Arthur Miller's View Of Tragedy As Seen In Death Of A Salesman And The Crucible

Arthur Miller is acknowledged as one of the most preeminent American playwrights in the 20 th century. He provides us with splendid masterpieces, many of which have been receiving unfailing applause since their appearance. Besides, He sets forth several new rules for tragedy by declaring that tragedy still exists and fits for modern times.Miller's constructive view of tragedy gets perfect interpretation in his two masterpieces: Death of a Salesman and The Crucible. Considering himself as a writer of social plays, Arthur Miller firmly believes that drama should serve for social cause and for balancing the conflicts between the individual and the society. Miller often puts emphasis on how the society makes his subjects what they are and how the society dictates all of their fears and choices. He also strongly stresses moral issues in the American society and questions the psychological causes of behavior. Some critics try to interpret his works from either a completely political or an exclusively psychological standpoint but often fail to penetrate the social veil that Miller always attempts to illuminate in his plays.By comparing his two masterpieces, Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, this thesis aims at sorting out the view of tragedy developed by Arthur Miller.This thesis consists of five parts. The introductory part briefly introduces the life experience, social circumstances and works of Arthur Miller, especially the two plays discussed in this thesis, namely Death of a Salesman and The Crucible. In addition, current studies at home and abroad and the theoretical basis would also be summarized and clarified in this part.Chapter One to Chapter Three mainly elaborate Miller's view of tragedy in three aspects.Chapter One discusses the tragedy of common man reflected in Miller's two plays. Tragedians before Miller take heritage from Aristotle by declaring that tragic protagonist should be one of noble birth who goes downhill due to his own tragic flaws. Although Shakespeare manages to bring average persons into his plays, he takes them only as foils never as heroes. Miller contributes new elements to the development of tragedy. He believes that common men are as suitable as kings to be protagonists in tragedies. Based on Miller's concept, this thesis will study the common heroes in both Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, namely Willy Loman and John Proctor, in detailed fashion.Chapter Two focuses on Miller's another proposition that tragic flaws in the character of the hero and on the social side lead to the final tragedy. Willy Loman possesses tragic flaws in his own character, such as self-deception, stubbornness and inopportune kindness, false values and faith in the distorted American dream. While being strong physically and well-tempered, John Proctor seems to have no defects in his personality, but he has a love affair with Abigail, which mirrors his excessive desire and incurs torture of his conscience every second. At first, he decides to hide the truth for the fear of ruining his reputation and life, eventually, he manages to confess his sins and finds peace in death sentence. Undoubtedly, they are under the influence of the social circumstances, notably the crush of American Dream and the McCarthyism. Miller attempts to reflect the impact of social elements on Willy Loman and John Proctor's tragedy.Chapter Three aims at the exploration of the positive and optimistic elements of the tragedies. According to Miller, the so-called tragic victory is another issue worth considering— a question closely related to the conscience of the hero. The reason for the tragic fate and the fight against it are encouraging although it happens in a twisted way. It asserts bravery of human beings and separates the death of men from the death of animals. Thus, this thesis would dig out the similarity of these two plays from the perspective of tragic victory to get better understanding of the plays and Miller's view of tragedy.The last part is Conclusion. In Miller's plays, he combines traditional skills from Greek tragedy with innovative elements developed by himself. Miller forms his unique view of tragedy by bestowing tragedy on the life of common men. He brings the life of common man to the audience, making them pitiful and self-reflective. The tragedy of a common man mirrors the evil side of the society. It is the tragedy of society in essence. Miller also insists that the tragic flaws of the hero are not necessarily drawbacks, but the struggle against society when dignity is challenged or even deprived by the ferocious reality. Tragic flaws of the protagonist are essential for tragedy in his eyes. Another concept that distinguishes Miller's view of tragedy from others is the positive elements reflected in his plays. According to Miller, even the ultimate adversity of death could pass on hope and optimism to the audience. Miller's tragedy provides us not only sympathy and sorrow, but also positive attitudes towards life. He expands and develops the traditional theory of tragedy by virtue of his wisdom and experience, making this form more compliant with the characteristics of modern society. Once again, the art of tragedy is refilled with vigor and vitality, which provides a literary approach for human beings to understand their nature in-depth.