Muriel Rukeyser The Life of Poetry (1949)
“
In Arthur Miller's writing, which counts on an effect of flatness that is to be found in most of our well-made fiction in this period, the question is used for a kind of sonority, a reverberation of consciousness that actually demands more consciousness and more language. After the inarticulateness of most of his people, we feel relief when a man breaks through and cries to another man: Don't you live in the world? What the hell are you?...What must I do to you?
— Muriel Rukeyser
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "In Arthur Miller's writing, which counts on an effect of flatness that is to be found in most of our well-made fiction in this period, the question is used for a kind of sonority, a reverberation of consciousness that actually demands more consciousness and more language. After the inarticulateness of most of his people, we feel relief when a man breaks through and cries to another man: Don't you live in the world? What the hell are you?...What must I do to you?" in the context of "Muriel Rukeyser The Life of Poetry (1949)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Arthur Miller" (Quotes about Miller)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Tags
About Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller (17 October 1915 – 10 February 2005) was an American playwright, essayist, and author. Widely recognized as one of the most significant American playwrights of the 20th Century, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1949 for Death of a Salesman.
About Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller (17 October 1915 – 10 February 2005) was an American playwright, essayist, and author. Widely recognized as one of the most significant American playwrights of the 20th Century, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1949 for Death of a Salesman.
View all quotes →