名人轶事:Arthur Miller

By Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: March 6, 2005

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VOICE ONE:

I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember with People in America in VOA Special English. Today we

tell about Arthur Miller¹. Many theater critics believe he was one of the

greatest American playwrights³ of the twentieth century.

((THEME))

VOICE ONE:

Several plays by Arthur Miller will probably be performed for many years to

come. That is because critics say Miller was able to dramatize the emotional

pain that average people suffer in their daily lives.

A critic once described Miller as an activist⁴ for the common man. He

demonstrates this well in one of his most famous plays, “Death of a

Salesman.” The main character is a man whose dreams of success in business

have died.

But Miller’s interest in the average man did not stop him from exploring

major problems of society. In “The Crucible”, for example, he shows what

happens when unreasonable⁵ dislike and fear cause people to accuse innocent

people of horrible crimes.

Some other of his best-known plays include “All My Sons”, “A View from the

Bridge” and “After the Fall.”

VOICE TWO:

Arthur Miller was born in New York City in nineteen fifteen. He died in two

thousand five at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut. For sixty years, he

created one dramatic work after another. Miller won many awards for his

plays. Among them were a Pulitzer Prize, New York Drama Critics’ Circle

prizes and Tony awards. In nineteen eighty-four, the John F. Kennedy Center

for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. honored him for his lifetime work

in drama.

VOICE TWO (CONT):

Miller also created stories for movies. For example, he wrote “The Misfits”

for actress Marilyn Monroe. Miller’s television drama, “Playing for Time”,

told of an orchestra of prisoners at the Nazi⁶ death camp, Auschwitz, during

World War Two. Miller was also a political activist for human rights. But it

was drama performed in the theater that Miller loved most.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Arthur Miller grew up in New York. His father, Isidore Miller, manufactured

clothing and operated a store. But the father lost his money in the great

economic Depression in the nineteen thirties. The family had to move from a

costly⁷ apartment in Manhattan to a small house in Brooklyn.

During the Depression, Arthur worked at many jobs to earn money for college.

In nineteen thirty-four, he began studying English at the University of

Michigan in Ann Arbor⁸. Miller won an award for writing plays while at school.

VOICE TWO:

Miller returned home to New York after completing his studies. He married his

college girlfriend, Mary Slattery. They had two children before later ending

their marriage.

In nineteen forty-four, Arthur Miller’s first major play was performed on

Broadway. It was called “The Man Who Had All the Luck.” However, the play

did not bring him good luck. It had only four performances. But his second

Broadway play, “All My Sons”, was a major success It won several awards in

nineteen forty-seven.

“All My Sons” tells of a manufacturer who produces faulty parts for

airplanes used in World War Two. One of his sons dies as the result of the

father’s crime. In the play, Miller examines the relationship between the

pressure to succeed and personal responsibility.
VOICE ONE:

Miller’s great play, “Death of a Salesman”, opened on Broadway in nineteen

forty-nine. He was thirty-three years old when he wrote it. “Death of a

Salesman” questions the pressures in American society for people to gain

financial success. The play also continues his exploration of the

relationships between fathers and sons.

The central character in “Death of a Salesman” is sixty-year-old Willy

Loman. The action opens on the last day of Willy’s life. He has been

dismissed from his job as a traveling salesman. He also recognizes that he

has failed as a father. Willy thinks about killing⁹ himself.

Willy’s wife Linda understands that he is deeply and dangerously sad. But

their son Biff criticizes his father’s strange actions. She answers with

some of the most famous words in the American theater:

1 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

2 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

3 playwrights   

n.剧作家( playwright的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We're studying dramatic texts by sixteenth century playwrights. 我们正在研究16 世纪戏剧作家的戏剧文本。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hung-chien asked who the playwrights were. 鸿渐问谁写的剧本。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

4 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

5 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

6 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

7 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

8 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。

9 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

10 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

11 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

12 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

13 portraying   

v.画像( portray的现在分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The artist has succeeded in portraying my father to the life. 那位画家把我的父亲画得惟妙惟肖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ding Ling was good at portraying figures through careful and refined description of human psychology. 《莎菲女士的日记》是丁玲的成名作，曾引起强烈的社会反响。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

14 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。