Arthur Miller's classic American comedy, Death of a Salesman and Henrik Ibsen's classic comedy A Doll's House, spotlight families and dysfunctional behaviors. In these plays, the themes of innocence, guilt, and truth are viewed through the eyes of deception. Both works tell us that most of us choose to play roles and deceive, not only those immediately around us, but also those around us at a distance. In Death of a Salesman the father passes the deception on to his children, the next generation. A Doll's House Shows deception in a completely different way. We are shown the role of a disempowered woman in a male society. In Death of a Salesman Willy Loman is an insecure and self-deluded traveling salesman. Willy truly believes in the American dream of easy wealth and success. Willy always tells his kids that the people he met became rich. Willy tells them, "The man knew what he wanted and he went out and got it!" He entered a jungle and came out, at the age of twenty-one, and he is rich!” (1254) Linda is Willy's loving and loyal wife. Linda suffers because of Willy's big dreams. He occasionally seems to be fooled by Willy's false hopes for future glory and success. Biff is Willy's eldest son, thirty-four years old. Biff led a popular life in high school as a football player, good male friends, and fawning admirers. However, he failed and did not have enough credits to graduate. He really messed things up and they even had a scholarship waiting for him. In the play Death of a Salesman the Lomans are all extremely self-deceivers and, in their respective delusions and blindness to reality, they feed and feed on each other. Biff and Willy Loman have been deceiving themselves and each other for years. Biff and happy both...... middle of paper ......ra to help him keep his job. The lies continue to sink her deeper into the ground. Ultimately, in both stories the family members constantly deceive themselves. Families have fallen apart and some have died as a result. The struggle to escape the consent cycle of lying did not sit well with some family members. Other family members were caught up in huge secrets and lies. In both stories the characters have learned the lessons of a lifetime. Works Cited Gioia, Dana and Kennedy, X., J. “Death of a Salesman.” Literature: An introduction to fiction, poetry, drama, and writing. 6th ed. Bosten: Pearson/Longman, 2010. 1239-1301Gioia, Dana and Kennedy, X., J. “A Doll's House.” Literature: An introduction to fiction, poetry, drama, and writing. 6th ed. Bosten: Pearson/Longman, 2010. 1032-1084