Arthur Miller.

Arthur Miller was an American playwright and essayist, who was a prominent figure in American theatres. Some of his most famous plays and drama's are Death of a Salesman, A View from the Bridge and All My Sons.

Miller was born in Harmlem, New York in 1915, to a Jewish Polish family. Before the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression of 1929, his father owned a woman's clothing store which employed over 400 people. However, duirng the Depression, his fahter's business was hit quite hard/badly and was ruined, meaning the family moved to a house in Brooklyn. Many believe that his house in Brooklyn is a model for the Loman's house in Death of a Salesman.

Miller attended the University of Michigan, where he graduated in English in 1938. During his time at University, he was awarded a prize for playwrighting, along with Tennessee Williams. After University he returned to New York and began a career wrighting for the radio.

(Tennesee Williams - was also an American play writer, who wrote short stories, memoirs, novels and essay's.)

During his lifetime, Miller married 3 times, his first marriage was too his college in 1940, they had two children together. Then in 1956 he married the famous actress and singer, Mariyln Monroe, however, they were divorce by 1961. Aruther then remarried in 1962.

Miller died in February 2005, and was considered to be one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century, with many claiming he was the last great practitioner of the American Stage.


The Great Depression and the Wall Street Crash (1929):

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression and downturn of the 1930's. It was the longest, most widespread and deepest depression of the 20th century.

The depression originated in the U.S, starting with the fall in stock prices which lead to the stock market crash of October 29th, 1929 (known as Black Tuesday) - The Wall Street Crash. After the crash of Wall Street, the depression spread acorss the globe. In the U.S, unemployment rose to 25% and farming and crop prices fell by approx 60%.

The American Dream:

The idea of the American Dream is that, through a combination of hard work, courage and determination, prosperity can be achieved- these values came to America with the early settlers and were passed on to later generations.

Just before and during the 20th century, the Dream became that of industry and capitalism, compared to the idea that you could become rich quick in the American Gold Rush in the 19th Century. Success such as John D Rockerfeller showed that talent, intelligence and willingness to work hard were all that was needed to achieve the dream. Additionally, the poor were penalised as their poverty was seen as proof of their lazines; the dream does not appear to take in to account other factor, such as a person's education and upbringing, which can have an effect on a person's potential and overall success in life.