Death of a Salesman

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 to include 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 ...