The familiar definition of a tragic hero is one who falls from grace from an elevated status as a result of his own tragic flaw. However, in Arthur Miller’s essay “Tragedy and the Common Man”, he explains his own concept of a tragic hero which refutes the classical Greek definition. Miller’s changes are that he believes that a tragic hero does not need to be a man of great social standing, but can be an ordinary man. Miller says that “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” (Miller).
In addition, in his ‘unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity’, the hero tries to attain the impossible and is doomed to failure. Miller’s definition of tragedy can be applied to both Willy Loman in his play Death of a Salesman and Oedipus in Sophocles’ play “Oedipus the King”. Both are men who fail in their struggle to protect what they believe are their “rightful” positions in society.
Willy Loman is an ordinary man who is a tragic hero, as defined by Miller’s essay. Willy Loman is a married salesman, who lives for his sons and has unattainable dreams. The ambitions he has for himself and his son, Biff, are impossible due to their skill set and goals conflicting. Both work well with their hands, rather than the communication skills that are required to be a successful “well liked” business man. This lack of self-realization leaves no other option but failure to achieve his dreams. His awareness of this causes such a disturbance in Willy that he denies his own reality, slipping into a past memory or creating illusions is how he escapes from his current situation. The other characters of Death of a Salesman try to get Willy to come out of his fantasies, but “he conceives [reality] to be a challenge to his dignity, his image of his rightful status” (Miller).
The Term Paper on Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
... Death of a salesman as oppose to Willy Lowman’s role given to him by the author A.Miller as being the tragic hero. Miller broke from ... needed, Miller’s intention was to show how the common working class man could be shown to be a tragic hero and an American tragic hero as ... Biff Lowman!, Biff – I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you.” For Biff it is in renouncing ...
There are a few moments when he acknowledges his life for what it is. When he confesses:
“I was fired, and I’m looking for a little good news to tell your mother,
because the woman has waited and the woman has suffered. The gist of it
is that I haven’t got a story left in my head Biff. So don’t give me a lecture
about facts and aspects. I am not interested. Now what’ve you got to say to me?” (pg 107 act 2)
Willy admits that he is determined to reach his goals even if he has to lie about it. This determination to reach his goals even if they are only illusions and Linda, his wife, who enables him by excusing his lies and encourages his manifestations, is the recipe for his down fall. When Biff cries to father to get him to understand that Biff will never be the “well liked” business man, Willy is already too far gone to be reasoned with. Willy believes that Biff will be “outstanding, with twenty thousand behind him.” (103act2).Delusional, Willy commits suicide, his insurance company does not pay for suicides and his family receives nothing. Willy leaves behind a devastated Linda, and his other son Happy to carry on with his impossible dream. Miller’s definition of a tragic hero addresses Willy Loman’s as one.
Oedipus, a man with a more traditional status, fits Miller’s mold of a tragic hero. The gods have said Oedipus will murder his father, Laius, and then have children with his mother, Jocasta. Oedipus learns about the prophecy of his birth and makes it his mission for it to never come to be. Leaving Corinth, he exiles himself, believing he is saving his parents, Polybus and Merope. In a twist of fate he takes his birth right as the King of Thebes. When Thebes goes into ruin he pledges to make things right by saying:
The Essay on Oedipus the King as a Tragic Hero
In its simplest definition, a tragic hero is the main protagonist in a tragedy who commits an error or a mistake that subsequently leads to his or her downfall. Although historically, there have been a lot of plays with tragic heroes, possibly the most notable among them is Oedipus the King. In the play Oedipus the King, the protagonist exemplifies traits that a tragic hero possesses as shown in ...
“ Not for some distant unknown friend,- myself
for my own sake I’ll drive this evil out
since he that slew this King were fain perchance
Again by the same hand to strike … at me” (1.pg.61.l.5)
This is impossible because he killed Laius, but at the time did not know the identity of the man he killed. Oedipus has already failed his escape of the prophecy but he is oblivious to this. The prophet Teiresias and his mother, wife Jocasta are not and plead with him to give up the search for Laius’s murderer. Throughout the play Oedipus slowly reveals the truth about his past and failure. It is only his pride pushing him forward, because his dignity as a king is on the line. Once Oedipus learns the complete truth, that he has fulfilled the prophecy despite his best efforts, he is overcome with emotion. Blinding himself with Jocasta’s pin, he begs Creon “that you banish me!” (3pg 92.l.39).
Miller says that “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” (Miller) and that the chance of victory is impossible, both of which happens to Oedipus making him a tragic hero.
Willy Loman in the play Death of a Salesman and Oedipus in Sophocles’ play “Oedipus the King” are tragic heros, as defined by Miller. In Miller’s definition of a tragic hero he believes:
“… 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.” (Miller).
Both men exemplify Miller’s definition because they have set futile goals for themselves and the failure to attain them. They sacrifice their lives without hesitation to keep their dignity, though their reasons are different. Willy does it for the success of being “well liked”, while Oedipus does it for his moral belief and pride as the King of Thebes, for honour. The pair never stood a chance because Oedipus set to go against the gods and the Willy could not see the forest for the trees. Both mans’ failure results in a death, Willy literally dies and the Oedipus’s self-image dies. They lost ‘a battle’, a battle neither could ever had the chance at winning.
The Essay on Oedipus Rex As A Tragic Hero
Oedipus Rex as a Tragic Hero Before the twentieth century plays were mainly written as either a tragedy or comedy. In a tragic play the tragic hero will often do something that will eventually destroy him. In the book Oedipus the King, Oedipus Rex is the tragic hero. In a tragic play the main character, which is portrayed as Oedipus, will do a good deed that will in turn make him a hero. This hero ...
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Works Cited:
Sylvan Barnet. Morton Berman. William Burto. Eight Great Tragedies. Scarborough:New American Library of Canada.1957
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Toronto. Penguin Company1976
Robert W.Corrigan. Tragedy: Vision and Form. 2nd ed. New York: Harper 1981.
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