Death Of A Salesman Tragedy Essay - 1365 Words

Death of a Salesman is a tragic play written in 1949 by Arthur Miller. The story is about a salesman who lost his identity after having an affair with another woman and can’t seem to accept the changes in his life since the event. The story has been performed in theaters and shown on film for many years. Lee Siegel, a writer for The Nation explains the role of Death of a Salesman in the entertainment industry: Every ten years or so, Death of a Salesman is revived, and every ten years we get the same interpretations: Willy the impossible dreamer, Willy the conformist, Willy the American nightmare on the obverse side of the American dream. Maybe on this sixty-third anniversary of the play—the very age of its enigmatic protagonist—it is†¦show more content†¦As seen throughout Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman isn’t a renowned character to begin with. Rather, Loman is just a plain salesman who’s having a challenging time succeeding. For this reason, Willy Loman doesn’t fit the description of a protagonist in a Greek tragedy, according to Aristotle. However, one may propose that Willy does fit the character because of his personal flaws. Willy was known for venerating his self-perception and holding an elevated level of haughtiness. Throughout the play, we constantly see the attention that Willy craves as he desires for success amongst his failing care er. Willy has a successful older brother Ben who’s in the mining industry overseas. If Willy’s job was at risk, why couldn’t he simply join his successful brother and recover from this personal saga? The answer is, Willy held very highly of himself and thought he could achieve being the best. We see this all throughout the play and here is one example: WILLY: That’s just what I mean, Bernard can get the best marks in school, y’understand, but when he gets out in the business world, y’understand, you are going to be five times ahead of him. That’s why I thank Almighty God you’re both built like Adonises. Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want. You take me, for instance. I never have to wait in line toShow MoreRelatedThe Tragedy in Death of a Salesman Essay932 Words   |  4 PagesModern domestic tragedies began between the late 19th century and feature ordinary people to be the heroes/anti-heroes unlike Greek tragedies in which the protagonist was of high status or noble birth. â€Å"Death of a Salesman† by Arthur Miller is a classic example of this and features the anti-hero Willy showing the audience how his perfect family lifestyle has falling apart contributing to t he disorder of his world which increases as his mind slowly deteriorates. 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This pattern supports the central idea that a tragedy can occur for characters who are common men as well as those in high places. Throughout his paper, Miller demonstrates that it should be possible for every reader to be able to identify withRead MoreWilly Loman, the Modern Hero in Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman1739 Words   |  7 Pages In Arthur Miller’s essay â€Å"Tragedy and the Common Man†, a picture is painted of a â€Å"flaw-full† man, known as the modern hero of tragedies. Miller describes what characteristics the modern tragic hero possesses and how he differs from the heroes depicted by classic Greek playwrights such as Sophocles and Aristotle. In order to understand how drastically the modern hero has evolved, one must first understand the basic characteristics that the heroes created by Sophocles and Aristotle encompass. The