New York City
Willy Loman returns home exhausted after a cancelled business trip. Worried over Willy’s state of mind and recent car “crash,” his wife Linda suggests that he ask his boss Howard Wagner to allow him to work in his home city so he will not have to travel. Willy complains to Linda that their son, Biff, has yet to make good on his life. Despite Biff’s promise as an athlete in high school, he flunked senior year math and never went to college.