Hagel's Tragic Hero With Relation to Death of a Salesman

Are Willy's self-destructive actions caused by an attempt to act ethically?

Willy's self-destructive actions include;

• Cheating on Linda, as it makes him feel guilty and ruins his relationship with Biff.
• His envy of his brother Ben, as it just makes him feel bad about himself.
• Lying about how much money he makes, as he has to admit it anyway and it damages his self-esteem.
• Advising his children in the wrong direction, as it indirectly makes a failure of Biff, plus they both resent Willy for it.
• Ignoring his natural talents e.g. being good with his hands, as it narrows his horizons and he ends up pursuing the wrong lifestlye because of this (salesman).
• His pride, he is always beating away opportunities e.g. he denys Ben and Charley's job offers, this causes his self-destruction as he regrets it and sticks with his dead end job which highlights his weakness as a salesman.

I am going to look into Willy's self-destructive action of pushing his children in the wrong direction, in more detail. I think this action supports Hagel's idea that self-destructive actions are an attempt to act ethically, an attempt to be good. For example I'm pretty sure Willy doesn't intend for his boys to get as lost as they appear to be in the play. Both Biff and Happy seem totally unfulfilled and confused in life. Biff can't get what Willy considers a 'real job' ie a salesman, whereas Happy has everything he's ever wanted but is still really lonely and not sure if it is what he truly wants. However I think Willy was trying to act ethically by encouraging his sons to be salesmen. He has a warped perception of society and strongly believes that in order to be a success you have to follow the American Dream. So he was trying to make sure his sons had a good chance in life, and push them towards the lifestyle he saw as bringing fortune and happiness. Willy doesn't see that the career of selling isn't for everyone, he seems to assume he is the exception, and despite his own disatisfaction with sales, he still pushes his sons in that direction. So this then makes Biff and Happy very unhappy and to an extent I think they resent Willy for putting so much pressure on them to follow in his footsteps, for example both sons express wishes to work outdoors with "your shirt off", however Willy's rejection of being good with your hands as being a special skill has meant that Biff and Happy feel the same. So Willy's self-destructive action of denying his physical talents has indirectly led to this action. Willy then feels upset about how his sons have turned out, particuarly Biff as he appeared so promising in high school.  So this is a key example of Willy attempting to act ethically but it turning into a self-destructive action as he feels responsible for Biff's 'failure' in life in particular. However this example doesn't support the idea that Hagel put forward about the self-destructive action benefitting other characters.

Aristotle's Theory of Tradegy (the Plot)

Mimesis
According to Aristotle Mimesis is the "imitation of action" which is shown in the characters according to the "law of probability or necessity". This means that tradegy revovles around drama and dramatising what could or may happen according to probability etc, rather than what has happened. Aristotle pointed out that tradegy is more relatable as it deals with the universal (rather than history which deals with particulars) and therefore the audience feels tradegy is more relevant to them and their situation. Tradegy may happen at any time and in any place as Aristotle notes it is "fundamentally embedded in the universe". As a result tradegy makes people fearful, as they can see it happening to themselves.

The Incentive Movement
Aristotle insisted the plot of a tradegy much be "whole", with a beginning, middle and end. In modern terms the Incentive movement is the beginning of the plot, which starts of a cause-and-effect chain of events. The Incentive movement's effects are stressed as they are then the cause of the middle part of the plot. In the Incentive movement a problem is created which will usually be resolved in the resolution, or end, of the play.

The Dénouement
The dénouement is the what Aristotle described as "the rapid cause and effect chain" between the climax (middle) and the resolution (end) (the unravelling).

The Deus ex Machina
Aristotle describes the deus ex machina as outside intervention into the plot which then solves a problem in the play abruptly and quickly, therefore causing a surprising resolution to the plot.

The complexity of the plot
Aristotle said the plot may be either simple or complex, although complex is better. Simple plots have only a “change of fortune” (catastrophe). Complex plots have both “reversal of intention” (peripeteia) and “recognition” (anagnorisis) connected with the catastrophe.  Aristotle explains that a peripeteia occurs when a character produces an effect opposite to that which he intended to produce, while an anagnorisis “is a change from ignorance to knowledge, producing love or hate between the persons destined for good or bad fortune.” He argues that the best plots combine these two as part of their cause-and-effect chain (i.e., the peripeteia leads directly to the anagnorisis); this in turns creates the catastrophe, leading to the final “scene of suffering”.

First Impressions of Biff and Happy in Death of a Salesman...

Our first impression of Biff is that he seems to be a defeated character. We see this in the stage directions that introduce us to him, we are told that "in these days he bears a worn air and seems less self assured". So there is already a comparison between his former self, so this suggests that something has happened to Biff in order to make him have this "worn air". Plus through a comparasion to Happy, we see that Biff has accepted defeat whereas Happy hasn't. We are also told that Biff's "dreams are stronger and less acceptable than Happy's". So this suggests that Biff has different ideas of what the ideal lifestyle consists of. The fact that his dreams are "less acceptable" could insinuate that Willy has rejected Biff's hopes and dreams. We see that Biff may have some negative feeling towards Willy when Happy praises him and Biff merely replies, "I'm going to sleep". So he may be tired of his father's exaggerated success. We see that Willy's criticisms of Biff affect him when Happy says " What happened Biff? Where's the old humour, the old confidence?" and Biff just says "why does Dad mock me all the time?"-he is evidentily upset by it. We also see that Willy's downfall that seems to be taking place has links to Biff, when he is muttering to himself he is often addressing Biff, and Biff hints that he knows something when he says "Never mind. Just don't lay it all to me".

Biff seems to know what he actually wants, whereas not know what he's meant to want. He talks passionately about buying a ranch and contrasts this with the negative view he takes of the American dream, referring to "suffering" etc. Biff acknowledges that he feels lost and doesn't know what the future holds, for example he says "I'm mixed up very bad" and he says he feels "like a boy" because he's not married. He sees maturity as coming with being settled. He is not content with his life at all and is confused as to what he should do with himself.

The stage directions tell us that Happy "like his brother is lost, but in a different way". He has never accepted defeat, and this has consequentely made him more "confused...although seemingly more content" than Biff. Contrasts are made between the two brothers and these shape our first impressions of them.  Happy seems very uncertain about what he wants, he refers to his lifestyle saying it's "what I always wanted... And still goddammit, I'm lonely". This suggests he thinks the American dream is a lie. There are many contrasts between what Happy says he wants and how he feels when he has it. Another example of this is when he talks about wanting to "settle down" but then he says how he sleeps with married women, saying "I don't want the girl, and, still, I take it-and I love it!". He can't seem to decide what he wants. He seems to fall-back on his sexuality as a way of feeling fulfillment in his life. For example because he can't get ahead of other executives in the business world, he reverts to what he's good at to beat them, seducing women. He also has a confused outlook on his past for example he can't remember for definite who he lost his virginity to. Finally having said that he wants success, he concludes to Biff that the most important thing in life is to be "well-liked", suggesting that as long as you are respected and liked by others, you will get ahead in life. This seems contradictory as his constant womanizing isn't likely to make him be "well-liked".

Waybuloo loves Arthur Miller!

Hi-Hi!
Arthur Miller was playwrite! YAY! He lived long long way away from Nara, in magical land called America! Many cheebies live there! Yay we love cheebies! De Li, Nok Tok, Lau Lau and Yojojo would like it there, there we play peeka all day long! YAY! Cheebie Arthur liked to make up stories cheebies act out.
A long long time ago he had a big think-a-pow (yes even bigger than when Yojojo decided to hide the banana to stop himself eating it!) and made up 'Death of a Salesman', his biggest bestest play. YAY, well done cheebie Arthur! People know him for marrying Marilyn Monroe, YAY BULOOOOO! They loved each other like the piplings love their Narabugs. But Marilyn was sad, she had problems even Nok Tok couldn't fix, so she err...left Nara. But we still love cheebie Miller! YAY! Cheebie Miller was one of bestest playwrites in America! His plays are very sad though, too sad for piplings! (they'd ruin your buloo anyday!) Cheebie Arthur can't play peeka no more, he's err...left Nara too.
Oooohh, is that the magical chimes I hear? What's that Yojojo, it is? YAY YOGO TIME!
Buloo to all =D
(Extremely difficult to mix Waybuloo and Arthur Miller, they're hardly a match-made in heaven! So that's why there's very little actual info in here!)