Tragedy From Oedipus the King to Death of a Salesman
Around 2400 years ago, Aristotle wrote his famous work "Poetics,"describing in it the qualities of a tragedy. In this work, Aristotleoffered "Oedipus the King" as a perfect example of a tragedy. Over twomillenia have passed and writers are still creating tragedies. "Death of aSalesman" is one modern example of a tragedy. This leads to the questionof how the tragedy had lasted and remained relevant for so long. And atthe same time, has it changed to adapt to the modern world' This will nowbe discussed, first by offering a modern definition of a tragedy. Both"Oedipus the King" and "Death of a Salesman" will then be described inturn, with it shown that each play meets the requirements of a tragedy.Finally, the meaning of the similarities will be discussed, with it shownthat a tragedy is essentially a human story of the struggle to overcomeone's flaws. The persistence of the tragedy suggests that this is a commonstruggle of man, and one that remains persistent even after two millenia In Poetics Aristotle offers a description of tragedy by looking atthe elements present in tragedies of the time. The elements Aristotledescribes are mainly those seen in Oedipus the King,
It is this quality that makes the tragedy a learningexperiencing for the audience. Now that the qualities of a tragedy havebeen described, they can be applied to the two plays. Instead, this appears to be related moreto the society of the time, where stories were only considered worthy ifthey were about the highest classes of society. Based on this, it can be said that the levelof a person in society is not a factor that determines whether or not theyare a hero. The next play that will be considered is "Death of a Salesman" byArthur Miller. Instead, the plight of the highest man was told. This shows that Loman's tragic demise is ofhis own doing. However, just because tragedies at the timetook the extreme view, does not mean they have to in modern times. Throughout the play, Loman is faced with many conflicts wherehe has the opportunity to see the truth. This shows that Oedipus has a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall,meaning that the play meets the second quality of a tragedy. Even in this action, he tells himselfanother lie by believing that his suicide will finally allow his family torespect him, since they will be impressed by how many admirers come to hisfuneral. Instead, it is the qualities of that person that makes them ahero. This showsthat "Oedipus the King" meets the first requirement of a tragedy. Instead, it occurs as the ending that had to happen. Instead, his motivation isalways his family.
Common topics in this essay:
Tragedy Common,
Willy Loman,
Essentially Oedipus,
Death Salesman,
Arthur Miller,
King Aristotle,
Oedipus King,
King Oedipus,
tragic hero,
Poetics Aristotle,
,
tragic flaw,
oedipus king,
considered tragic,
death salesman,
position society,
flaw leads,
tragic hero person,
character loses,
loses family,
noted tragic,
character loses family,
tragic flaw leads,
noted tragic hero,
flaw leads downfall,
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Acceptance Essays
