How does Hardy immediately establish the tragic outcome of the story in chapters 1-8? Compare
and contrast this to the opening scenes of ‘Death of a Salesman’ and the tragic conventions
explored.
Tragic inevitability plays an instrumental role in propelling the tragedy in ‘Death of a Salesman’ and
‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’. From the beginning of both, the protagonists are predisposed to tragedy
which is immediately established. However, both Hardy and Miller expose this impending tragedy in
differing ways. In the case of ‘Death of a Salesman’, the title foregrounds the tragedy and perhaps
reveals that the play follows the tragic journey of Willy Loman, akin to other Aristotelian tragic
heroes such as Hamlet. The original title of the play, ‘The Inside of His Head’ propounds the idea
that, from a psychoanalytical perspective, the tragedy is catalysed by the psychological torment
Willy faces as a result of his failure to compete with the unattainable standards of the American
Dream. Conversely, Hardy commences by elucidating the theme of heredity and ancestry. The novel
opens with an exchange between ‘John Durbeyfield’ and ‘Parson Tringham’ about the Durbeyfield
family being descendants of ‘the knightly family of the d’Urbervilles’. This seems to act as the
impetus for the rest of the novel and catalyse Tess’ tragic fall. In particular, Hardy constructs ‘Tess’
slight incautiousness of character inherited from her race’ as defining the tragedy of her life.
Specifically, the ‘traits from her parents and family legacy’ are exploited to highlight her inescapable
fate. Tess Durbeyfield and Willy Loman are utilised as constructs, Tess represents the ‘social ills of
Hardy’s day’, whilst Willy Loman represents the ‘common man’ who were victimised by capitalism.
Ergo, both constructs encounter tragedy as a result of the pressures of external factors, which
exacerbates both tragedies.
Both texts explore the inevitability of tragedy through spotlighting the theme of social class. It
appears as though both writers are making a deprecatory comment about socio-economic class,
encouraging the tragedy of low status individuals. In the case of ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’, her
hardship is inexorable as a direct result of the lower-class status of the Durbeyfield’s. This is evident
when the narrator deliberately focalises Tess’ character, emphasising the ‘unspeakable dreariness’
of the daily drudgery of household tasks that she must complete. The adverb, ‘dreariness’ conveys
the monotony of Tess’ lifestyle and places the Durbeyfield family near the bottom of the social
hierarchical ladder. This can be juxtaposed to ‘the melody’ that her mother, Joan, appears to be
singing which could highlight the contrast of realism to Joan’s optimism, propounding Tess’ status as
a victim. Additionally, it seems that Tess’ family view her as a more socially able individual opposed
to themselves and they rely heavily on Tess to escape their poverty. Furthermore, during the ‘club
walking’ festivities, Tess is described as having, ‘private little sun for her soul to bask in’, another
significant marker of her social class. Hardy’s narratorial device emphasises that this could be
perceived as the most positive moment of her life. Her moment of pleasure is exposed by the
reference to the ‘sun’ which could allude to the pleasure that she gleans from this situation;
however, the diminutive adjective could present the moment as short-lived and the use of sibilance
perhaps highlights the last happy moment that she experiences. The tragedy is enhanced as
following on from this moment Tess suffers cumulatively until the final moment where she is
hanged. Furthermore, her isolated situation is enhanced through the use of the adjective ‘private’;
perhaps Hardy exposes her lack of support and her seclusion, which is exposed further in the novel
when no one is able to help alleviate her suffering and tragic moments.
Similarly, in ‘Death of a Salesman’, the tragedy of Willy Loman is orchestrated by his position as a
working-class individual constantly attempting to achieve the American Dream; an indispensable
belief that with the combination of hard work and determination, prosperity could be accomplished.
Even the charactonym, ‘Loman’ reinforces his status as a lower-class individual in American society,
