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Analysis of the death of a salesman
What does the arthur miller find about the american dream
Analysis of the death of a salesman
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Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller, is about the dysfunctional Lowman family. The family consists of salesman father Willy, homemaker mother Linda, son and sports star Biff, and youngest son and daddy’s boy Happy. It became apparent through the course of the story, that the “Men” of the story were actually boys. By analyzing the males of this story the reasons for their immaturities become clear.
What is a tragic hero? The best definition of a tragic hero comes from a Greek philosopher, Aristotle. When depicting a tragic hero, Aristotle stated, “The change in the hero’s fortune be not from misery to happiness, but on the contrary, from happiness to misery, and the cause of it must not lie in depravity, but in some great error on his part.” In addition, Aristotle explained the qualities that a tragic hero should possess. Qualities that are best shown through the play The Crucible by Arther Miller, where the protagonist is an excellent example of a tragic hero.
In the Ancient Greek tradition, a tragedy includes Hamartia which is, Peripeteia, Nemesis and Hubris. Hamartia is the hero’s tragic flaws. Peripeteia is when the hero has a reversal of their fate, nemesis is the consequences of the hero’s actions and hubris is an overwhelming pride. An example of a tragic hero would be Walter White from Breaking Bad. Walter White goes from loving family man to a drug kingpin in a short couple of years, showing his ultimate undoing and demise.
Tragedy has been a part of drama since the time of the ancient greeks, an example of such a tragedy is Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. Since then tragedy has been adapted to adhere to different societal views and conventions, such that of the american theatre. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, is an example of that. Both plays fall into the category of tragedy, but exemplify it through different aspects in their respective heroes. The roles of Oedipus and Willy Loman as tragic heroes convey the meanings of the works as wholes through the use of the literary devices dramatic irony and imagery.
In the time of the ancient Greeks there were Greek tragedies, which was the most popularly drama performed in theaters across Greece. Every Greek tragedy requires a “Tragic Hero.” For example, in Sophocles’ Greek tragedy “Antigone” the protagonist Antigone is seen as the tragic hero because of the traits she has shown through hubris, hamartia, and her unfortunate nemesis. As you can see, this hero is called a tragic hero because of the flaws that they portray. These flaws are usually the cause of the hero’s downfall.
Zeb 1 Adam Zeb Hajra Naeem English February 8, 2016 “Death of A Salesman” In the play “Death of a Salesman” written by Arthur Miller, the character Willy Loman has flaws in his character that make him responsible for his own misfortune. Willy fails to realize his personal failure and betrayal of his soul and family through the meticulously constructed deception of his life.
He is considered a man of misfortune that comes to him through an error of judgment.” Notice that Aristotle uses the words he, man, and him and not she, woman, or her. This hints that the tragic hero must be a man, not a woman. A tragic hero must also have certain characteristics such as hubris, hamartia, peripeteia, anagnorisis, nemesis, and catharsis. These all mean that the character’s tragic downfall must have a beginning, middle, and end and emanate a feeling of pity and fear in the audience.
The play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller is known by many Americans as an epitaph for the American dream. It is about the life of Willy Loman, an aging and failing salesman, chasing after his ambitions to become the most popular and successful individual in his field of work. Surprisingly, the story set behind the curtains also mirrors the lives of many modern Americans today. The play, performed in the 1940s, dealt with how people’s expectations for perfection were insubstantial and impractical, and how these expectations bred dissatisfaction and doubt. Unfortunately, this mentality still persists in the current American society.
Proving a Tragic Hero A character who makes a judgement or error that inevitably leads to his or her own destruction, defines a tragic hero, according to Aristotle. In William Shakespeare’s writings, one character generally identifies as a tragic hero. Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, comes from the true events that took place in Rome during the time that Caesar rose and gained power as dictator. After Pompey’s death in Egypt; caused by each of their power-hungry desires, Caesar declared himself dictator of Rome.
The Death of a Salesman should be classified as a tragedy since it depicts the fall of Willy Loman as respectable figure.. The Death of the Salesman is a tragedy when Willy is considered the protagonist because it depicts Willy’s fall from respectability -and his sad attempts at gaining it- in both his professional and personal life. It is implied that Willy, at least in his mind, held the respect of Howard’s father, the previous owner of the firm when Willy states “Your father came to me the day you were born and asked me what I thought of the name of Howard…”. This indicates that Howard’s father respected Willy because one would generally only ask friends about potential baby names and one has to respect someone if they are their friend, therefore, it is implied that Howard’s father respected Willy. Willy’s fall from respectability is illustrated by how Howard, Willy’s boss, treats him.
Tragedy can spread. In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is the protagonist, however he not the only person in the play who’s story ends tragically. His view on life spreads to those close to him. Primarily, Willy teaches it to his children who look up to him while his wife simply attaches herself to him, rooting for him in blind support while really she should be waking him up to the cold and dark reality that is their life. Throughout the play, the Loman family evolves differently.
Parallels between Aristotle’s Poetics and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman Aristotle wrote Poetics in 335BC and in that discourse he defined the elements of a tragedy and compared it to other plays like an Epic. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, which was written over two thousand years after Aristotle’s Poetics, can easily be considered a modern Aristotelian tragedy. Thereby, a study of Death of a Salesman can help us to understand Aristotle’s Poetics. First off, Aristotle defines a tragedy as “an imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in appropriate and pleasurable language;… in a dramatic rather than narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a
In his seminal work, Death of A Salesman, Arthur Miller portrays wretched conditions inflicting the lives of lower class people amid class-struggle in 1940s America. Miller sets the story during the great financial depression in the US , in between times after World War I and around World War II, though his characters hardly speak about the trauma of two World Wars. Miller earns an enormous success by putting an ordinary salesman as the protagonist in his play instead of putting a man of social nobility. In the play, Miller depicts his central character, Willy Loman as a destitute salesman struggling to rise up the social ladder in a capitalist society, who remains deluded by a 'dream of success ' and takes on a relentless pursuit of happiness that eventually brings his tragic demise. Though some critics speak in favor of the popular account of the cause of his death being his excessive obsession with so called the American dream and the 'capitalist oppression ' ; however, many still refuse to ascribe the cause of his death to capitalist oppression, which I will use synonymously with American dream here.
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman takes place in the post-World War II era. Miller does a phenomenal job of incorporating the elements of social commentary and realism. Social commentary and realism involves portraying current and realistic social issues. These issues give characters real world problems and makes it easier for the audience to relate to them. In this case, Miller successfully uses the social ideals of 1949 to develop his character’s motives.
An Aristotelian tragic hero is a character born of noble birth and, by destiny, has a tragic flaw that inevitably leads to his or her downfall and redeems his or herself by the end of the tragedy. For one to consider a play a tragedy, the character of the play must be noble, and the play typically starts off with happiness and wealth. The play ends with sadness and the hero has a tragic flaw that causes their downfall. In The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth fits the definition of an Aristotelian tragic hero. Macbeth is a tragic hero because he starts by being loyal and trustworthy, develops a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall, and he redeems a small measure of himself before he dies.
