Discuss the role of Expressionism in regards to The Glass Menagerie and Death of a Salesman.

I had to pare down the original question a bit, but I
think that the discussion of Expressionism will still be relevant.  On the outset, I
think that both works were written outside of the Expressionist movement, which seemed
to be more of a construct of Europe.  That being said, I think that we can see
Expressionist ideas still present as there is much in way of thematic convergence
between Modernism and Expressionism, and both dramas are written with a Modernist slant
present.  For Williams' work, the Expressionist theme of regeneration, or new growth,
lies in the Laura character.  Laura is living in the shadow of her mother and the
intense antagonism she shares with Tom.  She is seen as an "invalid" or "challenged"
type of character.  Yet, the play is actually about her own sense of "newness,"
something that is shown when she has to negotiate Tom coming back home after a trying
fight with Amanda, and even when Laura is shown to be more realistic and more
emotionally centered than Jim O'Connor.  The ending of her blowing out her own birthday
candles represents a sort of psychological regeneration within her, a new form or future
within her own sense of being in the world.

For Miller's
work, this element of regeneration is central to the development of Willy Loman.  Willy
struggles with who he is in the world, and seeks to create a new state of being for
himself and his family in a world that is slowly phasing him out.  He struggles with
this throughout the play.  His desire to "hit it big" is nothing more than a materialist
version of regeneration, as he believes that a new life and future are intrinsic to
material success.  His desire to "be something" in financial terms is the "magic bullet"
for him to regenerate into something new, or at the very least to not be what he is
now.  In this, Willy represents the same theme as Laura, but without the positive
ending.  Willy can experience the power of regeneration through death, indicating that
death, the end of life, is the only path for him to bring newness into the world, even
though he is no longer a part of it.