Understanding Arthur Miller

This appraisal of Arthur Miller's theatrical canon illumines the international importance of a playwright whose work is considered a mirror of American life.

Griffin demonstrates that Miller's plays, though seeming to centre on uniquely American issues, speak to audiences from Brazil to Russia, Iceland to China - the last being a country where "Death of a Salesman" has enjoyed tremendous popularity despite the unfamiliarity of the Chinese people with Willy Loman's occupation.

The book discusses Arthur Miller's major plays in depth, analyzing characters, plots, themes, dramatic effects and language.

It also reviews: his one-act plays and longer plays of the 1980s; two plays of the 1990s, "The Last Yankee" and "Broken Glass"; his screenplay for the film version of "The Crucible"; and his articles, essays, speeches and introductions.

A theatre editor and critic and drama professor when Miller's works were first staged, Griffin recalls the harshness with which most reviewers initially judged Miller's plays and recounts the vigour of the McCarthyistic attack on "The Crucible".