Willy Loman

Willy Loman, the troubled father and husband in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, can be classified as a tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle. Aristotle believed that, a tragic hero was defined as one who falls from grace into a state of extreme unhappiness. Willy, as we are introduced to him, becomes increasingly miserable as he progresses from a dedicated, loving father, though not without flaws, into a suicidal, delusional man. The definition …

…indeed made mistakes in his life, and we can recognize that they are mistakes and were never intended to harm anyone, but instead to satisfy his own needs. And therefore it is hard for the reader not to feel bad for Willy Loman. These characteristics then, by Aristotle’s determination, make him not a “wicked man”, and not a virtuous man, but a man whose place is between these extremes by definition, the tragic hero.