essay on modern tragedy

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Modern Tragedy in Literature

Modern tragedy often explores the individual’s struggle against societal or existential forces, challenging established norms and values.

Introduction: Theory of Modern Tragedy

Table of Contents

The Theory of Modern Tragedy, within the realm of literary and dramatic studies, delves into the evolution of tragic narratives in the context of contemporary society. In this paradigm, the traditional notions of tragedy, characterized by the fall of a great hero , are redefined to encompass a broader spectrum of characters and circumstances.

Modern tragedy often explores the individual’s struggle against societal or existential forces, challenging established norms and values. It engages with the complexities of the human condition in the modern world, incorporating elements of moral ambiguity , existential angst, and the questioning of traditional hierarchies.

This theory serves as a lens through which to analyze and understand how tragic narratives have adapted to reflect the intricacies of the contemporary human experience.

Theory of Modern Tragedy: Theorists, Works and Arguments


	(1872)	Emphasized the duality of Apollonian and Dionysian forces in tragedy, highlighting the role of suffering and the reconciliation of opposing elements in tragic art.
	(1949)	Challenged traditional notions of tragic heroes by introducing the concept of the “common man” as a tragic figure. Explored the tragedy of ordinary individuals in materialistic society.
	(1944), (1948)	Examined existentialist themes of individual responsibility and moral choices within the context of modern tragedy. absurdity of human existence and the consequences of free will.
	(1953)	Represented the futility and meaninglessness of human existence through the Theater of the Absurd, often portraying characters in absurd and hopeless situations.
	(1942), (1942)	Explored the concept of the absurdity of life and the confrontation with an indifferent universe, forming the basis for his views on modern tragedy.
	(1947)	Explored the tragic downfall of the central character, Blanche DuBois, and often focused on the decay of Southern aristocracy and the destructive forces in American society.
	(1962)	Explored psychological and emotional tragedy within a marriage and frequently dealt with the breakdown of human relationships and the darker aspects of domestic life.
	(1966)	Investigated the evolution of the tragic form in modern literature, drama, and society. Explored how modern tragic narratives adapt to changing cultural and social contexts.
	(1938)	Pioneered the Theatre of Cruelty, emphasizing visceral, non-linear, and chaotic aspects of human existence. Challenged traditional narrative structures.
	(1939)	Developed epic theater, emphasizing social and political themes. Brecht’s approach sought to provoke critical thinking and emotional detachment from characters to stimulate social change.
	(1985), (1987)	Focused on African American experiences, particularly within the context of the Pittsburgh cycle. Explored themes of race, family, and in the modern world.

Theory of Modern Tragedy and Literary Theories

Modern tragedy often explores existential themes, such as the absurdity of life, the freedom of choice, and the search for meaning. Existentialist theories, as articulated by thinkers like Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, can be applied to analyze the existential dilemmas in modern tragic literature.
Feminist perspectives can shed light on how gender roles and representations impact modern tragic narratives. Analyzing works through a feminist lens can reveal how issues related to gender, power, and oppression are portrayed in modern tragic literature.
Modern tragic works frequently engage with postcolonial themes, particularly in the context of the legacy of colonialism and its impact on individuals and societies. Postcolonial theory can help analyze the representation of identity, cultural conflicts, and colonial legacies in modern tragedy.
Marxist theory can be relevant when examining the socio-economic and class-related aspects of modern tragedy. It allows for an exploration of how issues of class struggle, inequality, and exploitation are portrayed in modern tragic narratives.
Modern tragic texts can be analyzed through structuralism and semiotics to uncover underlying patterns, symbols, and signifiers that contribute to the overall meaning of the work. This approach can help reveal hidden themes and relationships within modern tragedy.
Psychoanalytic perspectives, as developed by Sigmund Freud and others, can provide insight into the psychological dimensions of characters in modern tragedy. Analysis can delve into the unconscious motives, desires, and conflicts that drive their actions.
Deconstructionist theory, developed by Jacques Derrida, can be applied to modern tragedy to examine the instability of meaning and the complexities of language within the text. It can uncover the contradictions and paradoxes within tragic narratives.
Analyzing modern tragic narratives through narrative theory allows for an exploration of narrative structures, storytelling techniques, and how the narrative shapes the tragic experience for the reader or audience.
Cultural studies perspectives can be relevant to understand how modern tragic literature reflects and comments on specific cultural contexts, norms, and societal changes. It can uncover the interplay between culture and tragedy.
Reader-response theory examines how readers or audiences engage with and interpret modern tragedy. It focuses on the subjective experiences, emotions, and reactions of individuals in response to tragic texts.

Theory of Modern Tragedy and Literary Criticism


	can be analyzed through the lens of the Theory of Modern Tragedy. The play challenges traditional notions of tragic heroes by presenting Willy Loman, an ordinary salesman, as the tragic figure. His struggle against the materialistic and impersonal world reflects the modern tragic theme of the individual’s conflict with society.	From a modern tragedy perspective, Willy’s tragic flaw is not a character trait like pride or ambition but his inability to reconcile his dreams with reality. His demise symbolizes the disillusionment and alienation that individuals can experience in a post-industrial society. The play effectively highlights the complexities of modern life and the loss of personal identity in the pursuit of the American Dream.
	aligns with the Theory of Modern Tragedy through its representation of the futility and meaninglessness of human existence. The characters, Vladimir and Estragon, are caught in an absurd and seemingly endless cycle of waiting, reflecting the modern tragic theme of existential despair.	In this modern tragic play, there is no clear resolution or catharsis, a departure from traditional tragic structure. The play forces the audience to confront the absurdity of existence and the human condition. It raises questions about the purpose of life and the search for meaning, making it a powerful example of modern tragic literature.
	can be seen as a modern tragedy, particularly when examined through Albert Camus’s concept of the absurd. The novel’s protagonist, Meursault, embodies the absurdity of life and confronts an indifferent universe, resulting in a tragic and senseless outcome.	The Theory of Modern Tragedy helps us understand that Meursault’s detachment and indifference reflect the absurdity of existence, leading to his ultimate downfall. The novel’s exploration of moral and philosophical themes aligns with modern tragedy’s emphasis on the individual’s struggle to find meaning and identity in a seemingly meaningless world.
	In , the Theory of Modern Tragedy can be applied to interpret the cyclic and inescapable patterns of violence, loss, and isolation experienced by the Buendía family across generations. This novel portrays the tragedy of repeating historical and personal mistakes.	The novel emphasizes the modern tragic idea that individuals and societies are often doomed to relive their past errors and conflicts. The Theory of Modern Tragedy enhances our understanding of how the characters’ struggles and their destiny are intricately tied to the complex tapestry of Latin American history, reflecting the cyclical nature of tragic narratives.

Sugge sted Readings

Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays . Vintage, 1991.
DeJong, Meindert. A Horse Came Running . HarperCollins, 1973.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman . Penguin Books, 1976.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Birth of Tragedy . Dover Publications, 1995.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. No Exit and Three Other Plays . Vintage, 1989.
Williams, Raymond. Modern Tragedy . Chatto & Windus, 1966.

Critical Works:

Eagleton, Terry. Sweet Violence: The Idea of the Tragic . Blackwell, 2003.
Kott, Jan. The Eating of the Gods: An Interpretation of Greek Tragedy . Northwestern University Press, 1992.
Puchner, Martin. The Drama of Ideas: Platonic Provocations in Theater and Philosophy . Oxford University Press, 2010.
Segal, Erich. The Death of Tragedy . Yale University Press, 2013.
Steiner, George. The Death of Tragedy . Faber & Faber, 2008.
Wood, Michael. On Empson . Princeton University Press, 2018.

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Russian Formalism
Chaos Literary Theory-2
Globalization Theory, Theorists and Arguments

Modern Tragedy Essay

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Tragedy is a type of drama or literature that shows the downfall or destruction of a noble or outstanding person (Miller 222). Such a character is one who possesses a character weakness known as a tragic flaw (Thompson and Bowler 934). The authors present Macbeth, for example, a brave and noble figure whose downfall is attributable to ambition. After a prediction is made that he will one day become king, Macbeth plots to murder Duncan with the consent of his wife.

He kills the guards who discover Duncan’s body and becomes king. Unfortunately, the ghost of Banquo eats at Lady Macbeth’s conscience until she commits suicide. Finally, Macduff who had discovered Duncan’s body kills Macbeth and becomes king. Thompson and Bowler point out that the tragic hero, through “choice or circumstance, is caught up in a series of events that result in an inevitable disaster” (936).

In such a disaster, Aristotle observed that the audience experiences emotional cleansing after identifying with what the protagonist like Macbeth goes through. In Oedipus Rex, ill-fated Oedipus kills his father and engages his mother in an incestuous relationship (Thompson and Bowler 944). Tragedy has undergone development just like other literary genres. An analysis of trends in tragedy from the time of Sophocles and Euripides to modern times is therefore important.

Aristotle conceived tragedy as the imitation of imperfect men, written dramatically and aimed at arousing pity and fear in the audience so as to purge their emotions (Miller 235). His definition must have been made with the plays of Euripides and Sophocles in mind, since those plays featured men of noble but imperfect character.

As far as form was concerned, Greek tragedy had what he called “language made beautiful in different ways” (Miller 238), specifically by rendering it poetically and dramatically. Tragedy underwent a remarkable transformation through the ages.

As seen above, tragedy originally revolved around the case of man who fell from happiness to misery, usually to death due to an error. Through time, the determining factor and consequences of such errors evolved remarkably (Montague and Henshlaw 230). Montague and Henshlaw demonstrate this change by noting that modern tragedy for instance, moved away from errors to evil acts as determinants of protagonist’s predicaments (389).

Modern tragedy, the authors note, depicts middle and lower class protagonists unlike the nobility of ancient times; protagonists are victims of modern society and do not have errors in judgement and most importantly the tragedy is based on issues of “domestic and private nature” (Montague and Henshlaw 399).

Shakespeare’s plays for instance, feature ghosts and graveyards while later ones like Henrick Ibsen’s Doll’s House depicts an ordinary housewife whose husband makes her disillusioned since he looks down upon her (Montague and Henshlaw 402).

Further development took place on the side of delivery. Ancient tragedies were enacted in front of audiences, replete with masked men and choruses who narrated all actions. Modern tragedy on the other hand found its way in prose and poetry (Miller 436). Verse has therefore given place to prose.

It can be argued that modern tragedy does not spring from beliefs that are universally held but usually arises from social or personal conditions which vary from society to society. It need not end in death like the ancient Greek, Roman and English ones, but any downfall resulting from the struggle between the individual and some unalterable conditions of life.

Montague and Henshlaw point that tragedy, in its purest Aristotelian sense has suffered from the advent of Christianity and growth of scientific knowledge. This could explain the absence of features such as oracles and ghosts in modern tragedy (241). Thus, it is not to be misconstrued to mean that writers, since Aristotle, have not been writing tragedy; it is what they have been writing that deviates from traditional versions. That is why the form of ancient tragedy could not be retained; it keeps evolving.

Works Cited

Miller, Jordan. The Heath Introduction to Drama . Toronto: D.C. Heath & Company, 1992. Print.

Montague, Gene and Henshlaw Marjorie. The Experiences of Literature . Engelwood Cliff, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1990. Print.

Thompson, Eileen and Ellen Bowler. Eds. Prentice Hall Literature . London: International Learning systems Corporation ltd. Print.

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Death of a Salesman as a modern tragedy | Arthur Miller |

Arthur Miller’s famous drama “Death of a Salesman” is regarded as one of the most impressive pieces of work of art in the 20th century. It examines the psychological turmoil of the hero named Willy, and the competitive and commercialized society’s influence on his life. “Death of a Salesman” is called modern tragedy because it does not obey the concept of Greek tragedy or the traditional concept of tragedy.

According to the traditional concept of tragedy, the protagonist should be noble and a character of high status or rank. This dignity of the protagonist stimulates our adoration and sympathy for him in spite of his tragic flaw. But Miller’s idea of the tragedy is completely different. Miller dismisses the traditional concept of tragedy and remarks that not only kings but middle-class salesmen like Willy Loman can also be suitable for a tragedy . According to Miller, as much as pity and fear are aroused by the fall of a king, that much pity and fear can be caused by a common man’s struggle against society too.

Table of Contents

American Dream:

The reason for Willy Loman’s tragedy is his own society in which he lives. The cause of his suffering is also the competitive and materialistic nature of American society. In short, Willy Loman becomes a target of the American Dream . Willy thinks that wealth and worldly success can be achieved by means of personal links, contacts, and an attractive personality. Surely Willy is a failed and ineffective salesman, owing to the fact that he misinterprets the underlying idea of the American dream. Willy has completely ignored hard work which actually equals material wealth and success. If Willy had given importance to hard work, he would have taken the job that Charlie had offered and could have attained success and material wealth rather than running after his foolish perception of success and happiness.

The tragedy of a Common man:

In “Death of a Salesman” Miller conveys how the common man is ruined by the mistaken ideas of society. Willy’s interaction with Howard reveals the inhumanity of the commercialized American society. When Willy asks for a post in New York Howard rejects his request and continues playing his tape recorder without paying much attention to Willy. Willy screams when he is rejected: “You can’t eat orange and throw peel away. Man is not a piece of fruit”. This suggests that in modern tragedy, it is the common man who endures and suffers while in Aristotle’s concept of tragedy kings and queens suffer.

Read More: American Dream in English Literature

Multiple plots and more than one central character in Modern Tragedy:

Greek tragedies have one integrated and unified plot and a central character around which the entire tragedy revolved. But Modern tragedies have manifold plots and more than one principal character. In “Death of a Salesman” , we can call Willy Loman and his son Biff Loman both protagonists because both of them are running after material success and committing the same mistakes. At the same time, we can also call them one another’s antagonists because Willy’s anticipation of Biff impedes Biff from achieving his goal and Biff’s knowledge of his father’s extra-marital affairs impedes Willy to gain his self-respect or confidence. Furthermore, the drama operates more conventionally in the interplay of subplot and plot. Biff’s struggle to discover his own success outside the conventional American Dream aids the principal plot of Willy struggling to find the purpose of his existence. So Miller has rejected the Aristotelian concept of tragedy by presenting numerous plots and more than one principal character.

Aristotle’s Poetics and Death of a Salesman:

In his groundbreaking work in the field of tragedy “Poetics” Aristotle states that the plot of a tragedy should at least have a “change of fortune” . Here Fortune denotes fate. If we see in Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” , then Willy Loman’s fortune does not change throughout the play. From the beginning to the end of the play Willy is poor and dejected. According to Aristotle, a tragic should be a noble and admired individual. “Death of a Salesman” is a modern tragedy in that the hero is neither a noble-person nor an admired individual; Willy is a poor, working class salesman. Nevertheless he is a tragic character because his tragic flaw – his false ideals of what constitutes a prosperous life – put Willy down. He thinks that being admired and popular is the ultimate recipe of happiness. Willy has totally sidelined hard work which actually equals material success. This is Willy’s hamartia, causing the miserable situations which arises in the play and bringing about his successful suicide attempt. Because Willy has been self-centered and preoccupied with his own false ideals, this “suicide” would be seen as brave and heroic in his own view. This makes Willy’s story without a doubt tragic.

Read More: Aristotle’s theory of imitation and catharsis

Use of flashbacks, flash-forwards, and dreams in Modern tragedy:

Unlike classical tragedies, the main plot in modern tragedies has a time span of many weeks, months, or years, and dramatists present this long time with components such as memories, flashbacks, dreams, and flash-forwards. Miller initially named the drama “The Inside of His Head” , which demonstrates that he wanted to convey to the audience what transpires in a person’s mind when his desires are not fulfilled and when he dwells in a world grounded on false ideas. Miller’s technique of going back in past and going forward in the future between the imaginary and real-life permits the audience and reader to experience how the misinterpretation of the American dream has brought about the present condition. This also reveals manifold sides of all the characters that would not have been disclosed if only the contemporary events or circumstances had been depicted.

Conclusion:

So Miller through his drama “ Death of a Salesman” has criticized commercialized and competitive American society. In this crazy competition, everyone is busy leaving each other behind. Miller asserts that the competitive society has produced only a wearisome and anxious disruption for the common man. Willy’s tragedy perhaps best realized, in this statement of Linda: “A terrible thing is happening to him. so attention must be paid”. (Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman.)

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tragedy , branch of drama that treats in a serious and dignified style the sorrowful or terrible events encountered or caused by a heroic individual. By extension the term may be applied to other literary works, such as the novel .

Although the word tragedy is often used loosely to describe any sort of disaster or misfortune, it more precisely refers to a work of art that probes with high seriousness questions concerning the role of man in the universe. The Greeks of Attica , the ancient state whose chief city was Athens , first used the word in the 5th century bce to describe a specific kind of play , which was presented at festivals in Greece . Sponsored by the local governments , these plays were attended by the entire community , a small admission fee being provided by the state for those who could not afford it themselves. The atmosphere surrounding the performances was more like that of a religious ceremony than entertainment. There were altars to the gods, with priests in attendance, and the subjects of the tragedies were the misfortunes of the heroes of legend , religious myth , and history. Most of the material was derived from the works of Homer and was common knowledge in the Greek communities . So powerful were the achievements of the three greatest Greek dramatists— Aeschylus (525–456 bce ), Sophocles (c. 496–406 bce ), and Euripides (c. 480–406 bce )—that the word they first used for their plays survived and came to describe a literary genre that, in spite of many transformations and lapses, has proved its viability through 25 centuries.

Historically, tragedy of a high order has been created in only four periods and locales: Attica, in Greece, in the 5th century bce ; England in the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I , from 1558 to 1625; 17th-century France ; and Europe and America during the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th. Each period saw the development of a special orientation and emphasis, a characteristic style of theatre . In the modern period, roughly from the middle of the 19th century, the idea of tragedy found embodiment in the collateral form of the novel .

This article focusses primarily on the development of tragedy as a literary genre . For information on the relationship of tragedy to other types of drama, see dramatic literature . The role of tragedy in the growth of theatre is discussed in Western theatre .

Development

Origins in greece.

William Shakespeare and Lord Chamberlain's Men performing "Love's Labour's Lost" for Queen Elizabeth I, from the Works of William Shakespeare; etching, dated c. mid-19th century.

The questions of how and why tragedy came into being and of the bearing of its origins on its development in subsequent ages and cultures have been investigated by historians, philologists, archaeologists, and anthropologists with results that are suggestive but conjectural. Even the etymology of the word tragedy is far from established. The most generally accepted source is the Greek tragōidia , or “goat-song,” from tragos (“goat”) and aeidein (“to sing”). The word could have referred either to the prize, a goat , that was awarded to the dramatists whose plays won the earliest competitions or to the dress (goat skins) of the performers, or to the goat that was sacrificed in the rituals from which tragedy developed.

In these communal celebrations, a choric dance may have been the first formal element and perhaps for centuries was the principal element. A speaker was later introduced into the ritual , in all likelihood as an extension of the role of the priest, and dialogue was established between him and the dancers, who became the chorus in the Athenian drama. Aeschylus is usually regarded as the one who, realizing the dramatic possibilities of the dialogue , first added a second speaker and thus invented the form of tragedy. That so sophisticated a form could have been fully developed by a single artist, however, is scarcely credible. Hundreds of early tragedies have been lost, including some by Aeschylus himself. Of some 90 plays attributed to him, only seven have survived.

Four Dionysia , or Bacchanalia , feasts of the Greek god Dionysus (Bacchus), were held annually in Athens . Since Dionysus once held place as the god of vegetation and the vine, and the goat was believed sacred to him, it has been conjectured that tragedy originated in fertility feasts to commemorate the harvest and the vintage and the associated ideas of the death and renewal of life. The purpose of such rituals is to exercise some influence over these vital forces. Whatever the original religious connections of tragedy may have been, two elements have never entirely been lost: (1) its high seriousness, befitting matters in which survival is at issue and (2) its involvement of the entire community in matters of ultimate and common concern. When either of these elements diminishes, when the form is overmixed with satiric, comic, or sentimental elements, or when the theatre of concern succumbs to the theatre of entertainment, then tragedy falls from its high estate and is on its way to becoming something else.

As the Greeks developed it, the tragic form, more than any other, raised questions about human existence. Why must humans suffer? Why must humans be forever torn between the seeming irreconcilable forces of good and evil, freedom and necessity, truth and deceit? Are the causes of suffering outside of oneself, in blind chance, in the evil designs of others, in the malice of the gods? Are its causes internal, and does one bring suffering upon oneself through arrogance , infatuation, or the tendency to overreach? Why is justice so elusive ?

February 27, 1949 Tragedy and the Common Man By ARTHUR MILLER n this age few tragedies are written. It has often been held that the lack is due to a paucity of heroes among us, or else that modern man has had the blood drawn out of his organs of belief by the skepticism of science, and the heroic attack on life cannot feed on an attitude of reserve and circumspection. For one reason or another, we are often held to be below tragedy-or tragedy above us. The inevitable conclusion is, of course, that the tragic mode is archaic, fit only for the very highly placed, the kings or the kingly, and where this admission is not made in so many words it is most often implied. I believe that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were. On the face of it this ought to be obvious in the light of modern psychiatry, which bases its analysis upon classific formulations, such as Oedipus and Orestes complexes, for instances, which were enacted by royal beings, but which apply to everyone in similar emotional situations. More simply, when the question of tragedy in art is not at issue, we never hesitate to attribute to the well-placed and the exalted the very same mental processes as the lowly. And finally, if the exaltation of tragic action were truly a property of the high-bred character alone, it is inconceivable that the mass of mankind should cherish tragedy above all other forms, let alone be capable of understanding it. As a general rule, to which there may be exceptions unknown to me, I think the tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing-his sense of personal dignity. From Orestes to Hamlet, Medea to Macbeth, the underlying struggle is that of the individual attempting to gain his "rightful" position in his society. Sometimes he is one who has been displaced from it, sometimes one who seeks t attain it for the first time, but the fateful wound from which the inevitable events spiral is the wound of indignity and its dominant force is indignation. Tragedy, then, is the consequence of a man's total compulsion to evaluate himself justly. In the sense of having been initiated by the hero himself, the tale always reveals what has been called his "tragic flaw," a failing that is not peculiar to grand or elevated characters. Nor is it necessarily a weakness. The flaw, or crack in the characters, is really nothing-and need be nothing, but his inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity, his image of his rightful status. Only the passive, only those who accept their lot without active retaliation, are "flawless." Most of us are in that category. But there are among us today, as there always have been, those who act against the scheme of things that degrades them, and in the process of action everything we have accepted out of fear of insensitivity or ignorance is shaken before us and examined, and from this total onslaught by an individual against the seemingly stable cosmos surrounding us-from this total examination of the "unchangeable" environment-comes the terror and the fear that is classically associated with tragedy. More important, from this total questioning of what has previously been unquestioned, we learn. And such a process is not beyond the common man. In revolutions around the world, these past thirty years, he has demonstrated again and again this inner dynamic of all tragedy. Insistence upon the rank of the tragic hero, or the so-called nobility of his character, is really but a clinging to the outward forms of tragedy. If rank or nobility of character was indispensable, then it would follow that the problems of those with rank were the particular problems of tragedy. But surely the right of one monarch to capture the domain from another no longer raises our passions, nor are our concepts of justice what they were to the mind of an Elizabethan king. The quality in such plays that does shake us, however, derives from the underlying fear of being displaced, the disaster inherent in being torn away from our chosen image of what and who we are in this world. Among us today this fear is strong, and perhaps stronger, than it ever was. In fact, it is the common man who knows this fear best. Now, if it is true that tragedy is the consequence of a man's total compulsion to evaluate himself justly, his destruction in the attempt posits a wrong or an evil in his environment. And this is precisely the morality of tragedy and its lesson. The discovery of the moral law, which is what the enlightenment of tragedy consists of, is not the discovery of some abstract or metaphysical quantity. The tragic right is a condition of life, a condition in which the human personality is able to flower and realize itself. The wrong is the condition which suppresses man, perverts the flowing out of his love and creative instinct. Tragedy enlightens-and it must, in that it points the heroic finger at the enemy of man's freedom. The thrust for freedom is the quality in tragedy which exalts. The revolutionary questioning of the stable environment is what terrifies. In no way is the common man debarred from such thoughts or such actions. Seen in this light, our lack of tragedy may be partially accounted for by the turn which modern literature has taken toward the purely psychiatric view of life, or the purely sociological. If all our miseries, our indignities, are born and bred within our minds, then all action, let alone the heroic action, is obviously impossible. And if society alone is responsible for the cramping of our lives, then the protagonist must needs be so pure and faultless as to force us to deny his validity as a character. From neither of these views can tragedy derive, simply because neither represents a balanced concept of life. Above all else, tragedy requires the finest appreciation by the writer of cause and effect. No tragedy can therefore come about when its author fears to question absolutely everything, when he regards any institution, habit or custom as being either everlasting, immutable or inevitable. In the tragic view the need of man to wholly realize himself is the only fixed star, and whatever it is that hedges his nature and lowers it is ripe for attack and examination. Which is not to say that tragedy must preach revolution. The Greeks could probe the very heavenly origin of their ways and return to confirm the rightness of laws. And Job could face God in anger, demanding his right and end in submission. But for a moment everything is in suspension, nothing is accepted, and in this sketching and tearing apart of the cosmos, in the very action of so doing, the character gains "size," the tragic stature which is spuriously attached to the royal or the high born in our minds. The commonest of men may take on that stature to the extent of his willingness to throw all he has into the contest, the battle to secure his rightful place in the world. There is a misconception of tragedy with which I have been struck in review after review, and in many conversations with writers and readers alike. It is the idea that tragedy is of necessity allied to pessimism. Even the dictionary says nothing more about the word than that it means a story with a sad or unhappy ending. This impression is so firmly fixed that I almost hesitate to claim that in truth tragedy implies more optimism in its author than does comedy, and that its final result ought to be the reinforcement of the onlooker's brightest opinions of the human animal. For, if it is true to say that in essence the tragic hero is intent upon claiming his whole due as a personality, and if this struggle must be total and without reservation, then it automatically demonstrates the indestructible will of man to achieve his humanity. The possibility of victory must be there in tragedy. Where pathos rules, where pathos is finally derived, a character has fought a battle he could not possibly have won. The pathetic is achieved when the protagonist is, by virtue of his witlessness, his insensitivity, or the very air he gives off, incapable of grappling with a much superior force. Pathos truly is the mode for the pessimist. But tragedy requires a nicer balance between what is possible and what is impossible. And it is curious, although edifying, that the plays we revere, century after century, are the tragedies. In them, and in them alone, lies the belief-optimistic, if you will, in the perfectibility of man. It is time, I think, that we who are without kings, took up this bright thread of our history and followed it to the only place it can possibly lead in our time-the heart and spirit of the average man. Return to the Books Home Page

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Home › Drama Criticism › Analysis of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

Analysis of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on July 30, 2020 • ( 0 )

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is, perhaps, to this time, the most mature example of a myth of Contemporary life. The chief value of this drama is its attempt to reveal those ultimate meanings which are resident in modern experience. Perhaps the most significant comment on this play is not its literary achievement, as such, but is, rather, the impact which it has had on spectators, both in America and abroad. The influence of this drama, first performed in 1949, continues to grow in World Theatre. For it articulates, in language which can be appreciated by popular audiences, certain new dimensions of the human dilemma.

—Esther Merle Jackson, “ Death of a Salesman : Tragic Myth in the Modern Theatre”

It can be argued that the Great American Novel—that always elusive imaginative summation of the American experience—became the Great American Drama in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman . Along with Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night , Miller’s masterpiece forms the defining myth of the American family and the American dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is the play’s only rival in American literature in expressing the tragic side of the American myth of success and the ill-fated American dreamers. A landmark and cornerstone 20th-century drama, Death of a Salesman is crucial in the history of American theater in presenting on stage an archetypal family drama that is simultaneously intimate and representative, social and psychological, realistic and expressionistic. Critic Lois Gordon has called it “the major American drama of the 1940s” that “remains unequalled in its brilliant and original fusion of realistic and poetic techniques, its richness of visual and verbal texture, and its wide range of emotional impact.” Miller’s play, perhaps more than any other, established American drama as the decisive arena for addressing the key questions of American identity and social and moral values, while pioneering methods of expression that liberated American theater. The drama about the life and death of salesman Willy Loman is both thoroughly local in capturing a particular time and place and universal, one of the most popular and adapted American plays worldwide. Willy Loman has become the contemporary Everyman, prompting widespread identification and sympathy. By centering his tragedy on a lower middle-class protagonist—insisting, as he argued in “Tragedy and the Common Man,” that “the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were”—Miller completed the democratization of drama that had begun in the 19th century while setting the terms for a key debate over dramatic genres that has persisted since Death of a Salesman opened in 1949.

Miller’s subjects, themes, and dramatic mission reflect his life experiences, informed by the Great Depression, which he regarded as a “moral catastrophe,” rivaled, in his view, only by the Civil War in its profound impact on American life. Miller was born in 1915, in New York City. His father, who had emigrated from Austria at the age of six, was a successful coat manufacturer, prosperous enough to afford a chauffeur and a large apartment over-looking Central Park. For Miller’s family, an embodiment of the American dream that hard work and drive are rewarded, the stock market crash of 1929 changed everything. The business was lost, and the family was forced to move to considerably reduced circumstances in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn in a small frame house that served as the model for the Lomans’ residence. Miller’s father never fully recovered from his business failure, and his mother was often depressed and embittered by the family’s poverty, though both continued to live in hope of an economic recovery to come. For Miller the depression exposed the hollowness and fragility of the American dream of material success and the social injustice inherent in an economic system that created so many blameless casualties. The paradoxes of American success—its stimulation of both dreams and guilt when lost or unrealized, as well as the conflict it created between self-interest and social responsibility—would become dominant themes in Miller’s work. As a high school student Miller was more interested in sports than studies. “Until the age of seventeen I can safely say that I never read a book weightier than Tom Swift , and Rover Boys, ” Miller recalled, “and only verged on literature with some of Dickens. . . . I passed through the public school system unscathed.” After graduating from high school in 1932 Miller went to work in an auto parts warehouse in Manhattan. It was during his subway commute to and from his job that Miller began reading, discovering both the power of serious literature to change the way one sees the world and his vocation: “A book that changed my life was The Brothers Karamazov which I picked up, I don’t know how or why, and all at once believed I was born to be a writer.”

In 1934 Miller was accepted as a journalism student at the University of Michigan. There he found a campus engaged by the social issues of the day: “The place was full of speeches, meetings and leaflets. It was jumping with Issues. . . . It was, in short, the testing ground for all my prejudices, my beliefs and my ignorance, and it helped to lay out the boundaries of my life.” At Michigan Miller wrote his first play, despite having seen only two plays years before, to compete for prize money he needed for tuition. Failing in his first attempt he would eventually twice win the Avery Hopwood Award. Winning “made me confident I could go ahead from there. It left me with the belief that the ability to write plays is born into one, and that it is a kind of sport of the mind.” Miller became convinced that “with the exception of a doctor saving a life, writing a worthy play was the most important thing a human could do.” He would embrace the role of the playwright as social conscience and reformer who could help change America, by, as he put it “grabbing people and shaking them by the back of the neck.” Two years after graduating in 1938, having moved back to Brooklyn and married his college sweetheart, Miller had completed six plays, all but one of them rejected by producers. The Man Who Had All the Luck, a play examining the ambiguities of success and the money ethic, managed a run of only four performances on Broadway in 1944. Miller went to work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, tried his hand at radio scripts, and attempted one more play. “I laid myself a wager,” he wrote in his autobiography. “I would hold back this play until I was as sure as I could be that every page was integral to the whole and would work; then, if my judgment of it proved wrong, I would leave the theater behind and write in other forms.” The play was All My Sons, about a successful manufacturer who sells defective aircraft parts and is made to face the consequences of his crime and his responsibilities. It is Miller’s version of a Henrik Ibsen problem play, linking a family drama to wider social issues. Named one of the top-10 plays of 1947, All My Sons won the Tony Award and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award over Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh. The play’s success allowed Miller to buy property in rural Connecticut where he built a small studio and began work on Death of a Salesman .

This play, subtitled “Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem,” about the last 24 hours of an aging and failing traveling salesman misguided by the American dream, began, as the playwright recounts in his introduction to his Collected Plays , with an initial image

of an enormous face the height of the proscenium arch which would appear and then open up, and we would see the inside of a man’s head. In fact, The Inside of His Head was the first title. . . . The image was in direct opposition to the method of All My Sons —a method one might call linear or eventual in that one fact or incident creates the necessity for the next. The Salesman image was from the beginning absorbed with the concept that nothing in life comes “next” but that everything exists together and at the same time within us; that there is no past to be “brought forward” in a human being, but that he is his past at every moment. . . . I wished to create a form which, in itself as a form, would literally be the process of Willy Loman’s way of mind.

The play took shape by staging the past in the present, not through flashbacks of Willy’s life but by what the playwright called “mobile concurrency of past and present.” Miller recalled beginning

with only one firm piece of knowledge and this was that Loman was to destroy himself. How it would wander before it got to that point I did not know and resolved not to care. I was convinced only that if I could make him remember enough he would kill himself, and the structure of the play was determined by what was needed to draw up his memories like a mass of tangled roots without ends or beginning.

At once realistic in its documentation of American family life and expressionistic in its embodiment of consciousness on stage, Death of a Salesman opens with the 63-year-old Willy Loman’s return to his Brooklyn home, revealing to his worried wife, Linda, that he kept losing control of his car on a selling trip to Boston. Increasingly at the mercy of his memories Willy, in Miller’s analysis, “is literally at that terrible moment when the voice of the past is no longer distant but quite as loud as the voice of the present.” Reflecting its protagonist, “The way of telling the tale . . . is as mad as Willy and as abrupt and as suddenly lyrical.” The family’s present—Willy’s increasing mental instability, his failure to earn the commissions he needs to survive, and his disappointment that his sons, Biff and Happy, have failed to live up to expectations—intersects with scenes from the past in which both their dreams and the basis for their disillusionment are exposed. In the present Biff, the onetime star high school athlete with seeming unlimited prospects in his doting father’s estimation, is 34, having returned home from another failed job out west and harboring an unidentified resentment of his father. As Biff confesses, “everytime I come back here I know that all I’ve done is to waste my life.” His brother, Happy, is a deceitful womanizer trapped in a dead-end job who confesses that despite having his own apartment, “a car, and plenty of women . . . still, goddammit, I’m lonely.” The present frustrations of father and sons collide with Willy’s memory when all was youthful promise and family harmony. In a scene in which Biff with the prospect of a college scholarship seems on the brink of attaining all Willy has expected of him, both boys hang on their father’s every word as he exults in his triumphs as a successful salesman:

America is full of beautiful towns and fine, upstanding people. And they know me, boys, they know me up and down New England. The finest people. And when I bring you fellas up, there’ll be open sesame for all of us, ’cause one thing, boys: I have friends. I can park my car in any street in New England, and the cops protect it like their own.

Triumphantly, Willy passes on his secret of success: “Be liked and you will never want.” His advice exposes the fatal fl aw in his life view that defines success by exterior rather than interior values, by appearance and possessions rather than core morals. Even in his confident memory, however, evidence of the undermining of his self-confidence and aspirations occurs as Biff plays with a football he has stolen and father and son ignore the warning of the grind Bernard (who “is liked, but he’s not well liked”) that Biff risks graduating by not studying. Willy’s popularity and prowess as a salesman are undermined by Linda’s calculation of her husband’s declining commissions, prompting Willy to confess that “people don’t seem to take to me.” Invading Willy’s memory is the realization that he is far from the respected and resourceful salesman he has boasted being to his sons as he struggles to meet the payments on the modern appliances that equip the American dream of success. Moreover, to boost his sagging spirits on the road he has been unfaithful to his loving and supportive wife. To protect himself from these hurtful memories Willy is plunged back into the present for a card game with Bernard’s father, Charley. Again the past intrudes in the form of a memory of a rare visit by Willy’s older brother, Ben, who has become rich and whose secrets for success elude Willy. Back in the present Willy is hopeful at Biff’s plan to go see an old employer, Bill Oliver, for the money to start up a Loman Brothers sporting goods line. The act ends with Willy’s memory of Biff’s greatest moment—the high school football championship:

Like a young god. Hercules—something like that. And the sun, the sun all around him. Remember how he waved to me? Right up from the field, with the representatives of three colleges standing by? And the buyers I brought, and the cheers when he came out—Loman, Loman, Loman! God Almighty, he’ll be great yet. A star like that, magnificent, can never really fade away!

The second act shatters all prospects, revealing the full truth that Willy has long evaded about himself and his family in a series of crushing blows. Expecting to trade on his 34 years of loyal service to his employer for a nontraveling, salaried position in New York, Willy is forced to beg for a smaller and smaller salary before he is fired outright, prompting one of the great lines of the play: “You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away—a man is not a piece of fruit.” Rejecting out of pride a job offer from Charley, Willy meets his son for dinner where Biff reveals that his get-rich scheme has collapsed. Bill Oliver did not remember who he was, kept him waiting for hours, and resentfully Biff has stolen his fountain pen from his desk. Biff now insists that Willy face the truth—that Biff was only a shipping clerk and that Oliver owes him nothing—but Willy refuses to listen, with his need to believe in his son and the future forcing Biff to manufacture a happier version of his meeting and its outcome. Biff’s anger and resentment over the old family lies about his prospects, however, cause Willy to relive the impetus of Biff’s loss of faith in him in one of the tour de force scenes in modern drama. Biff and Happy’s attempt to pick up two women at the restaurant interconnects with Willy’s memory of Biff’s arrival at Willy’s Boston hotel unannounced. There he discovers a partially dressed woman in his father’s room. Having failed his math class and jeopardized his scholarship, Biff has come to his father for help. Willy’s betrayal of Linda, however, exposes the hollowness of Willy’s moral authority and the disjunction between the dreams Willy sells and its reality:

Willy: She’s nothing to me, Biff. I was lonely, I was terribly lonely.

Biff: You—you gave her Mama’s stockings!

Willy: I gave you an order!

Biff: Don’t touch me, you—liar!

Willy: Apologize for that!

Biff: You fake! You phony little fake! You fake!

Willy’s guilt over the collapse of his son’s belief in him leads him to a final redemptive dream. Returning home, symbolically outside planting seeds, he discusses with Ben his scheme to kill himself for the insurance money as a legacy to his family and a final proof of his worth as a provider of his sons’ success. Before realizing this dream Willy must endure a final assault of truth from Biff who confesses to being nothing more than a thief and a bum, incapable of holding down a job—someone who is, like Willy, a “dime a dozen,” no better than any other hopeless striver: “I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you. You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can like all the rest of them!” Biff’s fury explodes into a tearful embrace of his father. After Biff departs upstairs the significance of his words and actions are both realized and lost by the chronic dreamer:

Willy, after a long pause, astonished, elevated Isn’t that—isn’t that remarkable? Biff—he likes me!

Linda: He loves you, Willy!

Happy ,deeply moved Always did, Pop.

Willy: Oh. Biff! Staring wildly: He cried! Cried to me. He is choking with his love, and now cries out his promise: That boy—that boy is going to be magnificent!

Analysis of Arthur Miller’s Plays

Doggedly holding onto the dream of his son’s prospects, sustained by his son’s love, Willy finally sets out in his car to carry out his plan, while the scene shifts to his funeral in which Linda tries to understand her husband’s death, and Charley provides the eulogy:

Nobody dast blame this man. You don’t understand: Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He don’t put a bolt to a nut, he don’t tell you the law or give you medicine. He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. And then you get a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory.

Linda delivers the final, heartbreaking lines over her husband’s grave: “Willy. I made the last payment on the house today. Today, dear. And there’ll be nobody home. We’re free and clear. We’re free. We’re free . . . We’re free. . . .”

The power and persistence of Death of a Salesman derives from its remarkably intimate view of the dynamic of a family driven by their collective dreams. Critical debate over whether Willy lacks the stature or self-knowledge to qualify as a tragic hero seems beside the point in performance. Few other modern dramas have so powerfully elicited pity and terror in their audiences. Whether Willy is a tragic hero or Death of a Salesman is a modern tragedy in any Aristotelian sense, he and his story have become core American myths. Few critics worry over whether Jay Gatsby is a tragic hero, but Gatsby shares with Willy Loman the essential American capacity to dream and to be destroyed by what he dreams. The concluding lines of The Great Gatsby equally serve as a requiem for both men:

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eludes us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther . . . And one fine morning—

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

A Short Summary of Arthur Miller’s ‘Tragedy and the Common Man’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

As we mention in our collection of interesting facts about Arthur Miller (1915-2005), the noted US playwright’s family had been relatively prosperous, but during the Great Depression of the 1930s, as with many other families, their economic situation became very precarious.

This experience had a profound impact on Miller’s political standpoint, and this can be seen time and time again in his work for the theatre. He aligned himself with the leftist politics of the 1930s, namely socialism. His early successes as a playwright were in the genre of social drama. That is, a social problem or issue in contemporary society is explored on stage. More specifically, the dramatic conflict arises usually from a moral dilemma faced by the individual that is related to some kind of flaw or corruption in the social order.

Death of a Salesman (1949), his most famous play, bears some resemblance to Miller’s earlier social drama: that is, the play represents the commodification of people in modern capitalist society (people become things with a financial value – or, too often, no financial value). Willy Loman, the protagonist of the play (and ‘salesman’ of the title), and his sons must find the courage to resist the temptation to act immorally in order to achieve ‘the American Dream’ (an ideal where anyone could be a self-made man in the world of capitalism and commerce).

Miller becomes known in the post-war period not just as a dramatist but as a noted theorist of drama: witness his essay ‘ Tragedy and the Common Man ’ (1949), which appeared in the New York Times shortly after the premiere of Death of a Salesman . Miller wrote ‘Tragedy and the Common Man’ in order to defend Willy Loman against the critics, and to argue that Loman is a suitable subject for tragedy. It was published just two weeks after Death of a Salesman opened in the theatre.

Since that is the case, what’s interesting is that not once in his essay does Miller mention his own play, or Willy Loman the character. In other words, he’s trying to argue that this idea of the common man being a fitting subject for tragedy – that ordinary people can be just as ‘noble’ as kings – is universal, and not limited to his own plays.

Miller starts by pointing out that the modern world has grown increasingly sceptical, and is less inclined to believe in the idea of heroes. There are many reasons for this: the twentieth century had seen the two bloodiest conflicts in known history in the form of two World Wars, and Nazi Germany and fascism in Italy – in many ways informed by the idea of the hero or great leader, had shown that it was in many ways dangerous to believe in the idea of the great hero.

So, the modern view is that people no longer believe in the possibility of heroes. As a result, they don’t see how tragedy, with its tragic hero, can be relevant to the modern world. Miller argues, on the contrary, that the world is full of heroes. A hero is anybody who is willing to lay down his life in order to secure his ‘sense of personal dignity’. It doesn’t matter what your social status or background is.

The late novelist David Gemmell, author of popular heroic fantasy novels, was once asked what his definition of a hero was. He was known for creating brooding, charismatic figures who were troubled killers and yet capable of goodness. When asked what he thought a hero was, Gemmell replied : ‘Anyone who does something heroic.’ That’s it.

So the age-old perception of a ‘hero’ as being someone like Oedipus, or Odysseus, or Hercules, or Superman, is a narrowing of the idea of heroism. All you have to do to qualify as a hero, even in dramatic terms, is do something which can be deemed heroic – noble, brave, dignified, courageous, morally right.

But there’s still the problem of tragedy for a modern audience. Is tragedy still relevant, or even appropriate? After the massacre on a massive scale that the two World Wars had borne witness to, wasn’t it pointless, and even slightly perverse, to emphasise the death of one individual to such an extent? Miller said it was ‘simply presumptuous – this making so much out of one death when we know it is meaningless.’

So we have a problem here. Tragedy is, by its very nature, about the individual, the tragic hero. But isn’t this out of proportion with the mass real-life tragedies that the twentieth century had seen? Not just the Holocaust, but the millions of Russians who’d died as a result of Stalin’s actions. After such knowledge, what forgiveness?

Thus some commentators came to see tragedy as self-indulgent, and the happy plaything of the privileged few who could afford to sit around and feel pity for one man’s death on stage. It becomes the entertainment for a kind of new aristocracy.

Miller is aware of this danger, and so this is where it becomes of central importance that his tragic figures, such as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman , are ordinary guys – just some American man trying to make a living, for instance – rather than something special. Tragedy becomes a critique on society, on some aspect of society that is perceived as evil or destructive, not just to this individual, but to thousands like him.

In many ways this is a peculiarly American invention. Because the United States is classless – or at least perceives itself to be such, which is really the key point – you can have an Average Joe as your hero, and virtually everyone will be able to relate to him as the quintessential American. He’s just ‘this guy’ or ‘some bloke’. Nowhere is this more clearly demonstrated than in the dominant medium of the twentieth century, the cinema, and films.

This even transcends race: Samuel L. Jackson can play an ordinary guy, or Bruce Willis, or Tom Cruise. Such is the American system that you can have such a thing as a true ‘Average Joe’. In films of the 1950s – and ever since – you see actors like James Dean portraying just your ordinary guy, the common man that Miller had highlighted as the centre of modern tragedy.

For Miller, tragedy is driven by ‘Man’s total compunction to evaluate himself justly’. In the process of doing this, and attaining his dignity, the tragic hero often loses his life. Society destroys him.

But there is something affirmative about this for Miller, because the audience will be driven to evaluate what is wrong with society that it could destroy a man unjustly like that. Thus we as a society will gain a greater understanding of what is wrong with society, and will be able to improve society. Thus the hero’s death offers hope.

More than this, Miller sees tragedy as inherently optimistic. This is because it’s about what he calls man’s ‘thrust for freedom’. The hero will be destroyed at the end of the play, but there must always be the possibility that he could have succeeded and won out against society. If the hero is fighting a battle that cannot possibly be won, then that’s no good – that is not true tragedy, because the hero cuts a pathetic figure fighting an impossible battle.

But if there is a fine balance between what is possible and what is impossible, this is when you have a great tragedy, because tragedy can then teach us about what he calls the ‘perfectibility of man’.

For Miller, the tragic flaw, what Aristotle had called the hamartia , is redefined in modern terms as the hero’s inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity and rightful status in society. As you may have gathered by now, the flaw is not within the individual or hero, but within society itself . Miller shifts the hamartia onto society, and the individual is a victim of this flaw.

This is a liberal conception of the individual and his/her relation to the social order. The end or culmination of modern tragedy is that it ends with a man’s destruction that results from his challenge to the status quo . This is what demonstrates that the wrong or ‘evil’ resides not in the individual but in his society. The social wrong: conditions which suppress man, pervert his creative instinct, and stifle his freedom.

‘Tragedy and the Common Man’ is observational rather than prescriptive in its approach. It doesn’t lay down tenets of modern tragedy but merely note down a few elements which Miller believes make up much of modern tragedy in the theatre.

Miller’s argument is based not only on his own artistic perspective about what constitutes good tragedy, but also about what he notes other modern playwrights are making out of the classical form. It describes an emerging dramatic form. But it gives a new lease of life to the genre that must end with death: the theatrical tragedy.

Continue to explore the world of tragedy with our brief history of the genre and our discussion of Sophocles’ great tragedy about Oedipus .

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Critically assess Raymond William’s essay on “Tragedy and Contemporary Ideas”.

Tragedy has been discussed, refined and renewed throughout the ages. Greeks were well aware with the fact that tragic incidents are part and parcel of everyone’s life but their concept about tragedy are not accepted by Raymond William. Raymond William with the purpose of rejecting the previous concept of tragedy has written essay “Tragedy and Contemporary Ideas”. He first describes the contemporary ideas related to tragedy and then one by one rejects them with strong arguments. He also gives examples in this regard. According to him, time is changing and so as we, therefore, tragedy should also be changed. He rejects every former concept about tragedy and proves that tragedy should be refined as per modern desires. His style is very interesting and confidence inspiring as subtle arguments can be found in his essay with regard to tragedy.

First of all Raymond William denied the concept that human nature is unchangeable. He says, if it is unchangeable, then tragedy must not be changed but that is not the case. He takes is the law of nature” as granted and states that tragedy should also be changed. There is a lot of difference between the past and present. The main difference is in thinking and perceiving things. He writes with the mind of a common man. How a common man perceives tragedy is basic purpose of this essay. This essay can be divided into four major points: order and accident, destruction of the hero, irreparable action and emphasis of evil.

The conventional tragedy does not focus on ordinary real life accidents. In all the tragedies, written by former writers, incidents are not tragic at all. They become tragic because of a certain response. Raymond William does not agree with it. He says that we cannot differentiate between response and event. If an event has no response than it does not mean that it is not tragic. Ignoring or becoming silence on a point is also a response. In his views, every incident can be tragic for someone. If it is not tragic for a person then it does not mean that it is not tragic for anyone. A common man’s death may not be tragic for a person passing nearby but it is definitely tragic for his near and dear ones. The world has been changed and so as the tragedy. Now are not the days that onlyhuge accident is tragic but an ordinary unexpected incident can also be tragic for someone. In simple words, any tragic incident like road accident, a disaster, a burned family or a broken heart, says William, can be tragic.

Raymond William also focuses on ranks. He says that in modern world, ranks have no value at all. What values is the life of a person. For bourgeois society, everyone has become entity and thus has his own importance, therefore, whether a prince dies or a common man expires, both events are mournful and equally tragic. He denies that the death of a king is more tragic than a common man.Greeks presented kings as their tragic heroes for the purpose of excitement of pity and fear but in modern world, every incident can be tragic in some way or the other.

Raymond William also spreadslight on destruction of the hero. He says that at the end of tragedy we see destruction and annihilation of the tragic character. This interpretation of tragedy is accepted by Raymond William but he rejects a point related to it. He says that while witnessing a tragedy, we forget to experience every single incident related to it because we confine ourselves to the hero only. What happens to the hero is our main concern but what is happening inthe surroundings, we forget it. Modern tragedy is different in this context. In old tragedies, like Oedipus Rex, people’s concern was with the hero. They focus on the point that what is happening to the hero but in modern world, spectators see what is happening through the hero. Hence, we should experience the tragedy in all context. He agrees that it is not the duty of writer to give solutions that what should the tragic character do but raise questions and leave them unanswered to be answered by the spectators.

Indeed, Raymond William has given new definition to tragedy but some questionsraise in our minds, being students of literature. For instance,Aristotle says that there is more excitement of pity and fear while watching the sufferings of a noble person than a common man. It is always true. The tragedy with a person having noble class will remain a topic of discussion for years, whereas the death of a common man is not necessarily a tragedy for everyone. Furthermore, human-habits may have been changed but emotions and feelings are not changed and will remain same until the day of judgment. Tragedy can be successful, even today, if it is written while following the contemporary ideas because its purpose is same i.e. Catharsis of pity and fear, however, remaining points of Raymond Williams are accurate and they have force.Destruction in form of death is not necessary.Irreparable loss and actions can fulfil the purpose of a tragedy lastly, evil can be emphasized. With these observations, Raymond William’s views about tragedy as discussed in “Tragedy and Contemporary Ideas” are partially accepted.

Tragedy and the Common Man

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Summary: “tragedy and the common man”.

The essay “ Tragedy and the Common Man ” was written by playwright Arthur Miller in 1949. It was published in The New York Times in the same year, just after the premier of his most famous play, Death of a Salesman . Born in New York City in 1915, Arthur Miller found success as a playwright through “social drama”: drama that depicted the struggles of ordinary American life at the time. In response to criticisms of Death of a Salesman , particularly criticism of its protagonist , Willy Loman, Miller wrote his essay “ Tragedy and the Common Man ” to argue that “common” or normal middle- or working-class people provide equally apt subjects for tragic drama as people of wealth or high rank.

This study guide refers to the original version published in 1949 in The New York Times , which can be accessed online . Citations given are to paragraph numbers in this version.

Content Warning: The source material uses androcentric language prevalent at the time, and this is reflected in the guide. The guide makes reference to themes of suicide, murder, and incest, limited to the brief summary of Classical and Renaissance tragic plots.

Miller opens his essay with an observation that, at his time of writing, tragedies have become uncommon. He cites the reasons why their interest has declined: a popular belief that contemporary society lacks heroes, the fact that scientific skepticism has lessened the “heroic attack on life” (1), and the pervasive idea that tragedy is archaic and only fit for people of high stature, such as kings, nobility, or other important figures. Miller disagrees with these arguments and presents his thesis: The common man can be a subject of tragedy as much as people of high stature. He supports this with modern psychiatry; certain concepts/emotional situations (such as the Oedipus and Orestes complexes) derive their names from the royal figures of tragic works but apply to common people. This underpins his point that all people can experience the same emotional situations. He points out that it is commonly accepted that people of high stature can have the same mental/emotional states as the “ lowly ” and that if tragedy were only reserved for nobility, common people would not find that these stories resonate with them so much or even have the ability to understand them.

Miller goes on to provide his definition of tragedy: Tragedy is created when a character is ready to die for his sense of personal dignity and/or to regain his rightful position in society. He lists examples of famous tragic heroes from classical Greek tragedy (Orestes and Medea) as well as Shakespearean drama (Hamlet and Macbeth). The character’s previous dignity or rightful position may be displaced by events in the play, or the character may be trying to attain a rightful sense of place for the first time but, in both cases, the tragic events are a result of the character’s “compulsion to evaluate himself justly” (5).

The tragic story is initiated by a tragic flaw . Miller argues that this flaw is not always a weakness, merely an unwillingness to be passive in the face of a challenge to one’s image, and that those who appear to be without this tragic flaw are those who have accepted their fate. Those who choose not to be passive in the face of things that “degrade” them can act as an example for a society to examine and question previously accepted aspects of that society. The fear and terror that is usually associated with tragedy comes from this deeply challenging premise. More importantly, the questioning of rules and assumptions leads to learning and social change. This learning is not exclusive to nobility or royalty but accessible to the common man: In fact, Miller points out, it is the “inner dynamic” of popular social revolutions.

Claiming that a tragic character must be of a certain rank or stature, Miller asserts, ignores tragedy’s deeper purpose. If a character’s stature truly mattered, tragedies would only deal with issues faced by nobles and royalty, and they would not have resonated with wide popular audiences so deeply, or across so many centuries. On the contrary, Miller notes that the reason tragedy appeals to so many is because it deals with a common fear—the fear of being separated from one’s chosen self-image. “Today,” Miller asserts, this fear may be stronger than ever, and felt most strongly by the common man.

Miller returns to the nature of the tragic flaw. He notes that the (self-)destruction which results from the hero’s attempt to “evaluate himself justly” highlights a flaw in the society the character lives in, not necessarily in the character himself. Tragedy, then, serves to critique the aspects of society that “suppress” man.

Miller argues that the psychiatric or sociological view of life becoming pervasive in the mid-20th century is partly to blame for the lack of tragedy as a continued art form. This introspective focus renders heroic action futile or impossible by presenting “our miseries, our indignities” (12) as stemming from the mind itself, removing the societal aspect. The opposite approach, which places all the blame on society, means that the tragic hero must be faultless, lacking “validity” as a character. A tragedy must fall between these two extremes to be effective.

Therefore, tragedy requires the author to be willing to question everything; all social structures, institutions, and customs should be examined. This need not foment social unrest but is an inner struggle and is expressive of the universal human condition.

Miller returns to what he considers the most common misconception about tragedy: that because it has an unhappy ending, it must be pessimistic. Miller argues that the opposite is true: Tragedy is optimistic because it reinforces man’s “indestructible will,” his tenacity in the face of opposing forces. Tragedy, then, must include the possibility of victory; if a hero is faced with a battle he cannot possibly win, he is not a tragic hero but a “pathetic” hero. Tragedy requires a balance between the possible and impossible, and thus reinforces the idea of mankind’s strength of spirit. This optimism explains the lasting appeal of the tragic form.

Miller concludes his essay by stating that the tradition must be revived and updated to reflect the “average man” of the modern era.

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Death Of A Salesman As A Modern Tragedy

Death of a Salesman is a 1949 play written by Arthur Miller. It was the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances, and has been revived on Broadway four times, winning three Tony Awards for Best Revival. It is considered to be one of the greatest American plays of the 20th century.

The story revolves around Willy Loman, an aging salesman who is in denial about the failures of his career and personal life. His wife Linda tries to hold him together as he unravels. Their two sons, Biff and Happy, are also struggling to find their place in the world.

Death of a Salesman has been produced in more than 40 countries and has been translated into 21 languages. It has been adapted for television, radio, and film several times.

The play is closely based on Miller’s own life, particularly his relationship with his father. Miller once said that all of his works are “memory plays” in which he uses the past to comment on the present. Death of a Salesman is often considered to be one of Miller’s finest works and is a staple of the American theatre.

Tragedy as most people conceive of it is a form of drama in which a superior intellect and character are overcome by the very obstacles they are attempting to remove. Tragedy, on the other hand, may represent another aspect of existence: the misfortunes of ordinary individuals. In these circumstances, brave actions might be improbable at times. Because we understand that kings or nobility are the only tragic heroes from reading the first tragedies, we anticipate that only rulers or nobles can be tragic heroes.

This is no longer true in the present day. Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller and produced in 1949, is a perfect example of a modern tragedy. The play tells the story of Willy Loman, a common man who fails in his attempt to achieve the American Dream.

Willy Loman is a salesman, and he has based his entire life on the idea that if he works hard enough, he will be successful. However, he is no longer able to keep up with the changing times and finds himself unable to provide for his family. In the end, Willy commits suicide, realizing that he was never able to achieve what he wanted. Death of a Salesman is a tragedy not only because of Willy’s death, but also because of the way he dies. He is not killed in a battle or by some tragic accident; instead, he is destroyed by the very thing he believes in.

Death of a Salesman is one of the first plays to explore the idea of the common man as a tragic hero. It is a perfect example of how modern life can be just as tragic as ancient life. Arthur Miller’s play has been called “the most American play ever written.” Death of a Salesman is timeless because it speaks to the human experience regardless of time or place. It is a tragedy that anyone can understand.

The main character, Willy Loman, is a tragic hero. He represents the common man as a tragic figure in his own right. I think that the average person is as good a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were, according to Mr. Miller (n).

Everything about Willy Loman – from his name down to his occupation and personality traits are similar to those of royal beings who have been previously mentioned (n). The death of Willy Loman can be considered tragic; he’s the tragic hero. A fatal flaw is something which all tragic heroes possess but not necessarily an inherent disadvantage.

Willy Loman is a man who lives in a world of his own and where he idealizes the life he wants to have. His tragic flaw is that he cannot see that his life is not as successful as he wants it to be.

While Death of a Salesman may have certain characteristics of Greek tragedies, like a tragic hero with a tragic flaw, it also departs from the traditional Greek model. In a Greek tragedy, the protagonist would usually be of noble birth and would experience a fall from grace. The protagonist in Death of a Salesman is not of noble birth and does not experience a fall from grace, but rather a slow decline. This makes Willy Loman more relatable to the average person.

Death of a Salesman is a representation of the American Dream and the American Tragedy. The American Dream is the idea that anyone can achieve success and happiness through hard work and determination. The American Tragedy is the idea that this dream can be corrupted and lead to disaster. Death of a Salesman embodies both of these ideas.

Willy Loman, the protagonist of Death of a Salesman, is a tragic hero. A tragic hero is a character who has a flaw or weakness that leads to their downfall. Willy’s tragic flaw is his refusal to face reality. He lives in a world of his own where he idealizes the life he wants to have instead of the life he actually has. He also believes that he is more successful than he actually is. This leads to his downfall, as he eventually loses everything he has worked for.

Death of a Salesman is a tragedy because it follows the traditional Greek model of a tragedy. A tragedy is a story in which the protagonist experiences a fall from grace. Death of a Salesman does not have a traditional fall from grace, but rather a slow decline.

Willy Loman’s tragic flaw leads to his downfall and causes him to experience great suffering. This makes Death of a Salesman an American Tragedy as well. The American Tragedy is the idea that the American Dream can lead to disaster. Death of a Salesman embodies this idea and shows how the American Dream can be corrupted.

Willy has a lot of pride, and he is unwilling to accept a role that he considers to be an affront to his reputation. His tragic flaw causes his death. A tragic hero begins with a goal and then suffers setbacks before achieving greater insight. This perfectly captures Willy’s character. Willy’s first objective is to preserve his honor by refusing an offer that he feels would damage it in the eyes of his family and friends.

However, he falls on hard times when his lies catch up to him and he is fired. In the end, however, Willy does gain a better perception of himself after Death of a Salesman. He realizes that his life was not in vain and that he accomplished a lot. This play is a perfect example of how the American dream can lead to tragedy.

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Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and Tragedy

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Tom Brady Went Off About 'Tragedy' Affecting Young QBs in Modern NFL

Liam mckeone | aug 20, 2024.

Aug 11, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; New England Patriots retired quarterback Tom Brady before the game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Dallas Cowboys at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-USA TODAY Sports

New England Patriots

The Tom Brady rollout has arrived. With the 2024 NFL season rapidly approaching, and with it Brady's broadcasting debut for Fox Sports , the former New England Patriots great has been making various public appearances to show what fans should expect when he's in the booth come September. The latest of those came this past weekend, when he joined ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith on his eponymous podcast.

During his interview, Brady touched upon a topic he's proven to be very passionate about in retirement: how young quarterbacks are handled in the modern NFL. He went on an impassioned rant to Smith about how it's a "tragedy" that teams force rookie quarterbacks to play before they are ready by dumbing the game down, which doesn't allow them to develop at the necessary rate— a problem that starts at the collegiate level.

"There used to be college programs. Now there are college teams," Brady said. "You're no longer learning a program, you're learning a playbook. And the program is ultimately, like at Michigan for me, that is a pro-style program. For five years I got to learn how to drop back pass, to read defenses, to read coverages, to be coached. I had to learn from being seventh quarterback on the depth chart to moving up to third to ultimately being the starter. I had to learn all those things in college. That was development. Then I went to New England and I was developed by Coach Belichick and the offensive staff there. I didn't start my first year. I think it's just a tragedy that we're forcing these rookies to play early. But the reality is the only reason why they are is because we've dumbed the game down, which has allowed them to play. It used to be thought of at a higher level."

. @TomBrady on the tragedy that is being forced on rookie QBs in today’s NFL pic.twitter.com/IReSLdYL1R — Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) August 19, 2024

Earlier this summer Brady lamented on the same subject , proclaiming quarterbacking has "gone backwards" as fewer QBs are given complete control of their offenses. Back then, Brady said the same thing— it's a systemic problem going all the way down to college, where players are not allowed to develop because coaches are more concerned about their jobs and thus coach the players as they are rather than trying to develop them. So this sounds like it may be a common refrain for Brady as he enters his broadcasting career.

Between this topic and his stray shot at Daniel Jones last weekend , Brady clearly has lot to say about bad quarterbacking. It will be interesting, then, to see what he says about good quarterbacking. The criticism is what goes viral but over the course of a full season Brady will see as many good plays as bad. Will he be as capable and quick to shower praise when called for?

Regardless of that question and answer, Brady clearly has developed his method of delivering strong opinions. A good early sign for FOX as the rookie analyst's debut nears.

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LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.

Follow liam_mckeone

Watch CBS News

Details emerge after doctor raped and murdered in India as thousands protest

August 15, 2024 / 6:32 AM EDT / CBS/AFP

Thousands took to the streets of Kolkata early Thursday to condemn the rape and murder of a local doctor , demanding justice for the victim and an end to the chronic issue of violence against women in Indian society.

The discovery of the 31-year-old's brutalized body last week at a state-run hospital has sparked nationwide protests, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding swift punishment for those who commit "monstrous" deeds against women.

Large crowds marched through the streets of Kolkata in West Bengal to condemn the killing, with a candlelight rally at midnight coinciding with the start of India's independence day celebrations on Thursday.

The protesters in Kolkata, who marched under the slogan "reclaim the night", called for a wider tackling of violence against women and held up handwritten signs demanding action.

"We want justice," read one sign at the rally. "Hang the rapist, save the women," read another.

Citizen Protest Against Rape And Murder Of Doctor In Kolkata On The Eve Of 78th Indian Independence Day.

"The atrocities against women do not stop," midnight marcher Monalisa Guha told Kolkata's The Telegraph newspaper.

"We face harassment almost on a daily basis," another marcher, Sangeeta Halder, told the daily. "But not stepping out because of fear is not the solution."

"Monstrous behavior against women"

Modi, speaking in New Delhi on Thursday morning at independence day celebrations, did not specifically reference the Kolkata murder, but expressed his "pain" at violence against women.

"There is anger for atrocities committed against our mothers and sisters, there is anger in the nation about that," he said.

"Crimes against women should be quickly investigated; monstrous behavior against women should be severely and quickly punished," he added. "That is essential for creating deterrence and confidence in the society."

Doctors are also demanding swift justice and better workplace security in the wake of the killing, with those in government hospitals across several states on Monday halting elective services "indefinitely" in protest.

Protests have since occurred in several other hospitals across the country, including in the capital.

"Doctors nationwide are questioning what is so difficult about enacting a law for our security," Dhruv Chauhan, from the Indian Medical Association's Junior Doctors' Network, told the Press Trust of India news agency. "The strike will continue until all demands are formally met."

The Telegraph on Thursday praised the "spirited public protests" across India.

"Hearteningly, doctors and medical organizations are not the only ones involved," it said in an editorial. "The ranks of the protesters have been swelled by people from all walks of life."

Police accused of mishandling case

Indian media have reported the murdered doctor was found in the teaching hospital's seminar hall, suggesting she had gone there for a brief rest during a long shift.

An autopsy has confirmed sexual assault, and in a petition to the court, the victim's parents have said that they suspected their daughter was gang-raped, according to Indian broadcaster NDTV.

Though police have detained a man who worked at the hospital helping people navigate busy queues, officers have been accused of mishandling the case.

Kolkata's High Court on Tuesday transferred the case to the elite Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to "inspire public confidence."

In the early hours of Thursday, a mob of some 40 people angry at authorities' handling of the case stormed the grounds of the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, the site of the murder.

The men smashed property and hurled stones at police, who fired tear gas in response, authorities said.

West Bengal lawmaker Abhishek Banerjee, from the Trinamool Congress party, condemned the "hooliganism and vandalism," but said "the demands of the protesting doctors are fair and justified."

History of sexual violence in India

Sexual violence against women is a widespread problem in India. An average of nearly 90 rapes a day were reported in India in 2022, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau.

That year, police arrested 11 people after the alleged brutal gang rape and torture of a young woman that included her being paraded through the streets of Dehli. Also in 2022, a police officer in India was arrested after being accused of raping a 13-year-old girl who went to his station to report she had been gang-raped.

In March 2024, multiple Indian men were arrested after the gang rape of a Spanish tourist on a motorbike trip with her husband.

For many, the gruesome nature of the attack has invoked comparisons with the horrific 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a Delhi bus.

The woman became a symbol of the socially conservative country's failure to tackle sexual violence against women.

Her death sparked huge, and at times violent, demonstrations in Delhi and elsewhere.

Under pressure, the government introduced harsher penalties for rapists, and the death penalty for repeat offenders.

Several new sexual offences were also introduced, including stalking and jail sentences for officials who failed to register rape complaints.

Sexual Violence

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Willy Loman As A Modern Tragedy Analysis. definition of a modern tragedy is ordinary people in tragic situations. Death of a Salesman the play by Arthur Miller demonstrates this theme. The main character, Willy Loman, is a salesman who created his own tragedy. He had a poor moral compass which lead him to make the wrong decisions.
Critically assess Raymond William's essay on "Tragedy and Contemporary
Raymond William with the purpose of rejecting the previous concept of tragedy has written essay "Tragedy and Contemporary Ideas". He first describes the contemporary ideas related to tragedy and then one by one rejects them with strong arguments. He also gives examples in this regard.
Tragedy and the Common Man
The essay "Tragedy and the Common Man" was written by playwright Arthur Miller in 1949. It was published in The New York Times in the same year, just after the premier of his most famous play, Death of a Salesman.Born in New York City in 1915, Arthur Miller found success as a playwright through "social drama": drama that depicted the struggles of ordinary American life at the time.
'Death of a Salesman' as a Modern Tragedy
In 'Death of a Salesman' Arthur Miller presents a tragedy which is different from the classical and Shakespearean tragedies. On the basis of some unconventional rules Miller produces a tragedy, which is very modern in respects of the style as well as the subject matter. The play is mainly linked to Miller's essay 'Tragedy and the common man ...
Death Of A Salesman As A Modern Tragedy Essay
Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller and produced in 1949, is a perfect example of a modern tragedy. The play tells the story of Willy Loman, a common man who fails in his attempt to achieve the American Dream. Willy Loman is a salesman, and he has based his entire life on the idea that if he works hard enough, he will be successful.
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and Tragedy
Death of a Salesman is a tragedy, but unlike others audiences have seen or read about before but ultimately, Willy meets all the criteria for what a tragedy is. Willy's personal psychological issues create a serious flaw in him as a main character, along with social pressures brought on by outside sources and moral weakness within Willy. The ...
Arthur Miller'S Modern Tragedy Definition Essay Example
Order custom essay Arthur Miller's Modern Tragedy with free plagiarism report 450+ experts on 30 subjects Starting from 3 hours delivery Get Essay Help. Arthur Miller was born on October 17, 1915 in New York and died on February 10, 2005 in Connecticut, United States. He is a very well-known playwright and essayist; he got immensely popular ...
Tom Brady Went Off About 'Tragedy' Affecting Young QBs in Modern NFL
Aug 11, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; New England Patriots retired quarterback Tom Brady before the game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Dallas Cowboys at SoFi Stadium.
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India's women revolt against a culture of rape 02:43. Thousands took to the streets of Kolkata early Thursday to condemn the rape and murder of a local doctor, demanding justice for the victim and ...
Scotland's papers: Israel meetings suspended and yacht tragedy
Israel meetings suspended and tycoon yacht tragedy. More from Scotland's papers. The Herald. The Scotsman. Daily Record. The Scottish Sun. Daily Mail. Scottish Daily Express. The Times. The Telegraph.