By providing insightful and thought-provoking essays by renowned
Arthur Miller specialists Steven Centola and Terry Otten, as well
as work by four other accomplished literature professors and by six
talented emerging scholars, Dialogue: Arthur Miller’s Death of a
Salesman hopes to contribute significantly to Miller scholarship; this
book will also examine several themes and interests of the play that have
engendered controversy in the past. I strongly support General Editor
Michael Meyer’s desire to provide young scholars—whether they are
applying to doctoral programs, seeking tenure-track positions, or working
toward tenure—with an opportunity to publish their work; they are
indeed grateful for the opportunity to share their ideas in print and to
contribute to Miller scholarship. I am also intrigued by Meyer’s wonderful
idea of the pairing of essays—an experienced professor and an
emerging scholar both writing on the same topic but exploring the issue
from their own unique perspective and in many cases using a different
critical methodology. Because it might be too constraining and inhibiting
to have the writers respond to specific aspects and passages from the
essay with which theirs is paired, the authors instead enjoy the freedom
to explore the topic as they see fit, an approach which leads to thoughtprovoking
and unique perspectives and to more productive chapters. The
essay topic concerning the role of women in Death of a Salesman provides
a sound example. Terry Otten, Professor Emeritus of Wittenberg
University, and L. Bailey McDaniel, who wrote her essay as a doctoral
student at Indiana University and who is about to begin her career at
the University of Houston—Downtown, wrote on this topic. Although
both essays are superb, Otten’s essay illustrates the strengths of traditional
criticism by interpreting Miller’s text closely, while McDaniel’s
is far more theoretical and focuses more on a cultural context. Both are
fine contributions to the book, yet the distinctions between them manifest
changes that have occurred in the literary profession over the past
few decades: the shift toward literary theory, feminist criticism, and cultural
contexts rather than an emphasis on New Critical close readings

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