Tragedy is defined as an extremely sad or fatal event or course of events; a story, play, or other literary work which arouses terror or pity by a series of misfortunes or sad events. The first important tragedies appeared in ancient Greece in the 400s B.C. with works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. There were various views of tragedy and Aristotle, Richard B. Sewall, Arthur Miller, and Robert Silverberg each had their own different views.
             Aristotle laid down the basics principles of tragedy in his Poetics. He wrote that the purpose of tragedy was to make the audience feel "pity and fear" for the characters. Aristotle believed that tragedy brought about a catharsis of his emotions. Catharsis is something that arouses solemn emotions, but is not depressing. The hero of any ancient Greek tragedy was a great man who suffered because of a tragic flaw, or error in judgment. The hero was a person of noble stature, but was responsible for his or her own
             downfall. The fall is a not pure loss. There is some increase in awareness, some gain in self-knowledge, and some discovery on the part of the tragic hero.
             Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is one of his best-known plays, but it created a big controversy. "I believe that the common people are as apt subjects for tragedy in its highest sense as monarchs are" (Miller 16). Miller believes that the main character does whatever he has to do to secure his personal sense of dignity. Pride goes along with this, which is also a major part of many of Miller's view.
             Another view of tragedy, according to Arthur Miller, is the "tragic flaw" that the main character has. The tragic flaw is the characteristic that the character has that makes him fail, anything. The character fails because he tries to overcome this flaw, but does not succeed. In the past, especially in the era of Sophocles and Euripedes the tragedy involves royalty and the upper class, and doesn'...