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Death Of A Salesman Tragedy Analysis

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The play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller conforms and deviates from the conventions of the genre of Tragedy. The main character, Willy Loman, is not a hero, however, he does have traits of aristotelian tragic heroes, such as hubris (excessive pride). Also, he does not fall from a high position, instead, he strives for such, when he is a “Low-man”. Willy conforms to the profile of a tragic hero as he commits the error of living by The American Dream, that leads him to his tragic flaw: his death. The purpose of the author when conforming the play to the conventions of the genre of Tragedy is to criticize the ones who live by an ideology and are unable to accept their reality and themselves, aiming to be well-liked and accepted by society.
According to Aristotle, a Tragedy portrays the downfall of a noble hero or heroine, usually through some combination of hubris (excessive pride), fate, and the will of the gods. The tragic hero wishes to achieve a goal, nonetheless, there are factors that limit the hero, usually a tragic flaw, hubris, gods, fate or society. Aristotle states that the tragic hero must have a tragic flaw and/or make some fatal flaw that leads to the hero’s downfall - hamartia (Making Sense of Aristotle).The hero does not need to die but he or she needs to go through a deep change from one position at the beginning of the play to the opposite position by the end of the play. In addition, the tragic hero may go through the process to which he or she

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