Tragic Hero in Relation to Willy Loman
Intro Paragraph:
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The Aristotelian definition of tragedy is that a tragedy is the imitation in dramatic form of an action serious and complete, with incidents arousing pity and fear wherewith it effects a catharsis of such emotions. The chief characters are noble personages and the actions they perform are noble actions.
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In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is the proclaimed “hero” of the story, a common salesman, whose life is slowly unravelling due to his failure at the American dream of commercial success.
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Willy Loman is a character who emulates certain features of being a hero, but cannot completely fit the archetype.
Main Point: The tragic hero is a character of noble stature and has greatness. If the hero’s fall is to arouse in us the emotions of pity and fear, it must be a fall from a great height.
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Willy Loman is not a man of noticeably noble stature but “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.” Arthur Miller is saying that since in our time we don’t worship kings anymore, we turn to look at the common man as our heroes in our everyday lives.
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Some people believe that since Willy gives himself completely to his own personal struggle, that the intensity of his struggle/passion lifts him to a higher level (making him noble).
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"So long as the hero may be said to have had alternatives of a magnitude to have materially changed the course of his life, it seems to me that in this respect at least, he cannot be debarred from the heroic role." (“Introduction to Collected Plays”)
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"Although he has neither social nor intellectual stature, Willy has dignity, and he strives to maintain this as his life falls apart around him." (Abbotson 36)
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Outside Support: Willy Loman indeed makes himself a tragic hero of sorts by his abundant capacity for suffering in the
•
The Aristotelian definition of tragedy is that a tragedy is the imitation in dramatic form of an action serious and complete, with incidents arousing pity and fear wherewith it effects a catharsis of such emotions. The chief characters are noble personages and the actions they perform are noble actions.
•
In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is the proclaimed “hero” of the story, a common salesman, whose life is slowly unravelling due to his failure at the American dream of commercial success.
•
Willy Loman is a character who emulates certain features of being a hero, but cannot completely fit the archetype.
Main Point: The tragic hero is a character of noble stature and has greatness. If the hero’s fall is to arouse in us the emotions of pity and fear, it must be a fall from a great height.
•
Willy Loman is not a man of noticeably noble stature but “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.” Arthur Miller is saying that since in our time we don’t worship kings anymore, we turn to look at the common man as our heroes in our everyday lives.
•
Some people believe that since Willy gives himself completely to his own personal struggle, that the intensity of his struggle/passion lifts him to a higher level (making him noble).
•
"So long as the hero may be said to have had alternatives of a magnitude to have materially changed the course of his life, it seems to me that in this respect at least, he cannot be debarred from the heroic role." (“Introduction to Collected Plays”)
•
"Although he has neither social nor intellectual stature, Willy has dignity, and he strives to maintain this as his life falls apart around him." (Abbotson 36)
•
Outside Support: Willy Loman indeed makes himself a tragic hero of sorts by his abundant capacity for suffering in the