Willy Loman’s Evaluation as a Tragic Hero

In his essay “Tragedy And The Common Man,” playwright Arthur Miller offers a modern definition for tragedy and a new criteria for the tragic hero. Due to his “underlying struggle…attempting to gain his rightful position in his society,” Willy is a perfect example of Arthur Millers idea of a tragic hero (Tragedy 228).Willy exemplifies four aspects of Arthur Miller’s utopian tragic hero; he possesses a tragic flaw, he is degraded by society, his …showed first 75 words of 851 total…

…showed last 75 words of 851 total…till hope. He dies thinking “he’ll worship me for it,” actually believing that his son was going to be thankful that his father had committed suicide. Willy fits into the category that Arthur Miller describes when he says “the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were.” (Tragedy 227). Following the modern criteria, Willy Loman is able to become a tragic hero in Death of a Salesman.