Similarities Between Hamlet And Willy Loman

Willy Loman was a failure as a family man who never achieved the American Dream. His life is an example of a true downfall, which affects all of those close to him. By living in an illusion, Willy guaranteed that he would be unable to achieve all that he thought he should. As a result, his death is the final confirmation of his failed life. Truly, success could never be achieved in his life, even if he had made plenty of sales. By giving up his dreams and true desires, Willy Loman died long before he crashed his car, and that led him to become every bit the failure that he will

Cannery Row is a town located in Monterey, California. Despite being small, dirty and crowded, it is a well functioned town and is home to people from different walks of life. In the novel’s prologue, John Steinbeck wrote the following: “Its inhabitants are, as one man once said, ‘whores, pimps, gamblers, and sons of bitches’ by which he meant Everybody” and “[have] the man looked through another peephole he might have said: ‘Saints and angels and martyrs and holy men,’ and he would have meant the same thing” (Steinbeck 1). He basically comments that the difference in viewpoints given the same event results from the power of perspective and duality observed in people. One might see Cannery Row as a low-down place while the others might see Cannery Row as a lively, vigorous town. One would see a character’s actions disputable while the others would see their behaviors admirable. The viewpoints of readers and the way characters behave at various times explain the fact that Cannery Row and its inhabitants possess qualities crossing good and evil.

In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller’s character, Willy Loman, is desperately trying to achieve the unattainable American Dream. Throughout the play, Willy encounters many challenges that have derailed his course and his perseverance drives him and his family insane.

On the other hand, Willy had a wife and family that he took for granted and had nothing to his name. Every man has a different perception on how to attain the American dream and these two characters are prime examples of that. Willy Loman represents the hard working, lower class man. Willy believes that personality, and being well liked will bring him success. He tries to translate this onto his boys who would also be considered failures.

Willy Loman is a troubled and misguided man - a salesman and a dreamer with an extreme preoccupation with his own definition of success. Willy feels that physical impact is greater than the elements of his self-defined success. However, it is apparent that Willy Loman is no successful man, even by the audience's standards. He is still a travelling salesman in his sixties with no stable location or occupation, but clings on to his dreams and ideals. He compares his sons with Bernard, using him as a gauge of success. Nonetheless, he stays in the belief that his sons are better than Bernard. Willy recollects the neighbourhood years ago, and reminisces working for Frank Wagner, although he was also in the same condition then as now. He feels that the older Wagner appreciated him more, yet it was himself who voted Howard in. Arthur Miller presents Willy as a man with great bravado but little energy left to support it. He is always tired and has dementia, contradicting himself in his conversations and showing some memory loss, living in his world of illusions and delusions. He argues with Biff, both men without knowing why. The two sons of Willy display the physical appearance of adulthood, but their talk and attitude displays immaturity. Billy finds that he is a failure because of his lack of `success', while Happy thinks he is unfulfilled because he lacks failure.

In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman’s life seems to be slowly deteriorating. It is clear that Willy’s predicament is of his own doing, and that his own foolish pride and ignorance lead to his downfall. Willy’s self-destruction involved the uniting of several aspects of his life and his lack of grasping reality in each, consisting of, his relationship with his wife, his relationship and manner in which he brought up his children, Biff and Happy, and lastly his inability to productively earn a living and in doing so, failure to achieve his “American Dream”.

Willy Loman was a man who gradually destroyed himself with false hopes and beliefs. Throughout his entire life Willy believed that he would die a rich and successful man. It was inevitable for him to come crumbling down after years of disillusions. We can look at Willy’s life by examining some of his character traits that brought him down.

Willy Loman is striving to obtain the American dream, but this dream cannot be achieved in his way. He has a childish perception of being “well liked”, it is superficial. He dislikes Bernard because he considers him a nerd. Willy incorrect perception of the America dreams leads him to his psychological decline where he can’t differentiate a dream from his own life. However, we all have a little bit of Willy in our life, we all want to be successful. It doesn’t matter where we come from, millions of people

No two people are the same, however they can have similar characteristics. In the play Hamlet Laertes is a foil to Hamlet because they bring out the differences in each others character’s. The differences between Hamlet and Laertes are striking, and they deserve thorough examination. Although they bear some minor similarities, the differences between their two characters is clear. Through this essay I will provide evidence showing the similarities and differences between Laertes and Hamlet. In the beginning of Hamlet Laertes, Polonius's son, is described as a very short tempered, brave, and passionate young man who is very skillful with a sword. In act 5 scene 1 at Ophelia’s funeral Laertes is upset with the priest because in the christian church her death was viewed as a suicide, so she was not to be buried with all the proper ceremonies. He says “ Lay her n' the earth and from her fair and unpolluted flesh may violets spring! I tell thee, churlish priest, a ministering angel shall my sister be, when thou liest howling”(Act 5, Scene 1). This quote shows that he was very passionate about his sister and believes that she deserved a proper burial because of the women she was and the way she carried herself. In act 4 scene 7 Laertes says “Under the moon, can save the thing from death that is but scratch'd withal: I'll touch my point with this contagion, that, if I gall him slightly, it may be death.”(Act 4, Scene 7). In this Owens 2

Willy Loman believes in the “American Dream,” which is the belief that anyone can be lifted from humble beginnings to greatness. His belief on this idea is that a man can reach success by selling his

Throughout the whole play the only thing Willy Loman would act upon being his need to fulfill what he thought the “American Dream” was in society. He based his whole life around the concept that being successful only comes if you’re well liked by everyone: (Quote). In a way that is true, due to the fact that people who are well liked tended to have it easier in life. Willy wants to influence his family’s lives with his strong belief. Therefore,

Willy Loman, the central character in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, is a man whose fall from the top of the capitalistic totem pole results in a resounding crash, both literally and metaphorically. As a man immersed in the memories of the past and controlled by his fears of the future, Willy Loman views himself as a victim of bad luck, bearing little blame for his interminable pitfalls. However, it was not an ill-fated destiny that drove Willy to devastate his own life as well as the lives of those he loved; it was his distorted set of values.

In “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman is the well-developed protagonist of the story. Willy struggles throughout the story with daydreams and delusions that he confuses with reality. These delusions have a huge effect on the story and greatly impact Willy’s life. Willy has a difficult time keeping his bills paid with his job as a traveling salesman. He works long hours and drives long distances for very little success. His delusions cause him to believe that his work is successful when it is far from it. “Willy is self-deluded, believing wholeheartedly in the American Dream of success and wealth. When he fails to achieve this, he commits suicide—yet until the end he never stopped believing in this American Dream” (Sickels).

Willy Loman has his own way of thinking because he only wants things done the right way. Willy Loman is a man who strives for great things for him and

Willy Loman is an old salesman (63 years old) who is no longer able to earn a living. He receives only a small commission as he ages, and he slowly loses his mind and attempts to kill himself by inhaling gas from the water heater or from crashing his Studebaker. Dave Singleman is his role model, he wants to become well liked and rich. He spends most of his time dreaming instead of doing anything to improve his life. He is obsessed with the post-war interpretation of the American Dream. In the end, he kills himself by crashing his car, hoping to get the life insurance money for his family.