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

The tragic tale shoemakers last of a Salesman fulfills Aristotles definition of a disaster to a great degree. The play conforms to Aristotles 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 Aristotles perfect tragedy that encumber 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 travel the overall worth of the play. When the individual parts of the play are examined, it satisfies Aristotles requirements for a perfect tragedy. In Aristotles 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 Millers 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 unavoidably 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 just about events at the beginning should be at the middle. The inciting action when Biff discovers his fathers infidelity during one of Willys business trips. The climax of the play is the parentage between Willy and Biff where Biff realizes that Willy is a cause of his short comings. Biffs statement, And I never got anywhere becau... ...financial situation in which they live, enticing leniency 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 a ccording 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 Aristotles requirements and with a few deviations put forth a true tragic tale. any things considered, Aristotle would commend this as a perfect tragedy. Works CitedArthur Millers Death of a Salesman. Dir. Volker Schlondorff. By Arthur Miller. Perf. Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich. CBS Presents, 1985. DVD.McManus, Barbara F. Outline of Aristotles Theory of Tragedy. Outline of Aristotles Theory of Tragedy. The College of New Rochelle, Nov. 1999. Web. 01 Feb. 2014.