The United States is a world superpower, but under this glossy surface there are difficulties and hardship that the whole nation and its citizens have gone through in the past. During the early 1900s, America was experiencing the Gilded Age and Progressive Era in which the American government tried to find a balance between interfering with and giving freedom to the market. However, in dealing with the conflicts between employers and employees at that moment, the way the American government reacted to these cases generated fierce discussion about justice and injustice. In Muller v. Oregon (1908), the issue was that as the owner of a Portland Laundromat, Curt Muller forced his female employees to work more than ten hours a day, which violated the 1903 Oregon State law. Muller appealed to the court and finally the Supreme Court decided to uphold the State law in order to protect the rights of women. In the Muller case, the court agreed to limit women's working hours, which gave the public the reverse decision only three years after the Lochner v. New York case. Although the decision is the first step towards protecting workers, it is still unjust because it interferes with the freedom of contract between employers and employees and the court reinforces the patriarchy gender formation, enhances the dominant ideology of male supremacy rather than remedy class inequalities. In the meanwhile, the process of making the decision also violates women's fundamental rights especially voting rights, thereby pushing women to the subordinate position.
At the end of the nineteenth century, America moved from the Gilded Age to the Progressive Era where the social activists, politicians, and professionals called for social reforms in order to deal with the social problems associated with the rapid industrial growth. Different from the perspectives in the Gilded Age, the Progressives deemed that the unregulated capitalism demanded the government's intervention.
Arthur Miller, winner of many literary and dramatic awards, is an incredibly influential force in American drama. His plays deal with issues common to every society. He makes the audience face fault, weakness, and ignorance; subjects we would typical hide from. At the same time he emphasizes strengt...