Death of a SalesmanTragedy or Social Drama?

“The Jungle is dark but full of diamonds.”

“I think the tragic feeling is invoked 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.”

"The closer a man approaches tragedy the more intense is his concentration of emotion upon the fixed point of his commitment, which is to say the closer he approaches what in life we call fanaticism."

The concept of Tragedy

• Purpose is to create pity and fear by showing us a terrible fate and a character that deserves our pity for undergoing it.

• Aristotle wrote that tragedy only happens to great people who can fall from a great height.

• Miller extends this to the ordinary man.• ‘I believe that the common man is as apt a subject

for tragedy as kings are.’

• To be truly tragic in the Aristotelian sense he must be a victim of circumstances out of his control.

• Is Willy Lowman to blame for his own misfortune?

• A tragedy is usually defined as a piece of literature which contains sombre themes.

• We see a great person destined through a flaw of character or perhaps a conflict with some overpowering force (society) arriving at an eventual downfall or destruction.

• Willy could be seen as a tragic hero if he is seen as a virtuous man who has a tragic flaw that leads to his fate.

• If we take an Aristotelian definition of tragedy, then Death of a Salesman is not tragic.

• If we use Miller’s own definition then it can be deemed as such.

• Recommended reading – ‘Tragedy and the Common Man’ A. Miller

Social Drama

• If Willy is not a tragic figure then one alternative is that it is society which brings good people down.

• If society is to blame then Willy is not tragic.

• ‘it is, of course, the brutal capitalist system that has done Willy’ E. Clark – Think buildings at the start

Capitalism

• A social system based around supply and demand – drive towards the accumulation of wealth.

• Free market and competition are key.• The encouragement of wants. People must want

and buy more to fuel the ecomomy and keep people in jobs

• Miller felt that capitalism worked. However, it brings the worst out of man.’ A man is not a piece of fruit…’

Capitalism cont…

• Miller wanted the play to destroy the ‘bullshit’ of capitalism that sought to encourage a ‘pseudo life that thought to touch the clouds by standing on top of a refrigerator’.

• Willy does feel a need to buy goods to prove his own worth – cars, fridge…

• Why? Whose fault is this?

Task 1

In your groups, discuss the questions. Be prepared to feedback to the class.

Task 2

• Come up with ideas for both sides of the argument - Is Willy’s failure and resulting demise a result of his flawed character? Or is it the fault of society?

• Try to give specific details in your answer.

• Hint: Perhaps a mixture of both.

Elements of Tragedy in DOAS

• In tragedies, we see the central protagonist consumed by one idea – in this case, the pursuit of the American Dream.

• The tragedy lies in the fact that the suffering caused by this is unnecessary.

• He wastes his life thinking of what could have been (hamartia – Alaska)

• His ironic death as a result of this is also tragic. • He wanted to make Biff proud and provide for

his family but Biff feels that there is little honour in his passing.

DOAS as a social drama

• The play could explore the corrupting influence of American society. Think on the comments made by Happy, the ceaseless consumerism and the constant pressure to appear successful. Willy cannot truly be himself due to the expectations of the society in which he lives.

• Think also on the horrific treatment of Willy by Howard (his boss).

• We can see elements of both in DOAS.

• Arguably, Willy is a tragic figure haunted by his own past and poor decisions who is a direct creation of a society in which to be ‘ordinary’ is to be shunned.