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William "Willy" Loman is a fictional character and the protagonist of Arthur Miller's ''Death of a Salesman'', which debuted on Broadway with Lee J. Cobb playing Loman at the Morosco Theatre on February 10, 1949. Loman is a 63-year-old travelling salesman from Brooklyn with 34 years of experience with the same company who endures a pay cut and a firing during the play. He has difficulty dealing with his current state and has created a fantasy world to cope with his situation. This does not keep him from multiple suicide attempts. ==Description== Willy Loman is an aging suburban Brooklyn, New York salesman whose less than spectacular career is on the decline. He has lost the youthful verve of his past and his camaraderie has faded away. His business knowledge is still at its peak, but without his youth and heartiness, he is no longer able to leverage his personality to get by. Time has caught up with him.〔 The play presents Loman's struggle "to maintain a foothold in the upward-striving American middle class" while combating his own self-doubt that plagues him in reminders from the past that his life rests on unsolid ground.〔 According to Charles Isherwood, Loman is the play's dominant character because "It is his losing battle against spiritual and economic defeat that provides the narrative spine of the play." Loman is a symbolic representation of millions of white collar employees who outlived their corporate usefulness.〔 He lives in a world with delusions about how popular, famous, influential and successful he is and about the prospects for the success of his sons. His wife not only allows these delusions, but also she buys into them, somewhat.〔 His misplaced values of importance and popularity were shaken to the core by his declining ability to leverage those self-perceived traits successfully as he grew older.〔 Loman's world crumbles around him during the play.〔 According to Associated Press correspondent Cynthia Lowry's review of the drama, "we watched an aging, defeated traveling salesman move inexorably toward self-destruction, clinging desperately to fantasies". The play begins with the 63-year-old Loman dealing with a recent paycut after 34 years on the job at a time when he is having difficulty meeting his financial responsibilities. In the second act, he deals with being fired. The firing was at the hands of the son of the person who had hired him 36 years prior. In the play, Loman reveals his past in scenes from his memory that the audience is challenged to judge for accuracy.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Charles S. Dutton in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller directed by James Bundy )〕 Loman had succeeded in large part due to popularity, which is a value he attempted to instill in his sons.〔〔 Although the play was performed earlier in Philadelphia, the February 10, 1949 Broadway opening is considered the debut and on February 11, Brooks Atkinson of ''The New York Times'' said the following: "Mr. Cobb's tragic portrait of the defeated salesman is acting of the first rank. Although it is familiar and folksy in the details, it has something of the grand manner in the big size and the deep tone." While reviewing a touring production of ''Death of a Salesman'', ''Los Angeles Times'' critic Laurie Winer described Loman as "...the saddest, self-centeredest soul in American drama, a character who will continue to haunt the landscape as long as there are fathers and sons." United Press International critic Rick Du Brow described Loman as "...the aging failure of a salesman who has wasted his life by living in a world of delusions and shallow values..." Willie is described as a "suffering. . .middle-aged man at the end of his emotional rope".〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Death of a Salesman starring Lee J. Cobb and Mildred Dunnock DVD )〕 Lowry described the production as depicting "the end of a man when his dream world is shattered".〔 Creator Arthur Miller described the role as one for a large character in a small physical body and noted he had difficulty finding the right actor at first. Loman's Brooklyn accent is part of the challenge of the role. In 1950, Miller described Loman as a man who upon hearing society's "thundering command to succeed" found himself staring at a failure in the mirror.〔 The Amazon.com editorial review by Ali Davis states that "Willy Loman is a salesman desperately hustling for a living even as he slides into old age."〔 Rovi Corporation's Matthew Tobey describes him as an everyman who has to cope with the sudden realization that he is over the hill and does so with a fantasy world in which he remains important.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Death of a Salesman (1966) )〕 ''The Huffington Posts theater critic, Wilborn Hampton, describes the role as "one of the most complicated characters in dramatic literature", making it a draw for the great actors. The play is a statement on the idea that a man is valued by his position in life.〔〔 Loman never matures enough to realize that being popular without any substance or skill is meaningless in the end and Miller uses Loman to make his point against the anti-intellectualists.〔 In the end, Loman gives way to the belief that his inability to be a successful man and father is condemning.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Willy Loman」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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