A Study of the Essence of Tragedy in Millerian Plays throughout Nietzsche’s Idea of Inevitability

Abstract

Arthur Miller’s plays give a deep tragic sensation to the readers dealing with tragic life of modern man; in which a normal man who seems to have committed no tragic flaw faces a drastic tragic outcome. In his article Tragedy and Common Man, Miller declares his intent of re-portraying tragedy in the twentieth century: “since the life of man and his challenges has had been the apt subject for tragedy throughout history”. Besides, in his Birth of Tragedy Nietzsche points out that tragedy claims a spreading subject in man’s life which encompasses the whole human generations and drags them to a tragic fate, and this is raised from a deep-seated problem in man’s life. All Millerian heroes are stricken in such a tragic fate. The present study deals with the indispensable problem of this tragic fate which seems to take in the world of Millerian tragedy and calls this factor as “Inevitability”: the unavoidable tragic end, in which the tragic hero is stricken, has no loophole, and finally has to submit the fate. This study tracks the paradigm of this discourse in Arthur Miller’s tragic plays. Finally the article comes to the conclusion that despite all the struggles of the heroes of modern tragedies, their fate is inevitable. The inevitability is the factor Nietzsche point out for the birth of tragedy: the fundamental problem in man’s fate drags him to the unavoidable noose, and it is the reason for the re-birth of tragedy in twentieth century and Arthur Miller’s plays.
Key words: Tragedy; Inevitability; Tragic Flaw; Tragic Pity and Fear; Catharsis; Presentiment