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Summary A* AQA ENGLISH LITERATURE B ESSAY - 2019 ‘In tragic texts the protagonists are exceptional characters who fall from good fortune to misery.’$4.73
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2019 ‘In tragic texts the protagonists are
exceptional characters who fall from good
fortune to misery.ʼ
2019
‘In tragic texts the protagonists are exceptional characters who fall from good fortune to
misery.ʼ To what extent do you agree with this view in relation to two texts you have studied?
Remember to include in your answer relevant comment on the ways the writers have shaped
meanings. [25 marks]
Willyʼs arrival in the novel being where Hamlet started – “itʼs alright I came back” creating
a sense of foreshadowing from the beginning.
Millerʼs essay. The only height that Willy falls from is within his own mind. Willy as a ‘low-
manʼ in society. Never being an exceptional character or having good fortune.
Linda Lomanʼs attention must be paid speech.
Hardyʼs exceptionalism of Tess marking her as different from the red ribbon to what made
her the “envy of her housemates”. Her megalopsychia and parents class hoping dreams
make her tragedy occur. ‘How the mighty are fallenʼ.
Tessʼs replacement with Liza-Lu represented a lack of exceptionalism but instead
inconsequence surrounding her life.
Tessʼs good fortune in The Rally at Talbothays which is quickly destroyed by Angelʼs
puritanical reversion to purity values which causes him to re-establish the class
boundaries and cause her misery.
In Aristotleʼs poetics, Aristotle stated that the tragic hero must be an exceptional character, with
a “greatness of the soul”, which makes their fall ‘from good fortune to miseryʼ more “cathartic”
for audiences. In Tess of DʼUrbervilles and Death of a Salesman we are however presented with
slightly different tragedies which break tragic decorum. The tragic heroes are arguably not
kings or nobility common to early epic tragedies but ‘every-manʼ characters far from the realm
of exceptionalism. Through this subversion of tragedies themes, the extent to which the
protagonists are ‘exceptional characters who fall from good fortune to miseryʼ can be argued.
As Willy enters the play calling out “itʼs alright I came back”, a sense of foreshadowing is
created from the beginning. We wonder why Willy had to reassure Linda that he would come
home safely, and if he himself had debated not returning. Through this perspective, critics have
stated that “Willy Loman begins where Hamlet may have ended”. We are presented with a man
already broken and victim to his own flaws alongside the interaction of fate and the society he is
in, causing his misery and also madness. It becomes clear through Willyʼs presentation as the
play progresses that he exemplifies the position of the working-class man in society – ‘a low
manʼ – further emphasised by his name ‘Lomanʼ and childish diminutive of ‘Willyʼ representing
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