Anti-capitalism in Miller's Death of a Salesman and Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross

Abstract

Abstract<br><br>Arthur Miller (1915-2005) and David Mamet (1947) are mainly interested with the modern and<br><br>postmodern social issues of American society. most renowned dramatists due to writing plays like Death of a Salesman (1949) and Glengarry Glen Ross (1984) which are concerned with the theme of American dream and how the blind faith in it may lead to moral corruption The two playwrights presents the typical American figure, the drummer and salesman as the representative of a capitalistic system which corrupts the individuality, friendships, and family values. This could be investigated clearly through Death of a Salesman and Glengarry Glen Ross which doom the deceitful capitalist society by showing the bitter reality of the American dream. Moreover, they also show how the capitalistic system eradicates all human values. The aim of this article is to display the similarities and differences between the two plays. It also shows how these playwrights criticize the capitalistic ideology and indicate to the destructive effects of this system on the human condition. Mamet in his play states that the principles of capitalistic system in postmodern era has become more powerful than capitalism in modern age. These two playwrights' fascination with this dream's falsehood is in accordance with Jean-François Lyotard's viewpoint about the death of grand narratives.