### **Tragedy and Social Critique in _Death of a Salesman_**
_(by_ **Arthur Miller** _in_ **Death of a Salesman_)_
1. **Miller's Intense Social Vision**
Miller's plays show anger against the establishment and sympathy for victims of social injustice.
2. **Ideological Purpose**
Some critics feel Miller aims to influence the audience's social thinking through his drama.
3. **Modern Tragedy Beyond Classical Rules**
The play must not be judged by Greek or Elizabethan standards of tragedy.
4. **Ordinary Man as Tragic Hero**
Willy Loman is a common, middle-class man, unlike kings such as **Macbeth** or **Oedipus**.
5. **"Attention Must Be Paid"**
Miller argues that tragedy can belong to an insignificant man if his suffering is intense and human.
6. **Neglect and Lack of Recognition**
Willy's greatest pain is that he is ignored, unheard, and discarded by society and his employers.
7. **Rejection by the Capitalist System**
His dismissal by Howard shows how modern systems discard aging workers without empathy.
8. **New Definition of Tragic Stature**
Tragedy depends on the intensity of a man's commitment, not on his social rank.
9. **Awareness of Failure**
Willy is not ignorant. He is painfully aware that his life has been built on false values.
10. **Mental Disintegration**
The play opens with Willy already hallucinating, talking to the past, and losing mental stability.
11. **Loneliness Within Family**
Despite living with his wife and sons, Willy remains emotionally isolated.
12. **Suicide as a Planned Act**
Willy's suicide is not mere despair but an attempt to secure insurance money for his family.
13. **Financial Struggle as Tragic Base**
Economic pressure and middle-class survival form the foundation of the tragedy.
14. **Universal Middle-Class Problem**
Though American, the problem reflects struggles of families in any capitalist society.
15. **Critique of the American Dream**
Willy is destroyed by the belief that charm and popularity guarantee success.
16. **Influence of False Ideals**
He is misled by examples like Dave Singleman and success myths similar to those preached by **Dale Carnegie**.
17. **Blind Faith in Biff's Success**
Willy imagines a glorious future for Biff based on appearance and popularity.
18. **Social Laws Replace Fate**
In this modern tragedy, social expectations of success act as the new "fate."
19. **Contrast with Charley**
Charley succeeds without believing in the American Dream, showing Willy's delusion.
20. **Responsibility of Society**
Society's values of money, charm, and success are primarily responsible for Willy's downfall.
21. **Central Idea**
_Death of a Salesman_ presents the tragedy of a common man crushed by capitalist values, proving that dignity in tragedy lies in intense human suffering, not heroic status.