A tragedy play is one that deals with tragic events that all lead to an unhappy ending, especially concerning the downfall of a main character. Usually plays that come from different time periods and setting lead to different contexts. Furthermore, because the different contexts this often leads to differing tragedies. The two plays that follow this concept is “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles and “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller.
When comparing these two plays, it easy to see that the circumstances that form an idea or setting within a play differ vastly.
In the play “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles, it was set during the Ancient Greek times, in Thebes, Greece. This was a time where Gods and prophecies had shaped the lives for many Greeks …show more content…
Throughout the play, Arthur Miller has been able to integrate some key quotes that help show us that Willy is a tragic hero.
A quote that helps portray this is, “There is more of him in the front stoop than in all the sales he ever made”. Through this simile Biff wanted to communicate his thoughts to the audience about how Willy had the wrong dreams, and had wasted his life, trying to achieve the American Dream. He tells us that Willy was worth more dead than he was alive, this also shows that he was worthless, invaluable and insignificant in a society dominated by the American Dream.
Overall, by comparing both plays “Oedipus the King” and “Death of a Salesman”, we are able to see that ‘different contexts lead to different tragedies’. Even though both ended in tragedy inflicted by the individual’s themselves; they both differed greatly from each other, due to the different contexts. In “Oedipus”, the play had ended in tragedy, a fate brought upon by the Gods, a result of Oedipus’ hamartia of hubris. In contrast, the tragedy of Willy’s death in “Death of a Salesman”, was caused by Willy’s delusion, of the American
When comparing these two plays, it easy to see that the circumstances that form an idea or setting within a play differ vastly.
In the play “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles, it was set during the Ancient Greek times, in Thebes, Greece. This was a time where Gods and prophecies had shaped the lives for many Greeks …show more content…
Throughout the play, Arthur Miller has been able to integrate some key quotes that help show us that Willy is a tragic hero.
A quote that helps portray this is, “There is more of him in the front stoop than in all the sales he ever made”. Through this simile Biff wanted to communicate his thoughts to the audience about how Willy had the wrong dreams, and had wasted his life, trying to achieve the American Dream. He tells us that Willy was worth more dead than he was alive, this also shows that he was worthless, invaluable and insignificant in a society dominated by the American Dream.
Overall, by comparing both plays “Oedipus the King” and “Death of a Salesman”, we are able to see that ‘different contexts lead to different tragedies’. Even though both ended in tragedy inflicted by the individual’s themselves; they both differed greatly from each other, due to the different contexts. In “Oedipus”, the play had ended in tragedy, a fate brought upon by the Gods, a result of Oedipus’ hamartia of hubris. In contrast, the tragedy of Willy’s death in “Death of a Salesman”, was caused by Willy’s delusion, of the American