Comparing Oedipus The King And Death Of A Salesman

Oedipus the King written by Sophocles, is a play about a king who has it all but is knowledgeable of his past and that ultimately leads to his downfall. He has great self pride after saving his kingdom from the Sphinx, but is oblivious to the fact that he is the reason for the deadly plague. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller is a play in which a man named Willy struggles with his internal condition and everyday life. He is not able to sell enough product or to ever meet his quotas. He has great pride in his sons and family and takes his own life in order for them to have a better life. In the play Oedipus the King, the tragedy that befalls the kingdom and Oedipus is so much more relatable and understandable than Death of a Salesman. Oedipus is the superior tragic figure because he had so much more to lose than Willy, and he had a better reason to be banished than
Both plays encompass dramatic irony in which the audience knows something that the characters are unaware of. Aristotle thought tragedy had to be upon a high figure such as a king or a queen and had to fall to an ultimate low. He believed if someone did not have any sort of power than no one would really care what happened to them. He needed a figure to fix tragedy upon that everyone could understand how devastating it would be to suffer the loss that they had. Miller believed that there could be tragedy of the common man and at a level that all normal people could relate to. He wanted to show that tragedy happens in everyone's lives and that just not people of higher positions or rank became it. I agree with Aristotle’s theory being more valid even though I do believe in everyone experiencing tragedy. It is more tragic to me if someone of higher power experiences tragedy because it does not just affect themselves, but it also affects everyone they have power and rule