willy is a depressed and tired old man, he is disappointed by his son, Biff and has a bad relation with him. Biff is a lost, shy and confused guy, he is not confident. Happy is confident, he is good with the ladies and absolutely not shy. 

But in the past, Willy was energetic and confident and he had a good self-esteem. He was proud of his sons and had an excellent relation with them. Biff was confident, joyful and popular with women. Happy was shy, not very confident and he had no experience with women.

In Spanish, "Linda" means beautiful or "precious"

"Howard" means "guardian" and "hardy." Wagner means "wagon maker."

"Bernard" means "hardy" and "brave."

Linda is described as mostly jovial.Also , she has shielded herself over time against Willy's bad temper and thus she still " more than loves him, she admires him ..."

Bernard is described as "a quiet , earnest  but self-assured young man" He is younger than Biff and also described as a loyal and a worried boy by Miller/

In the stage-directions, Miller describes Howard Wagner only as a 36-year-old man.

Linda : Linda sees Willy as the dearest man in the world to her, she loves him very deeply and worries about him even though he can be tough on her, she still thinks that Willy has a lot more good in him than in a lot of other people.She is also very patient and protective of him, defending Willy even against her sons.

Bernard : Bernard is Willy's nephew and used to study at the university with Biff.

Wagner Howard : Howard is the successor and son of the former head of the firm where Willy is employed. According to Willy, he got his name from him because his father came at his birth to ask him what he thought of the name "Howard".However, when Willy came to ask him for another job at his firm, Howard had no recognition for Willy and preferred to choose his own business over helping Willy.

Linda : Willy sees his wife Linda as his foundation and support, always present and willing to do anything for him.Moreover, Willy once told her “You’re the best there is, Linda, you’re a pal, you know that”

Bernard : Willy sees Bernard as someone who will not be as successful as these sons in the business despite his high grades in his studies.In fact , Willy thinks that even if he succeeds in his studies, these sons will be more successful in the business than Bernard because he is not liked enough and has not the appearance to succeed unlike these sons.

Howard : Willy sees Howard as a “snotnose” because he has been mean to him by refusing to help him, knowing that Willy had worked hard for the firm for over 36 years.

Linda : Biff and Happy both love their mother a lot.In fact, Biff is very protective of her and does not hesitate to defend her from her father when he considers him disrespectful to her.Later, Linda was even able to convince Biff to get a job in New York City and finally stay for her father.

Bernard : Biff is Bernard's cousin, they used to study together at university and Bernard often seemed to try to encourage Biff to work in order for him to graduate.

Linda : Linda is a very caring, kind, patient woman who cares a lot about the welln being of her loved ones.For example, she makes sure she knows if Willy has eaten enough when he gets home from work and even proposes to make him a sandwich. She is a very loving and compassionate woman towards her family.

Howard : Howard seems to be concerned only with his own family and business and nothing else, which reflects a certain selfishness on his part.

We can see this aspect of him when he is going to fire Willy because he will no longer be of any use to him in the company, even though Willy has been working there for more than thirty years.

Bernard : Bernard is a very considerate man.For example, when Biff is being threatened with not having his graduation, he will suggest and encourage him to go and study math with him.

Howard : Howard appears to be a man who is very concerned about his business which seems to be his main concern no matter what.His family is also very much involved in these concerns and he also seems very proud of these children and his wife.

Linda : Linda seems to be the heart of her family.Indeed, she helps Biff and Willy to be on better terms by explaining to Biff the situation and Willy's actual health.

In addition, she is very kind and encouraging to Willy, reassuring him and helping him out of his melancholy, like when she told him he was the most handsome man in the world after he told her he was fat and foolish to look at.

Bernard : From what Bernard says , we learn that he is very concerned that Biff is going to fail his math exam.Moreover , he was even willing to give him the answers during the exam if he could which reveals the fact that he is a nice person who is willing to help even when Biff refuses his help many times. 

Linda: Linda’s main ambition in this play is to help Willy get better.So , she tries to help him in many ways whether it’s by trying to convince him to ask Howard to give him a job in New York or by trying to take care of him the best she can.Finally , she will be able to help him during the play for example when she manages to convince Biff to get a job.And , we can notice how much more optimistic and in a better frame of mind Willy seems to be after that.

Bernard : In this play , Bernard’s ambition seems to graduate with Biff and help him with it.And later , when Willy comes to ask him how he managed his life , Bernard seems to be still ready to help Biff.

Howard : Howard’s ambition is simply to deal with his business and his family and I think that’s all.

Linda : I think Linda is hiding the truth from herself and trying to reassure herself about Willy's state of mind. She is aware of his suicidal thoughts, but on the other hand she often blames the cause of his pain mostly on the fact that he is tired whereas Willy suffers from many other aspects of his life. So I would say that she doesn't really grasp the reality of things.

Linda : I think her great empathy is Linda’s greatest strength but also her greatest weakness because she seems to dedicate her life to her loved ones and especially to Willy so she lives only through Willy’s character.

Howard : His greatest strength must be his ambition , but his greatest weakness is his selfishness.

Bernard : Bernard’s greatest strength is his kindness and I think like Linda it must also be his greatest weakness.