《推销员之死》的文学价值分析

摘    要
悲剧是一种起源于希腊的戏剧形式，长期以来，悲剧的主人公都为帝王或出身高贵的上流阶层。现代剧作家阿瑟•米勒凭借自己多年的经验与非凡的洞察力，提出了自己独特的现代悲剧观，他打破了传统悲剧的僵化模式，更加实用地继承与发展了悲剧形式。米勒独具建树的悲剧观，在其杰作《推销员之死》中得到了完美诠释。本文试图从悲剧理论出发研究米勒的悲剧观，再通过对其代表作《推销员之死》的分析，具体研究该剧中米勒独特悲剧观的体现。在《推销员之死》作家米勒继承并革新了传统的悲剧理论，认为普通人对生活有更深刻全面的理解，他们才是最适合的悲剧主人公。在该剧中，体现了米勒独特的悲剧观。推销员之死在戏剧结构，象征手法的应用与主人公的性格方面继承了传统悲剧，而在题材的选择既主人公的普通性，悲剧的成因及悲剧所体现的乐观思想方面发展则打破传统，发展了传统的悲剧理论。

关键词：阿瑟•米勒， 悲剧观，《推销员之死》，发展与继承

ABSTRACT
 Tragedy is a drama genre originated in Greek. For a long time, it is an accepted rule that the tragic hero must be the kings, nobles or protagonists with high rank. However, Miller states his unique view of tragedy, which both inheritates and develops the theory of traditional tragedy. That is, Arthur Miller breaks the mold of the formulaic tragedies of previous era since Aristotle and redefines that the common people are as apt a subject for tragedies in its highest sense as kings were. Typically, Miller’s tragic view is presented in his masterpiece—Death of a Salesman. On the basis of the traditional theory of tragedy, this essay aims at pursuing Arthur Miller’s unique view of modern tragedy embodied in Death of Salesman, which is both the inheritance and the development of the traditional theory of tragedy.
In this play, Miller fully practices his unique view of tragedy. In such parts as the drama structure, the use of symbolism and the characteristics of the protagonist, Miller follows the theory of traditioanl tragedy. However, he breaks the archaic theory and makes great develoment to the theory of modern tragedy in the following aspects: the subject matter, the tragedy causes and the ending enlightment.

Keywords：Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman, tragedy, succession and development

Contents

uction  1
ional View of Tragedy 2
3. Miller's View of Tragedy 3
3.1 The Great Influence of His Early Experience on the Forming of Miller’s Tragic View 3
3.2 Arthur Miller’s Unique View of Modern Tragedy 4
4. Miller’s Inheritance and Development of Traditional Tragic View in Death of a Salesman 5
4.1 Miller’s Inheritance of Traditional Tragic View 5
4.1.1 Arthur Miller’s Acceptance of Traditional Drama Structure 6
4.1.2 Traditional Symbolism Applied in Death of a Salesman 7
4.1.3 Characteristics of Traditional Tragic Protagonist Embodied in Death Of a Salesman 8
4.2 Miller’s Development of Traditional Tragedy in Death of a Salesman  9
4.2.1 Little Man as Protagonist in Death of a Salesman 9
4.2.2 The Personal and Social Elements Being the Causes of Tragedy 10
4.2.3 Optimistic View of Tragic Ending Reflected in Death of a Salesman  12
sion 14
Acknowledgements 15
References 16

1.  Introduction

Arthur Miller, a prominent figure in American theatre, is considered by audiences and scholars as one of America’s greatest playwrights with his plays lauded throughout the world. Owing to his unique view of tragedy which is best demonstrated in his magnum opus Death of a Salesman. Arthur Miller made great contribution to the development of the modern drama. Death of a Salesman relates the story of Willy Loman, a down-on-his-luck traveling salesman. In order to cope with his failures in life, he retreats to the past in his mind and seems to be losing touch with reality. He tries to relive the good times, but keeps coming up against things that went wrong. His family tries to help him by lying about their prospects, but when Loman loses his job to which he has devoted his lifetime, he becomes desperate. His depression is exacerbated by the guilt he feels from a past infidelity which has estranged him from his older son, Biff. Rather than accepting the fact that his life has been a failure and that Biff is not interested in big business, Loman decides to commit suicide hoping that the insurance money will help Biff become successful. The play ends with his family and only friend, Charley, grieving by his graveside. The play reflects Miller’s unique tragic view thoroughly. In order to get a better understanding of Miller’s unique views and advancement, a brief review of traditional tragedy is necessary.

2. Traditional View of Tragedy

Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. [1]67 While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role in the history of Western civilization. That tradition has been multiple and discontinuous, yet the term has often been used to invoke a powerful effect of cultural identity and historical continuity. Tragedy was Greek’s contribution to the human civilization. It has undergone the process of birth, development, enlighten and decline after it first came into being 2500 years ago. [2]
There once emerged two major Western tragedies in the history: Greek Tragedy and Elizabethan Tragedy. 4-5
Greek tragedy did not have a integrated theory until the appearance of Aristotle’s
Poetic. Aristotle’s description in Poetic provides insight into the theoretical basis of Greek tragedy. He raised almost all the elements such as the nature of the tragic protagonist, the emotional effect on the spectators, the tragic flaw and so on. In his masterpiece Poetic, he defined the tragic hero as one of noble birth, and prescribed principle that the tragic hero should suffer a major reversal in fortune due to his tragic flaw, and then learned from his fall to elevation. Aristotle considered the plot to be the core of the tragedy and character stood the next place. From his standpoint, the goal of a tragedy was not suffering but the knowledge that issued from it. In other words, a tragedy should invoke a catharsis in the audience. It was a purging of pity and fear which the tragedy built up in the audience. [5]49-60
In traditional tragedy the tragic hero are always in the relationships between human and God, human and fate. Their suffering and misfortune closely link with their high position and nobility.

3. Miller’s View of Tragedy

The discussion about genre has been complicated by the fact that the word “tragedy” has acquired the sanctity of an honorific title, so that critics are often hesitant to bestow the term on plays dealing with ordinary life or with the “common man”. Consequently, playwrights who have focus on the ordinary and the commonplace and especially those who have opposed the necessary fatalism and mysticism of classical tragedy, have been faced with problem of trying to reconcile contemporary ideas with traditional tragedy. [6]126Arthur Miller is among them; his works have become for many critics the quintessential modern tragedy.
3.1The Great Influence of His Early Experience on the Forming of Miller’s Tragic View
There is no doubt that a person’s views of world and concepts of life are greatly influenced by his experiences. 55Therefore, it is essential to learn about his experience and factors impacting him emotionally or psychologically for the sake of better understanding his view of tragedy.
Miller’s early circumstances were comfortable, but the crash of 1929 and the Depression were the major influence on his developing views of life. Actually, the 1929 crash impressed Miller greatly, “The hidden laws of fate lurked not only in the characters of people, but equally if not more imperiously in the world beyond the family parlor. Out there were the big gods, the ones whose disfavor could turn a proud and prosperous and dignified man into a frightened shell of a man whatever he thought of himself, and whatever he decided or didn’t decide to do.” [9]36 
If the economic effects of the Depression had begun to awaken his social conscience, the social conditions in the Seventh Avenue district shocked him. The arrogance, cruelty, hardness and vulgarity of the buyers affected him in a way he never forgot. and finally became the material of his later famous play—Death of a Salesman. Miller’s experiences had a great influence on his view of tragedy. Owing to this, his unique view of tragedy was shaped.
3.2Arthur Miller’s Unique View of Modern Tragedy
Arthur Miller has been seriously concerned with the study of tragic mode, and his
view of tragedy mainly includes the following aspects.
First and foremost, unlike the traditional tragedy which emphasizes on the nobility of tragic protagonists, Miller believes that “the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in his highest sense as kings were. On the face of this, it ought to be obvious in the light of modern psychiatry, which bases its analysis upon classic formulations, such as the Oedipus and Orestes complexes, for instance, which were enacted by royal beings, but which apply to everyone in similar situation.” [10]435Therefore, we can find obvious evident in his play. Miller creates many characters such as salesman, farmer, docker porter, clerk, policeman and prostitute in his works and most of them are very common people in society.
Second, trag ic flaw used to be thought as the main reason for the misfortune and sufferings of the protagonist, but in Miller’s eyes, the root of tragedy should consist in “man’s inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity, his image of his rightful status and social reality”. 453
Miller fully understands the interdependent relationship between the society and individuals: the society is made up of individuals and molds them. In other words, certain individuals are the mirror of the society. As a result, the fate of an individual must have certain universality and the vice versa.
Third, it is almost an established concept that tragedy is of necessity allied to pessimism, however, Miller stated that “in true tragedy implies more optimism in its author than does comedy, and that its final result ought to be the reinforcement of the onlooker’s brightest opinions of human animal. For if it is true to say that in essence the tragic hero is intent upon claiming his whole due as a personality and if this struggle must be total and without reservation, then it automatically demonstrates the indestructible will of man to achieve his humanity. The possibility of victory must be there.” [10]454
Miller’s tragic views are fully elucidated in Death of a Salesman. This essay will mainly focus the practice of Miller’s tragic view in Death of a Salesman.

4. Miller’s Inheritance and Development of Traditional Tragic View in Death of a Salesman

As a unique form of literature, drama has its own components and characteristics. When appreciated from aesthetic perspective, it is generally illustrated in four aspects: drama conflict, protagonist, structure, and end of the tragedy.
Death of a Salesman, as one of Miller’s masterpieces, fully embodies his views of tragedy. It is questionable whether Death of a Salesman is enough and of sufficient magnitude to be considered as high tragedy in Aristotelian sense. According to Aristotle, the action of tragedy to be serious must be profound both in its subject matter and in its spiritual discernment. [11]

4.1 Miller’s Inheritance of Traditional Tragic View
Asked which playwrights he admired most when he was young, Miller applied: “First the Greeks, for their magnificent form, the symmetry. Half the time I couldn’t really repeat the story because the characters in the etymology were completely blank to me. I had no background at that time to know really what was involved in these plays, but the architecture was clear. That form has never left me. I suppose it just got burned in.” [7]236
 Over the years, Miller came to see that it was not only the form that he had learned from the traditional Greek, but also a sense of nature and function of drama itself. That is the reason why Miller has inherited certain aspects of traditional theory of tragedy. When it comes to its actual practice in Death of a Salesman, it is not difficult to find out that the in terms of drama structure, expression and tragic hero’s characteristics, Miller succeeded the traditional tragedy. [12]165-266

4.1.1 Arthur Miller’s Acceptance of Traditional Drama Structure
Classic tragedy emphasized that the elements of the structure: objects, events, the time and place should be highly concentrated. In order to adapt to the stage performance, the Greek tragedy always began with the climax or crisis and then disclosed the past by reviewing. [13]Such as the typical Greek tragedy Oedipus, the whole thing occurred only in half days, location had always been at the royal Palace. The stage showed the Oedipus king investigated the murderer, who killed the old king, and the events of the past four decades gradually revealed and when the final truth was disclosed, it also came along with the outbreak of tragedy. Like the Greek tragedy, the structure of Death of a Salesman is also concentrated. The play started with Willy back home:
From the right, Willy Loman, the salesman, enters carrying two large samples. The flute plays on. He hears but is not aware of it. He is past sixty years of age, dressed quietly. Even as he crosses the stage to the doorway of the house, his exhaustion is apparent. [14]5
Miller only intercepts the last day of life, basically against the backdrop of Willy’s home. Through reminiscing or actually Willy’s consciousness, Miller disclosures the past events and Willy’s depression, struggle and despair before suicide.
Like the traditional tragedy, its structure contains the beginning, development, climax, end, and sudden turning and discovery. Two clues coexist in the same story: external event development constitutes external structure. Willy returns home—making a plan—bankrupting—committing suicide; Psychological activity of recalling the past and imagination of his brother Ben constitutes the internal structure. Both the external and internal event pushes the plot to develop and supplement each other, successfully reflecting the hero’s character and the theme.
The structure of events and the nature of its form are the direct reflection of Willy’s way of thinking at this moment of his life. He lives in his own world full of contradictions in pursuing success of career, and in evaluating his position in the society.
Friction, collision, and tension between past and present are the heart of the play’s particular structure. [15]155
In Death of a Salesman, Miller not only describes what happened to Willy’s life in 24 hours, but also portrays Willy’s whole life. Just as Miller describes “it is certain private conversation in two acts and a requiem”.
4.1.2 Traditional Symbolism Applied in Death of a Salesman
It is a writing way of traditional tragedy to link the theme and structure of the drama by using symbolism such as analogy, metaphor and imagery, [18]Miller also follows this tradition in Death of a Salesman. A typical case in this play is Willy’s strange obsession with the condition of Linda’s stockings.
Linda  There’s nothing to make up, dear. You’ re donning fine, better than—
Willy  [noticing her mending] what’s that?
Linda  Just mending my stockings. They’re so expensive—
Willy  86
The stockings foreshadow his later flashback to Biff’s discovery of him and The Woman in their Boston hotel room. The teenage Biff accuses Willy of giving away Linda’s stockings to the woman. Stockings assume a metaphorical weight as the symbol of betrayal and infidelity. New stockings are important for both Willy’s pride in being financially successful and thus able to support his family and for Willy’s ability to ease his guilt about, and suppress the memory of his betrayal of Linda and Biff.
Another symbol is seed.
Willy  [After a slight pause] Tell me—is there a seed store in the neighborhood?
……
Stanley  Seeds? You mean like to plant?
……
Willy  316
Seeds represent for Willy the opportunity to prove the worth of his labor, both as a salesman and a father. His desperate, nocturnal attempt to grow vegetables signifies his shame about barely being able to support the family and having nothing to leave his children when he passes. Willy feels that he has worked hard but fears that he will not be able to help his offspring any more than his own abandoning father helped him. The seeds also symbolize Willy’s sense of failure with Biff. Despite the formula of American Dream for success, which Willy considers infallible, Willy’s efforts to cultivate and nurture Biff went awry. Realizing that his all-American football star has turned into a lazy bum, Willy takes Biff’s failure and lack of ambition as a reflection of his abilities as a father.

4.1.3 Characteristics of Traditional Tragic Protagonist Embodied in Death of a Salesman
In the thirteenth chapter of Poetics, Aristotle pointed out that tragic figure is neither a good nor bad person, but between these two kinds. This kind of people does not have much of a virtue, nor it is very fair, they have flaws.
“The flaw, or the crack in the character, is really nothing –and need be nothing, but his inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity, his image of rightful status.” [10]494
 Willy is in this category. Although frustrated in his business and earning little, Willy traveled a lot and does a lot of road business as a way of pursuing his dignity all his lifetime and a way of meeting the need of the family. For the purpose of being able to stay in the company, Willy even humbly asked a favor of his boss—Howard and willingly reduced his salary to a meager level.
Willy  I tell ya why, Howard.  The kids are all grown up, y’know. I don’t need much any more. If I could take home ---well, sixty- five dollars a week, I could swing.
……
Willy  Howard, all I need to set my table is fifty dollars a week.
……
Willy  If I had only forty dollars a week----that’s all I’d need. Forty dollars, Howard. [14]204-205
After Willy became jobless, he went to Charley, his neighbor and friend, to borrow fifty dollars every week and brought the money home to Linda, lying that the money was his salary with the intention of concealing the truth that he was fired. However, when he was offered a job, Willy rejected it out of his poor dignity and pride. For Willy was unwilling to admit that he was a failure.
Willy also tried his best to support his family on condition that he never lost his dignity. When he was finally reminded of the insurance money, he felt that his dignity as a “success” deserted him, so in despair he committed suicide.
On balance, to a certain extent, Willy’s character was similar to the traditional tragic hero.

4.2 Miller’s Development of Traditional Tragedy in Death of a Salesman
The big success and popularity of Death of Salesman is largely attributed to Miller’s development of traditional view of tragedy and his breakthrough of the formulaic mold of previous tragedies. The following aspects are regarded as the best interpretation of Miller’s development of traditional view of tragedy.

4.2.1 Little Man as Protagonist in Death of a Salesman
According to Aristotle, the tragic hero should be one of noble birth, but Miller looks at the problem from a practical rather than a theoretical angle. “……Tragedy has to grow and develop to meet the changing needs of the modern society”, he stresses.435
Willy is a common salesman and unsuccessful salesman in fact. He has devoted all his life and energy to pursue the material success and wants to hit big in business. He regards the success in career as the most important thing to gain his dignity and happiness, and gives it the premium over others in his life. However, he does not succeed in his career. In order to keep the daily life, he has to borrow money from his neighbor Charley. Although the company he has worked for nearly thirty-six years thrives, he becomes poorer and poorer, for he does not have a stable salary but only a commission like a jackaroo and at last he is fired. At home, he is neither an ideal father nor an ideal husband as well. As a father, with the faith in the supremacy of the material over spiritual, he transfers his blinded conviction in to his sons
Willy  ……Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead, be liked and you will never want. [14]97
And when Biff stolen, Willy did not pointed out but even encourages his theft.
Charley Listen, if they steal any more from that building the watchman’ll put the cops on them.
Willy    You shoulda seen the lumber they brought home last week. At last a dozen six-by-tens worth all kinds a money. [14]116
Which indirectly caused Biff’s peculiarity of stealing in his later life?
As a husband, Willy is a typical male chauvinist, and he had a love affair with another woman and betrayed his wife.
Besides, unlike the traditional tragedy such as Sophocles and Shakespeare dealt with noble minds and hearts which raised the actions of their heroes above the ordinary, the play also lacks sufficient magnitude for high tragedy. Willy’s aimless wanderings of mind and spirit, shrouds as they are in the murky mist of illusions can hardly be reckoned above the ordinary manner of things human. It is doubtful that Willy possesses the moral integrity or spiritual stature indicated by Aristotle.

4.2.2 The Personal and Social Elements Being the Causes of Tragedy
In the theory of the traditional tragedy misfortune was brought about not by vice or depravity, but for some error or frailty. The character failed because he tried to overcome his flaw but did not succeed.
However, in the causes of the fate of the tragic hero, Miller thinks there are many reasons contributing to the fate of the protagonist. Not only the personal sides but also the social sides, and both play essential role in the causes of tragic fate of the protagonist. In Death of a Salesman, the causes of the Willy’s tragic fate mainly include two parts: his own tragic flaws and the social elements.
It can not be denied that the hero himself plays an important role in it. In Willy’s tragic fate, his false values about the life and society are one of the main causes that lead to his tragic fate. Willy has looked for a right position and struggled his dignity with a desperate earnest all his life. Unfortunately, he failed to get security in the world, and got lost in his own illusion.
Willy attached his life to a faith which in the blessed country everyone has the chance to be successful through his effort. He regarded Dave Single man as the idol of his career,
Willy ……I met a salesman in the Parker House. His name was Dave Singleman--- And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want. [14]202
Willy always holds the view that he can succeed if he has the determination. He firmly sticks to the idea that the meaning of his life can only be derived from the society and willingly choses it as the standard to measure him. He assumes that success fell inevitably to the man with the right smiles, the best line, the most charm, the man who is well liked.
In addition, his characteristics contradicts, he is immature in his mind which is shown in his so called pride. When Willy was fired, he actually badly needed a job to support the family. But when his friend offered him a job Willy refused, because he was unwilling to admit that Charley was more excellent than him.
Willy    I just can’t work for you, Charley.
Charley  What’re you, jealous of me?
Willy    I can’t work for you, that’ all, don’t ask me why.
Charley  [angered, takes out more bills] You been jealous of me all your life … [14]248-251
 “The false values, tightly woven into Willy’s personality, were destructive. His tragedy, to put it in other words, was the tragedy of man’s lost values in modern society, was the tragedy of man’s rebuilding values on illusion for defending his dignity.” [19]
In addition, Miller thinks “the wrong is the condition which suppresses man, perverts the flowing out of his love and creative instinct.” [10]435And it also lies Miller’s development of traditional tragic view.
 As a social dramatist, Miller confirms the social forces as one of the most important causes of tragedy. Miller thinks that one must not conceive of man as a private entity and his social relations as something thrown at him. According to him, society is inside man and man is inside society. Raymond Williams thinks that in Miller “neither is the individual seen as a unit or the society as an aggregate, but both as belonging to a continuous and in real terms inseparable process.” [20]70
According to Miller, human is considered to be the product of forces outside the individual person. “The fate of seemingly insignificant individual must be the fate of the society, and the society’s conflicts must be the individual’s conflicts, man’s destruction in his effort to evaluate himself and to be evaluated justly, posits a wrong or an evil in his environment. Man is to achieve or to maintain the needed sense of personal dignity is the fault of society. ” [20]75
In Death of a Salesman, we can find a prototype of an alienated white collar man in the character of Willy Loman. It examines the cost of an alienated working class in the character of Willy. It shows that Willy is not only a victim of his personality, but also a victim of the flawed American society.
“There was respect, and comradeship, and gratitude in it. Today, it’s all cut and dried, and there’s no chance for bringing friendship to bear—or personality.” [14]204
    Willy  ……You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away—a man is not a 
         pece of fruit. [14]206
As Willy said in the conversation with his boss Howard, the American society attaches more focus on the material. So when Willy was old and unable to travel around to do business, he was fired by the company relentlessly like the fruit. Willy’s tragic fate actually reveals the rules of the American society: one has to be completive; otherwise he will be left at the mercy of an unfortunate life. Willy’s tragic fate is typical illustration of common American. Under the law of the jungle, employees are only the tool of making money, once they are unable to make profit for their boss, they will inevitably await their doom.

4.2.3 Optimistic View of Tragic Ending Reflected in Death of a Salesman
According to Aristotle, the goal of tragedy is to evoke compassion to the tragic hero and the fear of the enigmatic destiny, so to realize elevation. Miller has developed it. In Tragedy and the Common Man, Miller points out that “The possibility of victory must be there in tragedy. ……In them(tragedy), and in them alone, must lies the belief—optimistic”. [10]451 He thinks that a modern dramatist should show not only defeat but also a free will.
So when Willy gradually realized that he had failed both as a salesman and as a father with his lifelong hard work and his expectation coming to nothing. He reminisced about the “good old days”, hoping to find him self and consolation. However, he was incapable of turning his whole life. Consequently he came to the idea that death can be the redemption and can help him to regain his lost dignity. Willy’s death at the end of the play is purposeful. In his opinion, he learned that “he is loved by his son and has been embraced and forgiven by him, Willy chose his death not as a escape but as a fulfillment.” 145
Willy actually put an end of his life with a joy, pride and a hope that his death will bring a fortune to the living and help his son to start his own business. He just lay down his life for the ones he loves. And this is where the optimistic view of the play lies. Meanwhile, Willy’s desperate commitment to his persistent illusion and dignity also give the audience the hope and thought instead of mere compassion and terror. Therefore, a moral triumph can be observed in the play. To Miller, “death is an assertion of bravery, it is just a way for the protagonist to live and die for it.” [21]147
Besides, Willy’s death also helped Biff to realize himself. Unlike Willy and Happy, Biff felt compelled to seek the truth about himself. While his father and brother were unable to accept the miserable reality of their respective lives, Biff acknowledged his failure and eventually managed to confront it. Biff bristled stiffly at self-deception. Biff saw himself as trapped in Willy’s grandiose fantasies. Intent on revealing the simple and humble truth behind Willy’s fantasy, Biff longed for the territory (the symbolically free West) obscured by his father’s blind faith in a skewed, materialist version of the American Dream. In the last action Biff said, “I know who I am, kid.”[14]369
This also gives the audience the hope that Biff has found his own way to go, he will not bound up with the blind faith which Willy has taught him. He is free and can live on his own view. From Biff’s arousal, we can assure that Biff will not wander any longer, he has nail down the direction of his life. We can even see an enterprising young man with a definite goal.
Both Willy’s death and Biff’s wakeup present Miller’s optimistic view in tragedy.

5. Conclusion

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is considered to be one of the best modern tragedies in the 20th century. According to Arthur Miller, “Tragedy is one of the most lasting categories of all literary genres. And tragedy should not dead to modern writers but to grow and develop to meet the changing needs of the modern society.”[10]345 His unique interpretations of tragedy have enriched the implications of drama, which can be considered to be his great contribution to the development of the modern drama.           
Different from the traditional theories of tragedy, Miller practices his own views of tragedy in this play. Based on his experience and great insight, he succeeds in balancing his theory of tragedy between the succession and development of traditional tragedy theory.
His views are not limited to the studied or remembered models; his theory is well presented in his masterpiece. In this play, Miller practices his unique tragic view. In the term of the drama structure, use of symbolism and characteristics of the protagonist, Miller follows the traditional tragic theory. However, to a larger extent, he develops the traditional tragedy, which can be traced in the play: the subject matter, the cause of the tragic fate and the optimistic view showed at the end of the play all present Miller’s unique tragic view.
It is Miller’s unique tragic theory view that not only establishes Miller’s stature as one of the greatest giants in the drama but also makes his works full of significance.

Acknowledgements

My initial thanks go to my supervisor Kang Wenhong, who patiently supervised my dissertation and was at times very willing to offer me illuminating advice or suggestions. She has spent a lot of her precious time reading and correcting my paper. Without her help and guidance, I could not have finished this dissertation.
I am also indebted to other teachers and my classmates who have not only offered me their warm encouragements but also shared with me their ideas and books. They are Yan Yu xuan, Tan Cui ting, Hu Fang and so on.
My greatest personal debt is to my parents and my sister as well. They have cultivated a soul of sensitivity, hospitality, and honesty out of me, and offered a harbor of happiness and sweetness for me.
The remaining weakness and possible errors of the dissertation are entirely my own.

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