2nd Period

A Modern Tragedy
Arthur Miller wrote Death of a Salesman as a tragic story about a common mans downfall. Willy Loman is no king, but his tale does take a path that contains parallels to that of Oedipuss. He is a pitiful man of noble intentions who experiences an undeserved fate that the audience fears, as it is the fate of a common man. Millers play loosely follows the same formula for an Aristotelian tragedy as Willy Loman is characterized similarly to that of Oedipus, save for his low status and obsession to be well-liked, there is a definite fall from grace plot, and other Aristotelian elements such as song and spectacular effects on stage. One major component of the Aristotelian tragedy is that the hero is noble, to be pitied, and actually helps cause his own fate. Willy wants happiness and success for his sons and wife, rather than propriety. This does not mean he does not have noble intentions, but just that he goes about them wrong. Oedipus wanted to bring the previous kings killer to justice while Willy wanted prosperity for his family; both of those are noble causes. Willy loves and worries for his family so much that he decides to kill himself for the insurance money. This actually matches Aristotles view that a tragic heros good qualities help cause his downfall. His love for his family causes him to believe he is worth more dead than alive and Oedipuss search for truth opened his eyes and led to his blinding and exile. Willy is sometimes a despicable character who complains about the misfortunes that befall him even if they are his doing. Despite that, he is at times a sympathetic character who has no

control over some hardships in his life. Just like Oedipus, Willy Loman goes through his life blindly, never realizing the full truth of himself. Willy refuses to admit that he's a failure. His hamartia is his delusion personality that makes him believe he can really become an amazing salesman. Another key aspect of this kind of tragedy is the undeserved fate and realization of the hero. Willy, being a low man, doesnt have as far to fall as Oedipus, a king. His obsession for success and being well-liked eventually drives him insane which leads him to suicide. Oedipus realizes he killed his father, married his mother, then blinds and exiles himself. While the fate of Oedipus is much more harsh and horrifying, we still fear being the kind of failure that Willy is. Oedipus is a good and noble man, and definitely did not deserve the fate that befell him. Willy, on the other hand, seemed like he got what was coming to him. However, his delusions of grandeur were not of his own creation. Looking up to his father and Dave Singleman made him believe a well-liked salesman was bound to be successful. Bens take what you want any way you can attitude didnt help Willy develop normally either. While Oedipus realizes that he is a father-killer and a mother-lover, Willy just discovers he can never become a successful businessman. He learns this after his boss kills him, because if he still believed he could make it in the business world he wouldnt have killed himself. Willys anagnorisis, like his fate, is not nearly as major as Oedipuss, but still exists. A few other elements of the Aristotelian tragedy are the ones that embellish the mood on stage. In Millers play, the lights become dim during sad scenes and bright during happy scenes. There are also a number of sequences that occur on

stage that are purely Willy reliving past events that he is reminded of during the course of the play, such as the day he learned of Biffs failure in math. In Aristotles play, the greatest spectacle is Oedipus blinding himself near the end of the play. These spectacular effects in tragedies cause an emotional response from the audience. When the lighting dims or brightens we are supposed to feel sad or happy, if Willys memory is painful to him we are supposed to pity him, and the blinding of Oedipus is meant to shock and awe the audience. Classical Greek plays always had a chorus that offered a variety of background and summary information to help the audience follow the performance as well as comment on themes and act as ideal audience for the play. This choir would not be nearly as appealing in modern times, but Miller still manages to fit in the element of song into his play. A flute is heard in scenes throughout the play. Willys father peddled flutes and we find out the song of the flute is the foundational musical theme of the play because of this. Death of a Salesman has enough similarities to Oedipus to be seen as a Aristotelian tragedy. The protagonist, Willy, is a flawed but essentially good character that causes his own fate to be pitied by the audience. The sequence of the play follows the format of a tragic downfall that the audiences fears and occurs chronologically with the exception of the flashbacks during the story. While there is no choric song in Millers play, he fits in the flute as the musical overtone of Willys life. While Death of a Salesman is not a prime example of a tragedy like Aristotles play, it could definitely be considered a Greek-style tragedy despite being written centuries after plays such ass Oedipus,