Is Willy Loman A Tragedy

In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman’s life seems to be slowly deteriorating. It is clear that Willy’s predicament is of his own doing, and that his own foolish pride and ignorance lead to his downfall. Willy’s self-destruction involved the uniting of several aspects of his life and his lack of grasping reality in each, consisting of, his relationship with his wife, his relationship and manner in which he brought up his children, Biff and Happy, and lastly his inability to productively earn a living and in doing so, failure to achieve his “American Dream”.

Biff Loman is portrayed as the root of Willy’s mental illness and instability. He is also the only member of his family who acknowledges his own failures in life. On the whole, Biff Loman stands out as the most intriguing and strong character in “Death of a Salesman. He is not a successful man and never will be, he is however able to admit this, even in a harsh society as the one of the 1960s America. Biff knows he is a “nothing” and tries to make his father see that he is “no good. I am a dime a dozen, Pop, and so are you.” He begs for Willy to communicate with him and accept him for who he is. Although Willy is forced by Biff to see some of his own failures, he never

Similar to Gatsby, Willy Loman from Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, bases his "American Dream" on the idea that public acceptance would bring him wealth.  Willy believes that appearing well liked makes him successful.  Willy has based his life on the idea that if you are "well liked, you will never want" (Miller 33).  Moreover, he believes his sons' appearance will make them successful because they are "both built like Adonises" (33).  Furthermore, Willy's obsession with money leads him to equate the value of an individual with their financial worth.  Willy idealized his older brother Ben because "he is rich" (41).  Willy, reflecting on his own worth, concludes "you end up worth more dead than alive" (98).  Finally, Willy thinks that being a popular and successful businessman will win him the love of his wife and children.  Willy lies to his family, by telling his sons "[if there is] one thing boys: I have friends"(31).  He also exaggerates terribly by telling his wife he sold "five hundred gross in Providence and seven hundred gross in Boston" (35).  In his final imagined discussion with his brother Ben, Willy concludes that by taking his own life he will finance his son's business venture, and "[Biff will] worship me for it" (135).

In The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, it is argued weather that Willy Loman is a tragic hero. There are cases for both classifications of Willy. By definition, a tragic hero is a person born into nobility, is responsible for their own fate, endowed with a tragic flaw, and doomed to make a serious error in judgment. The tragic hero eventually falls from great esteem. They realize they have made an irreversible mistake, faces death with honor, and dies tragically. The audience also has to be affected by pity or fear for the tragic hero. In order for Willy Loman to be a tragic hero, he has to fulfill all of these descriptions. Willy Loman fits into some of

In Arthur Miller’s play, “Death of a Salesman”, Biff Loman demonstrates a change in character through his relationship with his father, Willy Loman.It is with the fall of Willy that Biff rises as a character despite not being sure of his identity. Biff realizes that the pointless direction his life is taking, is caused by his father.For example, Biff left Texas because after being influenced by his father so much, he, like Willy, believed he was wasting his life.It wasn’t until later on in the play that Biff became aware of his actions and decided to change his ambitions and way of thinking. It was because he left Texas to return back home that Willy believes that Biff is letting his potential go to waste and that he has no idea on what to

Arthur Miller’s play Death of A Salesman demonstrates the life of a man facing troubles within himself and society. A tragedy is the imitation of an action that arouses fear and pity. This play could be considered a tragedy because it depicts the downfall of a perfect family and outlines the deterioration of a man’s life. A tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle, is someone who exemplifies great importance or heroic qualities; however, Arthur Miller views the tragic hero as someone who struggles heroically with life. Using Arthur Miller’s definition, it can be determined that Willy Loman is a tragic hero. Even though Willy Loman does not fit the classical view of a tragic hero, he is in fact a modern day tragic hero because of his error in judgment, a reversal of fortune, and his excessive pride.

In Death of a Salesman, author Arthur Miller, presents the Lomans, a dysfunctional family. The father of the Lomans, Willy, is the main character of the story. I feel like Willy is the true tragic hero. The definition of tragedy has changed over the course of time with its origins dating back as far as 350 BC, when the Greek philosopher Aristotle introduced the concept of hamartia, a man's fatal flaw. Arthur Miller took Aristotle’s teachings into consideration when writing Death of a Salesman, especially the elements of a tragic hero.

In Susan Koprince’s article," The Secret Life of Willy Loman: a Miller-Thurber Connection,” the author states,” He cannot even transform himself into a good provider, a wise father, or a faithful husband” (Koprince,1). Biff’s harsh, but loving words show Willy that he still loves him and Willy understands that Biff has been through a lot because of Willy; such as catching him in the middle of an affair or watching

Arthur Miller presents his play ‘Death of a Salesman’ in the ancient form of a tragedy. Aristotle has defined his idea of the ‘perfect’ tragedy in his text, ‘Poetics’ (350 BC).Here he suggests that the protagonist must fall from an elevated social standing as a result of a “fatal flaw” within the character; the fall from the main character creates resolution to the play which is seen as just; finally, Aristotle identified that the action of the drama should take place within a 24hour timeframe. An ancient play which is believed to be the perfect tragedy is Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. ‘Death of a Salesman’ is definitely a tragic play, but is Willy

  Willy Loman, the title character of the play, Death of Salesman, exhibits all the characteristics of a modern tragic hero. This essay will support this thesis by drawing on examples from Medea by Euripedes, Poetics by Aristotle, Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, while comments by Moss, Gordon, and Nourse reinforce the thesis.

Willy Loman has the ups and downs of someone suffering from bipolar disorder: one minute he is happy and proud- the next he is angry and swearing at his sons. Their relationships are obviously not easy ones. Willy always has the deeper devotion, adoration, and near-hero worship for his son Biff; the boy, likewise, has a great love for his father. Each brags on the other incessantly, thereby ignoring the other son- Happy- who constantly tries to brag on himself in order to make up the lack of anyone to do it for him. This turns sour however, after Biff discovers the father he idolizes was not all he had thought him to be. Afterward, familial dynamics are never the same, as Willy continues to hope that Biff will succeed, ignorant- perhaps

According to Aristotle’s theory of tragedy, tragedies are best equipped to be based on a protagonist that is renowned and prosperous, so his good fortune can be dramatically changed. In contrast, Arthur Miller’s essay “Tragedy and the Common Man” states “that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings ever were.” He proves in his modern essay that the characteristics and emotions of the common man and the highly placed are entitled to be similar. Miller even identifies emotions of a average person and how they result in a better tragedy than those who are highly ranked. In his play “Death of Salesman” he demonstrates that the normal life of a sales man can still make for a great tragedy and that his protagonist, Willy Loman, is worthy of a tragedy.

Willy’s relationship with Biff and Happy also becomes strained throughout their lives. Since Biff was the older son and football star he made his father proud, and Happy was left without the praise that he needed and deserved, as he was always second best. Biff also was the one who caught his father having an affair with a woman in Boston, causing friction between himself and Willy. More importantly, Biff is extremely disturbed by his father's later behavior, including participating in imaginary conversations and reacting to his memories as though they were happening in the present. Willy's job also falls apart from the beginning of the play towards the end. Willy had been making enough money to support his family, but his unwillingness to learn new sales techniques or utilize modern technology resulted in lackluster sales and the loss of his job. Willy’s house had a mortgage until his death, implying that the family was not even secure in their own home. Finally, the family car, a symbol of pride within the Loman household, was destroyed when Willy committed suicide. This was the last example of Willy's destruction of all that was once important to him. Willy Loman, in this regard, follows Aristotle's suggestion that the tragic hero has "...a change of fortune... from prosperity to misfortune...." (Aristotle,1303)

Willy Loman is a father in the play death of a salesman written by Arthur Miller. Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero is, “A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, a s 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 catharsis of these emotions.” This play is a tragedy because not only is it relatable but it shows many characteristics of a tragic hero. A tragic hero is someone who has excessive pride, intelligence, and is wounded spiritually or emotionally by decisions that either they made or a decision that is out of their control. “I believe that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were.” This is a quote from Arthur Miller's essay. Arthur Miller believes that common man makes the best tragic hero because the common man shares the same struggles with everyone else. Willy loman is a tragic hero because not only is he a common man, he possess the will to make the audience sympathize with him throughout his greatest triumphs and downfalls. Willy is a tragic hero because he has excessive pride, he also makes the audience sympathize with him, and he is wounded spiritually or physically.

It is known that in literature, a tragedy is one of the most popular genres. It always combines some story which discusses human sufferings with a certain sense of audience fulfillment. The roots of the tragedy are related to ancient Greece. A Greek tragedy is a sad story, which represents a character with a tragic flaw leading to his downfall. In addition, in traditional tragedy, the main character falls from high authority and often it is predetermined by fate, while the audience experiences catharsis (Irving 247). Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman is considered to be a tragedy because this literary work has some of the main characteristics of the tragedy genre. In this play, the main character Willy Loman possesses such traits and behaviors that lead to his downfall, and the audience experiences catharsis. Willy Loman as a real tragic hero comes to the decision to commit suicide because of serious financial problems of his family (Moseley). This play has already been criticized by a number of literary critics who represented different opinions on the plot of the book. The major goal of this paper is to critically evaluate the play Death of a Salesman written by the well-known American writer Arthur Miller, paying special attention to the play’s characteristics of a tragedy.