Collected essays / Arthur Miller ; introduction by Susan C.W. Abbotson. [print]

"Arthur Miller was not only one of America's most important twentieth-century playwrights, but he was also one of its most influential literary, cultural, and intellectual voices. Throughout his career, he consistently remained one of the country's leading public intellectuals, advocating tirelessly for social justice, global democracy, and the arts. Theater scholar Susan C.W. Abbotson introduces this volume as a selection of Miller's finest essays, organized in three thematic parts: essays on the theater, essays on specific plays like Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, and sociopolitical essays on topics spanning from the Depression to the twenty-first century. Written with playful wit, clear-eyed intellect, and above all, human dignity, these essays offer unmatched insight into the work of Arthur Miller and the turbulent times through which he guided his country"--

Introduction by Susan C.W. Abbotson -- On the theater. Concerning tragedy: Sorting things out: foreword to 'The theater of essays of Arthur Miller (1977) -- Tragedy and the common man (1949) -- The nature of tragedy (1949) -- General commentary: Introduction to the 'Collected plays' (1957) -- On social plays (1955) -- The family in the modern drama (1956) -- The shadows of the gods (1958) -- Ibsen and drama of today (1994) -- Tennessee Williams' legacy: an eloquence and amplitude of feeling (1984) -- The good old American apple pie (1993) -- Notes on realism (1999) -- Subsidized theatre (1947/2000) -- Concerning language: About theater language: afterword to 'The last yankee' (1994) -- On screenwriting and language: introduction to 'Everybody wins' (1990) -- On his works. The golden years and The man who had all the luck: Introduction to 'The golden years' and 'The man who had all the luck' (1989) -- Focus: The face in the mirror: anti-semitism then and now (1984) -- All my sons: Belief in America (from 'Situation normal'..) (1944) -- Death of a salesman: Extract from 'Timebends: a life' (1987) -- Preface to 'Salesman in Beijing' (1991) -- Salesman at fifty (1999) -- An enemy of the people: Preface to adaptation of Ibsen's 'An enemy of the people' (1951) -- Ibsen's warning (1989) -- The crucible: Brewed in 'The crucible' (1958) -- Again they drink from the cup of suspicion (1989) -- It could happen here - and did (1967) -- 'The crucible' in history (1999) -- A view from the bridge: Introduction to 'A view from the bridge' (two-act version) (1960) -- After the fall: Foreword to 'After the fall' (1964) -- Incident at Vichy: Guilt and 'Incident at Vichy' (1965) -- The price: 'The price' - the power of the past (1999) -- The archbishop's ceiling and The American clock: Conditions of freedom: two plays of the seventies (1989) -- Mr. Peters' connections: Preface to 'Mr. Peters' connections' (1998) -- On society and politics. Juvenile delinquency: Bridge to a savage world (1958) -- The bored and the violent (1962) -- The McCarthy era: Many writers: few plays (1952) -- The night Ed Murrow struck back (1983) -- 1956 and all this (1956) -- Conditions in America: Concerning Jews who write (1948) -- Miracles (1973) -- The battle of Chicago: from the delegates' side (1968) -- The limited hang-out: the dialogues of Richard Nixon as a drama of the antihero (1974) : American playhouse: on politics and the art of acting (2001) -- Clinton in Salem (1998) -- The Holocaust: The Nazi trials and the German heart (1964) -- Politics abroad: Dinner with the ambassador (1985) -- What's wrong with this picture?: speculations on a homemade greeting card (1974) -- The measure of the man (1991) -- The parable and the stripper (1994) -- Uneasy about the Germans: after the wall (1990) -- The sin of power (1978) -- A visit with Castro (2004) -- Why Israel must choose justice (2003) -- Satire: A modest proposal for the pacification of the public temper (1954) -- Get it right: private executions (1992) -- Let's privatize Congress (1995).