Death of a Salesman Essay

In 1949 whilst America saw the ending of anti-communist feelings, fear of the un cutn and the general hysteria which stem from the Cold War against Russia playwright Arthur Miller publish what was seen to be a personal criticism of the American way of life, his play, Death of A Salesman. Death of A Salesman tells the story of Willy Loman, a lowly salesman slowly world estranged from society and increasingly led into astonishment by his attempts to escape his own failure brought close by the great American fantasy he has served so loyally.It was for this play Miller was brought in face of HUAC (house un-American activities committee) and charged with undermining American Values. Miller defended himself by claiming he simply aspired to show the truth as he saw it. It is because Miller insisted on adhering to realism, that he chose a normal, Loman, or literally, low man, to be his Tragic Hero. In doing so, Miller broke integrity rule- that of Aristotelian tragedy, which demand s a noble hero, of high birth and simultaneously abided by a nonher, the rule of a neo Domestic disaster which requires an ordinary persons story to be told.Whilst Milton would have deplored this introducing of trivial and vulgar persons into tragedy, Miller pink-slipped all criticism of his choice of hero, demanding his accusers to recognise it matters non whether the hero falls from a great lift or a small one, or as Linda puts it, hes non the finest vulcanized fiber who ever lived. But hes a human being and a terrible social occasion is happening to him the importance then, lies in the way and reason out for which the character falls.Willy does, even so, comply with both the moulds of an Aristotelian tragedy and Modern Domestic tragedy in that he suffers from a tragic flaw which results in his fall from grace of God and until nowtual conclusion. Most critics and earreachs identify Willys Hamartia as his Hubris, his everywhere inflated sense of self-worth and pride , which elbow room he refuses help even as he be gravels increasingly lost. However, a few critics complain that Willy can non be a tragic hero, as he does non have one fatal flaw and many which combine to bring Willy down.This idea, as denotative by Thomas Adler, Ruby Cohn and others rests on the institution of other factors in Willys life, Willy is not only(prenominal) proud, but stupid, cursed with the misemploy dreams, lacking in vision and most of all weak. It is this weakness which prohibits him from escaping the jungle of the American Dream, meaning he dies within it a result of it and as a sacrifice to it, hoping that his demolition go forth reveal the diamonds he seeks.Willys literal death in Death of A Salesman is not shown on stage, but rather, it is symbolised by the sound of a carmoving away at complete speed then the crashing down of music which in revoke morphs into a dead march, not explicitly showing the morbid act, but implying it heavily comely for t he audience to be in no interrogation of its occurrence. It is typical of a Modern Domestic tragedy death not to occur in anterior of the audience. The music in this death scene is poignant, reigning and very implicit to the plot, without it the audience would not know of Willys death.Music runs passim the play as a catalyst through which Miller makes the subtler, wordless presences or emotions known. Take for example the champagne flutes melody which serves as both a black bile theme tune to Willys failings and a musical embodiment of his estranged Fathers ghost, who make more in a week than a man like Willy could in a aliveness . The flute embodies both these roles in Requiem. First, Willys failings are made clearer than ever as Linda starts to authentically mourn her husband and elicit an impossible break goodbye from him.Second, flute also shows Willys pay offs presence because we know it is from his flummox that Willy got the wrong dreams which drove him to the grav e Linda sits by. It is perhaps important to take care the role of ghosts or past figures which appear throughout the play. Ghosts and figures from the past litter tragedy throughout the centuries. Indeed, the oldest last complete tragedy, Aeschyluss Persians (472 BC) features the ghost of the dead superpower Darius returning from the past to cast judgement over his son Xerxes, whom he deems to be failing in his role and pursuing the wrong dreams.This is not conflicting the mocking presence of Willys own father and his brother Ben, both deceased person who go by to gravel Willy with dreams he cannot achieve. Willys suicide is at erstwhile self-congratulating, misguided and selfless. He wants to escape the feeling he is temporary by truly leaving something behind, something one can feel with the hand. This something is his diamond of the $20,000 restitution money, which will make him a hero for lick to worship and helping Biff to start up a business of his own.Requiem holds n o answers as to whether the premium was paid and through this and the melancholy despondency that runs through the final scene, Miller shows how pointless Willys death truly was. No matter how often prison terms money he come outs behind, it will never square up for the loss the family has to endure. Linda cannot even understand his motives and Happy encapsulates the wit when he declares in that respect was no necessity for it. A sad twist of raillery is Biff reservation it clear he is moving away. Thus, he would never have used the money anyway.This shows the true unusefulness of Willys death and also his fathers lack of understanding of his own son, who from the start is happiest in the open playing around with horses. However a sadder twist is Happys utter involuntariness to learn from his fathers mistakes, and patronage declaring Willy Loman did not die in vain he goes on to prove the opposite, promising to win it for him Willy. The Requiem shows Willys final delusion s hattered. There is a simple-minded answer to Lindas piteous, why did nobody come? The answer is that Willy was not, contrary to what he claims time and time again, known, because he has not substituted with the times, and the old set he clings to do not make a man known or a success at all. Evidence of Willys failure to win over with time can be traced rear end to, as Richard T. Brucher puts it, Willys unexpected, marvellingly innocent question How can they polish off cheese? Such a simple recital exemplifies his static approach to modern life he wants everything to return to the great days and is unwilling to change anything, least of all his expectations and aspirations.Irony is another diagnose feature of a Modern Domestic Tragedy and Lindas last lines, her mantra of reassurance, Were Free Were go off is more heavily laden with irony than any other line of the play. The lines are applicable in so many different ways, not only the upfront meaning of the family being fre e from debt. They also despondently relay Millers message that if you live following the American Dream and have consumerism as your only moral procure and religion, then the only way to free yourself is to die.A much more cynical stack of Lindas actors line, as proposed by D. L. Hoeveler, suggests they epitomise the familys darker unconscious thoughts, that now Willy is gone, they no longer have to continue on the manners they were forced down. They are free of the centre Willy placed on them. However, the earlier events show that despite no longer being pushed down the path of the American Dream, Happy will continue to mesh it, so this interpretation too is heavily ironic.As for Linda, being free from the burden of Willy is certainly not what she would wish for, after all she more than loves him and even his little cruelties do not change this. She of necessity to look after Willy so that she has a get and an aim. The play ends as it began, bringing the action back to the beginning and lending a continuous calendar method to the play, with Lindas anxious disconcerted calling to the deceased Willy, mimicking her trepidation in the opening scene when Willy enters.It is the flute which opens and closes the play. Everything reverting back to the way the play started shows how peanut Willys death really is. Capitalism does not crumble, life goes on. It is here that I take Modern Domestic Tragedies are flawed, where Shakespearian ones are not. When Macbeth dies, the audience is certain that his Kingdom will mourn his loss, however warped he was, he was still their King. There will be a massive funeral, of the sorts Willy dreams of, and a Kingdom-wide expression of collective grief.It is this grief that I believe provides the catharsis of emotion for the audience, they know his death will continue to be felt after they leave the theatre and this assurance brings closure. This closure however, does not outlive in Modern Domestic Tragedies. Willys death wi ll go unnoticed by most, and this does not bring significant catharsis to the audience. There is no final completion of raw emotion. To support my view I can only offer the words of Shakespeare himself, The poor beetle on which we tread In corporal sufferance feels a pang as great As when a Giant dies.