The Salesman at Sea: Aquatic Imagery in Death of a Salesman

Recent studies of Arthur Miller's use of figurative language in his plays resituate Miller not as the craggy, unimaginative antithesis to Tennessee Williams, but as a language stylist in his own right, deeply concerned with patterns of imagery, metaphor, and symbolism—all those techniques that make the unity of the aesthetic come alive in a play. This article joins this critical effort to reposition Miller as a language stylist by shedding light on yet another layer of Miller's unique dramatic idiom—the aquatic imagery that pervades Death of a Salesman.