English A Literature

November 2017
Paper 2

Q - Deceit, or the creation of false impressions, is often a driving force in drama.

Discuss the ways in which the work of at least two playwrights you have studied
employ this device and the effects achieved.

Impression, that we make of ourselves in the minds of other people, defines us and our character.
Although, we aren’t directly responsible for what people think about us but the repercussions of our
actions are. This is why some people live a life of someone whom they aren’t or, more precisely,
deceptively misrepresent their lifestyle. They’re known as impostors. In simpler words, deceit or
false impression is a specious representation of something, could it be our lifestyle or our
personality. This device of deceit is immensely used in the plays A Streetcar Named Desire by
Tennessee Williams and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. Both the plays were originated
during the postwar period in America. Tennessee Williams has combined new American taste for
realism following the depression and the World War 2. Miller’s play was described as the first great
American tragedy, and Miller gained eminence as a man who understood the deep essence of the
United States. The playwrights have emphasised the drama within their plays using dramatic
techniques such as musical stage directions, characterisation of the anti-hero protagonists falling in
a downward spiral and also the themes such as ‘Lies and deceit’. Ultimately, the playwrights have
shown that the deceit and false impression is actually a driving force in drama, leading to dramatical
events.

In Death of a Salesman, Miller has thoroughly emphasised the theme of lies and deceit. Willy
Loman, the anti-hero protagonist, plays a role of a salesman. He isn’t really ahead of the curve, in-
fact, he is a complete failure. This is because of the specious impression he tries to create of himself
and his sons to everybody. He regards himself as one of the best in the game, even when he ends up
being unsalaried. He believes that his son Biff is easily capable of achieving the “American
Dream”. While on the other hand, Biff understands the reality and his father’s delusional behaviour.
Willy loses Biff’s trust when Biff catches him with another woman in a hotel room. He makes up
his mind and swallows the hard truth that his dad is a fake. Afterwards, Biff stops supporting
Willy’s idealised imaginations and starts to understand the reality, unlike Willy, who continues to
live in his past through flashbacks, which he believes was more prosperous for him. He becomes
increasingly opinionated, obstinately holding onto his beliefs and reminiscing about the past
success, whilst in the present, he’s just “a dime a dozen”. His behaviour full of lies and deceit
pushed him into a downward spiral in life, where he hit a new low, having no commission as a
salesman meaning that “nothing has been planted” for his sons which leads to Willy’s descent
towards insanity and later on, suicide. Ultimately, the readers fully understand Miller’s thoughts
displayed through his work, about the repercussions of deceitful behaviour and false pride, and how
it emphasises drama and foreshadows a tragic end.

Similarly, A Streetcar Named Desire also displays the acts of deception and faking. Blanche
DuBois, the protagonist of this play, deceives the world by her act of a southern belle. Though her
name means ‘white’ in French, which suggests purity and innocence, her actual character is quite
contrasting to her name. She was an English teacher in Laurel, but is recently forced to leave the
town because of her infamous reputation which was developed by her actions such as having a
relationship with a schoolboy. She arrives in her sister’s apartment and puts on her ‘hoity-toity’
attitude, showing utter animosity towards the worker-class neighbourhood. Her sister, Stella, is
blinded by her deceitful behaviour unlike her husband, Stanley, who plays the role of the antagonist.
Not convinced by her false impression, he aims to rip off the mask off of Blanche’s face and reveal
her true identity to the world, which he eventually does. Williams foreshadows a tragic end as
Blanche’s real character was gradually coming into sight. Just like Willy, she descends deeper into
her idea of idealised past, until she loses hold of the reality altogether. Through this play, Williams
presents the failure of deception which becomes a driving force in drama.

Both the playwrights have used symbols and dramatic techniques to emphasise drama and highlight
the true nature of the characters which jerked their false reputation slightly. In Miller’s work, the
seeds give Willy an opportunity to live up to his false pride and also prove the worth of his labor as
a father. His desperate attempt to grow vegetables in the night suggests that he is shameful for not
being able to provide enough to the family and has nothing to leave for his sons. Willy feels that he
has worked hard but fears that he will not be able to help his son any more than his own abandoning
father helped him. The seeds also symbolise Willy’s sense of failure with Biff. Willy’s efforts to
cultivate and nurture Biff went all in vain, when he realised that his star football player has turned
into a ‘lazy bum’. Similarly, Williams’ use of ‘The Varsouviana Polka’ as the stage directions,
symbolised Blanche’s loss of the grip on reality. The Varsouviana is the polka tune to which
Blanche and her young husband were dancing when she last saw him alive. The polka and the
moment it evokes represent Blanche’s loss of innocence. The suicide of the young husband Blanche
loved dearly was the event that triggered her insanity. Since then, Blanche hears the Varsouviana
whenever she panics. In both the plays, these symbols shed light on the true lives of the characters,
obliterating their acts of deceit and false impression.

Ultimately, the main theme of both the plays remains the same, which is ‘Lies and deceit’. Both the
protagonists lied and deceived whoever came into their lives, but eventually ended up being
disrespected, unwanted and unworthy. The drama was immensely emphasised by these devices
throughout the plays. These techniques develops irritability in the minds of the readers towards the
protagonists, but also sympathy because of the dramatic events. As a conclusion, it could be said
that drama is directly linked to deceit and false impression and thus generate contradicting feelings
within the audience as an effect.