Death of a Salesman as a modern classic
Death of a Salesman Essay
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is a modern tragedy. Willy Loman is a tragic figure. The play and the character are classified as such because they follow the examples of Greek tragedies, Roman tragedies and Shakespearean tragedy which have typified the classic tragic genre.
Athenian tragedy – the oldest documented form of tragedy – is scholastically defined by Aristotle, Greek philosopher and polymath (384 – 322 BC), as “an enactment of a deed that is important and complete, and of magnitude…and through fear and pity it effects relief to such [and similar] emotions.” (Aristotle, 2013). Aristotle goes on to describe certain criteria that have characterized tragedy throughout the Athenian period. A tragic play is prescribed an unhappy ending. It is serious in tone (a drama), revolving around a ‘hero’ who, because of a tragic flaw, suffers a downfall from happiness to misery and eventually death. As an audience member, one might experience a feeling of waste at the death of the protagonist alongside a sense of relief that he no longer has to endure the pain and suffering that is such an integral part of his existence for the duration of the play. The hero also undergoes a period of anagnorsis – a point where he diagnoses (often falsely) the weaknesses that have brought him to his position of grief. Finally, post-death of the hero at the end of the play, a catharsis is evoked coming from the “[deeping of] our experience of human life and [enhancement of] our understanding of human nature and human psychology.” (Anonymous, 2012). The Aristotelian guidelines of tragic theatre are seen throughout the iconic aforementioned eras of tragedy hence pinpointing this criterion as valid and universal to the genre, not time bound to the Athenian era. Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and Antigone, alongside many tragedies after his time including Shakespeare’s famed Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth, are all plays with the formulaic tragic
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is a modern tragedy. Willy Loman is a tragic figure. The play and the character are classified as such because they follow the examples of Greek tragedies, Roman tragedies and Shakespearean tragedy which have typified the classic tragic genre.
Athenian tragedy – the oldest documented form of tragedy – is scholastically defined by Aristotle, Greek philosopher and polymath (384 – 322 BC), as “an enactment of a deed that is important and complete, and of magnitude…and through fear and pity it effects relief to such [and similar] emotions.” (Aristotle, 2013). Aristotle goes on to describe certain criteria that have characterized tragedy throughout the Athenian period. A tragic play is prescribed an unhappy ending. It is serious in tone (a drama), revolving around a ‘hero’ who, because of a tragic flaw, suffers a downfall from happiness to misery and eventually death. As an audience member, one might experience a feeling of waste at the death of the protagonist alongside a sense of relief that he no longer has to endure the pain and suffering that is such an integral part of his existence for the duration of the play. The hero also undergoes a period of anagnorsis – a point where he diagnoses (often falsely) the weaknesses that have brought him to his position of grief. Finally, post-death of the hero at the end of the play, a catharsis is evoked coming from the “[deeping of] our experience of human life and [enhancement of] our understanding of human nature and human psychology.” (Anonymous, 2012). The Aristotelian guidelines of tragic theatre are seen throughout the iconic aforementioned eras of tragedy hence pinpointing this criterion as valid and universal to the genre, not time bound to the Athenian era. Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and Antigone, alongside many tragedies after his time including Shakespeare’s famed Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth, are all plays with the formulaic tragic