About this book
Arthur Miller's Pulitzer Prize-winning tragedy follows Willy Loman, an ageing travelling salesman whose faith in the American Dream has brought him only failure and self-delusion. A defining portrait of American capitalism and its casualties. Miller himself was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1956 and convicted of contempt of Congress (later overturned) for refusing to name associates. The play has been challenged in schools for its language and portrayal of suicide.
Why it was banned
Challenged or removed in U.S. schools over profanity, sexual references, and criticism of American capitalism; reports of Soviet restriction are tied to ideological discomfort with Western social critique.
Censorship history
Death of a Salesman has been banned or restricted in multiple countries primarily for its political content and challenge to authority, as well as sexual content. The book has faced formal bans or removal orders in United States and Soviet Union since at least 1950. Government-level bans have been imposed in Soviet Union, while school-level challenges have occurred in United States. Bans in Soviet Union have since been lifted or lapsed, though restrictions remain active elsewhere. This case illustrates how governments across political systems have used censorship to shield authority from literary criticism.
Bans
| Country | Year | Reasons | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soviet Union | 1950lifted | Political | ||
| Miller's association with American leftists made his work politically complicated in the Cold War era; Death of a Salesman was not widely performed in the Soviet bloc. | ||||
| United States | 1963 | PoliticalSexual | ||
| Challenged in schools for its language, references to suicide, and its perceived anti-capitalist message. | ||||
