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A Comparison of Tragedy For a story to be a tragedy
it has to follow the principles set by Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, or
those of Arthur Miller who is a twentieth century playwright. A tragedy, in
Aristotle's view, usually concerns the fall of an individual whose character
is good but not perfect and his misfortunes are brought about by the
tragic flaw. This flaw is the part of the character that personifies him as
being tragic. Miller uses this definition of a tragedy but also broadens it
including the common man. All of these characteristics are seen in the
plays Julius Caesar, Death of a Salesman, and Oedipus Rex.
Although the title of the play Julius Caesar focuses on Caesar, the play
itself is really based on Brutus. "Brutus had rather be a villager than to
repute himself a son of Rome."(Act I, scene II, line 172). This was said
by Brutus after Cassius told him how Caesar had become a towering
figure over Rome and how Caesar controls Rome. Notice the good in
Brutus, and the extremes he will go to in order to protect democracy in
Rome even if it means killing the one he loves, Caesar. Brutus
possesses one of the most tragic flaws. He is too nice of a person and
therefore he gets taken advantage of. He lets Cassius persuade him into
killing Caesar for the good of Rome. Because he does for others more
than himself he makes a fatal mistake, he lets Antony live. Brutus says to
the conspirators, "For Antony is but a limb of Caesar"(Act II scene I line
165) meaning that if Caesar is killed Antony will die off too. Brutus clearly
does not regard Antony as being a threat, but little does Brutus know that
Antony will stir up the town to seek revenge after the assassination of
Caesar. This mistake will cost him his own life. When he dies he
becomes a prime example of tragedy because not only did he bring about
his own death he dies by his own hand. In Death of a Salesman, Willy
Lowman's tragic flaw is that he is a dreamer who is unable to face the
realities of a modern day society. Willy builds his whole life around the
philosophy that if a person is well liked and good looking then he will be
successful. Willy says to Biff , "I thank Almighty God that you are both