Arthur Miller (1) (1915–2005)

"The Price" is my favorite of all the plays I've read by Arthur Miller thus far. Within this drama, the characters are flawed, contradictory, disturbed, frustrated, in denial, good, and bad. Because I'm the same age as the protagonist / antagonist, Victor, I viscerally relate to the dilemma / mid-life crisis he's experiencing. Is it too late for that second chance--too late for Victor to actually make something of himself as he conceived when he was young and not so disillusioned? There's not much time left to act--the clock is ticking. The power struggle between the two brothers, Victor and Walter, manifests quite civilly--though the rage simmers, it is rarely violent. It could be said that Walter, the more "successful" of the two brothers, is also the more secure of the two. Walter has always known what he wanted and he goes for it; nothing stops him. Whereas Victor, being less sure, is propped up by the presence of his wife, Esther--who "thinks" for Victor. It's as if Esther functions as Victor's superego; perhaps Victor is not strong enough to face Walter on his own. Everything crystallizes in Act II (Walter appears at the end of Act I); in Act I, skeptical Victor is getting ripped off by Solomon, the appraiser. That transaction sums up the entire problem with Victor's life--he's a guy who's always settling, never risking for the potentially big payoff. On the other hand, possibly Solomon is doing Victor a favor, taking this junk furniture off his hands--maybe Solomon is relieving Victor of that chip on his shoulder he's been carrying around for all those years. In the final scene of Act II of "The Price", Solomon laughs hysterically and uncontrollably by himself, relieved of yet another day of insidious wheeling and dealing. Is he a madman? A saint? Or both? Postscriptum--Although the play is divided into two acts, in the Author's Production Note on the final page of this text, Miller writes that " ..... an unbroken performance is preferable".… (mer)