Asif Ali
Ruperdra Guha Majumdar, Associate Professor, DU
IA Term Paper Semester - IV
13th April 2016
Tragedy of a common man in Mother Courage and Her Children: From the spectacle of Realism
In the essay "Tragedy and the Common Man," the author Arthur Miller puts forward a very strong argument in the favor of a common man’s suitability for being the hero of a tragedy. And this argument was based on some common points like, such plays can influence us greatly for they contain various elements like the fear of displacement, the tragedy of the difference between who we are and who we wish to be in this world. “Among us today this fear is strong, and perhaps stronger, than it ever was. In fact, it is the common man who knows this fears the best.” According to Miller a common layman is well aware of fear and understands it well hence qualifies for the tragedy. A man’s quest for morality which is moreover a subjective matter, the point of concern over here is the extent to which he would go to reach that point of morality. Men who are not “common” have hard time acquiring the mindset of a common man. They are less traditional thinkers and fearful as compared to common men. Common man on the contrary accepts the “conditions of life” and prospers as well as realizes it himself. In Miller’s own words the most suitable way to define the eligibility
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The realist playwrights chose realistic settings which were most naturally occurring. They focused on “Real Life”, dug into the lives of everyday people and explored the common situations occurring into their lives and problems. A kind of theatre which is the kaleidoscope of the world as it is. The writers of such theatre were more into journalistic representation of reality which is free from didactic
This whole play by Arthur Miller shows how our community will turn on each other to save ourselves no matter if it’s right or wrong and it’s true in our society today. It also shows how a good man regained his happiness and holiness by standing up for what’s right against the lies and sacrificed himself for the truth.
...e as simply a waste, however if it is done to help rid one’s community of conformity and hysteria, it is a noble act. Through the enormity of this act, others can be effected, and both their consciences and their actions can be affected. In the McCarthyism era, otherwise known as the Red Scare, it was also necessary for people to put themselves on the line in order to limit the scope of the hysteria and help it to settle down. Even if it meant risking their jobs and reputations, the resistance of these people, including Arthur Miller himself, was a necessary step in calming the hysteria. No matter what type of sacrifice you give, whether it be your reputation, your livelihood, your life, or something a little less drastic, putting your community before yourself is a noble action and without people to carry out this philosophy, hysterias would never come to an end.
“I believe that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were” ( Tragedy and the Common Man). Arthur Miller follows his Millerian conventions of tragedy in the writing of The Crucible. Often literature uses tragedy to display a depressing theme represented by the tragic hero.
What is a tragic hero? The most well known definition of a tragic hero comes from the great philosopher, Aristotle. When depicting a tragic hero, Aristotle states "The change in the hero's fortunes be not from misery to happiness, but on the contrary, from happiness to misery, and the cause of it must not lie in any depravity but in some great error on his part." In addition, he explains the four essential qualities that a tragic hero should possess, which are goodness, appropriateness, lifelike, and consistency. All of these necessities help to classify the character of John Proctor in Arthur Miller's The Crucible as the tragic hero of the play. Not only does he unfortunately fall to desolation, but also his character captures the sympathy and pity from the audience or readers. Proctor's downfall in the play is initiated by a human flaw, which to a great extent qualifies him to be the tragic hero.
Arthur Millers play is a creative dramatic and well-researched exploration into the hysteria that surrounding the 'perverse manifestation of the panic which set in among all classes when the balance began to turn toward greater individual freedom'.
A tragic hero is a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy. In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays John Proctor, the protagonist, as a tragic hero who has a major flaw—lust for Abigail, his teenage house servant. For fear of being exiled in a town where reputation is highly upheld, Proctor initially tries to hide his crime of adultery, but this affair triggers a major series of events in Salem, where unproven accusations lead to internal struggle and eventually to catastrophe.
In the Tragedy and the Common Man, Arthur Miller describes many key aspects that contributes to a tragedy, including the characteristics of a modern tragic hero. Miller describes a modern tragic hero as someone who struggles to obtain what they perceive as their rightful position in their life. Miller writes, “The flaw, or crack in the characters, is really nothing-and need be nothing, but his inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity, his image of his rightful status” (Miller 2). In other words, the tragic hero’s flaw is that he or she cannot accept any actions that challenges his or her position. Troy Maxson from the book Fences is an example of a modern tragic hero. Troy wants to be dominant in his life, he want to be authoritative and make things go the way he likes. Thus, his desire for control ultimately led him to a tragedy.
No, the “English Tragedy” does not relate to the Queen, that is the first fact that should be established. Instead, it is about English, the language itself. George Orwell warned readers of the negative consequences stemming from the degrading quality of English in both 1984 and his essay “Politics and the English Language”. In both pieces of writing, Orwell is able to demonstrate the effects that language can have on the thoughts of those who speak it. In 1984, he is able to emphasize how the lack of language can limit thought, and ultimately society. In “Politics and the English Language”, Orwell demonstrates how bad English will, “construct your sentences for you” (Orwell, 6) and make the language into a meaningless jumble. Although Orwell wrote in the earlier part of the 1900s, the bad English that he wrote about is still relevant today. Dying metaphors, meaningless words, and pretentious diction are still used in writing by the mainstream media despite the warnings of Orwell.
What is a tragic hero? The most well known definition of a tragic hero comes from the great philosopher, Aristotle. When depicting a tragic hero, Aristotle states "The change in the hero's fortunes be not from misery to happiness, but on the contrary, from happiness to misery, and the cause of it must not lie in any depravity but in some great error on his part." In addition, he explains the four essential qualities that a tragic hero should possess, which are goodness, appropriateness, lifelike, and consistency. All of these necessities help to classify the character of John Proctor in Arthur Miller's The Crucible as the tragic hero of the play. Not only does he unfortunately fall to desolation, but also his character captures the sympathy and pity from the audience or readers. Proctor's downfall in the play is initiated by a human flaw, which to a great extent qualifies him to be the tragic hero.
One common characteristic you can find across tragic works of media is the presence of the “tragic hero.” The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a perfect example of a strong tragic hero. The play is based around the true events that occurred centuries ago in Salem, Massachusetts. The Puritan town erupts into mass hysteria over a group of girls’ claims of witches in the town, causing people to turn on and accuse each other. The leader of the girls, Abigail Williams, aims to use this to her advantage to try to get with John Proctor, a married man who she had previously had an affair with and who also happens to be our play’s tragic hero.
On the other hand, another type of tragic hero exists, the modern tragic hero. This type of hero is a product of a clash between the individual and the social environment. Arthur Miller, the famous playwright said, “each person has a chosen image of self and position, tragedy results when the characters environment denies the fulfillment of this self concept.” (LATWP, 640). This is a contrast from Aristotle’s classic tragic hero because the hero is no longer born into nobility but gains stature in the action of pitting self against cosmos, and the tragedy becomes, “the disaster inherent in being torn away from our chosen image of what and who we are in this world.” (LATWP, 640).
The play All my sons by Arthur Miller, tells the story of a man named Joe Keller who does anything he deems necessary to protect the welfare of his family including violating his own morals. Some believe Keller can be classified as a tragic hero while other think he is tragic in general. Although he meets four out of the six Aristotelian tragic hero qualifications, Joe keller is nothing more than a failure proven by the way he treats his family, his business misfortunes, and his futile attempts to keep his secret.
Death of a salesman as a tragedy and Tragedy and the common man both have many similarities and differences. Both arguments were written by Arthur Miller and have different meanings and interpretations. In Death of a salesman as a tragedy, Death cannot be considered a tragedy because Arthur Miller doesn't correctly define "tragedy" according to the respected literary definition. On the other hand Tragedy and the common man Author Miller talks about how tragedies can be written about "common man" in the same way that tragedies can be written about members of royalty, and what "Common man's" experiences is the same way as what royals experience.
Even though it may seem as if the role of tragedy in a play causes nothing but mishaps, they hold a much greater significance and reach towards a universal concept that sets tragedy apart from other genres such as comedy. Often, tragedy is inflicted upon a character because of their own personal flaw. The character, which can also be noted as the tragic hero, is someone who falls as a result of their flaw. Character traits such as pride, arrogance, ambition, etc. may make a character admirable and praiseworthy, but when it is excessively overdone, it can become their worst enemy. At times, the problems a character inflicts upon themselves can not only harm them, but also those around them that they may not intend to hurt.
Literature is the mirror that reflects the invisible side of the world. Whether the metaphorical description or the emotional influx it brings to readers makes literature a dispensable part in human’s society. Tragedy, which evokes the darkest repercussion of human sufferings and destructions, experienced great evolvement throughout centuries.