Death Of A Salesman Tragic Hero Analysis

This furthermore leads to the downfall of Willy and his family, proving that Willy Loman is a tragic hero. To conclude, “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller satisfies the criteria for a tragic play because Willy’s pride is a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. Ultimately, Willy gains enlightenment of his false perception of life and realizes how he inhibits the success of his family. This epiphany leads him to sacrifice himself for the well-being of his family. During his lifetime, Willy’s pride caused him to have an overinflated ego, a bizarre idealistic view on life, and a false value system.

The play Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, is a tragedy because it’s hero, Willy Loman, is a tragic figure that faces a superior source, being the American dream and the struggle for success. Loman also excites pity in the reader because of his defeat and his inability to become a success or teach his children how to make their lives successful. Miller defines a flaw as “an inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what one conceives to be a challenge to one’s dignity…” Loman fulfills many of the requirements of being a tragic hero. Willy is not “flawless” in his actions, which by Miller’s standards make him a tragic hero. It is not wrong for Willy to have flaws and it does not make him a weaker man but a tragic figure.

First and foremost Brutus is the Tragic Hero of the play as has been said. Now with the title of Tragic hero comes a weakness, a tragic flaw in the characters personality. One of these tragic flaws includes Brutus’ ambition. Like for instance, when he joined the conspirators he immediately took over. When they were considering asking Cicero to be one of the conspirators Brutus would not have it even though he was the only one who objected.

A tragic hero is commonly known as a character of nobility that undergoes a fatal change which ultimately results in a tragedy. Arthur Miller, however, has a slightly different view in regards to what a tragic hero is. He asserts that a tragic hero does not necessarily have to be a character of nobility, instead can be an average person in possession of a tragic flaw. In Death of a Salesman, a play written by Arthur Miller, the criteria of a modern tragic hero are best expressed and demonstrated through the main character, Willy Loman. Willy Loman’s tragic flaw would be his excessive and unwarranted pride.

Miller created fear by creating a character that people can relate to. The fact that Willy is a common man reinforces the fear in the audience, because he is more relatable then a king. You feel pity because throughout his life Willy live blindly with lost dreams and hopes. The purpose of a tragic hero, is to create both pity and fear on the audience, to teach a lesson to the audience .Willy is a tragic hero, Willy is not perfect, and he has a distorted set of values. Sadly Willy cause his own downfall, his meaningless pride, his “tragic flaw” blinded him from seeing the truth, but his flaw thought a lesson to the audience.

Brutus’ ultimate downfall by one or two negative traits would have shocked the intended audience and perhaps affected how they viewed themselves, making Brutus a very effective character. Shakespeare created a slightly flawed character have a moment of clarity followed by a violent death, and he did this to notify the public of a major problem with his day’s ethics. The noble Brutus was destroyed by a handful of minute details in his own character. This alarming message is the reason this play is still studied. Works Cited "Hero."

In Arthur Millers’ play, Death of a Salesman, he has twisted Aristotle’s belief of a tragic hero, and has created his own. Although Miller has twisted Aristotle’s belief, Sophocles’ play, Oedipus Rex, has a tragic hero (Oedipus) that follows the flaws, dignity, and acknowledgment of the truth that Aristotle believes in to make a tragic hero. It is essential for them to recognize their position and role in the play. Due to the fact that Willy Loman and Oedipus experience tragic flaws throughout their respected plays, they both have nobility, and they both realize the fact (anagnorisis) that they made an error in their life (hamartia). Through their fatal mis-steps, their pride and ego, predominately affect their familial lives, which in turn causes them to realize the truth that they are tragic heroes.

Sabrina Sikder Professor Thomason English 1102 18 July 2017 Fate versus Free Will The downfall of mankind is an integral part of comprehending human nature. Every tragedy requires a hero with a tragic flaw that, most likely, unconsciously leads into the hero's downfall. The protagonist being human makes the character relatable and even more pitiable because the audience is aware that the protagonist's inevitable undoing is yet to come. The protagonist's tragic flaw not only harms the protagonist, but harms others in the story as well. Drama's such as "Oedipus the King" by Sophocles is a prime example of a character with a tragic flaw that leads to his own undoing.

Instead he stabs his eyes out loses his honor and his kingdom. “ Your broken by what happened , broken by what’s happening in your own mind. I wish you’d never learned the truth(1530-32, 520).” He makes a very good point , sometimes the truth is just too much to handle, but a true hero can find the strength to overcome it. “The concept of tragic hero is very important in the construction of tragedy. It is the main cause of pity and fear.

He is the reason for the failure of Biff's life because of his stubbornness. He would not just admit that he didn't know success and decided to lie and act as though he did and for that, Biff was met with defeat in life. Arthur Miller in the story The death of a salesman demonstrates the destruction that secrets and lies can cause and the harm it can do. Deception is the worst thing to do to someone because it can cause the destruction of their lives. Willy Loman ruins the life of his son Biff by feeding him false stories and keeping the truth from him.