ARTHUR MILLER

阿瑟•米勒（1915-2005）

美国最杰出的戏剧大师之一，被誉为“美国戏剧的良心”。

阿瑟•米勒出生于美国纽约一个犹太商人家庭。三十年代初美国经济的大萧条时期，他的父亲破产，家里生计维艰。中学毕业后，米勒一边打工一边在密歇根大学新闻系和英文系学习，并开始创作剧本。

一九四七年，阿瑟•米勒的成名作《都是我的儿子》上演，连演三百二十八场。两年后，《推销员之死》在百老汇连续上演了七百四十二场，一举囊括了托尼奖、普利策奖和纽约剧评界奖，从而使阿瑟•米勒赢得国际声誉。另外，米勒还创作了《萨勒姆女巫》、《桥头眺望》、《美国时钟》等剧，均针砭时弊，对社会现实和戏剧技巧作了深刻的探索，体现了米勒对社会问题的直面追问，以及对人性、理智、社会正义等问题的犀利见解。自传体剧本《堕落之后》记述了他与好莱坞名演员玛丽莲•梦露一段并不成功的婚姻生活，也深刻剖析了左翼知识分子的内心。

一九七八年，米勒来华访问，回国后出版《访问中国》一书。一九八一年，《萨勒姆女巫》在华上演，获得很大成功。一九八三年，米勒再度来华，亲自执导《推销员之死》，次年出版《“推销员”在北京》一书，从此他和中国结下了不解之缘。

Joe Keller and Herbert Deever, partners in a machine shop during the war, turned out defective airplane parts, causing the deaths of many men. Deever was sent to prison while Keller escaped punishment and went on to make a lot of money. In a work of tremendous power, a love affair between Keller's son, Chris, and Ann Deever, Herbert's daughter, the bitterness of George Keller, who returns from the war to find his father in prison and his father's partner free, and the reaction of a son to his father's guilt escalate toward a climax of electrifying intensity.

Winner of the Drama Critics' Award for Best New Play in 1947, All My Sons established Arthur Miller as a leading voice in the American theater. All My Sons introduced, themes that thread through Miller's work as a whole: the relationships between fathers and sons and the conflict between business and personal ethics.