Miller and Tragedy.

Question 1

How is Death of a Salesman a tragedy?

Answer 1

There has been much discussion about whether or not Miller’s story of an ordinary man can be considered to be a tragedy at all, but the general consensus is that Miller adapted the tragic form to create a modern American tragedy.

Question 2

What does Miller say in Tragedy and the Common Man?

Answer 2

Miller seems to be putting in a claim for Willy Loman as a tragic figure with whom ordinary theatre-goers can emphasise.

Question 3

Key quotes from Tragedy and the Common Man.

Answer 3

• “I believe that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as Kings were”.
• “As a general rule, to which there may be exceptions unknown to me, i thinbnk 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”.
• “Tragedy, then is the consequence of a man’s total compulsion to evaluate himself justly”.