아서 밀러의 여성인물 연구 - <세일즈 맨의 죽음> <크루서블> <다리에서 바라본 풍경> <추락 이후> <모건산을 내려오며>를 중심으로

Abstract

This research paper examines the major works of Arthur Miller from a feminist perspective, and relates each work in terms of the major female characters. This research projects on Death of a Salesman from the 1940s, The Crucible and A View from the Bridge from 1950s, After the Fall from the 1960s, and The Ride down Mount Morgan from the current era, and reflects upon the way in which each piece provides a representative image of Miller’s perceptions of women during each time period. As shadows, there are four main types of women in Miller’s plays: the ‘Good wife’ the ‘Temptress’ the ‘Ingenue’ and the ‘Independent Woman’. So this research paper examines each one in turn, and see how they function in these five plays. As society has progressed over the course of the last fifty years, women have transformed from wives and mothers in the early post-World war Ⅱ era, to businesswomen, politicians, and forceful members of society. But Miller appears unable to create female character that are multi-dimensional and reflect a deeper understanding of female psycho social development and the progression of female characterizations, even as his literature progresses toward topics more representative of the latter half of the 20th century. Even though Arthur Miller is undoubtedly a great playwright, his understanding of women is very slight, and the tendency of much of his work to focus on the inner thought of one male protagonist gives little opportunity for the development of female characterization in his work. Moreover, his reduction of the infinite variety of the female personality to only four basic types limits the potential for his characters to grow, I short, Miller is clearly unable to imagine a woman completely apart from her relationship to a man; and this is a significant liability in his work,