Poetic devices

In Arthur Miller’s essay, “Tragedy and the Common Man”, he states that the common man is just as fit for tragedy, as are the higher classed. Tragedy isn’t just for kings, queens, and gods, but also for regular humans. A tragic hero is anyone who is willing to lay down their life for their personal dignity. Sometimes tragedy is trying to regain dignity, or obtain it for the first time. The tragic hero always has a “tragic flaw”. This flaw is a crack in the surface of the hero’s dignity,…

Death to a Dream Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman play conforms to Aristotle’s definition of a tragedy. Arthur Miller follows all of the key steps to a tragedy, whether it’s a misguided person set out to accomplish something, actions arousing pity, or following the timeline of a tragedy. Arthur Miller’s play follows but puts into question the American dream. Aristotle defines a tragedy as "imitation of an action that is serious, that arouse pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its…

The Greek philosopher Aristotle defined tragedy: "Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude." He explained that although the main character is noble, a tragedy must focus on action rather than on character development in order for the play to make sense to the reader. The action of the play should arouse both mutual feelings of pity and fear, while the theme of tragedy is the meaning of the central action and the main character's…

The theme of the poem “The Conqueror Worm”, written by Edgar Allan Poe, is death is inevitable and unavoidable, you can not control it. Also, the mood of this poem is morbid, dismal, and horrific. Firstly, the text cites, “That the play is the tragedy”(Poe 39). This explains how the play, which is the main event that is occurring in the poem, is the tragedy. If the play is the tragedy, it is meaning that it is a disaster, or horrific. Also, in the play, the tragedy is the worm killing all the…

In Ancient Greece, tragedies were seen as the best form of drama and were admired throughout Greece. Tragic heroes were the stars of these tragedies and were the key to an amazing ending that left the audience into a state of catharsis. Aristotle, a famous philosopher, created a guideline that a protagonist in a story MUST follow in order for the protagonist to be considered as a tragic hero. This hero is defined as an Aristotelian hero and must follow the five characteristics;…

A Tragic Hero The play I am writing about is Antigone by Sophocles, a greek tragic playwright. The main characters are Creon and Antigone, but as the play goes on it becomes more about Creon and his hamartia. Hamartia is a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero. A character named Teiresias who is a prophet serves as a foil for Creon’s character by highlighting Creon’s stubbornness, anger, and disrespect towards the other characters. When Teiresias passes his argument in…

How did Macbeth a loyal thane of Scotland become a regicidal murderer? The answer is his fatal flaw. Macbeth has one of the most relatable fatal flaws because we all have ambition. We like to read about things we can relate to which is what makes a tragic hero so encapturing. We as humans all have ups and downs in our lives, but we like to read or see the ones that are worse than ours to make us feel better. We also like to see how it all happens and to see that maybe we don’t all start the way…

Analyzing Death of a Salesman Since its debut in 1949, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman has captivated audiences. Miller’s ability to craft the story of Willy Lowman in the midst of his downfall, yet endear him to the audience is why Death of a Salesman is considered to be one of the greatest American plays. Of all the internal and external conflicts experienced by Willy the most notable and arguably the most detrimental were his beliefs that popularity was the key to success, obtaining…

Within the world of storytelling, one character that has stood out since the beginning is identified as the tragic hero. Philosopher Aristotle created the tragic hero in his book Poetics; Aristotle characterized a tragic hero as a tragic flaw, excessive pride, a reversal of fate, punishment that cannot be avoided, and the pity and fear felt from the audience (Aristotle 39). Shakespeare used the tragic hero guideline in many of his plays; not all those tragic heroes are true tragic heroes as…

Mind over Matter Only the most intelligent people understand to what extent people are able to control their lives with their minds. In Man’s Search for Meaning by Vik E. Frankl, Jews in concentration camps use their minds to escape from their daily tortures. Meursault did not use his mind to control himself and paid the price in The Stranger by Albert Camus. The Wachowski brothers directed “The Matrix”, in which Neo used his mind to escape from the Matrix, and the Oracle tricked his mind in…