Tragedy in Real Life Essay

This essay by Miller was interesting to say the least. He makes multiple good points about how an ordinary man can relate to those kings or people of higher standards when it comes to starring in a tragedy. I personally agree with his idea, this piece for me personally opened my eyes to see that the stories that they express at the theatre are not just stories and can be applied to everyday simple men and women in different ways. The main point that Miller makes is that you don’t have to be royalty to be able to experience the lessons and gain that come from a tragedy. I agree with this point because what makes these tragic stories so appealing is that people can relate to them in a way that is unique to their situations.

Another point that Miller made that impacted me was that he explained that all stories of tragedy have a main component that is that the main character has a fear that “derives from the underlying fear of being displaced”, he goes on to explain that this fear is not just for people of high ranks or royalty, that this fear applies to all of us. I can with certainty say that this is true because I have seen this fear in other tragedies such as Oedipus, but I have also seen this fear through my family and friends. For example, with Millers definition of tragedy in my mind, I would say that defying all odds is a good outcome of tragedy like when a firefighter runs into a burning building to save only one person and successfully saving them just seconds before the building collapses onto them. I think of this as a real-life example of how a common man experiences tragedy in real life and not just because they are some high-ranking person of society.

When I think of a modern-day example of tragedy my minds, although cheesy, goes to the movie Titanic, by James Cameron. This movie to me is a great example of a modern-day tragedy because Leonardo DiCaprio who plays Jack in the movie is just a simple man who by winning a game of poker was able to embark on the cruise where he would meet the love of his life and save her from death too. What makes this tragedy so appealing and applicable is that he was just a guy who saw this woman and was enthralled by her, they met and they fell in love, none of them though it would have been their last time they would be together, but in the face of death or saving himself he chose to not think of himself and give away his life to saving the love of his life. While this tragedy may not apply to everyone, there are people out there in love who this does apply to because they would without a doubt give their life just so that their loved one can live.