A Sociolinguistic Study of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

The choice of terms of address is a typical instance representing the relational aspect of language. People address and are addressed in diverse ways in their everyday lives. Their reciprocal use of terms of address hinges upon a number of factors including power, affect, distance as well as degree of intimacy. Moreover, the use of a variety of words in different settings is a true measure indicating whether the interlocutors have crossed the borders of socially accepted and appropriate language or not. The present study focuses on the dialogues of the play entitled "Death of a Salesm@n" in the framework of Brown, Levinson, and Wardhaugh's theories on politeness, taboo words, and power relations. A careful sociolinguistic examination of the discourse features of some samples of the play indicated that different factors influence the exercise of power, observing politeness, and the use of taboo words by people in their everyday interactions via verbal and non-verbal language.