Twenty-Something Days Until Spring Break

For my next trick, I will require the assistance of question number four from the book, page 1119.  Here goes:

#4. How is dramatic suspense created? Contrast the amount of information possessed by the audience as the play proceeds with the knowledge that various individual characters have: what is the effect of such a contrast?

I personally thought that one of the more interesting parts of this play is that the audience discovers essential plot points at the same rate as the characters within the play.  Some of the more suspenseful moments are created through the use of Willy's flashbacks.  Now, I know what you must be thinking to yourself right now, if they're flashbacks, then don't the characters already know what happened because they've already experienced the events?, to which I would say take a hike.  In actuality, the memories that cause conflict within the Loman family during the story have usually either been suppressed or convoluted through Willy's lies and exaggeration.  Because of this, when we, as the audience, discover the reason behind the rift in Willy and Biff's relationship to be infidelity to his wife on Willy's part, the memory still seems suspenseful because it is a moment of realization for Willy as well.

I bet Linda knew the whole time...