Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman breaks the mold of formulaic tragedies of previous eras. In this play he deals with middle-class people. At the opening of the play, the tragic hero, an old traveling salesman, Willy Loman, has already fallen and from the beginning was never an influential, admirable, or famous individual accept in his own mind. Even his loyal wife Linda admits that he has never been a “great man” or even the “finest” of characters. Nevertheless, she maintains that he is worthy of some attention as a human being who suffers. After all, she says, “a small man can be just as exhausted as a great man.”]

Arthur Miller “the tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing- his sense of personal dignity.” Death of a Salesman entirely reflects this general opinion of Miller. Just as Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Macbeth attempt to gain a rightful position in their respective societies, Willy Loman seeks for his place in the world and is on an endless search for happiness and a sense of self worth. He is in constant concern about being well liked, and works himself to pieces over one of his son’s football games. Although his values seem warped, his aspiration lost, and his problems trivial, the passion with which he attempts to achieve his flawed concept of success demonstrates a degree of greatness. He even dies in quest of his dream, which in itself achieves tragic status.

Realism in Death of a Salesman can be defined as an attempt to reproduce the surface appearance of the life of normal people in everyday situations. Basically realism is a situation that normal people can relate to based on their own experiences. Realism is extremely prevalent in the play Death of a Salesman. The characters in the play all have real world problems. Lack of money is one of the problems, which is a problem for many people. There are also many conflicts within the family; the biggest is over what success is; money and power or happiness. Willy Loman also wants his children to have a better life than he has and tries to do everything he can so they will have a better life, including ending his own.

When reading Death of a Salesman, most people can relate to the problems of the Loman’s. The similarities of the Loman’s problems to the everyday problems th

Some topics in this essay:
Willy Loman, Death Salesman, Willy Biff, Willy’s Willy, Dream Americans, Shakespeare Sophocles, Arthur Miller, death salesman, Hamlet Macbeth, willy loman, Salesman Biff’s, people relate, children life, Arthur Miller’s, miller’s death salesman, decision boys, conflicts family, money power, people play, viewed success, arthur miller’s death, willy tell,