Expressionism+&+Realism

__Expressionism__ Expressionism is a type of art adopted in the late 20th century (after World War 2) and distorts physical reality to express emotional reality; it is a subjective art form. It has various branches but in terms of literature and theatre it was popularly used in America to reveal the emotions of the common people.

__Realism__ In short Realism is the depiction of physical reality in art; originally adopted to depict //objective reality// in opposition to the European Romantic movement. However, reality, in theatre, is often twisted by the director and/or playwright and hence it is difficult to say that any theatrical performance is immersed fully in realism.

__Expressionism vs. Realism__ In the text it is difficult to say where the exact boundaries of Realism and Expressionism are. The most obvious distinction would be in the contrast between Willy's dreams and the reality of what is going on; especially as in the dream scenes physical boundaries (mainly walls) are ignored. However, often it is difficult to say that even the dream scenes are fully "Expressionistic": Contrastingly, it is arguable that both the dream scenes and scenes with reality are Expressionist: Moreover, is it possible to say that a play is always revealing a director and/or playwright's emotions so can never be considered Realistic?
 * Reality is always interrupting Willy's dreams.
 * Reality is what drives Willy's dreams.
 * Willy's dreams are often past Realities not expressions of emotions.
 * Setting (opening staging - lighting, backdrop etc.) clearly indicates Expressionism, a distortion of reality to reveal covert emotional reality.
 * The characters that come out in Willy's dreams at various moments on stage reveal Willy's emotions at that point - Ben may refer to feelings of fear, uncertainty etc. whereas appearance of young Linda may refer to Willy's guilty conscience (for cheating on her) or love.