For the remainder of the year, we will have several short (approximately 10 minute) homework assignments designed for the purpose of thinking about the sort of questions that may be asked about the texts we have studied on an exam. You have already answered the first of these questions, concerning morality in two plays. Please be sure not only to complete all these short homeworks, but to take each of them seriously.______________________________________
The American Heritage Dictionary defines tragedy as "a drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances." In a few sentences, give a thoughtful answer to the following questions.
1. Is Death of a Salesman a tragedy? Why/why not?
2. Is Romeo and Juliet a tragedy? Why/why not?
tragedy. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved May 18, 2010, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tragedy
Logging you in...
Death of a salesman i would say is a tragedy according to the definition there. Normally i would think that it wouldn't be since i thought that tragedy usually concerned a romantic play which had gone to chaos with plenty of dramatic deaths etc. which includes a lot of shakespeares plays. Death of a salesman IS a tragedy thought, because Willy had been a depressed salesman throughout the play, who did suffer extreme sorrow, especially with Biff, his son. It was as well a really sad ending, by Willy dying in a car crash. This is another feature to a tragedy which, in my opinion, makes the 'death of a salesman' a tragedy.
ReplyDeleteRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy. This is because it expressed all the features of what a classic shakespearian tragedy should have. Lots of death, sorrow, love, suicide, murder. Romeo and Juliet do not suffer extreme sorrow in the beginning though, except the thought of the fight of the montagues and capulets, but that they were just madly in-love with each other. But leading to the end of the play in Act 3 Scene 1, when romeo killed tybalt due to tybalt killing mercutio, tybalt who is juliets cousin. They both go in great depression, and the story ends, as any tragedy should, by the 2 main characters dying, thought in romeo and juliet, they kill themselves.
TRAGEDY.
ReplyDeleteRomeo and Juliet-this is defiantly the tragedy because there are so many moments of grief, sadness and pain. We can see how Romeo and Juliet suffer extreme sorrow when they are separated from each other. There are many people who died in the fights between Montagues and Capulets. For example, death of Tybalt and Mercutio brought great depression into both families. Also at the end when priest’s plan failed there was a great tragedy when both main characters Romeo and Juliet committed suicide.
Death of a Salesman- I think it is the tragedy because Willy the salesman died in the car accident and i think if there is death in the story its already a tragedy. Also because Willy and Biff could not get along with each other. Willy suffered a lot through the whole play. First, his son found out that he was cheating on his wife. Second, he got fired from the work. And at last, every day he was thinking of doing suicide.
Polina
I would say that Death of a Salesman is in a way a tragedy. This is because at the end Willy dies from believing that Biff will not only have enough money to continue and mend his life. But he would also realise how loved and cared for Willy was by the amount of people at his funeral. This unfortunately wasn’t the case. What really happened in the end was that Biff’s father killed himself to support his son. Death of a Salesman already starts off less positively. It therefore isn’t as much of a tragedy as it is more predictable. Even the title gives away the story.
ReplyDeleteRomeo and Juliet is definitely a tragedy. As Romeo believes Juliet is dead when she is actually under a potion, he kills himself. The ending has tragedy written all over it. Romeo and Juliet starts off as a love story and then dramatically changes to a tragedy. It is a bolder ending and is played more tragically.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDeath Of A Salesman, I say is indeed a tragedy because of the thought of a Willy's death. Willy died to give Biff the insurance money but he didn't know that everyone else would be sad for him. And he didn't understand that everyone loved, cared and enjoyed being with him. Willy also thought their would be many people at his funeral, but there weren't.
ReplyDeleteRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy, and is proven as a tragedy on Wikepedia also, "Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare" Haha proof. This is also because it showed many deaths with extremely strong love for only a short period of time and ending in the lovers dying near each other, BY MISTAKE. It was just a lousy mistake by a messenger. It also shows suicide in the end and murder because of Tybalt and Mercutio's deaths. The killing of Tybalt, the cousin of Juliet was a great tragedy for Juliet, but she still loved Romeo after what he had done as he was her husband. In the end they both suicide and the story ends with the families living together happily. Sad huh!
I would say that both stories, "The Death of a Salesman" and "Romeo And Juliet" are tragedies.
ReplyDelete"Death of A Salesman" is about Willy and his tragic life. He is a bit crazy and his life is not at all easy and full of happiness. He is very poor and has to travel a lot to get his money every day. Then he gets fired and doesn't have a job at all. And he has some serious arguments with his sons, especially his older son. And he tries very often to kill himself. I would say it is a tragedy , because the main character suffers "especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances". In the end, WIlly even dies, in a car crash, and at his funeral, only his family and some close friends came, no one else.
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, too. The main characters, Romeo and Juliet "suffer extrem sorrow". Romeo best friend got killed, this made him very upset and angry, so he kills the murderer, and gets banished. Juliet is then really upset because Tybalt is dead, by Romeo's hand! Then Romeo is banished, which makes the two lovers terribly hurt and upset. Juliet then has to marry someone, but she cant because she already is, and so she drinks a poison that makes her seem to be dead. Romeo thinks she is dead, which must have been so terribly upsetting, hurting, so that he killed himself, and didnt rescue Juliet because he didnt know he could. All this pain, drama, death and sorrow makes this story to a tragedy.
caroline
What is tragedy? Tragedy can defined as a serious play ir story in which a series of bad events happen to the main characters, usually resulting in death.
ReplyDelete"Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller can be classified as tragic. Willy the protagonist of the story leaded a very depressed life and that is was finally ended his life. Willy hadn't had a plan of himself when he was younger, so he tries to influence his children, especially Biff close to impossible goals. I believe that when a person has no reachable ambition, or dream that person leads a tragic life. Life by definition is a journey, so when you have no plan or like Willy having a plan to die, it becomes tragic. Willy commits suicide leaving is family to mourn.
Romeo and Juliet was written by William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet starts off with a sonnet, foreshadowing. The story starts light and humorous. The story takes a tragic turn when Romeo kills Tybalt. Romeo is exiled and The Fray makes a plan to reunite Romeo and Juliet, however that went array and Romeo and Juliet die in each other's arms. Even though Romeo and Juliet is very tragic, the story is more of a romantic one. There are spores of humor and love. However all those element end with tragic deaths.
Both stories display elements of tragedy, and death.
Valentina Spiteri
I would say both are indeed tragedies.
ReplyDeleteDeath of a salesman was a tragedy since in the very beginning of the story we see that Willy isnt exactly 'all there' and he crashes. then throughout the story we see that he has flashbacks, has a bad temper and then we find out that he is trying to kill himself. Willy also gets fired by Howard that doesnt make anything better since he needs money to pay off his debts, and loans, so after having an argument with his eldest son Biff he had a final flashback of his Brother Ben and then got killed in a car crash. this is a tragedy as it shows how hard Willy's life is and how he is coping with it.
Romeo and Juliet is ofcourse a tragedy, as quite a few people die. Mercutio being the first dies at the hand of Tybalt after being stabbed under Romeos arm, then Romeo getting revenge and kills Tybalt which ends in both Houses coming together and fighting over Romeos punishment, this shows that both houses cared about them and that they are gravely hurt inside. Then in the end when Juliet drinks a potion made by Friar Laurence to make her appear dead he thought that she was and took his own life to be with her but when Juliet awoke to find that he murdered himself, she did the exact same thing. Thus making this story full of tragic ends.
バカ
1. I think that Death of Salesman can be both, tragedy and not tragedy. In a way this story is tragic because it is sad, it has got a death at the end of the play and the play itself is full of depression. In another way, since it has got sunny and bright flashbacks, it is not so tragic, and who knows, for some people death isn't bad, some people celebrate it when the person dies, so it is really personal opinion to look whether or not the play is tragedy. For me personally, the play is tragic.
ReplyDelete2.Romeo&Juliette can also be both, tradegy and not tragedy because in a way the familes are bitterly fighting, killing relatives and friends, and at the end there is two deaths of two desperate lovers. In another way it is not a tragedy because Romeo and Juliette had fallen in love, and it is good, also when they died their families became friendly. So for me this play isn't a tragedy, especially thinking how many love moments there are in a couple of days.
1. Death of a Salesman is not really a tragedy as, losing a job is not a too tragic it's just sad.
ReplyDelete2. Roemo and Juliet is definetly a tragic story as Romeo and Juliet die together in the end and did not achieve what they wanted too. AS well as the families were quite broken afterwards.
Tragic.
ReplyDeleteIn Death of a salesman the whole play is really tragic it begins with him getting old and because he cant actually drive because of that he gets fired. but there is also a bit love in the play because he commits suicide for he sake of his kids but and ending like that is tragic.
In Romeo and Juliet it is tragic to see that two people who fall in love with each other just cant fall in love because of their families. and Tybalt kills Romeo's friend and Romeo cant controll himself and kills the cousin of his girlfriend. he gets banished and they dont see each other but then it is getting worse if the great idea is getting wrong!! Then the ending is that Romeo doesnt know that Juliet isnt really dead but later they both die because they loved each other so much!
Anne-mieke
Death of a Salesman is definitely a tragedy. From the very beginning, we see that this play can't possibly be a happy one. The father, Willy, isn't okay mentally, what with how he keeps having flashbacks and acts as if they were really happening. We learn that Willy has never really had complete control of his life, when he was younger especially, and so tries to control his sons. He can't seem to be able to do that though, especially not after Biff finds out about his affair with another woman. Not only that, but Willy has so many debts that he needs to pay, and what with Howard firing him, things only get worse. Willy completely loses it, having his flashbacks more frequently, and his final decision is that he's worth more dead. Then he kills himself, and leaves the money for his family. It's a tragedy because, however hard the family may have tried to stop him, he still succeeded in killing himself.
ReplyDeleteRomeo and Juliet is definitely a tragedy what with the deaths of so many people. With every murderer, there would be one willing to kill him (the murderer) just like in the case with Tybalt and Mercutio. Tybalt kills Mercutio, a close friend of Romeo, and so Romeo kills Tybalt. This is bad though, because Romeo is married to Tybalt's cousin, and then gets banished so that they may not see each other. Then comes along the problem that Juliet has been told to marry Paris, another man. She agrees to the marriage, but drinks a 'potion' the night before that makes her appear dead with no pulse, that Friar Laurence had given her. Romeo hears of Juliets 'death' and so come back to Verona just to see her 'dead' body. He kills himself in sorrow, not realizing she's still alive. Then, when Juliet wakes up, she sees Romeo's dead body and is overcome with sorrow, and just like Romeo, kills herself.
Both plays are tragedies, but in different ways. They each play their part in their own way.
-Tatiana T.
In my opinion, Death of Salesman can be described as a tragedy, but also as not being a tragedy. The main character in the story, Willy did kill himself at the end, just to prove that his funeral would be popular, and to help out with money issues. The family also have many quarrels and arguments throughout the story. however, Willy isn't 'brought' to ruins, as he can be summed up as being in 'ruins' throughout the play, and his death is not hugely unexpected. also, his family do not seem overly-sad over his passing.
ReplyDeleteRomeo and Juliet on the other hand is definitely a tragedy, as both main characters, Romeo and Juliet killed themselves over a misunderstanding, and at such a young age. This is intensified to know that they loved each other so much that they would take their life over the loss of the others.
Andrew Graham
I think both of them are Tragedies as in both stories people die. In no way can death be linked to not being a tragedy if someone dies its a tragedy because the person is gone for ever as I don't believe in any sort of afterlife when you die you die and thats it.
ReplyDeleteEspecially in Romeo and Juliet a lot of religious people think that it is an happy ending for Romeo and Juliet as they are both dead and can live together in the so called 'After Life'.
As for Death of a Salesmen, Willy dies and he leaves behind a wife and 2 broke kids so to me that it a tragedy
Kimbery Merten
1. Death of a salesman is not really a tragedy. It does have sad and happy moments in it, but nothing in the story happens which changes the wholes story, and is a matter of life and death. Willy does loose his job and does not have enough money, but it isnt the worst that could have happened.
ReplyDelete2. Romeo and Juliet, i think it is a tragedy. It is basically about love, and how they both died for love. They loved each other so much, even though they couldnt be together, they still married and continued their short lives. There was also a lot of drama involved in this story, which made it even worse and dramatic, so overall i think Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTragedy :
ReplyDeleteDeath of a Salesman is not really a tragedy because Willy has reached that age where he is struggling with being confused and fired and he wants everyone to be happy without him. He wants to kill himself because then Linda will get the isurance money and he will stop feeling guilty about having an affair and allowing Biff to find out. It has a sad ending for some but I thought it was quite happy.
Romeo & Juliet is a tragedy because neither of the characters who died actually wanted to die in the beginning or throughout the play. It was all accidental and very tragic about the mix up that occurs. This play has a sad ending and has a lot of tragedy in a bunch of scenes and a lot of death which makes it more tragic. Good story though :)
Romeo and Juliet
ReplyDelete1.Is Death of a Salesman a tragedy? Why/why not?
2. Is Romeo and Juliet a tragedy? Why/why not?
1. Death Of a Salesman is a tragedy because he was coming to the end of his life. He also tried killing himself plus he refused to believe that everything wasn’t perfect like his sons not getting the big deal he dreamt about and wanted them to get. Also towards the end of the film he kept on saying everyone will come to my funeral, all the costumers will come, there will be plenty of people but only his family showed up. However it was only him that died in the end and the loan for his house was finally paid off.
2. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy because these two lovers we forbidden to love each other from the beginning. However when they found out they still got married and furthere more Romeo made the situation worse by killing Tybalt because then he was exiled this made it even more difficult for the both of them . In the end when the plan went wrong and both lovers ended up dying was quite sad.
EVITA
furthermore *
ReplyDelete1. Death of a salesman is a tragedy and we can first tell by the name 'Death' this is showing us someone is going to die, and death is always a tragedy. It is also a tragedy because of the family arguemnts that go on and how the son and father always argue, how the father had an affair and even how he lost all hope in his son just because the son wouldnt follow the fathers dreams. Willy then lost his job, and everything seemed to go downhill for him so he killed himself with a car crash, and not much people turned up at his funeral, which is also a tragedy.
ReplyDelete2) Romeo and Juliet is deffinatly a huge tragedy. The capulets and montagues both hate one another with a great passion, but Romeo and Juliet seem to fall for one another and decide to get married. There family cannot find out, which is quite sad and many deaths happen ( Tibelt, Mercutio ) but the biggest tragedy in this story is when Romeo finds Juliet 'Dead' he then drinks poison and Juliet wakes up to watch Romeo die and then stabs herself.
To conclude both of these stories are tragedies for their own reasons, but the Key theme in both of them is Death.
* Sorry for bieng very very very late, but i did not read the email or blog till now *
1. Death Of a Salesman is a tragedy because he was soon about to die. The father tried killing himself. The father also didn't want to believe the truth of his life (the fact that he wasn't the greatest man alive, referring to how only his family where at his funeral and that his son's weren't as good as he though they where originally).
ReplyDelete2. Romeo and Juliet is also a tragedy because they were not aloud to talk to each other, never mind fall in love and get married with each other. When Romeo killed Tybolt he causes more hassle for both of the family's as there is more tension between them for a short period of time. In the end when the plan of there successful escape from the town failed, the story was very sad.
toby.
Tragedies:
ReplyDeleteDeath of a Salesman is a tragedy because everything that happens in the story to the main character (Willy) is something bad. In almost every scene of the play, we discover memories and event that happen to Willy that don't make his life better but make it worse. Some examples would be him trying to commit suicide and him cheating on his wife, and his sons not respecting him as much anymore, and him getting fired from work, and more.
Romeo and Juliet is also a tragedy, because Romeo is a Montague, and Juliet is a Capulet, so they are not allowed to be together, and when they try to be together, things just get worse for the main character (Romeo). Some examples would be his best friend getting killed, him killing Tybalt without thinking, the Prince trying to get him killed, and him thinking that Juliet died.
I think Death of a Salesman is a tragedy. It starts with explaining the situation, and we are given some hope that Willy will get better but as the story progresses he gets worse and worse. To top off the tragedy he dies killing him self.
ReplyDeleteI also think that Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy. It starts off as a normal story, with a bit of sadness as Mercutio and Tybalt die but it stays a story of love between Romeo and Juliet. In the end, Romeo thinks Juliet is dead, and kills him self. This is an incredibly tragic ending to the story.
Tragedy
ReplyDeleteI would say Death of a Salesman is a tragedy because at first, Willy and his family were living great lives with good payment. Eventually, it all fell apart for Willy and he eventually lost his job and the love of his two sons. He was getting very depressed and didn’t want to go on in life anymore, and in the end, Willy had died a tragic death. This is why I think that Death of a Salesman is tragic.
I think that Romeo and Juliet is tragic because of the fact that 2 teenagers, fall in love at first sight, and are unable to love each other freely as their families are sworn enemies with each other. Also, it is tragic for the fact that they put so much effort into being able to live their lives with each other, and they both eventually die in the end.
by Kalean