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Death
of a Salesman as a play about American
tragedy as reflected in the character
of Willy Loman.
Arthur
Miller’s The Death of a Salesman
is set against post war America. The
play examines the assumptions which
ultimately led Willy and his family
to their state of desperation. These
are the assumptions that many American
business people held then. Capitalism
and commercialization were the two evils
that had engulfed the America of that
time. The psychological disturbance
experienced by Willy Loman was a common
experience of many Americans. Willy
Loman doesn’t stand alone he represents
the Americans of that period paralyzed
by war and depression. The problem arises
not because of one particular family
because of America itself as it was
then.
Willy
Loman rides on the waves of illusion
and doesn’t open his eyes to his
present reality. His failure is the
failure of American myth of success.
According to this myth being well liked
was what one needed for going ahead.
Another assumption examined by the play
is that petty crimes like adultery and
stealing are evidence of high spirit.
Another assumption examined was that
being an athlete brings glory and privilege
but being studious leads nowhere. Willy
Loman is guided by these false values
and has a tragic fall. He tried to include
wrong values to his sons and they failed
as a result. He cannot face the reality
of his present life and goes back to
the past which represents illusion.
His brother Ben is a symbol for the
American myth of success. He went into
the jungle at 17 and when he came out
of it at 21 he was a rich man. It signifies
easy economic gain. His story is the
story of all Americans. Willy doesn’t
support the idea of working hard. Had
he worked hard he would have been economically
secure. Neither did he encourage his
sons to study and work hard. So, it
is a false myth of success that brings
about his tragedy. This is a myth of
all Americans so his tragedy reflects
the American tragedy as a whole.
What
happened to the genre called tragedy
in the twentieth century? Discuss it
with reference to Death of a Salesman.
Aristotelian
definition of tragedy has the tragic
protagonist and that should be noble
figure whose fall would be moving enough
and effect catharsis of pent-up emotional
energies basically pertaining to pity
and fear. Our times are without kings
and the notion of tragic protagonist
has accordingly undergone a great change.
One of the requirements for traditional
tragedy is that the hero should be of
noble birth. In Death of a Salesman
Miller countered that notion with a
statement of modern purpose regarding
tragedy. The right to be the tragic
hero shouldn’t exclusively belong
to people to noble birth. Even the common
man can be the hero of a tragedy. It
is democratization of tragedy. Underlying
the play is a belief that the common
man is as apt a subject for tragedy
in its highest sense as kings were.
This clearly shows that the genre called
tragedy has undergone a significant
transformation in the twentieth century.
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