A Comparison Of Tragedy In English Works

A Comparison of Tragedy in English Works


     For a story to be a tragedy it has to follow the principles set by

Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, or those of Arthur Miller who is a twentieth

century playwright.  A tragedy, in Aristotle's view, usually concerns the fall

of an individual whose character is good but not perfect and his misfortunes are

brought about by the tragic flaw.  This flaw is the part of the character that

personifies him as being tragic.  Miller uses this definition of a tragedy but

also broadens it including the common man.  All of these characteristics are

seen in the plays  Julius Caesar, Death of a Salesman, and Oedipus Rex.


     Although the title of the play  Julius Caesar focuses on Caesar, the

play itself is really based on Brutus. "Brutus had rather be a villager than to

repute himself a son of Rome."(Act I, scene II, line 172).  This was said by

Brutus after Cassius told him how Caesar had become a towering figure over Rome

and how Caesar controls Rome. Notice the good in Brutus, and the extremes he

will go to in order to protect democracy in Rome even if it means killing the

one he loves, Caesar.  Brutus possesses one of the most tragic flaws.  He is too

nice of a person and therefore he gets taken advantage of.  He lets Cassius

persuade him into killing Caesar for the good of Rome.  Because he does for

others more than himself he makes a fatal mistake, he lets Antony live. Brutus

says to the conspirators, "For Antony is but a limb of Caesar"(Act II scene I

line 165) meaning that if Caesar is killed Antony will die off too. Brutus

clearly does not regard Antony as being a threat,  but little does Brutus know

that Antony will stir up the town to seek revenge after the assassination of

Caesar. This mistake will cost him his own life. When he dies he becomes a prime

example of tragedy because not only did he bring about his own death he dies by

his own hand.


     In Death of a Salesman, Willy Lowman's  tragic flaw is that he is a

dreamer who is unable to face the realities of a modern day society.  Willy

builds his whole life around the philosophy that if a person is well liked and

good looking then he will be successful.  Willy says to Biff , "I thank Almighty

God that you are both are built like Adonises."(Act I pa
This is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Academic Library. Please register below now!









Subscribe to Academic Library
When you subscribe to the Academic Library, you get 24-hour access to the online database containing full-text articles written by thousands of scholarly students. For only $8.95 per month, you receive unlimited monthly access to view and download all of our 40,000 articles available online. That is less than the price of one textbook!
This price includes:

24-hours-a-day, 7 days a week unlimited access on any computer with Internet access
Complete access to all 40,000 articles, essays, and research papers
Ability to view and download virtually unlimited number of documents
Ability to browse through perfectly arranged catalog of articles
Superior search and relevancy ranking techniques using Google SiteSearch and our local search engine
Instant access to the online database after registration


You can pay by credit card, checking account. You get instant access after registration:


You will be billed $ 8.95 every 30 days (recurring billing) starting on the day you subscribe.

Your credit card will automatically be renewed for your convenience until you cancel.




If you are already registered, please click here to login.