The two plays, “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller and “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams, are based on memories that haunt a character in the play . In "Death of a Salesman", the acting moves from the present to the past, the past sometimes being mixed with the present since the main character, Willy, seems unable to distinguish the flashbacks in his memory from reality. In "The Glass Menagerie", the play also shifts from the present to the past, but the only actor in the present is the narrator Tom, whose memory is based on the play. Although both plays use non-realistic techniques with the setting, music, and characters to show actions from the past, they use them in different ways to achieve different effects. The decor of these plays is set up to showcase different ideas produced in the plays. In "Death of a Salesman", when the acting takes place in the present, the house is basically translucent and one-dimensional with other buildings visible through the translucent walls; this highlights the crowded neighborhood which seems to bother Willy. When the actors' performance takes place in the present, Miller writes, "the actors observe the imaginary walls and enter the house only through the door on the left" (1373; act 1). However, when the scene turns to the past, the buildings disappear, the background is covered with leaves and there are no longer any dividing lines, the actors enter or leave a room by crossing the walls (1373; act 1); it creates a feeling of freedom that was not found in the past. In “The Glass Menagerie,” Miller presents the setting in a dimly lit atmosphere. Tom says: “The play is a memory. Being a memory game, it is dimly lit, it is sentimental, it is not realistic” (1440; scene I). Williams uses pictures or...... in the middle of a sheet...... uh uses it to reinforce the idea that it is a memory game. The author of these two pieces effectively used similar non-realistic techniques to achieve different images. ideas while asking actors to perform actions from the past based on a memory. In "Death of a Salesman", Miller uses these non-realistic techniques to highlight the ideas produced in Willy's memory. In "The Glass Menagerie", Williams also uses them to emphasize ideas, but he uses them more to emphasize the fact that it is a memory game. Works Cited Miller, Arthur. “Death of a Salesman” The Compact Introduction to Bedford Literature. 8th ed. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin, 2009. 1372-1436. Print. Williams, Tennessee. “The Glass Menagerie”. The Compact Introduction to Bedford Literature. 8th ed. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin, 2009. 1438-1482. Print.