To what extent does the requiem in a Death of a Salesman enhance the tragedy?
by
jessicalouise29 (student)
‘To what extent does the requiem enhance the tragedy? Consider in your answer the way in which tragedy is presented.’
Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’ is regarded as one of the greatest modern day tragedies, however it could be seen that the requiem reduces the overall effect of the tragedy as it breaks the typical conventions of a Shakespearean tragedy which lessens the audiences sympathy. The protagonist Willy Loman has based his entire life upon materialism, therefore sympathy is creates when only his family attend his funeral as it highlights his lack of achievements. Sympathy is also directed to less likely characters such as Happy who is fixated upon following his father’s footsteps, and Linda who in particular is a vulnerable victim due to Willy’s decisions, although now liberated, it also emphasises how desperately sad and alone she now is. Miller uses the requiem as a structural device to allow Willy’s family to reflect upon his life and the external forces of society that they blame which provokes an understanding from the audience.
On the other hand the requiem could be considered to be an anti-climax to the overall tragedy, as the protagonist’s ignorance to others is highlighted which makes the audience see the tragedy as self-inflicted. However, Biff’s realisation of his father’s failure and extreme beliefs can be seen to create hope for the future characters. The other characters do discuss the external forces that are to blame for the tragedy, yet they are not as obsessed with the American Dream to the extent that Willy is which shows him as being a minority.
Will has spent his life attempting to convince himself that he was successful and well liked. He has idolised the successful salesman Dave Singleman his entire life, and aspires to be like him and admires the greatness of his funeral, ‘He died a death of a salesman... hundreds of salesmen and buyers were at his funeral.’ This shows that Willy sees popularity as a measure of success and that he hopes his own funeral will be similar. Therefore the fact that only his family attend, highlights the reality of his failures. It concludes to the audience that he was not successful in his job. Although not mentioned directly, it is implied through the characters trying to avoid the reason for his death. ‘It was a very nice funeral.’ Charley’s use of ‘nice’ could almost be seen to be sarcastic, as it is not the usual language that would be associated with a funeral, moreover he emphasises this by saying ‘very’, which over exaggerates the underlying misery that is felt by all of the characters. Charley says this in reply to Linda who asks ‘Why didn’t anybody come?’ which accentuates that Charley is attempting to comfort the family by concealing the reality that few attended, and reduce their humiliation of Willy’s failure by not dwelling on it at the funeral. His funeral is shown as his final humiliation as opposed to his final triumph. Miller creates an image to the audience of Willy’s death as being an ironic end as the sad truth of his existence is finally revealed.
