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A review by ejreadswords
All My Sons by Arthur Miller
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
“I’m his father and he’s my son, and if there’s something bigger than that I’ll put a bullet in my head!”
😭😭😭 I started 2025 with an absolute masterpiece, but goodness, is this one so devastating. What a brilliantly-layered story. Act Two is marvelous, and Act Three’s final reveal, the final truth, and the conclusion… lord have mercy.
“Because certain things have to be, and certain things can never be. Like the sun has to rise, it has to be.”
As I continue building my theatrical foundation, I say yet again, “boy, a lot of these plays are about the same thing.” But considering that art is always in response to what is going on in the world, given this was written in the 1940s (and a lot of core, fundamentally American texts are results of the war), it’s no surprise that a lot of texts are about themes such as complicity, the “American Dream,” and the delusions that we tell ourselves to convince ourselves that the Dream is not dead, that there is something great to still look forward to.
Compared to other essential texts, like Miller’s own Death of a Salesman; O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The Iceman Cometh; Shepard’s Buried Child, amongst so many others (and I’m just riffing on what I’ve read), this one, for me at least, best explains the generational gap of complicity, accountability, and the limits of what we’d do, what morals we’d compromise, for the betterment of our children, for the idea of leaving behind a good legacy to be proud of. Having ownership of the narrative.
I will exclude in recent theater and memory The Hills of California, because that has the unfair advantage of me having WATCHED it and HEARING it. But wow, that one is so beautifully profound concerning what our parents would do (or not do) for their children’s prosperity. I’m beside myself, this entry is about All My Sons.
I love these characters so much. Clearly defined, with rich histories embedded — and these histories continually haunt. Couldn’t help but think I’d love to play Chris or George, but any of the male characters are justified and representative of the makeup of our American society today.
Love love love love. And I finished reading this (read about 80% of it today) after watching the new film adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo. And I couldn’t help but think that All My Sons and TCoMC share a lot of themes, but focused on different characters; where TCoMC focuses on the innocent victim and his retaliation, All My Sons focuses on the guilty, and the willful ignorance of living with the shame, and the ensuing egg on the face when the jig is up.
Heartbreaking. Beautiful. Wow.
😭😭😭 I started 2025 with an absolute masterpiece, but goodness, is this one so devastating. What a brilliantly-layered story. Act Two is marvelous, and Act Three’s final reveal, the final truth, and the conclusion… lord have mercy.
“Because certain things have to be, and certain things can never be. Like the sun has to rise, it has to be.”
As I continue building my theatrical foundation, I say yet again, “boy, a lot of these plays are about the same thing.” But considering that art is always in response to what is going on in the world, given this was written in the 1940s (and a lot of core, fundamentally American texts are results of the war), it’s no surprise that a lot of texts are about themes such as complicity, the “American Dream,” and the delusions that we tell ourselves to convince ourselves that the Dream is not dead, that there is something great to still look forward to.
Compared to other essential texts, like Miller’s own Death of a Salesman; O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The Iceman Cometh; Shepard’s Buried Child, amongst so many others (and I’m just riffing on what I’ve read), this one, for me at least, best explains the generational gap of complicity, accountability, and the limits of what we’d do, what morals we’d compromise, for the betterment of our children, for the idea of leaving behind a good legacy to be proud of. Having ownership of the narrative.
I will exclude in recent theater and memory The Hills of California, because that has the unfair advantage of me having WATCHED it and HEARING it. But wow, that one is so beautifully profound concerning what our parents would do (or not do) for their children’s prosperity. I’m beside myself, this entry is about All My Sons.
I love these characters so much. Clearly defined, with rich histories embedded — and these histories continually haunt. Couldn’t help but think I’d love to play Chris or George, but any of the male characters are justified and representative of the makeup of our American society today.
Love love love love. And I finished reading this (read about 80% of it today) after watching the new film adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo. And I couldn’t help but think that All My Sons and TCoMC share a lot of themes, but focused on different characters; where TCoMC focuses on the innocent victim and his retaliation, All My Sons focuses on the guilty, and the willful ignorance of living with the shame, and the ensuing egg on the face when the jig is up.
Heartbreaking. Beautiful. Wow.