There is something noble in his flaw, even though it will lead to his own destruction.
Miller takes the classical idea of the tragic flaw, what Aristotle had called the hamartia, and updates this for a modern audience, too: the hero’s tragic flaw is redefined 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. So it may be counter-intuitive to describe a tragedy like Death of a Salesman as ‘optimistic’, but in a sense, this is exactly what it is. The hero’s death is individually tragic but collectively offers society hope.
Thus people will gain a greater understanding of what is wrong with society, and will be able to improve it. When a younger and better salesman comes along, men like Willy are almost always doomed.īut by placing this in front of the audience and dramatising it for them, Miller invites his audience to question the wrongs within modern American society. Capitalism’s dog-eat-dog attitude is at least partly responsible, since it leads weary and worn-out men like Willy to dream of paying off their mortgage and having enough money, while simultaneously making the achievement of that task as difficult as possible. In the process of doing this, and attaining his dignity, the tragic hero often loses his life, but there is something affirmative about the events leading up to this final act, because the audience will be driven to evaluate what is wrong with society that it could destroy a man – a man willing to take a moral stand and evaluate himself justly – in the way that it has.ĭoes Willy Loman deserve to be pushed to take his own life just so his family can pay the bills? No, so there must be something within society that is at fault.
But contrary to what we might expect, there is something positive and even affirmative about tragedy, as Arthur Miller views the art form.įor Miller, in ‘Tragedy and the Common Man’, theatrical tragedy is driven by ‘Man’s total compunction to evaluate himself justly’.
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