One of the most controversial issues brought up with the play "Death of a Salesman- is whether or not the play can be categorized as a classical tragedy. When asked if he would call his play a tragedy, Arthur Miller was quoted as answering "I think it does engender tragic feelings, at least in a lot of people. Let's say it's one kind of tragedy. I'm not particularly eager to call it a tragedy or anything else; the label doesn't matter to me." Often the plays status as such is hinged on the appropriateness of its tragic protagonist, which is what I shall discuss here. .
The term "tragedy" normally refers to a form of drama in which a central character, the tragic protagonist or hero, suffers some serious misfortune that is not accidental but logically connected with his actions. It stresses the vulnerability of human beings whose misfortunes are a result of a combination of controllable and uncontrollable actions, but is generally undeserved with regard to its harshness. An example of a tragedy would be Shakespeare's Hamlet, in which Hamlet is a great prince, passionate yet indecisive, and it is his inability to make decisions that becomes his mortal flaw that contributes to his ill fate. .
There are many critics who believe that tragedies can no longer be effectively written in today's world. These critics believe that the tragic mode is archaic, fit only for the very highly placed, the kings or the kingly and therefore cannot realistically exist in the modern world. Tragedy, and tragic hero's are possible in the modern world. In fact, modern tragedy has the potential to affect an audience even more than archaic tragedies, but only if the tragic hero is an average man, whose downfall can be linked to man's quest to belong in society. As the definition of tragedy changes, so do the causes of it. Perhaps it is because of the modern setting, that people understand the tragedy more. Many of Shakespeare's "tragic hero's- displayed qualities which are held against Willy as being ignoble.
If there is one characteristic of tragedy that Willy has come to know well, it is arrogance. ... Call out the name Willy Loman and see what happens! ... "Willy Loman is here!' ... Willy Loman only hears what he wants to hear, in a manner of speaking. ... Throughout the book, one can see clearly that Willy Loman, a common man with stellar dreams, is a tragic hero....
Oedipus, Macbeth, Lear, Hamlet, Othello "or Willy Loman. ... Through a process of zigzagging that spans the past, present and future, Miller presents his tragic hero, Willy Loman, in the midst of a crisis, delusional as result of his failure to succeed in life. ... Willy Loman is indeed a pathetic and tragic hero of Death of a Salesman, for his problems stem from his own delusions, not unlike Oedipus. ... Willy Loman is incapable of discerning what is real from what is not. ... "Insistence upon the rank of the tragic hero, or the so-called nobility of his character, is really but a cl...
Miller's paradigm was Willy Loman a common man who experienced tragedy through wealth. ... Oedipus and Willy Loman were both significant tragic heroes with different cases of tragedy. Out of the two, Willy Loman would have to be less tragic because Willy chose the tragedy he suffered. ... Opposite of Willy Loman, Oedipus did not choose his own tragedy. ... Willy Loman was a hard working man who lived the end of his life in tragedy due to him not taking a job. ...
Okonkwo and Willy Loman as Tragic Heroes According to Arthur Miller, the definition of a tragic hero is one who refuses to remain passive when he feels his personal dignity is challenged, is willing to lay down his life to secure his dignity, and attempts to gain his "rightful" place in society. Willy Loman and Okonkwo, the chief protagonists of the drama Death of a Salesman, and the novel Things Falls Apart, respectively, are both classical examples of a tragic hero as they struggle to achieve success in societies that seems completely turned against them. ... Willy Loman and Okonkwo ar...
Although Willy Loman does not fit the classic definition of a tragic hero of Greek or Shakespearean times, he does constitute as a tragic hero according to Arthur Miller. ... Despite possessing "high-bred character," Willy Loman can be considered a tragic hero like Macbeth or Oedipus because he expierienced a tragic fall as well. ... Willy Loman proves to also to create sympathy within the audience much like the classic heroes, perhaps more, because modern audiences can empathize with Willy Loman, because he was the "common man," a man trying to achieve a simple dream through hard work and ded...
John Proctor and Willy Loman: The Tragedies of Two Common Men Are John Proctor and Willy Loman common men? Are they tragic heroes? ... Willy Loman lives in a fantasy world where he believes that he is extremely successful and loved by all. ... I am Willy Loman, and you are Biff Loman!"... Miller declares that the willingness to die for ones dignity and the unwillingness to remain passive when ones dignity is challenged are both traits of a tragic hero, and both traits are demonstrated by both John Proctor and Willy Loman. ...
Willy Loman: A Tragic Hero A tragic hero is a character exhibits traits of good moral, but possess a fatal flaw that brings upon his or her own downfall. In Arthur Miller's drama, Death of a Salesman, the protagonist and tragic hero, Willy Loman, although somewhat corrupted by material desires, is a man with good morals and noble qualities, but possesses a tragic flaw, which sees him to his inevitable downfall Though a seemingly unsuccessful and emotionally unstable character, Willy Loman has good noble qualities, a characteristic of a tragic hero. Further supporting the characte...
Willy as Tragic Hero in Death of a Salesman Death of a Salesman is the story of Willy Loman, a middle-class salesman who, in the course of a single day, comes to realise that the American Dream, which he has pursued for 40 years, has failed him. ... Willy Loman is, for Miller, the antithesis of the classic tragic hero. ... There are other flaws in Willy Loman that lead to his demise. ... Biff tries to get Willy to see his son and himself and face the truth, but by this time, it is too late. ... Willy Loman despite his desperate searching through his past Willy does not achieve th...
Witt explains that "Miller himself has created a very big ad for the dysfunctional Willy Loman and its effect is not altogether unlike the effect of the Hastings refrigerator ad on Willy Loman " (Witt 213). ... Witt, though, misses Miller's purpose for Willy Loman. ... Witt expresses that Willy is not an anti-hero and should not be considered to be one. He should rather be just a nobody that is not fussed about too much. ... Willy's suicide is the ultimate act of anti-heroism Jonathan Witt describes Willy Loman as an unheroic, normal human being, but Miller wrote his pl...