Historical Context

Arthur Miller's work spoke to his audience at the time he wrote his plays and continues to relate to audiences today. The interesting part is that Miller even admits to knowing what he's doing. In the article "Miller's Tale," by Robert A. Martin, it states, "Tellingly, he once burst out in an interview: ‘Look, I know how to make 'em go with me... it's the first instinct of a writer who succeeds in the theatre at all. I mean, by the time you've written your third play or so, you know which buttons to push... People are pretty primitive -- they really want the thing to turn out all right."'

All My Sons (1947) is familiar to people because it deals with an individual's role in society. The play also deals with not having a perfect family which families in his time and today can relate to. It was also relating to people because World War II had ended two years prior to when the play was written and the play deals with a family having to cope because of war.

Death of a Salesman (1949) is also another very familiar work of Miller's to audiences. Anything dealing with a person's need to achieve and have a name for themselves can relate to anyone, and Death of a Salesman hits the target on this. This is also another play dealing with family issues.