Willy and Shelly as Tragic Heroes
The plays “The Death of a Salesman” and “Glengarry Glen Ross” focus on the dramatic events in the lives of aging salesmen, whose careers are rapidly ended when they start underperforming in their jobs, and even though they try their best to succeed, they are eventually destroyed by their unrealistic ambitions. The figures of Shelly Levene and Willy Loman have been characterized as tragic throughout the years, even though many critics continue to disagree with this denomination. Even though they may not entirely comprise the classical attributes of tragic heroes, they essentially represent the same kinds of heroes that the classical tragic characters display. Besides, the stories represent new types of tragedies in the American society, which revolves around capitalistic ideals. Shelly and Willy are tragic heroes because they are essentially good people, who nevertheless have an essential flaw that causes their eventual doom.
Even though they do not resemble much classical tragic hero, Willy and Shelly obey its essential characteristics. Thus, in one article, Aristotle is quoted as saying that the tragic hero is “an intermediate kind of personage a man not pre-eminently virtuous and just, whose misfortune, however, is brought upon not by vice and depravity but by some error of judgement” (Aristotle, quoted in Reeves 173). In Miller’s “The Death of a Salesman”, Willy Loman’s flaw is pride, which determines to rise the standards very high both for himself and for his boys. He cannot accept the fact that he failed in his career, after so many years of work, and he is fired from his job when he expected to be offered a better position.
Besides, he has extremely high hopes from his sons, and refuses to accept the fact that they are not born for business success. His son Biff forces him to admit that “I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you. You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can like all the rest of them (Miller “The Death” 99) However, Willy is unable to accept the reality and eventually, commits suicide in order to give his sons a new start in life. Also, in Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross”, Shelly’s custom of talking too much transforms into a tragic flaw because he goes too far when he tells Williamson, “You're scum, you're fucking white-bread. You be as cold as you want. A child would know it, he's right (2.1). Eventually, Levene reveals a detail which indicates to Williamson that he is the thief. Also, after years of being insulted by him, Williamson has no sympathy for Levene and chooses to tell everything to the detective.
However, this is not enough for a hero to be called tragic. Aristotle gives a list of characteristics, such as the fact that the protagonist must be a leader of people or to enjoy “great reputation and prosperity” (173). However, in both plays examined here, the protagonists are ordinary people who do not fall from a highly valued position due to their flaw. In his essay on the topic, Miller showed that “the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were (Miller “Tragedy” 1). Instead of great fortune o position in the society, Miller shows that tragedy is a feeling which is evoked in the presence of a man who is ready to sacrifice everything else for the sake of his own dignity.
In both of the plays, the characters prize their own dignity and have low self-esteem, which they try to hide by appearing to be very relaxed in the presence of those with power. For example, In “The Death of a Salesman”, Willy refuses the job offered by Charlie, although he needs it badly, simply because he is too proud, and have too much dignity. At the same time, in Mamet’s play, the character seems to respect a code of honor that salesmen used to obey in the past, and Shelly goes back to that code each time he is contradicted, in order to show how he is superior to other salesmen morally. Although he may need the money for a sick daughter, Shelly is nevertheless also driven by his sense of wounded dignity, as he feels underestimated despite his experience and skill. Shelly’s decision to steal the leads is an attempt to restore his dignity.
Works Cited
Mamet, David. Glengarry Glen Ross: a Play. New York: Grove Press. 1982. Print.
Miller, Arthur. “Tragedy and the Common Man”. The New York Times. 1949. Web.
Miller, Arthur. The Death of a Salesman. 1948. Web.
Reeves, Charles. “The Aristotelian Concept of the Tragic Hero”. The American Journal of Philosophy 73.2(1953): 172-188.
Modernist and Postmodernist Criticism of Capitalism
Capitalism is a flawed system because it drives to inequality in the society, and it ignores subjective experience in favor of cold calculations, individualism and fierce competition. Everyone who is not able to succeed is likely to fail. In their works, Arthur Miller and David Mamet criticized the American corporative mentality, as a destroyer of the American dream.
In his work, Arthur Miller offered a modernist interpretation of capitalism, which creates an extremely competitive environment where men have to be sharks in order to succeed against one another. Biff, Willy’s son, feels that he cannot rise to the expectations of his father because he rejects the capitalist ideal, and works as a farmhand instead. Biff’s rebellion against the system is also manifested by his symbolic act of stealing a pen. Arthur Miller’s intention with this play was to show the weaknesses of the capitalist system. Miller was accused of conducting a “a caustic attack on capitalism and on the American Dream of achieving wealth and success ”(Sickles 78). In the play, as soon as Willy is not useful anymore, he is fired without any second thought, despite the years in the service of the company. His tragedy exposes the flaws of a system which transforms the work environment into a jungle.
On the other hand, David Mamet offers a postmodernist criticism of capitalism, by depicting the corporate environment, and how it destroys people due to its merciless and cold rules of survival. As Delaney explains in this respect, “Glengarry Glen Ross, like Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (1949), is an indictment of laissez-faire capitalism. Both plays demonstrate how capitalism promotes greed, competition, and envy, causing people to wear themselves out, wasting their lives in pursuit of an illusion” (Delaney 3). However, in this play, the capitalist culture is recreated in the small world of the company, where each salesman is forced to fight for his job, and there is no security that one might have a job tomorrow. Besides, the characters are completely dehumanized, as if none of them has a life outside this building. Except for Willy who mentions his daughter, nothing is known about the characters, except for their professional worth. Professional success becomes sole motivational factor for these salesmen, and there is nothing they would not do in order to earn more money, as the theft shows.
The modernist and postmodernist critiques of capitalism also drive the authors towards separate conclusions. Miller’s answers to his characters’ dilemma seemed to be socialism, due to its promise of social justice. On the other hand, Mamet’s minimalist approach does not allow for easy solutions. As Delaney shows, “Mamet seems content, like many other minimalists, to dramatize the human condition without trying to explain how that condition might be improved” (Delaney 3). This attitude derives from a postmodernist questioning of the system, without offering any ready solutions as to how this system may be improved. However, it is worth noticing that Mamet’s play continues Miller’s own argument against the flaws of capitalism, and the manner in which this system destroys all balance in the society.
Miller’s modernist approach to the topic determined him to employ realism in order to draw a very powerful image of the ways in which capitalism destroys American families. Miller’s modernist approach to the subject determined him to employ subjectivity in his writing style, presenting the events largely from Willy’s perspective. Miller even found a way to introduce flashbacks and to present Willy’s memories to the public. This way, Miller tried to show clearly what he thinks of capitalism and even provides a solution in the form of Biff’s own view of life, free from financial or career ambitions. On the other hand, Mamet’s play is dominated by a postmodernist objectivity, which promotes equality in diversity. Mamet remains objective throughout the play, and Shelly’s character is consequentially less likable than Willy’s. While Shelly mentions a daughter who seems unable to provide for herself, it is unclear whether she really exists, or Shelly simply lies in order to obtain what he wants. This way, Mamet makes it more difficult for the audiences to identify with the character. By showing the salesmen as incorrect and greedy, he criticizes the capitalist system that determines people to look at each other as enemies, but he does not offer any other alternative,
Works Cited
Delaney, Bill. “Glengarry Glen Ross”. Masterplots, 2010. Web.
Sickles, Amy. “Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman: History of Criticism”. Critical Insights: Death of A Salesman by Arthur Miller. 2010. Web.
