Notes on Tragedy and the Common Man

Key Quotes:

• ‘we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life to secure one thing- his sense of personal dignity’— entitlement and pride— he may feel as though he is great and has a high position to fall from.

• ‘the underlying struggle is that of the individual attempting to gain his “rightful” position in his society’— hubris, pride, arrogance, believes he can and should be something great

• ‘the fateful wound from which the events spiral is the wound of indignity, and its dominant force is indignation’— sense of shame and needing to rebuild pride

• ‘man’s total compulsion to evaluate himself justly’

• ‘inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a threat to his personal dignity’— ‘I am not a dime a dozen! I am Willy Loman, and you are Biff Loman’

• ‘the thrust for freedom is the quality in tragedy which exalts’

• ‘the possibility of victory must be there in tragedy’