Mining Arthur Miller’s Tale for Fresh Material

‘The Arthur Miller Tapes: A Life in His Own Words‘By Christopher BigsbyCambridge University Press, 322 pagesThe author of a two-volume biography of Arthur Miller, Christopher Bigsby has culled from nearly three decades of interviews a wide-ranging discussion of the playwright’s early years and radio plays, his Broadway success, his three marriages, his controversial politics, and much about his later years.Mr. Bigsby had the opportunity to observe and question Miller in many different settings: “theatres, hotels, in cars, universities, or Miller’s own home in Connecticut.” A detailed timeline keeps track of what is happening in each chapter. If only Mr. Bigsby had included an index as well.Mr. Bigsby explains in an introduction that as a graduate student he wrote to Miller after an English production of his play “After the Fall,” which, he notes, is a play about “private, public, and metaphysical betrayals.” He adds: “The play was seen rather differently in America, where the central figure, based on the recently dead Marilyn Monroe, was the cause of controversy.” Soon a correspondence developed.What is unsaid is that Miller’s later plays were more positively received in England than in America. By approaching Miller in terms of his mighty themes, Bigsby gained the playwright’s confidence. A direct approach about Miller’s life would have been met with hostility—as I discovered when writing to him and then asking him a question about Monroe at a public event, which I did because at the Hopwood Awards on the University of Michigan campus Miller had alluded to her.“What is your question?” the tall stern-looking Miller asked looking down on me. As I was about to say, we were interrupted by a gushing fan. He took that opportunity to turn his back on me. A rude American, no doubt, was not worth his time. Miller invited Mr. Bigsby to stay with him on visits to Connecticut, setting up a cozy relationship, which I’m familiar with having stayed with one of my subjects, Michael Foot, during my work on a biography of his wife, Jill Craigie.Obviously, getting to know your subject, his family, and friends on intimate terms is a tremendous advantage, but a certain wariness has to be exercised. My own way of dealing with getting too close to the subject was to bring up the issue with Foot and those in his circle, many of whom were shocked when I exercised a degree of independence that was not dreamed of in their philosophy of biography.If tensions between Miller and Mr. Bigsby pertained to Bigsby’s biography, which Miller announced before Bigsby thought of doing one, the biographer does not say. Perhaps it would seem out of place to Mr. Bigsby to dwell on himself in relation to his subject, but without that key factor, it is difficult to assess what Miller says in certain contexts.Here is how Mr. Bigsby brings up a touchy subject: “What strikes me about your 1964 play “After the Fall” is that while everyone was concentrating on Marilyn, in fact it seems to offer a portrait of Mary [Miller’s first wife], the very thing you just talked about, the accusation of ignoring her, not opening the door for her, as though she didn’t exist. Isn’t that Mary?” Miller’s answer is one word: “Sure.”Whatever Mr. Bigsby’s intentions, it is a sly biographer’s move, one that I’ve certainly employed, to come at certain sensitive matters by indirection (Miller taught me that much in our one encounter). Miller understood that, sooner or later, he would have to deal with a nosy biographer. In fact, Martin Gottfried had begun what Miller was sure would be a hostile treatment of him, and so the correct Mr. Bigsby came in handy. A very telling moment occurs when Mr. Bigsby asks why Monroe resented “The Misfits” even though, in Miller’s words, her role in it was “by way of a gift.” Miller’s answer as to why she reacted with “contempt” is simply that “all her relationships ended that way.” This won’t do, and it isn’t true. In fact, she grew to see Miller as simply drawing on her character when he could not create another, and no less than Elia Kazan agreed with her.If there is much to learn from “The Arthur Miller Tapes,” much remains occluded.

Mining Arthur Miller’s Tale for Fresh Material

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