Family

• Willy's difficult relationship with his son and his own father are examined in the play.
• Willy and Son:

  Death of a Salesman is structured around the conflict between father and son:

  • Willy’s dreams of a golden future for Biff.
  • Biff’s frustration at having to live up to an ideal.
• Willy and Father:

  Willy’s problematic relationship with his own father, a man he never knew but who he has always idealised, is symbolised in the sound of the flute which opens the play, and which will recur at key moments.
• Richard II:

  Richard II could also be argued to show a similar conflict in that Richard ignores the advice of the ‘father figures’ in the play, John of Gaunt (Richard’s uncle) & York.
• Both attempt to guide and warn Richard (“You pluck a thousand dangers on your head”) but both are rejected, leading to tragedy.