Is Death of a Salesman a Tragedy?

Is Death of a Salesman a Tragedy? Hayley Porter 12NH

The question which arises within Death of a Salesman is, ‘Is this a modern Tragedy?’ A tragic play can be commonly observed when a protagonist falls from a great height. His decline is not about immediate death, although in most cases death becomes apparent at the end of the play, e.g. Macbeth. A tragedy shows the suffering of a character and utter compulsion of him if he does not succeed to reach his dream. These plays show the blissful release from intolerable suffering this character feels. In most tragedies the immediate audience is unable to relate directly to this torture the character is going through. They will still have emotions towards the play but usually, e.g. Shakespeare’s plays the main tragic protagonist is that of status, a king.

Aristotelian defined tragedy as "the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself." It incorporates "incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish the catharsis of such emotions."

The tragic hero will most effectively evoke both our pity and terror if he is neither thoroughly good nor thoroughly evil but a combination of both. The tragic effect will be stronger if the hero is "better than we are," in that he is of higher than ordinary moral worth. But this is not always the case in today’s modern plays such as ‘Death of a Salesman.’

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In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is seen falling from a great height. Although, he is not born into nobility like most tragic heroes are generally portrayed. Willy Loamn was responsible for is own fate. At the beginning of the play within the initial flashbacks we judge that Willy’s life used to be fairly successful. Willy brings home a punch bag with Gene Tunney’s signature on it. This is an image of wealth. By contrast to Willy’s present environment the flashbacks show how good his past was, and his deterioration is shown in the present. To add to the effect of the past and show how important and prominent it is, the past is staged downstage. Willy exaggerates his commission to Linda to pretend that his dream is coming true. The Loman’s cannot except that they ‘aren’t well-liked.’ And that they need to work to make a future. Bernard reminds Biff that if the dream is to be fulfilled it needs a foundation in hard work. Willy ridicules this

Tragic heroes have a fatal flaw. Willy’s is betrayal. He has an affair with a woman and buys her stockings, while Linda has to sew her old ones. But his main flaw is the inability to accept his failure and expectancy to live up his American Dream. Charley offers him a job but Willy is a man of principal and declines this offer. Not only does he do this but also looks insulted by people wanting to help him when surely he is more than capable himself? Willy’s biggest mistake was not taking the opportunity to go to Alaska with Ben. Ben is the only person he will admit his defeat to. ‘If I’d gone to Alaska that time everything would be different.’

At the time of this play America was a free Enterprise Economy, conceived as a land of opportunity. The play shows the consequences of the common man, Willy. He was a victim of the capitalist system. The play says to be successful you have to do your own thing, and it takes a sympathetic view of the pressures of big life in business. Unfortunately for Willy the audience feel empathy for him as they see him fail greatly. In Willy’s world he is exploited as a salesman, ridiculed on the pay of commission only. He has been used up and now has little left to give. In a tragedy some people come down somewhere but Willy does every where. As he is a common man the audience of this particular play fear for themselves. They know that Willy is going to die if it is a tragedy but selfishly they begin to fear for themselves as they can adapt to his life style, as he is not unreachable.

Willy makes many wrong choices having an affair, saying no to Charleys job offer, choosing sport over education for his sons by pushing Bernard’s advice away therefore mocking him, but mainly by pursuing to stay in the city and devoting his life to selling, past off opportunities form Ben. This is common of a tragic hero to make a serious error in judgement, in Willy’s case his life. Willy has pinned everything on belief. ‘There’s a new continent at your doorstep.’

Willy articulates his beliefs in rhetorical language. Like all famous tragic heroes Willy too makes a speech although not very long an important point in the play. His speeches are short because he, like many ordinary people, finds it difficult to focus on a key point in his life

Eventually like all tragic heroes Willy realises he has made irreversible mistakes. This showed, with moments of truth, honesty or reflection in the play. Willy says, ‘I get so lonely,’ if we look at this against the affair the audience can sympathise with it against life on the road working but cannot except the betrayal of Linda because of it. He has personal doubts also, ‘I’m fat, I’m very foolish.’ He also begins to admit that, ‘I have such strange thoughts,’ drifting into his past.

At the end of the play Willy faces and accepts death with an honour. He now realises that he is yet another player in the game of the American dream and the harsh realism finally hits him. Willy attempts suicide at the end of the play and succeeds. He hopes that it will give his family but Biff in particular the start he needs with the insurance money.

To conclude weather this play is a tragedy I look at Willy’s deterioration. He was rooted in commercial success; his dream was too exclusive and therefore could never be filled. From here on his fall began. He brought Biff down also as he too excluded his dream of getting out of the city into open spaces and own a large ranch. Willy thought this was a boy’s dreams not a man’s. Eventually he met a tragic death. When this play was initially staged the audience remained silent for a number of minutes after it had concluded. The director thought that they did not enjoy it, after which he found out that the silence was emotion as the play was so touching that the audience could immediately reach out and relate to the Loman’s life. They did not clap immediately as they had become so engrossed with it that their natural instincts reminded them that it was rude to clap at a funeral. This accompanied the idea that the audience was deeply affected by pity and fear, like all tragic plays. This clarifies to me that this is a modern day tragedy. Approached with an air of realism, not a façade.