IDENTITY IN THE SHADOW OF ,,BAD FAITH": THE EXISTENTIAL DRAMA OF THE PROTAGONISTS OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS'S THE GLASS MENAGERIE AND ARTHUR MILLER'S DEATH OF A SALESMAN

This paper explores the portrayal of Tom Wingfield, the protagonist of Tennessee Williams's play The Glass Menagerie , and Willy Loman, the protagonist of Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman , in light of Jean -Paul Sartre's concept of ,,bad faith." Building upon Jonathan Webber's interpretation of Sartre's concept of ,,bad faith" as self -distraction , the paper aims to demonstrate that the protagonists of these two plays embody a form of Sartrean ,,bad faith" that denotes the ,,faith of a dreamer" ( I am what I am not ). Furthermore, the paper argues that the self -distraction strategies the characters employ ultimately aim at masking their nothingness. A comprehensive analysis of the self -distraction strategies employed by these characters, in the context of Webber's interpretation of Sartre's concept, reveals that, through identification with the roles the characters impose on themselves or the roles the others impose on them, they affirm their understanding of their dispositions as fixed natures beyond their control. In this way, they avoid acknowledging their freedom and responsibility as self -determining beings and the knowledge that they create themselves through their choices. The analysis of the two plays in light of existentialist philosophy highlights Williams's and Miller's contributions to the rich tradition of existentialist literature in the United States.