The Political Dimension of Millers Works - Case Study Example

The Life and Literary Criticism of Arthur Miller Born on 17 October 1915, Arthur Asher Miller is one of the respected essayist, playwright, novelist, nonfiction writer, autobiographer, and screenwriter that lived. He is known for over a dozen publications that continue to attract the attention of readers to date. Miller is known for his creativity that earned him a name in the American theatre industry. Though his works have attracted the attention of readers, his critics have not relented questioning some of his thoughts. Miller spent his early life in Manhattan, Harlem in New York City where he was born. His parents, Isidore and Augusta Miller were of Polish Jewish origin. Miller was the second born in a family of three siblings. His father was an influential businessperson; unfortunately, in 1929 he lost a great fortune causing the family to shift to Gravesend in Brooklyn. Miller went to Grade school and later joined Abraham Lincoln High School in which he graduated in 1932 (Hemming 1). He would later join the University of Michigan where he took a career in journalism which he changed later to major in English. While still at the institution, he engaged in other activities including being a reporter and an editor with Michigan Daily. His literary works began in this stage where he sharpened his writing skills. Consequently, he came up with first work, a play called No Villain. Despite being his original work, this play earned a great reputation and a positive reception. As a result, he was honored with the Avery Hopwood Award. This acted as a major motivation to Miller who started engaging in workshops and seminars that would help sharpen his skills. One of the bold steps made by Miller was to enroll in Professor Kenneth Rowe’s playwriting seminars. Rowe inspired and mentored him in the informative stages of playwriting. Before he could finish his university studies, Millers passion was already evident. Following his first play, Miller developed his second script, Honors of Dawn, in 1937. This masterpiece received an impressive reception leading to the award of the Avery Hopwood Award. Before completing his university studies, Miller had already established himself in the theater industry and was getting to be known. Exiting from the University of Michigan in 1938 with a BA in English, he had to weigh the opportunities to consider. 20th Century Fox wanted to have him but he considered a Federal Theatre Project that had been launched to facilitate employment creation in the theatre industry. One year later, the Congress opted to terminate the project, which caused Miller to seek a job at Brooklyn Navy Yard at the same time doing radio plays. At this point, his career had gained momentum and seemed to be focused on writing despite engaging in military activities. Despite being in the military, he did not engage in the World War II. Miller’s golden hands penned a number of works. He wrote radio prams such as Columbia Workshop for CBS and Cavalcade of America for NBC. The Man Who Had Al the Luck, was the first of the Miller’s work to feature on the Broadway in 1944. However, the play did not last for long, it closed after four performances. In 1940, Miller tied the knot with his friend from University, Mary Slattery and together they had two children. Miller did not relent, he had found his dream, and he needed to pursue it. In 1946, he penned the play, All My Sons, this one gained him a better reputation by earning him the Tony Award twice and the New York Drama Critics Circle award for the best author. This award made him to be recognized more causing him to earn a good reputation. Though this was one of his best works, it has received intensive criticism over the years. The play has been faulted for depicting it as a depressing play that did not conform to the times when there was massive optimism. On the other hand, the play has received positive reviews even in the recent past with authors such as New York Times’ Brooks Atkinson defending the masterpiece. While Miller’s works continued to inspire the film industry, he also diversified to other contents. Most of his works attracted both critics and fanatics. In particular, his first novel, FOCUS that was published in 1945 was regarded as being anti-Semitism. In addition, the same year Miller worked on another play, The Story of GI Joe. In an effort to diversify his works, Miller established his studio at Roxbury in Connecticut in 1948 where he started working one of his reputable plays, Death of a Salesman. Upon the completion of this play, it first featured in the Broadway on 10th of February in 1949 at the Morosco Theatre. The play was a major hit; it made high sales and had a great reputation. In addition, it won three major awards; the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Tony Award for Best author, and the New York Drama Circle Critics Award. The play was performed more than seven hundred times it was performed, hence the huge success. Miller’s career was a spectacular and bumpy one. In most of his works, he focused on false values that were detrimental to families. As a result of his growing fame especially after his play, Death of Salesman, Miller was honored as the “outstanding Father of the Year” in 1949. His life was not without hurdles; his works started being investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee of Congress on the purported influence of communism in the art industry. In particular, Miller’s works The Hook and The Crucible (1953) were at the center of investigations. In this regard, the FBI did their investigations and ended up denying him the passport. This made him to skip the Brussels Premiere, which was meant to launch The Crucible in Europe. However, despite the setbacks, The Crucible made significant sales in America. The director of Death of Salesman, Elia Kazan had recorded a statement that linked the actors in the play with communism. Miller did not relent with his work despite the frustrations concerning communism crackdown. His woks appeared on the Broadway again, this time round as the drama, A View from the Bridge in 1956. In addition, Miller worked on the play that did not get to be publicized, A Memory of Two Mondays it was called. Miller later divorced his first wife in June 1956 and married Marilyn Monroe. Miller’s troubles started reemerging when he found himself on the wrong side of the law. A committee of Congress, which denied him a passport, had summoned him severally. He had applied for a renewal of his passport in 1956 but the committee having had provoked the license grilled him on his political involvement with communism and its sympathizers. Miller was asked to name other people that were potentially involved in communism but he refused. His refusal to name other individuals that took part in similar activities caused him to be prosecuted based on contempt of Congress. While the judge had ordered that Miller pay a fine of $ 500 or serve a jail term of thirty days, the Court of Appeal overturned the decision. It was a relief for Miller, the Court of Appeal had argued that the chairman of the committee of Congress that grilled him had misled him. However, he did not get a renewal of his passport as anticipated. Miller’s works bagged a number of awards. All the works that Miller developed was of quality and attracted the attention of critics. As from his days in the University of Michigan, Miller’s work outstood. He won the Avery Hopwood Award for playwriting at the institution on two occasions. In addition, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award recognized the excellence in two of his works and honored him with an award. On the other hand, he won the Emmy Awards twice and the Tony awards on three occasions. Other awards that Miller received include the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement, Obie Award, BBC best play award, the Literary Lion Award (New York Public Library), Algur Meadows Award, George Foster Peabody Award, John F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Gold Medal for Drama (National Institute of Arts and Letters). Miller’s works has continued to earn him a reputation in the 21st century, in 2001, he was credited as the Jefferson Lecturer for the national Endowment for the Humanities. Alter on in 2002, Miller was credited with the Prince of the Austrias award and in 2003, he received the Jerusalem Prize. Apart from the awards, institutions of higher learning recognized his efforts; both Harvard and Oxford Universities honored Miller by giving him honorary degrees. International recognition for Miller’s work has also been there. As a result of his international fame, Miller was awarded the Prix of Moliere of the French Theatre in France. In addition, he has won the Pulitzer Prize as well as the Dorothy and Lilian Gish Lifetime Achievement. With all these awards and recognitions on his back, Miller has gained a great reputation across the world. His works have featured prominently in the institutions of learning (Gates 1). Miller went on with his works within the confines of United States. However, this time he was less vibrant after the frustrations by the authorities. Despite these setbacks, his newly wed wife was very instrumental in helping him through the murky days of his career. The film, The Misfits was his later worker where his wife was starring. However, it was not long before Miller opted to divorce Monroe later on in 1961. The third wife was a photographer, Inge Morath, to whom Miller tied the knots with on 17 February 1962 (Hemming 1). In addition, together they had two children. The couple’s only son, Daniel was born with downs syndrome causing Miller to consider excluding him from his life. Daniel was institutionalized. The family has lived together since then until the demise of Inge in 2002. Their daughter Rebecca got married to an actor, Daniel Day-Lewis. Miller used his works to narrate some of his personal experiences. In his 1964, play entitled After the Fall, he brought the experiences that he had gone through in regards to his marriage to his second wife. This work played a significant role in his life not only because it helped him narrate his experiences but also facilitated his reunion with his director Kazan, whom they has disagreed based on the anticommunism investigations. After the Fall was first staged at the ANTA Theatre despite it being criticized for the use of a character that featured Monroe. One of the major critics of the play was Robert Brustein who was displeased with Miller’s characterization. In 1964, Miller went on and developed another play, Incident at Vichy, through it did not receive a good reception, and the play was significant to Miller. Another play by Miller was produced in 1968, it was named, The Prince, this was a spectacular play that attracted a positive public perception. In essence, the play became one of the most important works by Miller. PEN International considered Miller as its President in 1965, a role that he served diligently. In particular, he spearheaded the organization of the 1966 PEN congress that was held in New York (Galvin 1). At the peak of his career, Miller confronted a number of incidences. His campaigns in the Soviet Union for the writers made his works to be banned in 1969. By this time, Miller had understood a number of components in the theater industry and he went ahead to attempt some of them. Together with his wife, they engaged in developing plays such as The Reason Why, Fame, In the Country, and Chinese Encounters. In his effort to diversify, he developed two comedies but they failed to attract the market; these were done in 1972, both Up from Paradise and The Creation of the World and Other Business did not do well commercially. He further went ahead to develop a collection of all his previous plays and published them in Theater Essays in 1978 (Vellela 2). Scholars have applauded the works from the collection while at the same time attracting criticisms. Some have argued that the collections are well argued and articulate propositions of an author that knows what he is up to. In addition, he has been termed as a social-critic. Other later works by Miller included a collection of experiences from Beijing. A production of Death of a Salesman was done in Beijing, China with Miller as the producer and the director. Through the experiences in Beijing, Miller wrote a book in 1984 entitled Salesman in Beijing. Miller’s later works comprised of his autobiography, Timebends, which was released in 1987. As a playwright, developed more plays; The Ride Down Mt. Morgan was developed in 199, The Last Yankee in 1992 and the Broken Glass in 1994. Miller’s final work was the play Finishing the Picture, which he developed in 2004, it featured in the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Upon the death of his wife in 2002, Miller started living with Agnes Barley despite her daughter Rebecca being opposed to it. He intended to getting marry to her. After Miller’s death in 2005, Rebecca ordered Agnes to vacate his father’s premises. The political dimension of Miller’s works made them outstanding. He boldly and diligently confronted issues to deal with McCarthyism, Reaganism as well as the failure of the American Dream (Vellela 2). In his own words, Miller described great American Playwrights such as himself and Tennessee Williams as people that uphold ‘a fierce moral sensibility’. His work focused on changing the world for better. About his stand, both fellow writers as well as political leaders criticized him for allegedly propagating communism. His writings were mainly based on the American setup where he was a staunch critic of the policies that were developed by the government. He approached the political situations especially during the mid-20th century with caution and diligence but he never relented to inform the public through his works. Today, his works have been widely accepted mainly in institutions of learning where some forms an integral part of the learning syllabus. Arthur Miller is remembered as one of the playwrights that worked for more than six decades. His works were centered on conflicts in power, personal responsibilities, and social responsibility. The essence of his writing was to convey his political and moral beliefs. Arthur’s work have been with compassion, clarity as well as based on conscience. The recognition he obtained through a number of awards says so much of his drive to communicate through plays without fear or favor. Looking through his works, Miller had a broad approach in which he wrote both fictional and non-fictional works. The success of the 20th century drama can be attributed directly to Miller’s works. Miller died at the age of 89 after succumbing to heart failure on February 10, 2005. He had been diagnosed with congestive heart disease, pneumonia, and cancer hence his health had deteriorated. He was laid to rest at the Roxbury Centre Cemetery, Roxbury in Connecticut (Galvin 1). Works Cited “Arthur Asher Miller.” Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 26 June 2014. http://www.biography.com/people/arthur-miller-9408335#final-years& Galvin, Rachel. Arthur Miller Biography. Web. 26 June 2014 . http://www.neh.gov/about/awards/jefferson-lecture/arthur-miller-biography Gates, David. "Arthur Miller, 1915-2005." Newsweek Feb 21 2005: 52. ProQuest. Web. 26 June 2014 . http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/214284603/5927E0F08C8E4847PQ/10?accountid=45049 Hemming, Sarah. "Death of a Playwright OBITUARY ARTHUR MILLER:" Financial Times: 8. Feb 12 2005. Web. 26 June 2014 . http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/248346145/5927E0F08C8E4847PQ/3?accountid=45049 Vellela, Tony. "Arthur Millers Life had Symmetry Rarely Granted His Characters." The Christian Science Monitor: 09. Feb 14 2005. ProQuest. Web. 26 June 2014 . http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/405698366/5927E0F08C8E4847PQ/2?accountid=45049 Read More