论《推销员之si》中威利罗曼的悲剧必然性英语专业毕业设计.doc

绵阳师范学院2013届本科毕业论文（设计）

（2013）届本科生毕业设计（论文）

题 目On Inevitability of Willy Loman’s Tragedy in
Death of a Salesman
论《推销员之死》中威利·罗曼的悲剧必
然性
专 业 英语
院 系 外国语学院

论《推销员之死》中威利·罗曼的悲剧必然性

摘 要: 《推销员之死》是美国著名戏剧大师阿瑟·米勒的作品，被誉为“美国梦不在”的代表作。这部作品完成于1949年，它在百老汇的首演就取得了巨大的成功，许多评论家把这部戏剧看作美国第一部杰出的悲剧。这部作品的主人公威利·罗曼是一个普通的推销员，然而各种冲突把他推向了死亡，他的悲剧命运是不可避免的。本论文将以黑格尔的悲剧理论为基础对威利·罗曼的悲剧必然性进行分析。本论文分为两大部分，分别是对当时社会大背景的分析以及对作品中人物之间冲突的分析，通过这些分析得出其悲剧命运的必然性。并通过对威利·罗曼的悲剧必然性的分析，探究作家对当时社会的态度，以及这种悲剧的普遍性，从而挖掘其现实意义。

关键词: 推销员之死；悲剧；必然性；矛盾冲突；社会现实

On Inevitability of Willy Loman’s Tragedy in Death of a Salesman

Abstract: Death of a salesman is a famous work of the great American playwright Arthur Miller, which is a typical work about absence of American dream. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949 and made a great success. Some reviewers view it as one of the great tragedies in American literature. The protagonist is a salesman named Willy Loman but all kinds of conflicts led to his final death. This thesis makes a thorough research on the inevitability of Willy Loman’s tragedy in Death of a Salesman on the basis of Hegel's theory of tragedy. The thesis mainly includes two parts: one is the analysis of the social environment, the other is the analysis of conflicts in this work, through which we can get the conclusion that Willy’s tragedy is inevitable. This thesis also makes a research about the writer’s attitude towards the social reality at that time and the universality of Willy’s tragedy.

Key Words: Death of a salesman, tragedy, inevitability, conflicts, social reality

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Contents
1. Introduction 1
2. The social background of Death of a Salesman 1
2.1 The social factors in the 1940s 2
2.2 The influence of social background on the tragic plot 2
2.3 The influence of social background on the tragic character 3
2.4 The influence of social background on the inevitability of the tragedy 4
3. The conflicts in Willy Loman’s life 4
3.1 The conflict between Willy’s American dream and the reality 4
3.2 The conflict between Willy and his sons 6
3.3 The conflict between Willy and other characters 7
4. The inevitability of Willy Loman’s tragedy 8
5. Conclusion 10
Bibliography 11
Acknowledgement 12

1. Introduction
Arthur Miller is a great American playwright and essayist. Death of a Salesman is generally acknowledged as his most remarkable masterpiece, which makes him well known around the world. It was the recipient of the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, which caused a tremendous sensation. Such a play full of melancholy and tragedy actually stirred the whole literary world and still occupied an important position in American literary.
Death of a salesman tells a story of a four-number family, in which each of them is busy all day to satisfy their inner desire. Willy Loman, the protagonist of the play, is an ordinary salesman. He is 60 years old and very unstable, tending to imagine events from the past as if they are real. There is an irreconcilable conflict between Willy’s dream and the reality. Linda Loman is Willy's wife. She always smiles and nods when Willy talks unrealistically about hopes for the future. They have two sons, Biff and Happy, who also have their respective problems in their life. The conflicts still exist between Willy and other characters. Willy’s family was under great depress, and Willy got some metal illness. Their life is not so smooth and everyone in this family is weighted down by life.
As Hegel argued that the tragedy is caused by conflicts. All the conflicts are divided into two groups. Firstly, some conflicts are caused by objective factors. Then the rest of conflicts are caused by psychological status, which are the most ideal conflicts in Hegel’s opinion. All conflicts would lead to two results, die or peace http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegel
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Brooks Atkinson，the famous critic of the New York Times, ever said, “Death of a salesman is a great work filled with humanistic concern. That is because Mr. Miller sympathetically had a insight into the inner world of ordinary Americans and quietly presented the pain into the stage.” In China, many scholars speak highly of this great play. Ying Ruocheng, a famous translator and performing artist in China, views Death of a salesman as one of the greatest play in America. But few scholars pay close attention to the inevitability of Willy’s tragedy. The study of the inevitability of Willy’s tragedy has its practical significance and academic value. The research on the inevitability of the tragedy is to have a deep understanding of the American society in the 1940s and explore the practical significance.
2. The social background of Death of a salesman
The social background is the cornerstone of the play. The study of social background is great of importance to the literature and literary study. This play was written in 1949. In that period, America achieved greatly success in economy. Most of the people had blind optimism, so it was high time that artists sounded the alarm for people. Social background and the function of the social reality to Willy’s tragedy will be introduced in this part.
2.1 The social factors in the 1940s
The play, Death of a salesman, which caused a great sensation, premiered on Broadway in February 1949 after the Second World War. American economy in that period had a rapid development. When America entered a glowing period after the Second World War, it had a market eight times larger than any competitor, giving its industries unparalleled economies of scale. Its scientists were the best; its workers the most skilled. All Americans were prosperous beyond the dreams. But it didn’t mean everything went well. At least, life is not so easy for ordinary people.
Some serious social problems still existed. To begin with, although the American economy had a rapid development, it was in shadow of the Great Depression in the 1930s. Some social problems under the capitalist market economy, such as inflation, unemployment, still perplexed the ordinary Americans. In the next place, the cruel disordered competition of capitalist market economy caused a value which viewed the profits and wealth as the most important things. Some old people are eliminated by the society. Furthermore, most of Americans at that time were addicted in the pursuit of wealth and ignored other happiness, such as the family, friendship and so on. The value destroyed the nature of kindness and the harmony of society.
The story of Death of a salesman happened in this settings. Willy Loman is an ordinary salesman. In general view, he was a man full of happiness. He had a beautiful wife and two sons, a house in downtown, a car and a steady work. But he didn’t feel satisfied until his death. In his mind, wealth and fame is the only thing which he pursues. He failed, so he wanted his sons to make his dream come true. At last, nothing went well. Misery over misery, he was fired by his boss although he had been working for the company for 34 years, so he ended his life at last. Therefore it’s not only a tragedy of Willy Loman, but also a tragedy of the American society.
2.2 The influence of social background on the tragic plot
The social background has an influence on the development of plot in this play. Plot is the series of events which form the story of a novel, a play or a film. The plot and the reality have a close relationship. The development of the plot is not beyond the reality, that is to say, the plot should obey some rules which come from social reality in literature. The plot of Death of a salesman is deeply rooted in the society.
Firstly, Willy Loman chose salesman as his ideal job when he was young. The choice is deeply influenced by the social background. In the 1910s, salesman is an ideal and steady job. When Willy was young, he met an old salesman who could make money at the age of 84. From then on, Willy chose salesman as his lifelong job. His choice is obviously influenced by the social reality. The choice in the 1910s is the start of development of the plot.
Secondly, salesman was on longer an ideal and steady job with the development of the society. The World War in the 1930s created much economic bubble in America. The impact of greatest economic crisis in 1939 on American economy existed. All these curbed consumption to some extent, which made salesman was not so steady in the 1940s. The change of social background deeply influenced on the development of the plot. Willy’s life should be better and better, but things don’t turn out the way he wants, his career was at a mess. At the same time, the relationship between Willy and his family turned complicated. Willy sticks to his original dream, but his son Biff wants to be a farmer to get away from the pressure from the society. The conflict between Willy and Biff become acute. The social background pushes Willy to the cliff step by step.
Thirdly, the society is full of the law of jungle. Almost everyone pursues their success by hook or by crook and works exclusively for profit. This is the by-product of the high-speed development of economy. The social background impulses the development of the plot again. Willy was fired by his boss. In eyes of the boss, Willy was too old to create surplus value. Capitalists batten on the surplus value created by workers. It is inevitable for Willy to be fired by his boss. The change directly pushes the plot to a new high.
Obviously, the plot is rooted in the social background. The function of the social background to the development of plot is great of importance.
2.3 The influence of social background on the tragic character
The tragic character in the play is also influenced by social background. Society is constituted by people, on the other hand, society also influences on individuals. Willy Loman is the one who is influenced by social reality.
Firstly, the influence of social background on the tragic character reflects on the impact of the American Dream on Willy. The America dream is a belief which is rooted in the whole American society. Willy always sticks to his American dream, he don’t want to yield to the social reality. The American dream has a great influence on Willy. On one hand, Willy is crazy for his dream, which makes him blind and paranoid. On the other hand, his fanaticism about his dream is unrealistic, which makes him frustrated. The two points cause his personality weakness, which is related to his tragedy.
Secondly, the mainstream values also influence on Willy’s tragedy. Values are beliefs about what is right and wrong and what is important in life. Values originate in society and are rooted in social reality. In the 1940s, the cruel disordered competition of capitalist market economy caused a value which viewed the profits and wealth as the most important things. Willy is deeply influenced by the value. He was always crazy for fame and wealth. His craze was blind, which made him ignore the essence of life. This point directly causes the conflict between Willy and his family, which lead to his tragedy.
It is obvious that the social background has a great impact on Willy and his tragedy.
2.4 The influence of social background on the inevitability of Willy Loman’s tragedy
From the analysis, we learn that social background has an impact on the plot and the tragic character. The plot and personality weaknesses are two factors in Willy’s tragedy. The two factors are both rooted in social background. In Hegel’s theory of tragedy, there is a kind of conflict which is caused by objective factors. Social background is sorted into objective factors, and is independent from individual’s will. Society is the accelerator of the tragedy. Specifically, the high-speed development of economy in that period made Willy crazy for wealth and fame. And the reality is so cruel. When Willy got old, he was fired by his boss. That directly caused his death. According to the analysis, we can safely get the conclusion that the inevitability of Willy’s tragedy is influenced by the social background.
All in all, it is necessary to have a research on the social background. Social reality is not only the cornerstone of this work but also the environment of the story. Society’s function in this play is great and can’t be ignored.
3. The conflicts in Willy Loman’s life
In Hegel’s idea, the basic factors which caused Willy’s tragedy are conflicts. Conflict is a situation in which people, groups or countries are involved in a serious disagreement or argument. This part will be divided into three parts to study the importance of conflicts in Willy’s life.
3.1 The conflict between Willy’s American Dream and the reality
The America dream is a belief which is rooted in the whole American society. The American dream, originating from the colonization time, not only inspirits people to be successful but also is the spine of the American literature. The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, a set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility achieved through hard work. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_dream

In this play, the protagonist, Willy Loman, also had his own American dream. He wanted to be successful, and he also imposed his dream onto his sons. But he failed at last.
The society is full of the law of the jungle. Not everyone is the winner, loser is everywhere as well. Willy Loman was a man who was eliminated by the increasingly fierce social competition. On the other hand, Willy's neighbor，Charley, and his elder brother, Ben who became a diamond tycoon after a detour to Africa were successful. Willy is jealous of them. The comparison between Willy and the other two successful men also made Willy frustrated.
In Willy’s mind, he should be the same successful as them, but the reality played a joke to him. In fact, his life is not so well. His two sons had conflicts with him, and they also didn’t achieve success. His salary was not high enough for him to repay the loan. He also had metal illness. All in all, there is a big psychological gap between his American dream and the reality.
First of all, there is a big contrast between the job in his mind as a salesman and the job in reality. When he was young, he thought that a salesman was the best job because he met a successful salesman who could make money when he was 84 years old. From then on, he chose to become a salesman. But things went athwart. The job was full of difficulties. He didn’t make enough money when he was old. The worst thing was that he was fired by his boss. Everything wa