After the Fall

Abstract

After the Fall is Miller’s most experimental, subtle and profound work. It is a culmination of his many earlier attempts to combine detailed psychological portraiture with a criticism of society and a search for ultimate meaning. In his determination to get as close to ‘reality’ as possible, Miller has gone inside the head of his protagonist to dramatise Quentin’s subjective life. In the process, the objective world virtually disappears to be replaced by a fluid, timeless ‘consciousness’ into which memories come and go at the prompting of will or passion. The story of the play, therefore, is not concerned with Quentin’s actions in the world, but with his inner search for some pattern in his existence, some ‘law’ that would explain the disaster of his life.