Tragedy and the Common Man

Miller refutes the commonly held idea that “the tragic more is archaic” (1). This term means something that is old-fashioned or outdated, or something that belongs in the past. It can also refer more specifically to an early period of art or culture. Early in his essay, Miller uses this word to note that few tragedies are written during his time, due to a sense of skepticism toward heroes and a pervasive belief that tragedy is only fit for those of nobility or royalty. Miller then spends the rest of the essay refuting this claim, arguing that tragedy is not an archaic form but perfectly accessible to common people of the modern era.

The "tragic flaw” is the general term used in literary criticism for the central cause of tragedy in drama, as it relates to the protagonist’s personality, behavior, or choices. It is related to the ancient Greek idea of hamartia, first coined in Aristotle’s Poetics, to refer to a mistake or accident of fate or judgment that leads to a tragic hero’s downfall; this is often an inescapable situation, or a dilemma that arises due to the innate identity of the hero.