History Theatre / DeathOfASalesman

* LoserSonOfLoserDad: It's implied that Happy is bound to follow the same life trajectory as his father, only worse because of his immaturity and irresponsibility.

* NiceGuy: Charley, who gives Willy money and offers him a do-nothing job even though Willy often treats Charley with contempt (to mask his own jealousy).

* VicariouslyAmbitious: Despite his delusions, Willy realizes that he's a failure, and so projects all of his hopes and dreams onto his sons, especially Biff. Unfortunately for Willy, neither of his sons seems destined to amount to very much either.

* TheCasanova: Happy is an inveterate womanizer. He's certainly not above calling on call girls. [[spoiler:He must get it from his old man, who's been cheating on his wife.]]

* AbusiveParents: One of Miller's main arguments is that Willy, despite truly loving his sons and never physically abusing them, caused them a huge amount of mental trauma with his constant praise and insistence that they were destined for greatness. Biff realizes that Willy lied to him all his life and led him to think that he'd be immediately successful in whatever he tried to do, which has only made him unable to stick with anything--the instant a job or hobby gets difficult, he loses all interest in it, turning him into a LazyBum. The ending suggests that this knowledge will give Biff the ability to move on and at least try to improve his flaws, while Happy, [[StepfordSmiler still in denial]], refuses to believe that Willy was anything but perfect.

* FiringDay: In the second act, there is a HopeSpot where Willie decides to talk to his boss about being transferred to work in New York City, as he accepts that he's too old to be traveling up and down from New Jersey all the way to Massachusetts. While talking to his boss, Willie reminisces about his late boss, the new boss' father, and then brings up the idea of being transferred to only be a salesman in New York City, only for his boss to tell him that his sales numbers have been going down, and has become a liability to the company and fires him. Willie tries to appeal to his, now, ex-boss with the fact that he knew his father, but the ex-boss is unmoved, and when Willie tries negotiating a pay-cut, since he won't be traveling far, the boss just politely asks him to leave his office, and Willie eventually relents and leaves in defeat.

* JadedWashout: Willy Loman used to have a better life in his younger years ([[NostalgiaFilter though probably not as great as he thinks it was]]). Now, he's a bitter old man, desperately trying to cling on to his goal, in spite of all evidence that it's just not going to happen.
** Biff also qualifies, indeed he "washed out" even earlier in life.

* StepfordSmiler: Happy (hence the name).

** Happy thinks he can just do better than his father at this career if he tries hard enough. The point is that Willy ''was'' trying hard; it's just that he wasn't cut out for the line of work and ignored all evidence to the contrary. At one point, Biff practically grabs Willy and screams in his face that neither Willy nor Biff are going to be massive successes, that they don't have what it takes to be massive successes, and ''that's okay'', they don't ''need'' to be massive successes. Willy takes the exact opposite interpretation to what Biff is trying to tell him.

* SmallNameBigEgo: Willy likes to think of himself as something of a local legend among salesmen in New York and New England, and thinks that when he dies, his former clients and salesmen from across the region will flock to honor his memory. In reality, Willy is a complete no-name working on commission and eventually fired by his boss, and when he dies only his immediate family and Charley's show up for the funeral.

* ArcWords: Willy demeans a neighbor he dislikes by saying "he's liked, but he's not ''well liked''. The same phrase is repeated several times over to express the same principle, until eventually it is used to describe the hollowness of such a value system.

* ArcWords: Willy demeans a neighbor he dislikes by saying "he's liked, but he's not ''well liked''," a phrase which indicates the great value Willy places on appearances and networking over work and study. The same phrase is repeated several times over to express the same principle, until eventually it is used to describe the hollowness of such a value system.

* OffendedByAnInferiorsSuccess: Willy's philosophy that it's better to "well liked" than just "liked" boils down to him believing that being charismatic will eventually bring success and admiration, and thus more important than working hard. As such, Willy cannot entertain the idea he should work for Charley, whom is more successful despite Willy seeing him as just being "liked," because it would be beneath him. Furthermore, Willy cannot fathom the idea that Bernard, Charley's son and whom Willy also sees as just being "liked" is a successful lawyer who is happily married, while Biff, who was "well liked" in high school ended up becoming a drifter who wandered back home after several years away.

** In addition to their obsession with popularity, Willy and Biff do not realize the amount of effort needed to achieve their dreams. To illustrate, Charlie's son Bernard works hard to become a successful lawyer and Uncle Ben goes into the jungle for four years to find diamonds and come out rich. On the other hand, Willy and Biff are always looking for an easy way out and that's why they ultimately fail in life.

* SmallNameBigEgo: Willy likes to think of himself as something of a local legend among salesmen in New York and New England, and thinks that when he dies, his former clients and salesmen from across the region will flock to honor his memory. In reality, Willy is a complete a no-name working on commission and eventually fired by his boss, and when he dies only his immediate family and Charley's show up for the funeral.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Willy dies, and the rest of the Loman family continues its proud tradition of sucking at life. Happy intends to continue his father's "legacy", almost getting into a fist fight with Biff when he tries to dissuade him. The only upside might be that Biff has rejected Willy's delusions. Maybe. Linda tearfully tells Willy she has finally paid off the house, but will be living in it alone. "We're free."]]