1. Arthur Miller

2.  Profoundly influenced by the Depression and the war that immediately followed it, Miller tapped into a sense of dissatisfaction and unrest within the greater American psyche.http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmaste rs/episodes/arthur-miller/career-timeline/57/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmaste rs/episodes/arthur-miller/career-timeline/57/  Arthur Miller was born in Manhattan in 1915 to Jewish immigrant parents. By 1928, the family had moved to Brooklyn, after their garment manufacturing business began to fail.  More than any other playwright working today, Arthur Miller has dedicated himself to the investigation of the moral plight of the white American working class.

3.  Willy Loman- the salesman who is past his prime, and who was never an exceptional businessman in his prime  Linda Loman- Willy's wife who loves him despite all of his difficulties  Biff Loman- Willy's eldest son for whom he had dreams of greatness  Happy Loman- Willy's younger son  Charley- Willy's neighbor  Bernard- Charley's son  Ben- Willy's brother who left home very early and became tremendously wealthy; appears only in Willy's daydreams  Howard Wagner - son of former owner of the Wagner Company; he now runs the firm and is responsible for putting Willy on straight commission  The Woman - Willy's mistress from Boston  Miss Forsythe and Letta - Two girls that Happy picks up at the restaurant

4.  Willy Loman is a traveling salesman who has worked for the Wagner Company for thirty-four years. He is now sixty-one years old and has been taken off salary and put back on straight commission, and he is unable to earn enough money to pay the bills. Charley, the Lomans' neighbor, has been giving money to Willy every month to meet his payments, even though Willy is too proud to accept a payroll job from him. Charley's son Bernard, who was in school with Willy's sons, has become a successful lawyer.  Willy's two sons, Biff and Happy, come back home and are temporarily sharing their old room. Biff is the oldest son who was a football star in high school with several scholarships, but for the last fourteen years he has been unable to find himself. He returned from somewhere in the West due to his mother's request for him to see his father. Happy works in a department store and has his own apartment in another part of New York.

5.  Willy has been plagued by daydreams and illusions, and the play begins with his driving home prematurely from one of his New England business trips due to the fact that he cannot concentrate on the road.