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All My Sons

All My Sons is a three-act play written by Arthur Miller in 1946 about Joe Keller, a man who manufactured and shipped faulty aircraft engines during World War II, contributing to the deaths of pilots. The play is set after the war at the Keller family home, where Joe lives with his wife Kate and son Chris. Their other son Larry is reported missing in action, though Kate refuses to believe he is dead. When Larry's former girlfriend Ann and her brother George visit, secrets from the past are brought to light that change everything for the Keller family.

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1K views3 pages

All My Sons

All My Sons is a three-act play written by Arthur Miller in 1946 about Joe Keller, a man who manufactured and shipped faulty aircraft engines during World War II, contributing to the deaths of pilots. The play is set after the war at the Keller family home, where Joe lives with his wife Kate and son Chris. Their other son Larry is reported missing in action, though Kate refuses to believe he is dead. When Larry's former girlfriend Ann and her brother George visit, secrets from the past are brought to light that change everything for the Keller family.

Uploaded by

marithai
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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All My Sons is a three-act play written in 1946 by Arthur Miller.

[1] It
opened on Broadway at the Coronet Theatre in New York City on January
29, 1947, closed on November 8, 1947, and ran for 328 performances.[2] It
was directed by Elia Kazan (to whom it is dedicated), produced by Kazan
and Harold Clurman, and won the New York Drama Critics' Circle
Award. It starred Ed Begley, Beth Merrill, Arthur Kennedy, and Karl
Malden and won both the Tony Award for Best Author and the Tony
Award for Best Direction of a Play. The play was adapted for films
in 1948 and 1987.
Character List
 Joe Keller
 Kate Keller
 Chris Keller
 Ann Deever
Themes
 Money and Family versus Moral Integrity
 Taking Responsibility for One’s Actions
 Losing Trust
 Parents as Role Models
Motif
 Letters
 Clothing
 Secrets
Symbols
 The Apple Tree
 Airplanes
 Jail
Characters

Character List
Characters Character List

Joe Keller
Husband, father, and patriarch of the Keller family. Joe is the protagonist of All My Sons.
Before the play begins, he and his business partner, Steve Deever, owned a munitions
business that manufactured and shipped faulty aircraft engines to the Air Force during World
War II. Steve went to prison for the crime, but Joe was falsely exonerated. During the time of
the play, Joe’s son, Chris, is part owner of the business. Joe appears to be successful and
happy, but he is actually tormented and plagued with feelings of guilt.

Read an in-depth analysis of Joe Keller.


Kate Keller/Mother
Wife of Joe and mother to Larry and Chris Keller. Kate waits in vain for Larry to return from
the war even though he’s been missing in action for three years. A nervous, emotional
woman, Kate knows about Joe’s role in the munitions crime but lives in a state of denial.
Kate is superstitious enough to believe that astrology will reveal whether Larry is alive. She
suffers from headaches, nightmares, and insomnia, symptoms of a tortured soul.

Read an in-depth analysis of Kate Keller.


Chris Keller
Joe and Kate’s son and Larry’s brother. Chris commanded a company during the war and
now works in Joe’s business. Chris wants to marry Ann Deever, Larry’s former girlfriend,
and does not support Kate’s denial of Larry’s death. Chris has been changed by the war and is
morally upright, empathetic, and compassionate.

Read an in-depth analysis of Chris Keller.


Ann Deever
Steve Deever’s daughter, Larry’s former girlfriend, and Chris’s fiancée. As the antagonist in
the play, her visit to the Kellers’ home by Chris’s invitation sets the play’s action into motion.
Ann is compassionate and loving, though she hasn’t spoken to Steve since his incarceration.
She loves Chris and wants to be honest with his family. She is realistic about what happened
to Larry and carries a secret that she hesitates to reveal.

Read an in-depth analysis of Ann Deever.


George Deever
Ann’s brother and Steve’s son. George served in the war, and as Kate observes, the war left
him looking much older than he is. He cares deeply for Ann, but he believes that he has the
power to forbid her to marry Chris. George is an attorney who works in New York City.
Ashamed of his father’s munitions crime, he has rejected Steve, who is in prison.

Dr. Jim Bayliss


One of the Kellers’ neighbors. Jim, about forty, and his wife, Sue, live in the house where
Ann and George grew up. Jim longs to be a medical researcher rather than a practicing
physician but feels constrained by both the postwar culture and his wife to make money in a
more traditional way.
Sue Bayliss
Jim’s wife and neighbor to the Kellers. Sue is concerned about status and appearances and is
a bit of a neighborhood gossip. Jim blames his unhappiness on Sue and her need for money.
Sue is not afraid to tackle sensitive issues with Ann or Kate. She speaks her mind and doesn’t
back down.

Frank Lubey
Another neighbor to the Kellers. Frank, age thirty-two, was not drafted during the war
because of his age. He has agreed to create an astrological chart to determine whether
November 25, the day Larry was reported missing, was a “fortunate day.” Frank and Ann had
a romantic relationship before the war. Frank ended up marrying Lydia instead of Ann, but he
feels happy to see Ann again and has some second thoughts about his marital decision.

Lydia Lubey
Frank’s wife, a mother of three, and neighbor to the Kellers. Lydia, age twenty-seven,
engages in small talk with Kate, Ann, and George and makes her own hats. Lydia is happily
married and well-adjusted.

Bert
An eight-year-old boy from the neighborhood who visits the Kellers’ home twice in the play.
Bert plays a game with Joe in which he is a police officer who can lock up criminals in an
imaginary jail in Joe’s basement.

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