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Is ‘Death of a Salesman’ by Arthur Miller a Great Tragedy?
‘Oedipus Rex’, ‘King Lear’, and ‘Death of a Salesman’: lies, myths and Aristotelian inversions
‘I believe that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were.’
— Arthur Miller, Tragedy and the Common Man
A few short days ago, I was channel-hopping to find something half decent to watch when I stumbled upon a repeat showing of an interview of Anthony Sher and Greg Dolan on BBC Four.
Anthony Sher had just passed away, and obviously, this was being shown as part of a tribute to a great actor—great is so overused today, but great he most certainly was—and one of our greatest Shakespearean actors. After the interview (and to prove my point, it seems) was a recording of Henry IV Part 1 in which Sher takes up the mighty role of Falstaff. When I say Sher is Falstaff, I do not mean Sher played Falstaff; I mean Sher was Falstaff.
Anyway, my piece today is not on that perfect transformation — maybe another day eh? — but on a comment made by the interviewer Sue MacGregor to Greg Dolan after telling us that Dolan had chosen Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller to open the Stratford season on Shakespeare’s birthday.
