Although Arthur Miller is renowned as one of America’s greatest playwrights, his
reputation is founded largely on his early plays, and in particular All My Sons (1947)
and Death o f a Salesman (1949). His playwriting career spanned across a sixty-year
period, yet his acclaimed plays were all produced during its first decade. The aim of
this research is to tackle the myopic critical focus on his classic plays by examining
works that were highly criticised in his own country at the time of their first
production and devoting particular attention to his later and lesser-known works. The
more inclusive approach highlights their significance within his oeuvre and traces the
development of his aesthetic. A close examination of a play from each decade of
Miller’s career is carried out in order to chronicle the decline in his critical popularity
in America. The research significantly offers socio-political and cultural reasons for
their negative treatment. His appearance before the House Un-American Activities
Committee in 1956, and the controversy sparked by the perceived negative portraits
of his former wife Marilyn Monroe in his plays had a seminal impact on public
perception of the playwright. His critical perspective on American society served to
alienate American audiences and led to a disparity in the reception of his later plays.
The depreciation of Miller’s reputation in America coincided with his ascension to
critical acclaim in Europe, The research thus makes reference to the response to
Miller in Britain, in particular, where he is the most frequently produced playwright
after Shakespeare. The British context serves to augment the fact that the plays
discussed in this research merit inclusion in the scholarship on the playwright. His
later plays are increasingly relevant to the current global environment and warrant
revival and consideration in the reputation of Arthur Miller.