Death of a Salesman
Arthur Miller · 1949
drama
Banned in 2 countries
Arthur Miller's Pulitzer Prize-winning tragedy follows Willy Loman, an ageing travelling salesman whose faith in the American Dream has brought him only failure and self-delusion. A defining portrait of American capitalism and its casualties. Miller himself was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1956 and convicted of contempt of Congress (later overturned) for refusing to name associates. The play has been challenged in schools for its language and portrayal of suicide.
Bans
| Country | Year | Reasons | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soviet Union | 1950lifted | Political | ||
| Miller's association with American leftists made his work politically complicated in the Cold War era; Death of a Salesman was not widely performed in the Soviet bloc. | ||||
| United States | 1963 | PoliticalOther | ||
| Challenged in schools for its language, references to suicide, and its perceived anti-capitalist message. | ||||