How The Common Man Can Be a Tragic Hero

Upon its introduction into the world by the Ancient Greeks, tragedies were known for featuring nobility as protagonists due to their high status. The fact that these noble men/women could descend from a position of such high prestige is what gave audiences the intense love for tragedies. This precedent was carried on by famous playwright William Shakespeare, as seen by some of his most famous works like Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth. However, in today’s modern society, these people of nobility/ royalty are extremely limited, as very few nations in the world continue to have them. This is exactly what Arthur Miller discusses in his essay, “Tragedy and the Common Man”. Within the essay, he redefines what a tragedy is - he argues that although we do not have as many noblemen as before, there is still tragedy that can be found in the lives of the common man. In fact, Miller states that, “I believe that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings once were”. He argues that nobility isn’t a requisite for tragedy - anyone that fits his criteria of a tragic hero can be one. After consulting various sources, it can be concluded that the common man is equally as capable of becoming a tragic hero due to the many situations that these criteria can apply to.

In Miller’s essay, he argues that one reason as to why the common man can be a tragic hero is due to the fact that he believes a defining aspect of a tragic hero is that they question their current situation in order to achieve their goals. In his essay, he states, “ But for a moment everything is in suspension, nothing is accepted, and on this stretching and tearing apart the cosmos, in the very action of so doing, the character gains ‘size’, the tragic stature which is spuriously attaches to the royal or the high born in our minds”(Miller, 16). What Miller meant by this is that by challenging what is around them, the character gains the tragic element. This quote can apply to numerous instances, with some being the protagonist in Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” and the protagonist in William Butler Yeats’ poem, “The Second Coming”. In Achebe’s book, the plot revolves around Okonkwo, a leader in the Nigerian Ibo tribe as he witnesses white settlers coming in to destroy his people’s way of life. This is especially seen when the protagonist mentions some of the actions that the white settlers are taking to change their lives. An example of this would include when Onkonkwo states, “The next morning the crazy men actually began to clear a part of the forest to build their house”. Although Onkonkwo is just a common tribesman, his desire to stop the white man from taking over his Tribe’s way of life is fitting in with that Miller describes as a tragic hero. On the other hand, William Butler Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming” follows the protagonist after World War I and glances at the barren, desolate land in front of him as he appears to see visions that the world is coming to an end and that the Christian belief of the second coming of Jesus Christ was going to happen. Throughout the length of the poem, Yeats repeatedly mentions how he is standing there as slowly the world is leading up to the apocalypse. By saying things like ”Things fall apart; the center cannot hold” and “Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world', the protagonist clearly shows that they are facing the unknown. The whole world is collapsing around him and rather than just ignore it he elaborates on the severity of these occurrences are. This, in the perspective of Miller, is what composes a tragic hero. Therefore, both common men in each piece of literature are tragic heroes in their own way.

Another point that Miller brings up in his essay is that a tragic hero can also be defined as a person who is willing to sacrifice anything and everything to achieve that goal. He stated that, “...the tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing- his sense of personal dignity” (Miller, Page 14). In other words, a tragic hero is defined as someone who risks it all in order to achieve what they truly desire- their dignity. In Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”, what Onkonkwo desires the most is to be looked highly upon by the tribe for being a successful warrior and leader. And in order to achieve this state of “Dignity”, he makes some huge sacrifices. For example, in order to appear to the tribe as more of a leader, he acts as emotionless and stern as possible. This had directly caused him to not treat his own children with love or care, as well as his numerous wives. Another instance of this would be his toxic masculinity. What this means is that he speaks in a rude and barbaric manner to anyone that isn’t as successful as him or even if they are female. This had led him to make rash decisions, such as the beating of his wife, calling that one tribeman a woman because he did not have as many titles as him, and sexist remarks that he mentions repeatedly throughout the book. Some strong examples of this is when he states, “ We all know that a man is the head of the family and his wives do the bidding” and “Onkonkwo saw clearly the high esteem in which he would be held, and he saw himself taking the highest title in the land” (Achebe, page 140). The fact that Onkonkwo was willing to sacrifice all that just to pursue his dignity effectively shows him to be a tragic hero. Now when it comes to Yeats’ “The Second Coming”, the repeated use of dark and destructive imagery is his manner in which he attempts to tell the reader to end the violence in order to prevent this apocalypse from happening. This is seen from when he uses dark imagery like “Turning and turning in the widening gyre” and “a shape with lion body and the head of the man”. These phrases serve as warnings about the destructive power of man, and what more fighting can lead to in the future. Therefore, the protagonist fits into the category of a tragic hero.

Ever since they were introduced in Ancient Greece, tragedies have been thought to have been exclusively composed of royalty and the nobility. However, as we know today, there are very few countries that use monarchs. This is where Arthur Miller steps in. In his essay “Tragedy and the Common Man”, Miller states that, “ I believe that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were”. What he meant by that he believed a tragedy can occur with anyone that fit his criteria. As long as they had certain defining characteristics ( like be willing to sacrifice anything and everything in order to achieve their own personal dignity), then even the most common of men could be a tragic hero. After consulting numerous texts and documents, it can be concluded that even the most common men have the potential to be tragic heroes. In both of the external texts mentioned, average people were proven to be tragic heroes. And although no one really can tell, maybe one day we will have a modern day Shakespeare, composing tragedies that involve common people, describing their experiences as they descend from grace. This could lead to a change in habit in terms of protagonists.