Willy Loman Tragic Hero
Death of a Hero
(A Discussion of Willy Loman as a Tragic Hero in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman)
Questions are often raised as to whether certain individuals are redeemable from the acts that they have committed. One such individual is Willy Loman. Willy Loman is the central character in Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman. In the play, Willy Loman is a 63 year old salesman with two sons, Biff and Happy, aged 34 and 32 respectively. He is also married to Linda Loman. Their family is quite dysfunctional, an aspect that is quickly noted by the reader at the beginning of the text. By the end of the play, Willy Loman commits suicide. Many critics of Miller’s work have raised the question of whether or not this character is redeemable. …show more content…
This may not seem like a deciding factor in the argument of whether to accept Willy Loman as a tragic hero in the world of literature, yet it most certainly is. This is because many readers and critics of this play argue that Willy Loman is not the protagonist of the play. This is because they picture the protagonist as someone loved by all in the text, save the antagonist. Yet this text varies from the accepted normalities of literature. In Arthur Miller’s text, the protagonist is not a shining hero, yet he is still loved by his family. This shows that he is not a bad person all the way through. For, if he was, readers may begin to classify him as a sort of antagonist. Due to this, it is clear that Willy Loman represents a tragic hero from the Aristotelian viewpoint in Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman.
Many critics of Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, may argue that Willy Loman is unredeemable as well as not able to be considered a tragic hero. There are several aspects of Willy Loman that contradict these claims. One such aspect is that he is the protagonist of the play. This idea is supported by the fact that he is loved by his family. ALong with these claims, he also loses his life at the end of the text, an aspect of a tragic hero outlined by the Aristotelian views on such characters. Due to this, it is clear that Willy Loman represents a tragic hero in Arthur Miller’s, Death of a
(A Discussion of Willy Loman as a Tragic Hero in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman)
Questions are often raised as to whether certain individuals are redeemable from the acts that they have committed. One such individual is Willy Loman. Willy Loman is the central character in Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman. In the play, Willy Loman is a 63 year old salesman with two sons, Biff and Happy, aged 34 and 32 respectively. He is also married to Linda Loman. Their family is quite dysfunctional, an aspect that is quickly noted by the reader at the beginning of the text. By the end of the play, Willy Loman commits suicide. Many critics of Miller’s work have raised the question of whether or not this character is redeemable. …show more content…
This may not seem like a deciding factor in the argument of whether to accept Willy Loman as a tragic hero in the world of literature, yet it most certainly is. This is because many readers and critics of this play argue that Willy Loman is not the protagonist of the play. This is because they picture the protagonist as someone loved by all in the text, save the antagonist. Yet this text varies from the accepted normalities of literature. In Arthur Miller’s text, the protagonist is not a shining hero, yet he is still loved by his family. This shows that he is not a bad person all the way through. For, if he was, readers may begin to classify him as a sort of antagonist. Due to this, it is clear that Willy Loman represents a tragic hero from the Aristotelian viewpoint in Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman.
Many critics of Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, may argue that Willy Loman is unredeemable as well as not able to be considered a tragic hero. There are several aspects of Willy Loman that contradict these claims. One such aspect is that he is the protagonist of the play. This idea is supported by the fact that he is loved by his family. ALong with these claims, he also loses his life at the end of the text, an aspect of a tragic hero outlined by the Aristotelian views on such characters. Due to this, it is clear that Willy Loman represents a tragic hero in Arthur Miller’s, Death of a