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In Arthur Miller's 1949 essay, "Tragedy and the Common Man," Miller began by saying, "In this age few tragedies are written." This particular essay was published in the New York Times, was also the preface that was prepared for "Death of a Salesman" in 1949. Before Miller's "Death of a Salesman," there was only one type of tragedy—that which fit Aristotle's definition. For Aristotle, plays of tragedy had to revolve around kings, gods, or people of high class. In these classic tragedies, the diction must be elevated and fitting of the characters.

Arthur Miller challenged just about every belief and convention that had previously been accepted about tragic plays, as in Shakespeare's "Hamlet"—which could be considered the paragon of tragedies. In claiming, "The tragic mode is archaic," Miller explains "that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were." This very notion that regular people are just as fit to be main characters in a tragedy......

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