Mrs.

Bondi
AP Lang. & Comp.
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

Tragedy (as defined in Aristotle’s The Poetics) - “Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious,
complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several
kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear
effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.”

Terms:
o Imitation (Greek mimesis) – the attempt to capture the essence of reality in artificial form.
o Pity (Greek eleos) – the feeling of pain one experiences when watching another suffer.
o Fear (Greek phobos) – the sense of panic or loss of self in terror.
o Purgation (Greek catharsis) – translates as purification (tragedy “purifies” pity and fear so audience feels
only those two emotions), purging (tragedy “purges” harmful emotions like pity and fear from the
body), and distillation (tragedy distills/makes stronger and purifies pity and fear so that they become
even more intense for the audience).

 Modern Tragedy in Miller’s Plays:

 Sense of alienation: Miller dramatizes the protagonists’ struggle to combat alienation and counter
meaninglessness.
 Common man as his tragic figure: Miller asserts that stature is not defined in terms of social status or
mental or moral superiority, but rather in terms of the heroes’ intensities and “their will to break out of
the bonds imposed upon them, usually by society” (Adam 31). Thus, the potential for heroism exists
whenever the protagonist “has sufficient control over his life to bring about significant change and also
catastrophic consequences” (Adam 31).
 The integrity of the individual and a concern with preserving one’s dignity as the true measure of a
tragic hero.
 Takes on characteristics of a martyr – “in an attempt to endow the victimized protagonist with dignity,
Miller depicts the protagonist’s anguish and sacrifice in terms which resemble martyrdom; that is, he
dramatizes self-aware suffering and deliberate acts of passive resistance” (Adam 66). According to
Miller, the protagonist may also be perceived as a martyr by virtue of his “dedication to an untenable
ideal, alienation from the group and spiritual anguish, and where the society is shown to be morally
blemished” (Adam 66). By emphasizing suffering for a cause and endowing modern characters with
traits of the martyr, Miller bestows dignity upon his protagonists and fills their actions with purpose.
 “…the protagonists struggle to define themselves and are ready to pay with their life for a sense of
personal dignity…the underlying struggle is that of the individual attempting to gain his rightful position
in his society” (Adam 35).

Adam, Julie. Versions of Heroism in Modern American Drama. Houndmilles: Macmillan, 1991.