Arthur Miller Introduction

What Arthur Miller did... and why you should care

By the time American playwright Arthur Miller died in 2005, he had written more than two dozen plays over the course of a career that lasted almost 70 years. Though he's best remembered for standouts like Death of a Salesman, All My Sons, and The Crucible, every play Miller wrote was created with the same goal—to make the world a better place, even if it meant, as he once said, "grabbing people and shaking them by the back of the neck."1 

Word to the wise? That's not the best way to get people to listen to you, and you might end up with a lawsuit. 

...Not speaking from experience, or anything...

Arthur Miller was one of the most political of American playwrights, tackling issues ranging from McCarthyism, to Reaganism, to the failure of the American Dream, all in a way that helped audiences understand the issue by showing them a piece of themselves.

His go-to piece was the spleen, until the police were like, "Arthur, stop showing people their spleens, this is seriously messed up."

Miller was a relentless critic of America, in part because he believed so passionately in its promise. His own life was a version of the American Dream writ large—the son of hard-working immigrants, he rose to prominence via his own talent, married America's reigning bombshell, Marilyn Monroe, and fought off McCarthyism with the strength of his own principles. He changed American theater, but he also changed America.

Wow. The only thing we've changed recently is our underwear. 

...Actually, scratch that. We haven't changed anything recently.