literature

The concept and perception of depth in art is the ability of a piece of work to explore more than two dimensions. It is the ability of a product of art to interrogate and appeal to more than the visible dimension. It is the ability of the artwork to move in and out of several realms of thought and sight. The extent to which an art world appeals to this aspect determines the quality and persistence of the piece of work.

The depth dimension functions to inspire a since of ambiguity and length to the piece of art (Purves and Lotto p 43-58). It develops and sustains a curious interest in its audience which is the basis and object of quality and objectivity in as far as art is concerns. In photography, for instance the concept of depth is captured by the stability of the photo to tell more than the foreground objects and items. The depth of the photo allows the viewer of the photo to construct and relate the environment and surrounding of the objects in the picture with the circumstance and possible mood and natural environment in which the picture was taken (Stiles and Selz p40-56). The depth in the photo inspires a more realistic and believable concept of the photo.

Tillich’s theory of art embraces this aspect of depth by analyzing the role and relevance of depth in art work. Inspired by the theological mindset and thinking he interrogates the concept of depth in narratives and similar art works and constructs a hypothesis that great art reflects a conscious awareness of the problem associated with the loss of the dimension of depth. I shall interrogate the concept of depth in relation to Ashliman’s narrative “Dharmabuddhi and Pâpabuddhi” (2002) and the extent to which it has been influenced by the dimension of depth.

A considerable amount of attention has been invested in other aspects of art and their relevance to the art fraternity. In particular the narrator field has been seen a considerable number of research and theories that seek to dispose of the factual and structural attributes of a narrative that makes it a good or poor piece of art. However, there has been little attention in the all too new aspect of the depth dimension in art. Since Tillich’s first attempt at this line of thought, there has been very little attention on the issue and this therefore presents an interesting and relevant research gap that I wish to address in my research. I will discuss the importance Tillich’s approach and the relevance it has to various narrator works (Manning p 153 -163).

The narrative is based on a traditional Indian setting that has religious and cultural ties that work in harmony to motivate the behaviors and attitudes of the society. It centers on the values of two men of different moral standing who are involved treachery. The narrative which is part of a series of Indian fables has a limited since of depth and therefore fails to fundamentally capture the reader or listener due to the straightforward since of narration (Goldstein p 120-145).

It however makes attempts to identify with depth by engaging in parables and sayings whose purpose is to diversify the piece to incorporate a variety of other societal conceptions and attributes (Wollheim p 456- 490). The narrative transcends the rural and urban setting placing the story on a path of ambition that carries the objective and main themes. The narrative also merges the cultural and theological realms in creating a perspective to the reader.

The narrator makes a conscious identification of the depth dimension by maintaining a margin of safety between the narrator and the reader or listener and the narrator and the reader’s subconscious. This recognition adds value and importance to the narrative and allows the narrator to leave a memorable impression of the story. This research will therefore seek to determine the value that is attached to the depth dimension in any such given narrative or alternative piece of work.

I shall approach the research from an idealist metaphysical perspective by interrogating the various aspects of the narrative that appeal to the depth dimension. This functions to evaluate the value and importance of the depth dimension and document the extent to which various narrators of the century vividly or actually employed this tool in the formulation and creation of their pieces of work. This will also allow the contemporary narrators to consider employing and exploiting the value of the depth dimension in their art works.

The resarch will employ both primary and secondary sources for referencce and authority in determining a stand on the claim that great art reflects an awareness of the problem associated with the loss of the dimension of depth. The background of the research will be based on the historical antecedent of the use of the depth dimension by various artists. The methodology wil be a qualitative study that wil be analysed and discussed through a stage based approach. The research will also recommend the various pertinend areas that need furtherresearch and make conclusions that modern atrists may adopt to improve the value and quality of their work.

Works Cited

Goldstein, Bruce. Sensation and perception.Pacific Grove CA: Wadsworth. [2002].

This article interrogates the various perceptive abilities and the importance that each dimension has on the individual’s interest and curiosity.

Manning, Russell. Tillich’s Theology of Art. Web.

This article discusses the theory of art as proposed by Tillich based on the theo-cultural stand. It evaluates the relevance weakness and importance of his theory in art analysis and evaluation.

Purves, Dale and Lotto, Beau. Why We See What We Do: An Empirical Theory of Vision. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates. [2003].

This book evaluates the relevance and perspective importance of depth in the person’s receptiveness to art as well as its relevance in the persons appeal.

Stiles, Kristine and Selz Peter, eds., Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art. Berkeley: University of California Press, [1996].

This book documents the various approaches and theoretical claims that have been made for or against various art pieces by contemporary theorists artists and critics of art.

Wollheim, Richard. Art and its objects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [1980].

This book interrogates the various elements and perspective tools that are employed in art to create the required impression and attention.

Introduction

Oedipus the King is a typical Sophoclean tragedy where the tragedy of Oedipus is foreshadowed in the beginning of the play. The oracle predicts that Oedipus would be killing his own father and marrying his own mother. Since then, Oedipus tries to escape the inevitable fate that awaits him. The greatest irony of the play is that al his efforts to evade the destiny bring him closer to it. The play has evoked a lot of critical appreciation due to its Aristotelian lineage and Freudian undercurrents.

One of the recurrent themes in the play is predestination and destiny of human life. The Greeks are the chief exponents of human destiny and fate and we do find in Oedipus the King how Oedipus’s self is tormented by the prophecy of the oracle and how helpless is he in preventing the doom that was his destiny.

Discussion

There have been debates regarding the underlying reasons that lead Oedipus to doom. Oedipus, from the status of a well-respected noble king, degenerates himself into a murderer and indulges in incest with his mother. The play Oedipus the King is very much in the Aristotelian line of tragedy. The rising action of the play begins when Creon comes with the news that the plague in Thebes will end only when the murderer of King Laius is avenged.

The rising action culminates in the climax where Oedipus understands that he is the real cause for the plague. The play then proceeds to the falling action where Jocasta hangs herself and Oedipus pokes out his own eyes, invoking pity and fear in the minds of the audience. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is a person who has all the noble qualities, but suffers from a ‘hamartia’ or a ‘tragic flaw in his character. The tragic flaw of Oedipus is his indomitable pride and belief in himself. In Oedipus the king, one finds the journey of the self from pride, hubris, anger, annoyance, self-disbelief and self-ignorance to self-discovery, self-realization and self-knowledge.

But, unfortunately, Oedipus’s self discovery doesn’t lead him to light or redemption; instead it plunges him in to darkness, feeling of guilt and eternal doom, to follow his inevitable destiny. Freud, drawing conclusions from his psychoanalytical theories, states that it is the Oedipus Complex of the protagonist that leads to his fall. According to Freud, every male child has a sexual attraction towards the mother and a subsequent hatred towards the father. The Freudian reading of the play has been much discussed that the term Oedipus Complex has been employed extensively in literary criticism.

The play has had great significance to the Greeks. The Greeks believed in the power of oracles, prophesies, predestination and myths, and were very much preoccupied with good and evil. They believed that the sin or folly of the king would adversely affect the country. Thus the crime committed by Oedipus and the subsequent plague that affects the country is capable of arresting attention of the audience. The Sphinx and the riddle of the Sphinx act as the dominant symbols in the play. For the Egyptians, the Sphinx was a symbol of prosperity and goodness whereas in the play the Sphinx is a symbol of pride and by answering the riddle of the Sphinx Oedipus proves himself to be of superior pride.

Tieresias, in the play, acts as a foil to the character of the protagonist and the physical blindness of Tieresias is contrasted with the mental blindness of Oedipus. Thus, Teiresias, eventhough he “is literally ‘in the dark’ with his own blindness… manages to have sight over everything that is to follow.” (Major Themes).

Thus, Oedipus’s fight with his own destiny only leads to the realization of the pre-order path in life. The human predicament as shown through the self of Oedipus in the play, is made clear when the chorus speaks of him in the concluding scene. Oedipus, according to them, “held the key to the deepest mysteries,” but “misfortune swept over his head” and the implication of this is that no one can be completely happy until “he carries his happiness down to the grave in peace.” (Sophocles, p. 68). One’s path is determined by fate and thus the supernatural remains prominent in the text.

Works Cited

Major Themes. GradeSaver. 1999. Web.

Sophocles. The Theban Plays. London & New York: Penguin Books, 1974.

Introduction

“The Story of an Hour”, by Kate Chopin portrays the inner turbulence of a lady known as Mrs. Mallard. The writer describes the palpitations Mrs. Mallard goes through the moment she comes to know the sudden demise of her husband, Brently Mallard. The writer, in the same piece of her work, describes the outer panorama of Mrs. Mallard’s bedroom window. It describes the condition Mrs. Mallard goes through after hearing the news. Kate Chopin has very subtly described the change in Mrs. Mallard’s emotions in contrast with the outer environment of her locality. She was supposed to be a heart patient, as illustrated by the author.

So, after she hears about her husband’s death due to a railroad disaster, she cried out initially. But, after having sobbed for some time, there was a quietness about her. Some kind of a mysterious calmness, which was very much similar to the skies which she could watch outside her bedroom window. The author describes the outside as calm, fresh with rain and spring. Somewhat similar was Mrs. Mallard’s condition after she cried. She felt a strange calmness within her. She could hear a distant singing too. Though she appeared to be calm and composed, she had a premonition that something was coming to her. But didn’t know what.

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At a later time, as she continued to sit in her armchair in her bedroom, she felt a deep sense of freedom. She even muttered the words “free, free, free” several times under her breath. Maybe she felt liberal after hearing of her husband’s death. But, it is still a mystery as to what she actually felt. The reason being that, at the end of the story, it is shown that her husband, Mr. Brently Mallard enters the house. This shows that he was not actually dead.

Now, at last, when Mrs. Mallard sees him alive and healthy, she is described as dying of “the joy that kills”. Now, there can be two things. One, she could have died after having learned that her husband was still alive when she was under the false impression that she was now “free”. Two, she could have died also due to the reason that she could not contain the happiness after seeing Mr. Mallard alive when all of her friends and she had taken him to have died in the mishap.

At one point, the author writes that Mrs. Mallard feels that now she does not have to answer anyone. She also felt that she would not have to bind herself with anyone in the coming years. She was elated, happy, and content with the thought that there were many good things for her in the future. She remembered that there was not even a single moment when Mr. Mallard had looked upon her with love and compassion. She relished the thought that she is free to do anything.

Her sister, on the other hand, though, that Louise would make herself ill by keeping herself locked inside her bedroom. But, Louise, on the other hand, was under a deep sense of exhilaration. She even prayed to God that her life might be long. This shows that Mrs. Louise Mallard was indeed very happy with the situation since it gave her complete freedom and a sense of being alone.

The particular lines- “She arose at length and opened the door to her sister’s importunities. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory”, prove that Mrs. Louise Mallard was indeed very wary of what her life is going to be from now onwards. The climax comes when they all witness the arrival of her husband.

Now, the only plausible reason that she died of heart disease can be, that she could not digest the sudden change in all her plans which she had made just a few minutes back. She was no longer “free” now. And this might have taken her aback. The author also tells us at the beginning of the story that Mrs. Mallard had a weak heart.

The “Story of an Hour” was initially rejected because it showed the opposite attitude of what the women of that time were supposed to show. In those times, women were supposed to be selfless and family-oriented. But, this story by Kate Chopin portrayed the opposite of all this. Mrs. Mallard was shown to be selfish and not much family-oriented. She thought in her own self-interest. All this opposed the very thinking of the people of that time.

Conclusion

According to Barbara C. Ewell in her book, Kate Chopin, the editor of Century, R. W. Gilder, rejected the manuscript because of its feminist message. The magazine had been publishing anti-suffragist articles during this period and upheld a vision of women as selfless wives and mothers (Critical overview).

But finally, with the rise of women, her story was accepted.

Works Cited Page

Critical overview. 2008. Web.

Kate Chopin. The Story Of An Hour. 2008. Web.

Introduction

Kate Chopin was a prolific writer of the 19th century whose short stories usually delved upon the topic of the repression of women’s rights during a male dominated era of mankind. The Story of an Hour was written by her as a way of expressing her sentiments about the unfair treatment of women during the era. The story revolves around Mrs. Louise Mallard, a woman with a heart condition living in the era of submissive wives, who receives the shocking news of her husband’s untimely demise in a railroad accident. Upon hearing the news, all her repressed emotions regarding her relationship with her husband, the loss of her individuality, his abusive statements, and everything else that she disliked about her married life came to the front and, with the death of her husband, is seemingly a tremendously heavy weight that is lifted from her shoulders. She views the death of her husband as a joyous occasion which is then shattered when her “dead husband” walks through the door alive and well. The shock, too much for her weak heart, coupled with her disappointment at the fact that her individuality will not be restored as she expected, causes her death. All of these events take place within the span of an hour. Hence the title of the short story. Other things worth noting about this story is that, aside from taking place within an hour, it is set in only one location, and does not involve any subplots that would help explain certain backgrounds of the characters. It is understood that the reader will be familiar with the era and as such does not need an explanation for any of the occurrences in the story. First published in 1854, this is only of the 100 or so short stories written by Kate Chopin that reflects the struggle of women during her time.

Analysis

As I read the story and researched related opinions about the content of the story, I came to the conclusion that the thesis or claim of the story is that, due to the male dominated society existing at the time, women were relegated to the role of house-keeper and sex slave, without any rights to make known their thoughts or opinions. They were no more than minions or foot soldiers who simply followed the orders of their husbands without question or pause. However, women of the 19th century were already fighting for their rights and realized that they should be accorded the same respect as the males were. Due to this inequality in rights and treatment, some women viewed the death of their husbands as their only way out of the lop sided relationship and often saw the death of man as a happy occasion to be celebrated instead of mourned. However, these women loved their husbands, so how could they celebrate such a life changing event rather than mourning it? Did they truly love their husbands or did they love their freedom and individuality more? I am making these claims based upon paragraph evidences that can be found within the story.

As the story progresses, we realize that Mrs. Mallard loved her husband dearly and truly mourned the sad news of his unexpected death. However, in paragraph 5, discover that Mrs. Mallard’s mourning could have also been mixed with an inner sense of relief as:

She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.

In my opinion, this specific paragraph explains quite clearly that Mrs. Mallard viewed the sudden demise of her husband as a rebirth of sorts for her. This was the day when she was born again and viewed her surroundings with a new set of eyes. A fresh and new start wherein everything seems to be new and innocent. Life would be alright and happy for her from this moment on.

Further down in the story, in paragraph 8, we learn that Mrs. Mallard had changed her personality and outlook in life upon getting married. She was a young woman who had a brightness and intelligence that she was forced to conceal in order to be the proper wife of the era. To quote:

She was young with a fair, calm, face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.

Finally, in paragraphs 12-14 we discover Mrs. Mallard battling between celebrating her “liberation” and the death of the man whom she loved deeply and, until her recent realization, thought she would be spending her whole life with.

There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination.

And yet she had loved him–sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!

“Free! Body and soul free!”she kept whispering.

In the end, Mrs. Mallard seemingly made the choice to live free of the bonds of marriage and enjoy her remaining years as a widow. Towards the end of the story, we find out that she has begun to make plans to live her life. She excited herself into believing she was free of the normal dictates of the era and thus was already in a heightened state of excitement when her husband reappeared, alive and well. A shocking disappointment that caused her death. Not because she did not love her husband, but because she loved the idea of becoming a women free to be herself, think for herself, and decide for herself once again.

The story of Shakespeare’s famous play Hamlet revolves around the hero Hamlet, who is rather than being an action hero is (contrary to the expectations of the audience) a hero of INACTION. Revenge is the main motive in the play. But it is the delay in action rather than action that brings about a great downfall in which the hero also meets a tragic death along with his revenge victim, involving many more deaths, which could have been avoided.

There may be different interpretations of the character of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, and different approaches to him, but there can be no doubt that he is the center of our interest. The central conception of Hamlet as the speculative man, irresolute, wavering, and lacking in the capacity for premeditated action, is clear enough. The theme of the play is, clear cut: Will the son avenge his murdered father? And the tragedy lies in Hamlet’s vacillation and procrastination. The theme is kept before us throughout, with the heightening effect of Hamlet’s irresolution and Claudius’s counterplotting.

Hamlet vows to take revenge against his uncle Claudius, the King of Denmark. On his return from Wittenberg where he was a scholar, Hamlet comes to know that his father is dead and that his uncle Claudius has become the king. He also finds that his mother Gertrude has married Claudius. Soon his father’s ghost appears before him and tells him that he was murdered.

Hamlet is, however, a learned and judicious man. He can not kill a man following a ghost’s testimony. He must first satisfy his conscience and confirm his uncle’s guilt with solid evidence. Hence he decides to feign madness.

As I perchance hereafter shall think to meet.

To put an antic disposition on. (ActI.SceneV.L179-80)

The most striking quality of Hamlet is, perhaps, his philosophical nature and his intellectual depth. This quality is clearly seen in all his soliloquies. His soliloquies show him to be a man of a deeply reflective and meditative nature. When we first see him in the play, Hamlet is clearly a sensitive and idealistic young man. He has taken the world at its face value, supposing mankind to be only a little lower than the angels. Now, in his mother’s hasty and incestuous marriage, he discovers evidence of something bestial. Introspective as he is, Hamlet is constantly analyzing himself inwardly. He is forever looking into himself, delving into his own nature to seek an explanation for this or that.

Hamlet is thus a philosopher and not a man of action. But we must note that although Hamlet is not capable of planned and premeditated action as seen in his procrastination, he is capable of impulsive action. He kills Polonius on the spur of the moment. He boards the pirate ship alone; he leaps into Ophelia’s grave after Laertes does so.

Hamlet lacks the courage to act. When he sees his uncle alone praying he puts off the revenge act. He does so on the ground that if he were to kill the king during prayer, he will send Claudius to heaven.

The Revenge act is not accomplished as quickly as expected because Hamlet keeps procrastinating. Every time he finds an excuse to put off the act. He will wait till his conscience is fully satisfied he is not punishing an innocent man. This shows Hamlet’s unpredictable nature.

Thus Hamlet’s irresolution is unmistakable. During the course of the play, there are many circumstances that goad him to action but Hamlet lacks the capacity for vigorous action. Hamlet is thus a philosopher and an idealist who is expected to fulfill the role of an avenger. Hamlet is not ineffectual under ordinary circumstances. He has a deserved reputation in Denmark for manliness and princely demeanor.

Hamlet appears to us a man of great talents, almost a genius, whose rich imagination, extreme sensitiveness, imitative gifts, and aesthetic interests are those of an artist, but are combined with a great thirst for knowledge. Hamlet is an artist whom evil chance has made an avenger of crime, and who, destined by Nature for genius, is condemned by fortune to madness and unhappiness.

Hamlet is essentially the victim of circumstances. Sworn to the duty of wreaking vengeance on his father’s murderer, the young Prince is confronted with a task essentially foreign to his nature and destined to bring out in him all of the weaker traits in his character. Grief at his father’s passing has brought melancholy to Hamlet who has a normally cheerful, although quiet, disposition. Realization of the wretched scheming which brought about the death of his father, and the new responsibility of taking revenge, complete the transformation in Hamlet. As his melancholy deepens, so do we see marked changes in his character. His deep thinking mind reflects on the futility of life, and he contemplates suicide; his former sparkling wit gives place to bitterness and sarcasm; he becomes cunning and cruel, determined to outwit the rogues.

Hamlet is a character of extraordinary complexity. No simple formula can serve to solve his mystery. Hamlet, by his ill luck, his errors of judgment, and by his involvement in evil, has been the cause of misery to others. If he had been single-minded and ruthless as Fortinbras and Laertes, he might have accomplished his revenge without the trail of deaths that he left behind.

The time is out of joint, O curse spite,

That e’er I was born to set it right! (Act I, Scene v, 196-7).

Introduction

“A Rose for Emily” By William Faulkner is one of the typical stories, reflecting the main character, Emily as soul of conflicts, disintegrated soul. The whole story revolves round one main character, Emily and one town, narrated by an unknown narrator. Emily lives a luxurious life in a poor southern state, obeying her overbearing father till her ultimate death.

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The narrator of the story depicts Emily’s home and neighborhood in a graphical manner, showing the traditional life-style of Emily. The narrator narrates that her house is a big, squarish, furnished with cupolas, spires and scrolled balconies, all settings of home depicts the life-style of seventies. The violence of breaking down the door seemed to fill this room with pervading dust. A thin, acrid pall as of the tomb seemed to lie everywhere upon this room decked and furnished as for a bridal: upon the valance curtains of faded rose color, upon the rose-shaded lights, upon the dressing table, upon the delicate array of crystal and the man’s toilet things backed with tarnished silver, silver so tarnished that the monogram was obscured (Faulkner, 1929-30).

Her house is symbol of old and obliterated tradition as every thing at her house had been encroaching as the cotton wagons, gasoline pumps-an-eysore, the august names of neighborhood were on decay. With the passage of time, Emily too grows old, her hair become grey, showing her aged personality and obesity too (Faulkner, 1929-30).

The appearances of her home and her personality are extinguished, only death and decay is prevailing everywhere as the townpeople find Homer’s skeletal body on a luxurious bed in a locked room, Emily’s iron-gray hair lying on the pillow beside his head, a “slender figure in white,” typifies the vulnerable virgin, hovering in the background, subordinate and passive. The father, “a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip” (CS 123), is a menacing dark image assuming the dominant front position. His turned back suggests a disregard for her emotional welfare as he wards off potential danger — or violation of her maidenhead — with his horsewhip. The back-flung door invites suitors in, but only those who meet Grierson’s standards. Unfortunately, those standards are unattainable – (Janice et al, 2008).

Emily’s character displays manifold reactionary characteristics, mixed feelings of love, care and hatred for his domineering father, her restricted life-style, her loneliness and alienation from main social stream. Her father’s domineering attitude affects her personality by keeping her away from the rest of the world and there are indelible imprints of her father’s self-restraint behavior upon her living style (Janice et al, 2008).

Emily is characterized as psychic case, mental disorder due to her estrangement and separation from her milieu and she behaves strangely amidst the social surroundings as she has to contend with her family traditional limitation and her own personal desires (A Rose for Emily Themes, 2008). She poisons her lover by suppressing her loving desires to meet him and marry him just because of her father and people of town. Emily had been innocent and chaste but her hair, other physical features, her settings of home depicts her resistibility to change, her tormented soul, torn up due to her father’s restraints and her suppression of her own desires (Bernardo, 2008).

Though she loves Homer but tries to ignore her love for him by leaving herself alone at her home. Her white dressing has been changed into black dressing after death of her lover, Homer, reflecting her as widow or mourner. How her home and her own character, personality begins to degenerate gradually due to unforgettable influences of her father’s restrictions even after his death or social limitations which constrains herself to be spinster whole life.

Works Cited

A Rose for Emily Summary / Study Guide. Web.

A Rose for Emily Themes. Web.

Bernardo, Karen Bernardo, 2008, William Faulkner’s “A Rose For Emily” Commentary by Karen Bernardo. Web.

Janice et al, 2008, Janice A. Powell, Middle Park High School, Granby, Colorado, Changing Portraits in “A Rose for Emily”. Web.

Faulkner, 1929-30, A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner. Web.

As fine pieces of literature, both ‘Death of a salesman’ and ‘Oedipus Rex’, demonstrate the tragic lives of human beings in this distressed world. Even though each one has its own supporting themes, there are some common themes like fate, insanity, isolation and tragedy. Both, Oedipus in Oedipus Rex and Willy Loman in Death of a salesman, believe in fate. Their indolence leads to their family’s unending sufferings. When considering the two persons, one can easily understand that they lead a submissive life under fate. Tragedies tore the life of the protagonists. At last both of them commit suicide. Having identified the common themes in both the plays, the paper tries to show how these themes apply to Death of a Salesman in particular.

Death of a salesman, written by Arthur Miller portrays the real life of a typical American middleclass man who dedicates the most part of his life in a private company. The major themes of Miller’s Death of a salesman are the failure of American success myth and reality versus illusion. The central character in the play, Willy Loman, fails to understand the real pulse of the society. He is a total failure in his personal life and the same failure leads to his tragic death at the end of the play.

Insanity is the other theme found in Death of a salesman. In Death of a salesman, the central character, Willy Loman becomes psychic when he comes to know the reason for his elder son’s tragedy. He is a total failure in satisfying his family responsibilities.

Isolation and tragedy are the next important themes in Death of a salesman. In Miller’s play, each member of Willy’s family feels that they are isolated. Loman is isolated from his wife, his sons, fellow beings, and society. Willy’s prick of conscience prevents him from advising and even facing Biff. He tries to evade from the words of Happy and his wife for not properly indulging in matters connected with Biff and in order to hide the secret from them, he leads an isolated life. Biff also likes to lead a secluded life and so he stays in New York. He strongly believes that Willy played a foul trick to get rid off him from the house. Their problems are found out a proper solution with the suicide of Willy, the protagonist. Throughout the play, Willy is haunted with unending guilty feelings and is forced to wear a mask before his wife and children.

Fate plays a vital role in Arthur Miller’s play Death of a salesman. Loman’s compulsory retirement, Biffs realization, his marriage, are examples of fate’s role.

Willy Loman is the victim of dreadful capitalism. The tragic conflict between personal affairs and family loyalties are the visible themes in Miller’s Death of a salesman. The tragic hero, Willy Loman is subjected to the victim of the so-called American success myth. It is merely accidental that the elder son Biff became the victim of Lawman’s illegal relationship with a prostitute. Biff is a victim of the maddening world of competition. At the end fate conquers Loman.

Failure of American success myth is another leading theme in Miller’s Death of a salesman. Willy Loman failed to differentiate illusion and reality. The material world around him considers Willy as merely an orange peel. Long years’ service as a salesman causes to lose his health and vigor. According to the Capitalists he became a waste in the competing world of capitalism. As a tragic hero, Loman has sold himself by taking an artificial personality which is absolutely imaginable.

Loman’s ‘insanity’ is also a notable theme in Millers play, Death of a salesman. In the concluding act of the play, tragedies haunt Loman’s life as storms. He becomes more psychic when he is wrapped in isolation. Loman’s isolation and guilt feeling leads him to insanity. Loman’s realization of his failure as a breadwinner changes him to a hopeless person and he begins to think that his life itself is futile. The restrained examination of Willy’s subjective life leads the play as a psychological play.

The play also focuses on the fact that one is in need of a companion to depend on. Linda -Willy relationship exemplifies it clearly. Willy’s wife Linda is a completely an understanding wife and a good mother. She often chides with her husband Willy Loman for his ill-treatment of Biff. But he replies, “I simply asked him if he was making any money. Is that criticism?” (Miller,Act I, p.5)The given quotation shows that Willy has the fatherly affection but his prick of conscience often prevents him from expressing it. Linda treats Willy softly, though he behaves irrationally. Miller himself remarks that play Death of a salesman is the manifestation of truth.

Through his play Miller presents the pathetic picture of a man who does not have a grip on the sufferings of life. The concluding part Lowman receives death. The tragedy ends in a helpless condition. The conflict between the father and the son in the play Death of a salesman provides some psychological background with Freudian coloring. Unlike Shakespearean tragic heroes Loman’s tragic flaw is not absolutely fatal.

Works Cited

Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman.