Tragic Hero In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman

Decent Essays
This paper discusses Arthur Miller’s character, Willy Loman, in Death of a Salesman in terms of his being a tragic hero. There are several debates on Willy Loman pointing out that he is not a tragic hero in classical tragedy. The classical definition of a tragedy points out that "tragedy is a story of exceptional calamity leading to the death of a man of high estate because of his tragic flaw." Still Loman cannot be totally considered as a classical tragic hero since he is a common man. He is indeed a modern tragic hero in 1940’s America whose desire is to be “someone” in the society. His problems stem from his own delusions, the American Dream turning sour, and misunderstanding his job and family. Loman is a modern tragic hero turning the

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