"All My Sons" opened in 1947 and was Arthur Miller's first play shown on Broadway. The play was a success and told the story of a man so desperate to save his manufacturing business that he sold defective mechanical parts to the military. The play is based on a true story about a man who sold defective parts for tanks to the military during World War II, according to the Universal Teacher website. Like many of Arthur Miller's plays, it centers around a theme of desperation and family responsibility and criticizes the notion of the American Dream.
"Death of a Salesman" opened in 1949 on Broadway and is now known as one of Arthur Miller's most famous plays. This play also deals with desperation, family responsibility and the American Dream. The story is about a failed businessman who is reexamining his life and trying to find a way to save his family from poverty. Unable to make enough money as a salesman to support his family the main character, Willy Loman, decides to kill himself so his family can get the life insurance money. The play won the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for Best Play.
"The Crucible", which debuted on Broadway in 1953, was a play about 17th century Salem witch trials, but was actually a veiled criticism of the attempts by the House of Un-American Activities Committee to uncover communists in the U.S. government, according to the National Endowment for the Humanities website. The play told the story of young girls in Salem who spark paranoia and mass hysteria when they are caught casting spells and start accusing other residents of the town of witchcraft in order to avoid punishment themselves.
"A View from the Bridge" debuted on Broadway in 1955. The play tells the story of a Brooklyn dock worker, Eddie, who lives with his wife and niece. The dock worker falls in love with his niece after two Italian cousins from her family, who have illegally immigrated to New York, begin living with them and one of them proposes to the young woman. Eddie betrays his family and immigrant community by turning the two cousins in to immigration authorities in a desperate attempt to get the cousin away from his niece. The play again is about a working class family and centers around the main character's struggle with his responsibility to his family and to society.