To what extent is Willy Loman a tragic hero?
To What Extent Is Willy Loman A Tragic Hero? The play, "Death of a Salesman", written by Arthur Miller, is about the 'American Dream' and a man so disillusioned by it that he becomes a modern day 'tragic hero'. Tragic heroes derive from the Greeks, but Shakespeare adapted his own genre for tragedy. Most Shakespearean tragedies all fit the same pattern, which is that the protagonist is of noble birth and have a fatal character flaw which usually leads to their demise. Arthur Miller took Shakespeare's ideas for what a tragic hero should be and made them relevant to this time period. One particular critic thought, "a contemporary audience can no longer accept that a tragic hero is punished by comic force...A tragedy must be brought about by... recognisable social factors." 1This means that the factors of Shakespearean and Aristotelian tragedies are outdated for a modern day audience, audiences cannot accept that the protagonist falls due to a higher power, it must be something they can relate to or understand. Willy Loman is a struggling salesman around the age of sixty. He lives with his wife Linda and two sons Biff and Happy. Willy does not fit the usual criteria established by Shakespearean or Aristotelian tragedies. Firstly, he is not of noble birth, although in the play Miller makes a link known to the audience because Willy is made to appear of noble birth as he is in
Death of a Salesman: Is Willy Loman a tragic hero or a tragic victim?
Lara Jackman 2AA. Mr. Roberts Is Willy Loman a tragic hero or a tragic victim? Centre No:49005 Candidate No:7244 The "quintessential American tragic hero"1 or "a passive victim of corrupted propagandist society"2; this is just one example of the conflicting views surrounding Arthur Miller's Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman". Consumed with a flawed vision of the American Dream, this character is certainly a contemporary figure and his life remains symbolic and relevant to this day with regards to the pitfalls of capitalist values, as it was fifty years ago. Indeed, Willy Loman is unique in the sense that it is difficult to categorise him as one particular character stereotype; it depends on the individual's point of view. Some critics argue that he is neither a tragic hero or victim, but rather a "victimizer of himself and others"3 and "a coward"4. Certainly, there are numerous interpretations that have been explored over the years and it is due to the wide scope for analysis Willy offers that "Death of a Salesman" remains a favourite to discuss amongst critics to the present day. The idea of Willy Loman as a "tragic hero" has been the subject of heated debate for decades. Some of the classic features of a tragic hero, as determined by Aristotle, can undoubtedly be applied to Willy Loman and therefore support the idea of a heroic
How does the Requiem reflect the elements of tragedy explored within Death of a Salesman?
How does the Requiem reflect the elements of tragedy explored within Death of a Salesman? In 1949; whilst America saw the culmination of anti-communist feelings, fear of the unknown and the general hysteria which stemmed from the Cold War against Russia; playwright Arthur Miller published what was seen to be a personal criticism of the American way of life, his play, "Death of A Salesman". Death of A Salesman tells the story of Willy Loman, a lowly salesman slowly being estranged from society and increasingly led into confusion by his attempts to escape his own failure brought about by the great American Dream he has served so loyally. It was for this play Miller was brought in front of HUAC (house un-American activities committee) and charged with undermining American Values. Miller defended himself by claiming he simply aspired to "show the truth as [he] saw it". It is because Miller insisted on adhering to realism, that he chose a normal, "Loman", or literally, low man, to be his Tragic Hero. In doing so, Miller broke one rule- that of Aristotelian tragedy, which demands a "noble" hero, of high birth; and simultaneously abided by another, the rule of a Modern Domestic Tragedy which requires an ordinary person's story to be told. Whilst Milton would have deplored this "introducing of trivial and vulgar persons [into tragedy]", Miller dismissed all criticism of his choice