Essay on Can Willy Loman Be Considered A Tragic Hero

Can Willy Loman Be Considered A Tragic Hero? Whether Willy Loman can be considered a tragic hero has long been debated between critics. Ever since Miller produced the play, people have discussed whether Willy’s status was high enough for his fall to be considered tragic, or whether Willy can be seen as an altogether modern tragic hero, I will be looking at both these views taking into consideration critics views and also adding my own thoughts. Tragedy has its origin in ancient Greece. In his Poetics Aristotle defined a tragedy as portraying a serious, complete and important action involving pain or destruction and shows the fall of an important person from happiness and prosperity into misery and catastrophe. The problem†¦show more content†¦If Willy’s shallowness/ false aspirations are tragic flaws then he needs to be a tragic hero. In the text his false aspirations are shown, â€Å"He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong†. The fact that Willy is shown throughout the text to value popularity and personal attractiveness over morality shows his shallowness. Many critics argue that Willy isn’t of high enough status to have that great a fall. As shown, â€Å"He never grows to heroic stature†. Even the characters name itself, Willy Loman (Low-Man) implies that he has a low status. However in the text, Biffs speech suggests that Willy doesn’t need to be of huge stature to be tragic, â€Å"You’ve just seen a prince walk by. A fine troubled prince. A hardworking, unappreciated prince†. Linda also says with a lot of emphasis, â€Å"He’s not the finest character that ever lived. But he’s a human being and a terrible thing is happening to him. Attention, attention must be paid to such a person†. I believe that in Linda’s eyes, Willy is of high status, he is all that Linda has and is very important in her life and so his falls seems greater to her as is affects her personally. Bierman, Hart and Johnson1 have commented that â€Å"we still feelShow MoreRelated Modern Tragic Hero Essay1304 Words   |  6 Pagesa Salesman, considered as Author Millers most accomplished and successful plays, features the life of Willy Loman, a delusional salesman with a grandiose plan to live the American dream. As a result to the tragic events of Willy Loman’s life starting with his father’s abandonment, and ending with his suicide, Willy Loman never lives the life he has always dreamed. 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