In ancient Greek tragedy, a hamartia is a fatal mistake that a character makes that brings about their downfall. In Oedipus Rex, for instance, Oedipus' hamartia is killing his father and marrying his mother, which he does without meaning to.
In "Death of a Salesman", Arthur Miller's best-known work, Willy Loman's hamartia is his refusal to admit that he is a failure. In the end, his hallucinations lead him to take his own life. His death serves as a metaphor for the death of the American dream.
"Death of a Salesman" is a Greek tragedy in a modern setting, the pursuit of of blind ambition and its consequences. It has been adapted into several films and television productions, with the 1985 TV movie featuring Dustin Hoffman as Willy Loman being my particular favourite.
For those of you who only know that Arthur Miller once was married to Marilyn Monroe, isn't it about time you also learned about hamartia and the violent connotations of Shakespeare's "the world is your oyster"?
