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Aristotle once stated that a tragedy in simply “a piece of writing that inspires both pity and fear in the mind of the audience”(Aristotle). Pity and feat is sometimes accomplished by combining the element of fate or the action of free will to a character within the play. According to Joseph Wood Krutch, Arthur Miller is a pluralistic writer; hence both Death of a Salesman and The Crucible can be seen as plays in which the central figure is both a victim of some force like society and a victim of himself.
Abigail’s cousin, who is the daughter of Parriss, the minister, falls ill and there is a panic about witchcraft. John Proctor, who is married, formerly had an affair with Abigail, becomes her victim, Abigail and the other girls involved in the “so-called” witchcraft begin to accuse people of witchcraft to seek revenge and Abigail accuses John’s wife, Elizabeth of being involved with witchcraft. Eventually, while attempting to save his wife, John is accused. In the end John refuses to confess and is executed, along with several others, and his wife remains in jail and pregnant. Abigail has run away after stealing her uncle’s money and eventually becomes a
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Both Willy Loman and John Proctor fell victims to themselves and to their societies. They both wanted to fit in with society and in doing so fell “victim of society, but…also a victim of himself”(Krutch). Willy became a victim on himself because he was not true to himself. ” If John would have taken control of himself and felt accepted in his society, his dignity would not have been a factor and his life would have been saved. In doing so fell victim to both himself and to society. ” John Proctor’s life was a tragedy, he evaluated himself to what he felt was just and in doing so, he fell not to anyone else but himself. Willy always seems to be in a race with something and in consequence becomes unsuccessful with himself and with society.
According to Arthur Miller’s, Tragedy and the Common Man the “presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing- his sense of dignity”(Miller). Everything Willy mistakenly did in his life he freely chose to do and he ended up being a victim to himself and to society. “Tragedy, then, is the consequence of man’s total compulsion to evaluate himself justly. His sons, who are both failures, are staying at home when they first witness their father’s frequent departures from reality, which are derived from the guilt he feels from being unsuccessful in his job, as a husband, and also as a father. He pushes his sons to be successful in their jobs because he is not happy with the life that he had made for himself. The theocracy in Salem is ended sometime after this; Church and State were finally separated. Krutch states that it was “not a demonstration of the workings of social determinism, but as a study of the effects of moral weakness and irresponsibility”(Krutch).
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