Term Papers On Aristocrcy

Before I attack whether or not DOAS is a true tragedy is useful that I define a Greek tragedy. The Word tragedy literally means пÑ--Ð...goat songпÑ--Ð..., referring to the rite of Dionysus. Dionysus being the Greek G-d of plentiful harvests, who was given a goat sacrifice to protect the farms and their crops and livestock. However the goat sacrifice was not only to ensure a good crop, it also served as a way of purging the sins of the community, and refreshing their souls, a catharsis. This brings us nicely to the fact that Dionysus wasnпÑ--Ð...t just a G-d of farming and agriculture, but also a patron of the stage, more specifically of tragedy. Dionysus was also a victim of tragedy, or a tragic hero. Immediately after birth (or during birth) he is killed, either by the Titans or Zeus himself, (there are several accounts of the story). However the main point is that he is killed under the will of the Gods, has no control over his fate, and is brought down from a high place to his doom.

From the story of Dionysus, amongst other sources, came AristotleпÑ--Ð...s definition of classical tragedy. One of the main aspects of this definition is that пÑ--Ð...Tragedy, then, is an imitation of a noble and complete action, having the proper magnitudeпÑ--Ð.... This means that a tragic character or Hero is noble and has a greatness, or пÑ--Ð...magnitudeпÑ--Ð..., about him. At first sight this may look like it completely excludes Willy Loman as a tragic hero, he is neither great nor noble, even if he had a high moral standing, which he doesnпÑ--Ð...t as a result of his affair, this would seemingly completely exclude him. However пÑ--Ð...NobleпÑ--Ð... does not mean monarch, hero or God, but (according to Hardison) larger than life, something which Willy most certainly is. Willy is always gesticulating in the play, visualising everything in great grandeur and describing it as such, a man with great plans and larger than life ambitions, truly a larger than life character. Even if one is to view the play from a different angle but by the same definition, the angle of the collective characters of the play, nobody is a real looking figure but instead a collection of augmented pastiches, larger than life.

There is no questioning the fact that the play conforms to the next main feature of AristotleпÑ--Ð...s idea of a tragedy. The play is most definitely presented in пÑ--Ð...Dramatic, not narrative formпÑ--Ð.... There is no possibility that it canпÑ--Ð...t be.

However the next part of the criteria is not so easily conformed to. It has always been said of Death of a Salesman, and all of Millers other plays, that there is no beauty to the language, no great depth like in Shakespeare, no dark Humour like Catch 22, and no poetics like the Greek tragedies of the past. This is not good considering that one of the main points which Aristotle said that a tragedy should have is a depth of language and be full of poetry. Although Miller may not include the poetics of the Greek tragedies, he does load his work with imagery, albeit less subtle than that of old but it is still imagery and therefore he fulfils, in my eyes the criteria of the complex linguistics. Willy is permanently giving deep image based descriptions of his past and lacing his language with contradictions. At one point he remarks that Biff is пÑ--Ð...lazy, GoddammitпÑ--Ð... and immediately after tells Linda that пÑ--Ð...thereпÑ--Ð...s one thing about Biff пÑ--Ð... HeпÑ--Ð...s not lazyпÑ--Ð.... The language is also loaded with insight into the ending of the play. Willy is always predicting his own ends, telling us that пÑ--Ð...these arch supports are killingпÑ--Ð... him, or that he is пÑ--Ð...tired to the deathпÑ--Ð..., always ready to drop or give up his life.

The previous stock of quotations also then brings me to another point of what a true tragedy should contain. The tragic hero should never have control over his own fate. In the Greek tragedies he was ruled over by the Gods, at their whim, later in plays like Othello, the hero was manipulated by another sinister character, Iago, as the audience had then lost belief in the Greek Gods and their appliance to real life. The same idea is carried though in Death of a Salesman, and although Willy has control over his body and his actions, he has no real control, he is doomed, he has started to snowball very fast down a hill, although he can flail and wave to passers by, he canпÑ--Ð...t stop himself. This is shown mainly in two ways, the first and most obvious is that he can see what is inevitable, пÑ--Ð...these arch supports are killing meпÑ--Ð.... The second is that his lack of control is evident in his daytime hallucinations; he canпÑ--Ð...t even control his own mind and reality, often slipping into old speeches at inappropriate moments, accelerating his course.

This gives rise to the question of whether or not Willy is a true tragic Hero. More relevantly to this essay, is he true in the definitions of classic Greek tragedy? I have clearly already attacked certain parts of this problem including the essential questions concerning his nobility, magnitude and lack of control. The next criteria I will asses him under is that of whether he possesпÑ--Ð... a tragic flaw or not. It is fair to say that Willy is actually one of the most flawed people one could ever hope not to meet. He overly endorses a cruel capitalist system, frequently buying into his own doom, and admires other too highly. However I do not think these flaws to be quite as fatal as his habit of contradiction.