The Ride Down Mt. Morgan (Penguin Plays)

In a number of ways, "The Ride Down Mt. Morgan" parallels "Death of a Salesman". Both plays include a man searching for something in the present with flashblacks spliced into the scenes. The greatest difference between the plays is that many people can identify with Willy Loman from "Death of a Salesman. It is harder to identify with Lyman Felt and his bigamy.Lyman wants to find happiness and discover himself. After one successful marriage, he begins an affair that leads to a pregnancy. Rather than taking a more logical route, Lyman chooses to marry a second wife. He leads the second wife to believe that he divorced the first wife. Nine years later, a car accident on Mt. Morgan leads the two wives to meet at the hospital. It is there that Lyman explores his motivation for bigamy and the guilt for the pain he has caused. Ultimately, Lyman discovers his true self in loneliness. He is left to himself and the mess he created."The Ride Down Mt. Morgan" seems a bizarre premise for Miller to explore. The reader must wonder if bigamy is a more narrow divorce for Miller to explore extra-marrital affairs. While this aspect of the storyline seems distant, it is hard not to feel the emotion in this tale of love lost.

The Ride Down Mt. Morgan is an engaging play, one that provides the reader (or viewer) with as much food for thought, as amusement. Is it a masterpiece? No. Not by any stretch. Death of a Salesman is a masterpiece. Lyman Felt is certainly a colorful character from whom we can learn much, not just about bigamists, but also about ourselves. He is not, however, a Willy Loman, a character so strongly defined that he's entrenched in the American (if not the world's) psyche. Felt effectively represents and helps us to understand (if not forgive) a specific type of man; Loman effectively represents the sometimes overwhelming frustrations any of us endures in pursuit of the elusive American dream.Miller does succeed in The Ride Down Mt. Morgan by prompting us to consider what might motivate a man who constructs an elaborate network of lies in an attempt to keep two wives. In his own mind, Felt is justifiably keeping both women happy and (again, in his own mind) he loves them both so much, he couldn't stand to let either one go. For some time, he is quite successful in living these two lives.After surviving an accident (or was it an accident?), however, both women arrive at the hospital to take care of him. Now that the deception is uncovered, the real damage unfurls; both wives know they can't trust him; both feel they were never truly loved; both are forced to make swift decisions, none of which are surprising or irrational given the circumstances. Although Felt is charming enough to win our affection, we still come away believing he pretty much gets what he deserves. I might be wrong. Maybe Felt does represent us all. Sure, few of us are bigamists; but maybe Felt really represents the very damaging, but human desire we all have to have your cake and eat it, too.

Just a short play about a guy who ends up in the hospital after an accident only to find out that his family has been contacted--BOTH families. He's got two wives who didn't know about each other. Wheeee!

In Arthur Miller's splendid play, the main character Lyman Felt concludes that if you try to live according to your real desires, you have to end up looking like a s---. That's his explanation for never divorcing his first wife before marrying another. It's when his car crashes traveling down a snow covered Mt. Morgan that his double life is exposed. His two wives meet and the issues of fidelity, true love, deception and honesty are explored. Can a person remain true to himself and still always true to another? Arthur Miller poses wonderful food for thought in this witty, poignant masterpiece.

An excelent play where the reader gets involved with the same doubts as the characters . The daily drama of love/respect/friendship and passion and the border among them.The big question that man has , is it possibly be truthful and kind? The way in which is presented the play (imagining in the theatre) is gorgeos- What happens when sincerity should intervine in matters of heart. What a man likes from marriege and what he expects from life, and what did he really get.-