Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller Essay -- business trip, aristotle

The tragic tale Death of a Salesman fulfills Aristotle’s definition of a tragedy to a great degree. The play conforms to Aristotle’s definition seamlessly for the factors of plot, thought, diction, and spectacle, satisfying all of the key necessities for each section. Character, also, fits well with his definition, but there are a few deviations from Aristotle’s perfect tragedy that prevent a seamless fit. The use of a chorus is completely ignored in this play, but being one of the least important elements, it does not affect the overall worth of the play. When the individual parts of the play are examined, it satisfies Aristotle’s requirements for a perfect tragedy. In Aristotle’s definition of a perfect tragedy he delegates plot as the most important component of the play. According to Aristotle, plot can be defined as the cause-and-effect chain that presents the incidents to the audience. This chain must have rising action, a climax, and falling action, as well as being self-contained, complex, and contain a significant meaning (McManus). Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman satisfies all of these stipulations completely. The structure of Death of a Salesman has a beginning, middle, and end as required by Aristotle, however the order of these are not necessarily true to form. Some events that occur in the middle of the play should be at the beginning if examined as purely a cause and effect chain, and some events at the beginning should be at the middle. The inciting action when Biff discovers his father’s infidelity during one of Willy’s business trips. The climax of the play is the argument between Willy and Biff where Biff realizes that Willy is a cause of his short comings. Biff’s statement, â€Å"And I never got anywhere becau... ...financial situation in which they live, enticing pity from the audience. This limited use of spectacle would be applauded by Aristotle. Arthur Miller succeeds as playwright with Death of a Salesman, at least according to Aristotle. He successfully blends the elements of plot, character, thought, diction, and spectacle in to a tragic tale that Aristotle would deem perfect. He took all of Aristotle’s requirements and with a few deviations put forth a true tragic tale. All things considered, Aristotle would commend this as a perfect tragedy. Works Cited Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Dir. Volker Schlöndorff. By Arthur Miller. Perf. Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich. CBS Presents, 1985. DVD. McManus, Barbara F. "Outline of Aristotle's Theory of Tragedy." Outline of Aristotle's Theory of Tragedy. The College of New Rochelle, Nov. 1999. Web. 01 Feb. 2014.