Production history Death of a Salesman premiered in America and Britain in 1949. The play ends with his family and only friend, Charley, grieving by his graveside’ (, accessed 18 January 2013). Rather than accept that his life has been a failure, and that Biff is not interested in big business, Loman decides to commit suicide in hopes that the insurance money will help Biff become successful. His depression is exacerbated by the guilt he feels from a past infidelity which has estranged him from his older son, Biff. His family try to help him by lying about their prospects, but when Loman loses his job, after a lifetime with the same company, he becomes desperate. He tries to relive the good times, but keeps coming up against things that went wrong. In order to cope with his failures in life, he retreats to the past in his mind and seems to be losing touch with reality. Play synopsis 'Death of a Salesman relates the story of Willy Loman, a down-on-his-luck traveling salesman.
