Thursday, May 27, 2010

Exam Revision Homework 6 - Death

1. Is death an important theme in Death of a Salesman? Why/why not?

2. Is death an important theme in Romeo and Juliet? Why/why not?

23 comments:

  1. In death of a salesman, we can tell Death is already an important scene just by the Title 'DEATH of a salesman'. During this film, Willy seem's to be obsessed about a past salesman he met, who was 84 and when he died his funeral was great because many people came and celebrated the salesman's life. And that's what Willy wanted, to be well known and loved when he died. In the end when he drove himself into suicide, the final scene of his funeral wasnt at all great, their were only around 5 people their, His 2 Sons, Wife & 2 Friends.

    In Romeo & Juliet, Death also plays an important role as a lot of charecters die throughout the play and influence the living charecters into doing other things. The first death we have was Mercutios, this drove Romeo into Killing Tybalt and this made the Prince banish Romeo from Verona forever, meaning he couldnt see Juliet again. Then we have the death of the 2 main charecters Romeo and Juliet, and this stopped the fued between the Montagues & The Capulets Forever.

    So yes, death plays an important Theme in both 'Death of a Salesman' and 'Romeo and Juliet'.

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  2. Death of a Salesman has a clear indication of the importance of death as a theme in the story. It is even written in the title to emphasises this. Willy’s death ties the whole story together and is the most effective ending in my view.

    In Romeo and Juliet, death is important. But I do not believe that it is as significant as it is in Death of a Salesman. This is because the main theme is love. I believe that death emphasises the theme of tragedy and brings out the importance of the love between Romeo and Juliet.

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  3. 1. Is death an important theme in Death of a Salesman? Why/why not?
    Death is an important theme in ‘Death of a Salesman’ because the play is practically about how the salesman dies and the causes leading up to his death. Also everyone was concerned about Willy because he started gassing himself and had crashed the twice before which could have killed him. Plus he kept on bragging about his how death would be extremely sad to his costumers and lots of people would come to his funeral .




    2. Is death an important theme in Romeo and Juliet? Why/why not?
    Death was an important theme in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ because both families hated each other even more because Romeo killed Tybalt and because of that Romeo was banished which me that it made him and Juliet’s situation worse and led to the stupid plan of the Priest that killed both Romeo and Juliet making the whole play a Tragedy.

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  4. The Death of a Salesman

    In ‘The Death of a Salesman’ it shows that Death is an important theme as there are many easily spotted clues. For example, the word Death in Death of a Salesman. Also there is the fact that at the beginning of the story, it begins with Willy dying. Willy is a very old man who is obsessed about being a salesman, because of the famous Dave Singleman. Willy wanted to be loved just low people loved Dave. He was known in over 31 states and thousands of buyers were at his funeral, but this was not the same for Willy, only his family and his close relatives showed up.

    Romeo & Juliet

    In Romeo & Juliet, Death is a very important factor as Romeo kills Tybalt who kills Mercutio and then in the end Romeo dies with his hands around Juliet, who then awakes to see her beloved dead and kills herself in the shock. Some of these deaths were an accident. Actually all of them were. Tybalt only by accident killed Mercutio and only by mistake did Tybalt get killed by Romeo. In the end Romeo and Juliet died by mistake as they both thought each other as dead.

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  5. In both the stories, Death, does play an important role.

    In Death of a Salesman we can tell that it does play a role of death as it is even titled in it's name. However this is not where it stops. We see how Willy dies as he is very old and unstressed himself in peace.


    In Romeo and Juliet, death plays a role in this story, too. As Both the main characters eventually die as they wanted to be together and get married but did not manage and therefore some mistakes had been made by Romeo not receiving the letter from the pharmacist who had giving Juliet poison for Juliet to die for certain hours.

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  6. Death-Valentina Spiteri

    Both stories illustrate themes of death and heart break.

    Death is an important aspect of "Death of a Salesman". Willie decides to kill himself to leave money for his son Biff, because of the life insurance. Death is the first word in the title of the story so it clearly illustrates the importance of death. Death is also represented in the form of crumbling relationships. Willie also had big expectations for his family after he dies, the large funeral the constant mourning however he was wrong as no one really missed him except for his wife who he gave no importance to in the first place.

    In "Romeo and Juliet" death is a main part of the story as from the prologue we anticipate that someone will die. In the story four main characters die, Mercutio, Tybalt, Romeo, and Juliet. These characters are either murdered like Mercutio and Tybalt, Or like in the case of Romeo and Juliet commit suicide. Death is very much a main part of the story, as everything leads to the tragic death of Romeo and Juliet.

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  7. Death is important theme in both stories "Death of a Salesman" and "Romeo and Juliet"

    You can easily figure out by the name of the story that death is a very important in the "Death of a Salesman". Willy always tried to kill himself through the whole story. And at the end he succeed and died in the car accident.

    In "Romeo and Juliet" death is one of the main parts. Two families are always fighting with each other. Many characters died in the fight. For example, Tybalt and Mercutio died in the fight. However, there are Romeo and Juliet who killed themselves. This story is tragedy and there is a lot of death.

    Polina

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  8. 1. Death in "death of a salesman" is a very important theme in the story. You can already tell this from the name of the play. But death isn't commonly mentioned in the play, but it is all hidden in the whole message of the story plot. With how important a death of a salesman should be. That there should be thousands of people at the funeral. All this proved that Willie was a troubled man who believed too much in his hopes and dreams for him AND his boys. But it let him down and further led him onto killing himself. First there were a few attempts, but at last in the end of the story he succeeded.

    2. In 'Romeo and Juliet' death is as well one of the main themes of the story. Although, when comparing the two plays, in romeo and juliet there were plenty more deaths than in death of a salesman. These include the many past deaths of the feud between the families, and of the climax points in the play when mercutio and tybalt die. Another high point at the end when romeo and juliet both take suicide, but one after another. Death is expressing the tragedy genre in the play .

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  9. Death is an obvious main theme in 'Death of a Salesman' because of how it is part of the title. The story wouldn't be complete without it, and the title probably wouldn't have been the same. Having Willy, who was struggling with debts and his own sanity, die, really tied up the whole play. Not only this, but the play was basically all leading up to the death of Willy. It was either he'd die, or his sons would find some way to make things right with him. But seeing as how everything turned out, the only output was for Willy to die, as no one was able to help him.


    Death is definitely important in 'Romeo and Juliet' as it is what sparks off most of the action and conflicts. It adds suspense, as well as the theme 'tragedy' to the play, and keeps the audience on their toes as they have to pay attention because everything happens fast. There are plenty of deaths in this play. For example, the death of Mercutio, murdered by Tybalt, and then the following death of Tybalt, murdered by Romeo in a fit of rage. Now, because Tybalt was killed by Romeo, he was banished. This is important because later on he automatically jumps to conclusions, in thinking Juliet's death, and then kills himself next to her grave. Because of Romeo's death, Juliet kills herself. So yes, death is very important, because for every person that dies, another seems to need to, to balance it. If one person from the Capulets die, one from the Montagues must too.


    --Tatiana T. 9A

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  10. In Death of a Salesman it obviously goes about the death of a salesman. Willy talks with Howard about a man who died and he can’t pay his insurance so for the sake of his family he commits suicide to give them the insurance money. So it is all about the money, what they get on the end so I think it plays a big role in the scene! It makes the story how the story is now.
    In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo kills his enemy because he killed his best friend what definitely the main scene in Romeo and Juliet is. But the whole story leads to a bad ending ‘DEATH’ they both die in each other’s arms!

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  11. Death is not so important in Death of a Salesman because nothing big happens, hundreds of salesmen and buyers were not at Willy’s funeral, and really his death is not so important. However I cannot say that it does not matter at all, because his wife and his children are sad, and his son will get money for him dyeing. I think that it is an unneccessary death, I mean how can u murder yourself just for money? Personality is much more important than money, but I guess Willy did not understand that which is sad.
    In Romeo and Juliet death I smore important I think. It is because of Mercutio’s death Romeo killed Tybalt. Well these two deaths are not that important because they follow by Romeo’s and Juliet’s deaths, which are far more important because after their suicides the parents understand that fighting is not the answer. Also it is more important than Death of Salesman death because the once who die are young, and they die because of pure love, and love is more important than money.

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  13. Death
    In Death of a Salesman death is not as important as in Romeo and Juliet. In Death of a Saleman the death has no important role in the story. The death occurs at the end of the play and it is a mournful death but there is no real story behind the death except that his sons would get the loan they needed to start their sports merchandise company. Linda was very sad and lonely , especially since the last payment on the house had been paid and now they owned their house and she owned it alone.
    Romeo & Juliet has a more important theme of death in it. After the death of Tybalt, Romeo and Juliet's relationship seems questionable and the nurse drops faith in Romeo. Then after Juliet's death Romeo kills himself and then Juliet dies for real ,and the families realize that all their fighting had driven their children to death and it had to stop. The deaths are more important in Romeo and Juliet but the death of Willy Lowman is sad as well.
    Another death that occurs in Death of a Salesman is the death of Dave Singleman. He was a well know salesman and Willy wanted hundreds of Salesmen and Buyers to attend his funeral, the same as Dave's. This is a more important occurance as well.

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  14. In death of a Salesman death is a very important theme. Aside from the other themes, death makes the end of the story. The out come of the story has to do almost entirely with death.

    Death is also a VERY important theme is Romeo and Juliet. The ending is full of death and this makes it a tragedy. Death also develops the story with the death of Mercutio and Tybalt.

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  15. In the Story Death of a Salesman, Death is quite an important theme, even making it to the title f the story. The end of the story ends with Willy's death, and his funeral. Death isn't entirely mentioned throughout the story before the end, but it is implied to us, via foreshadowing. Also, Willy speaks of the 'death of a salesman', dying in the smoker's cabin on the train.

    In Romeo and Juliet, Death is one of the most important themes. The story is filled with death; Mercutio, Tybalt, Romeo and Juliet, and full of fighting and arguing. At the end of the story, Romeo kills himself, as he believes Juliet to be dead, who was actually alive, and when she saw Romeo dead, she kills herself for him.

    Andrew Graham

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  16. In Death of a Salesman we see a clear sign of the significance of death as a theme in the story. It is also written in the title to emphasizes that. Willy’s death puts the whole story together.

    In Romeo and Juliet, death is very important. But I don’t think that it is as important as it is in Death of a Salesman, because the key theme is love. I believe that death shows disaster and brings out the meaning of the love connecting Romeo and Juliet.
    by mike

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  17. Death

    In both stories, death is one of the main themes, and this is why:

    In Romeo and Juliet:
    Death is a very important theme in Romeo and Juliet because, first of all, there are many deaths in the play. The two main characters end up dying in the end, and many other important characters die along the story too.

    In Death of a Salesman:
    Death is a very important theme in Death of a Salesman because the main character, Willy, is always trying to kill himself to help his family's financial problems. He also wants many people to attend his funeral. Also, Willy sees many dead people from his memories and he talks to them.

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  18. In The Death of a Salesman it has a clear indication of death being one of the main themes in the story, including the title of the story. Willy’s family were worried about Willy because he was gassing himself, and even tried crashing the car multiple times to try kill himself. Willy died in the end of the story, and he kept saying how his funeral would be full of people, but actually there were around 5 people there.

    Death was also very important in Romeo and Juliet because the feud became worse between the two families after Mercutio and Tybolt died. But at the end of the story, when Romeo thought Juliet was dead, He killed himself, but when Juliet woke up, she saw Romeo dead and killed herself too. This is a very important part because these were the two main characters, who just killed themselves.

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  19. In death of a Salesman, death is an important theme, as anyone could tell from the title, also because Willy wanted to be the Salesman he always spoke about who died, at about 84 and had a large and important funeral. It was like Willy was aiming for this type of funeral, and that his life led up to this moment.
    In Romeo and Juliet, death is also very important, because the two lovers loved each other so much, they killed themselves. Also to create the story many of the other characters get killed on the way to add to the point of the story.

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  20. Yes, Death is an important theme in "Death of a Salesman". It is even written in the title: "'Death' of a salesman". The story is about Willy and how and why his life ends. It is also a lot about already dead people. Willy often talks to people that are actually already dead and he often sees scenes from the past. With Howard he talks about Howard's dead father and then about the Salesman Dave Singleman who died and everybody went to his funeral. Only a few people went to Willy's funeral at the end of the story after he died.

    DEath is also an important theme in "Romeo and Juliet". A lot of people die. Tybalt kills Mercutio in a big fight. After this, the angry Romeo kills Tybalt. And at the end of the story, both main characters kill themselves. Romeo sees Juliet, who seems to be dead, and he doesn't want to live on without Juliet in his life, so he kills himself. That was a huge mistake, because Juliet wasn't actually dead. When Juliet 'woke up' and saw Romeo, she killed herself with a weapon. So many people die just because of the old grudge of the two families...

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  21. Death in 'Death of a Salesman' is important as it shows how Willy is trying to commit suicide by using the gas pipes down in the basement, crashing his car, and why he is actually trying to kill himself. Willy wants to die so that he can be remembered as a great salesman and to give his insurance to his family. we also know about Ben, Willys brother who died years ago; we think, Howards father who died some time ago while Willy was working with him and finally Dave Singleman who was basically Willys idol in selling merchandise.

    In Romeo and Juliet Death plays an important part as most of Romeo and Juliet is about Death. the first death is Mercutio who ends up dead under Romeos arm because Tybalt stabs him in the stomach, Romeo who is infuriated goes after Tybalt and kills him out of revenge thus the second death has been told. the third and final death in the play is ofcourse Romeo and Juliet, when Romeo learns of Juliets 'Death' he storms into the city and goes to her crypt to see her and kills himself, Juliet wakes up and sees him dead and thus to be with him kills herself.

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  22. Death is important in Romeo and Juliet because it forms the moral, the recovery of the story. Death is a constant plague throughout the story as the two houses fight bitterly causing deaths on both sides. Then Romeo and Juliet fall in love and almost immediately Romeo slays one of Juliet's Kinsmen who in turn slew one of Romeo's friends. This then leads to Romeo's exile and the Friar's plan to make Juliet look dead, which in then end leaves both of the lovers dead in each other's arms and the two houses calmed. So Death is central to the story.

    In Death of a Salesman, aside form the title, Death is not so prominent. It comes up a few times with Willy's suicidal tendencies, but in the end of the story it just finalizes Willy's fear of dying with nobody there to see him. He wanted people to remember him when he died, he wanted people to be there.

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  23. Death

    In Death of a salesman, I would say that the theme death is of importance. One reason is for the fact that the title is ‘DEATH of a salesman’. Also it is important because he was inspired by the death of a salesman, as a man around 80 years old had died as a salesman and died a very famous/loved man, and Willy wanted to die the way he died as well. It also deals with death because even in the end, Willy dies a tragic death.

    In Romeo and Juliet, the theme of death is also of importance. The main reason is, not only that a lot of people die, but they all die for a reason. I would count that up to four main characters died in Romeo and Juliet. First Mercutio died, trying his best to protect Romeo from Mercutio, but he gets stabbed under his arm. Then Romeo takes revenge for Mercutio’s death, and stabs Tybalt. Later on in the story, Romeo dies thinking that Juliet was dead, but it was really a potion to make her sleep as though she was dead for 42 hours. He then kills himself for this. Juliet eventually wakes up, and sees Romeo had died on her by drinking poison, so she then stabs herself in the heart and dies. This is why I think that death is an important theme in Romeo and Juliet.

    Kalean 9A

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