Arthur Miller Essay, Research Paper

Inspirational is only one word to describe the writer Arthur Miller. He was an inspiration to many through his play writing. Throughout his life he has had success that many dream of but can not achieve. One never expects success to happen so quickly like it happened to Arthur Miller. (Glassman 56)

Arthur Miller was born and raised in Manhattan, New York. He was the middle child with a younger sister and an older brother. His parents were middle class much like the average family. His father was a successful manufacturer in ladies coats, the average businessman and his mother, a schoolteacher. During his childhood he spent most of his time engaging in childish activity with other children playing sports, he was the average active child. Besides all of the activity Arthur Miller attended James Madison High School. Miller?s average family was middle class until he hit the age of fourteen when the depression hit his family hard. His fathers business failed and their lives had changed from that point. The family moved to Berkland and all of the children, including him, had to get jobs in order to be supported.

Arthur Miller was rejected upon his initial application to the University of Michigan. The people at the university gathered their senses admitting him in 1934. While attending the University of Michigan, he studied journalism and history. He was very interested in writing. Miller graduated from college in 1938 with a degree in English.

Miller began writing plays during the time that he was a student at the University of Michigan. (Glassman 92) Several of his dramatic efforts were rewarded with prizes during his years at university .His first successful play was ?All my Sons? (1947) and he was awarded the New York Drama Critics Circle Award.(Clurman and Bigsby 129) His next play, Death of a Salesman, stunned audiences with his brilliance; it was quickly a classic of the modern theater. Arthur Miller was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1949 for ?Death of a salesman?. ?The Crucible? (1953) was Millers next successful play for which he won the Tony Award. In this play Miller wrote about the witch-hunts in colonist Salem set in the 17th century. He was awarded many upon many awards during his life.

Arthur Miller was also involved in McCarthyism in a negative way. Anything that restricted the rights of an individual to speak their own opinion was unacceptable. Miller was a vocal voice in opposition to the trials and is considered that the trials were a modern day witch-hunt.

Arthur Miller?s life was filled with accomplishment and success. Miller was a huge success when, The Crucible, came to the people around the world. The Crucible, won many awards and a classic known to many. Although he had a rough childhood it did not stop him from his dreams. He has come to be considered one of the greatest dramatists in the history of American theatre and his plays, a fusion of naturalistic and expressionistic techniques, continue to be widely produced. Overall he was a wonderful and very successful man that is admired by many around the world.