The Tragedy in Death of a Salesman 《推銷員之死》中主人公的悲劇性

Abstract:According to Arthur Miller， the causes of Willy’s tragedy fall into two parts: the social environment and Willy’s own inner nature. This essay tries to explore the tragedy of Willy and the causes involved.

摘要：《推銷員之死》是阿瑟.米勒的代表作。本文從劇中主人公威利的社會角色和家庭角色入手，根據人物所處的社會環境和人物本身的性格特點來分析其悲劇性。

Key words:Death of a Salesman；Tragedy

關鍵詞：推銷員之死；悲劇

[中圖分類號]：I106[文獻標識碼]：A

[文章編號]：1002-2139(2011)-21-0014-01

Arthur Miller (1915-2005) was one of the leading American playwrights of the twentieth century．His masterpiece Death of a Salesman，the first great American tragedy， has made him one of the most highly regarded American playwrights．It tells a story about a four-member family， in which each of them is busy all day to satisfy their inner desire．As the protagonist，Willy’s dream of success is the stereotypical American Dream and his tragedy is the tragedy of the American way of life. The breakdown of Willy’s world symbolizes the collapse of the American Dream.

1、Willy’s failures

1.1、A loser in his work

Actually，Willy is a loser in terms of the salesman. He always admires those men who have seized a position in the world of business. There are three ideals for him to follow: his father， his brother Ben and the old salesman Dave Singleman. However， the salesmanship fails to help him make his way and realize his dream in the cruel business world．When his dream is unable to be realized，he consequently ends up his life by killing himself．

1.2、A loser in his family relationship

Willy failed in his family life as both being a defeated father and being a defeated husband. First， as the father of two sons， he is a loser. To make his hope of prosperity true， what he can do is but to pin it on his sons. Unfortunately， they do not come up to his expectations. Biff harbors his hatred for his father as possible as he can after going to Boston and discovers the love affair．Moreover， Willy is a definitely defeated husband by treating his wife badly， especially he is unfaithful to her．

2、the causes of the tragedy

2.1、social factors

Firstly， the social environment should be responsible for Willy’s tragedy. Willy is a typical victim of the American capitalistic society．Willy feels so stifled under the great social pressure that he is eager to realize the American Dream. But he is only a little man and unable to get rid of the fate of being swallowed up by the impersonal world．The treatment Willy receives from Howard reflects the explorative relationship in the modern capitalistic society. With the encouragement， young Willy opened up the new markets for the firm and served them faithfully．However， now Willy’s production slows down with increasing age，he is deprived of a stable salary and put back on straight commission like a beginner. To Howard， whoever does not bring in profits to his firm is nothing．

2.2、Willy’s inner nature

Willy’s plight is partly attributed to his own character， never knowing who he is and what he really needs．His entire life is full of contradictions．Willy lives more in the world of make-believe than in the real world，so that he cannot bear the reality and is often in a confused state of mind．Willy always stresses the importance of personality too much，since he firmly believes that being well—liked would be as much of an achievement as others’ material success．Due to this belief，Willy self-importantly supposes that he and his sons are superior to others．Besides， Willy’s childishness blinds his eyes to clearly see the cruel reality. When Willy is unable to fulfill his dream ，what he can do is being anger at Linda’s offering of a new kind of American-type cheese．

People of all the world think that the American Dream means living a better life．Many of them sacrifice what they possess to pursue it， most of pursuers become its victims，Willy Leman included．Death of a Salesman is described as a social drama， and a criticism of the social and moral standards of the twentieth century．Miller’s concern for the inner frailties and spiritual dilemma makes Death of a Salesman be an enduring play．

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