INSIDE THIS GUIDE: About the Playwright 2 The Story 3 The Characters of the Play 3 The Setting as Eden 4 World War II History 5 Tragedy and the Common Man 6 Pre and Post Show Discussion Questions 8 STUDY GUIDE Arthur Miller‘s All My Sons PRESENTED BY THE METROPOLITAN ENSEMBLE THEATRE STUDY GUIDE BY TAYLOR ST. JOHN CAST: Joe Keller…James Wright Kate Keller…Licia Watson Chris Keller...Taylor St. John Ann Deever…Natalie Licardello George Deever…Doogin Brown Jim Bayliss…Bob Paisley Sue Baylis…Karen Paisley Frank Lubey…Matt Griggs Lydia Lubey..Courtney Stephens Bert...Angel Reese CREATIVE: Director….Karen Paisley As children we are taught lessons about how to be responsible and honest. The adults that raise us often work hard to teach us about morals that they believe will make us good people and positive. contributors to society. But as we mature, we realize that truth and responsibility are never as clear-cut as we were originally taught. The world provides guidelines that often put people‘s personal interests in conflict with their ability to do the right thing. The American Dream is built on the concept that if a person works hard, they will reap the benefits of wealth, acclaim, and success. Yet, many of those that succeed in achieving the American Dream, do so by breaking the rules and violating the moral code of society. In All My Sons, Arthur Miller then poses the question of what is a person‘s responsibility to the world? Do we, as members of society, have an obligation to do the right thing or are we only supposed to do only what will get us ahead? This question is one which illuminates the central conflict in All My Sons. When Joe Kel- ler‘s machine shop produces faulty plane parts for WWII fighter planes, Keller is faced with the decision of either destroying his business to do what is right or cover up fatal mistakes and risk murdering American soldiers. In this, the question of taking responsibility is not nearly as black and white as simply doing the right thing; it means personal, financial ruin. Thus Miller questions whether the American Dream of working hard by doing the right thing, is not an impossibility. In the review of its Broadway premiere in 1947, Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times noted Miller‘s ―unusual understanding of the tangled loyalties of human beings.‖ It is in these tangled loyalties that Miller exposes the conflict of a father and son whose definitions of right and wrong are complicated by the complexities of honesty and responsibility in a society that is only concerned with how to get ahead. With any luck, this guide will probe into the essential human questions that these characters and all of us face every day. -Taylor St. John and Karen Paisley Debate the Play: What is an Individual’s Responsibility to Society? All My Sons is a play that deals largely with the responsibility an individual has to the larger society. The model of Capitalism says that only the strongest succeed. As a class, debate your views on responsibility, truth, and whether the two can exist side by side. Are you responsible for contributing positively to society? Why or why not? Is society responsible to you as an individual? If doing what was right, meant you would be ruined personally or professionally, what would you do? “I’m his father and he’s my son and if there’s something bigger than that, I’ll put a bullet in my head.” -Joe Keller (Act III)
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Transcript
INSIDE THIS GUIDE:
About the Playwright 2
The Story 3
The Characters of the Play
3
The Setting as Eden 4
World War II History 5
Tragedy and the Common Man
6
Pre and Post Show Discussion Questions
8
STUDY GUIDE
Arthur Miller‘s
All My Sons PRESENTED BY THE METROPOLITAN ENSEMBLE THEATRE
STUDY GUIDE BY TAYLOR ST. JOHN
CAST:
Joe Keller…James Wright
Kate Keller…Licia Watson
Chris Keller...Taylor St. John
Ann Deever…Natalie Licardello
George Deever…Doogin Brown
Jim Bayliss…Bob Paisley
Sue Baylis…Karen Paisley
Frank Lubey…Matt Griggs
Lydia Lubey..Courtney Stephens
Bert...Angel Reese
CREATIVE:
Director….Karen Paisley
As children we are taught lessons about how to be responsible and honest. The adults
that raise us often work hard to teach us about morals that they believe will make us good people
and positive. contributors to society. But as we mature, we realize that truth and responsibility
are never as clear-cut as we were originally taught. The world provides guidelines that often put
people‘s personal interests in conflict with their ability to do the right thing.
The American Dream is built on the concept
that if a person works hard, they will reap the benefits
of wealth, acclaim, and success. Yet, many of those
that succeed in achieving the American Dream, do so
by breaking the rules and violating the moral code of
society. In All My Sons, Arthur Miller then poses the
question of what is a person‘s responsibility to the world? Do we, as members of society, have an
obligation to do the right thing or are we only supposed to do only what will get us ahead?
This question is one which illuminates the central conflict in All My Sons. When Joe Kel-
ler‘s machine shop produces faulty plane parts for WWII fighter planes, Keller is faced with the
decision of either destroying his business to do what is right or cover up fatal mistakes and risk
murdering American soldiers. In this, the question of taking responsibility is not nearly as black
and white as simply doing the right thing; it means personal, financial ruin. Thus Miller questions
whether the American Dream of working hard by doing the right thing, is not an impossibility.
In the review of its Broadway premiere in 1947, Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times
noted Miller‘s ―unusual understanding of the tangled loyalties of human beings.‖ It is in these
tangled loyalties that Miller exposes the conflict of a father and son whose definitions of right and
wrong are complicated by the complexities of honesty and responsibility in a society that is only
concerned with how to get ahead. With any luck, this guide will probe into the essential human
questions that these characters and all of us face every day.
-Taylor St. John and Karen Paisley
Debate the Play: What is an Individual’s Responsibility to Society?
All My Sons is a play that deals largely with the responsibility an individual has to the larger society. The
model of Capitalism says that only the strongest succeed. As a class, debate your views on responsibility,
truth, and whether the two can exist side by side.
Are you responsible for contributing positively to society? Why or why not?
Is society responsible to you as an individual?
If doing what was right, meant you would be ruined personally or professionally, what would you do?
“I’m his father and he’s my son and
if there’s something bigger than
that, I’ll put a bullet in my head.”
-Joe Keller (Act III)
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT: ARTHUR MILLER 1915-2005
Arthur Miller has long been considered one of America‘s greatest
playwrights. His plays make a harsh critique of the American conscious and
exposes the delusions of the American Dream. For Miller, plays function to
shed light on corruption and encourage political dialogue about the affairs of
the day. As he says in his own words, ―I can almost tell what the political sit-
uation in a country is when the play is suddenly a hit there. It is either a
warning of tyranny on the way or a reminder of tyranny just past.‖
Miller‘s politics have always played a large role in his playwriting. He
grew up in New York City during the Great Depression when the financial
crash destroyed his father‘s garment business. His father‘s financial disaster
informs his extreme skepticism in America‘s political and economic system.
Thus his plays (Death of a Salesman and All
My Sons) function as critiques of the Ameri-
can Dream.
Far from the American Dream was his personal life which was as deeply
troubled as the lives of the characters he wrote about. In 1956, he married the
famous sex symbol Marilyn Monroe. During their four years of marriage, Miller
stopped writing to attend to Monroe who was ―increasingly tormented by person-
al demons and drug abuse‖ (The New York Times). He would later document his
marriage with Monroe in his most autobiographic play, After the Fall.
During his marriage to Monroe, he was also
called to testify during the McCarthy Hearings by the
House of Un-American Activities Committee in which he
was asked to name the names of other known Com-
munist Party members. When Miller refused, he was sent to jail and blacklisted from
Hollywood. In other words, because of his alleged association with the Communist Par-
ty, people in Hollywood refused to hire him. This incident inspired another of his most
famous plays, The Crucible, in which Miller draws parallels from the McCarthy Hear-
ings to the Salem Witch Trials.
All My Sons was Miller‘s first
major success and launched his career.
During the two years he spent writing
the play, he made himself a promise that if the play was not a
success, he would give up as a playwright. All My Sons premi-
ered on Broadway in 1947; winning two Tony Awards and the New York Drama Critic‘s Circle Award. Miller
went on to win numerous awards and become one the most praised dramatists of the 20th Century. In his
memoir, Timebends, Miller speaks about the importance writing theatre that challenged the values of society
―with the possible exception of being a doctor saving a life, writing a worthy play was the most important thing
a human being could do...that meant grabbing people and shaking them by the back of the neck.‖ It is perhaps
Miller‘s fierce belief in justice and truth for which he will always be remembered.