Every tragic hero desires to obtain success; their constant struggle to achieve this goal is what eventually leads the hero to their destruction. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, the false ideals of success, which are deeply rooted in ambition, blind Macbeth and Willy from the reality of things, thus leading them towards destruction. In the beginning, Macbeth and Willy initiate the route to their destruction by making decisions which seem like they should help make their ideals of success come true. Gradually, the characters become isolated by losing their relationships with loved ones because they decide to confine their purposes in life, to only achieving success. Finally, the two characters cause their own destruction because they choose to uphold their pride, they choose to believe that they are successful when in reality, their lives are a disaster. Their defiance in surrendering to reality is why their tragic flaw brings a fatal end. Macbeth and Willy’s ambition and constant struggle to attain their false ideals of success is what blinds them from reality and ends in the inevitable tragedy.
The illusions …show more content…
Macbeth’s guilt pulls him into a downward spiral where his feelings turn into paranoia, and his precautions to remain innocent, become tyranny. Similarly, in Death of a Salesman,Willy’s desire to be rich, well-liked and recognized for his hard work, leads him to become a salesman. Willy explains how Dave Singleman inspires him to become a salesman in this quote, “WILLY: ... I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want...” (Miller,Act 2, pg 63). Willy becomes a salesman but cannot support his family because he does not acquire the necessary skills of a successful salesman. Willy’s guilt of not being a successful salesman becomes masked with egotism, denial and a recurring escape into past
The illusions …show more content…
Macbeth’s guilt pulls him into a downward spiral where his feelings turn into paranoia, and his precautions to remain innocent, become tyranny. Similarly, in Death of a Salesman,Willy’s desire to be rich, well-liked and recognized for his hard work, leads him to become a salesman. Willy explains how Dave Singleman inspires him to become a salesman in this quote, “WILLY: ... I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want...” (Miller,Act 2, pg 63). Willy becomes a salesman but cannot support his family because he does not acquire the necessary skills of a successful salesman. Willy’s guilt of not being a successful salesman becomes masked with egotism, denial and a recurring escape into past