Biff and happy.. my first impressions

My first impression of Biff is that he takes after his father but is desperate to escape this, they both share the same dreams and aspirations, however are burdened with their delusions. My first impression of Happy is that he is unhappy and discontented with his life and feels in the shadow of his brother and has to over compensate by making himself feel superior, e.g. when he sleeps with a married woman it makes him feel as though he is better than her husband

Research task

Mimesis is the imitation of an action according to the law of probability.
The incentive moment is the thing which starts the cause and effect chain in the tragedy.
The denouement is were the cause and effect chain unravels, leading to the climax of the tragedy.
The deus ex machina is where each actions leads to the next, inevitably.Anagnorisis is a change from ignorance to knowledge, producing love or hate for the person destined for good or bad fortune.

Tragic Hero - Hagel

gel's theory was that by attempting to act ethically, the characters actions would inevitably become unethical. Willy Loman fits with this to an extent because he does try and act in an ethical way sometimes, e.g. providing for his family by working as a salesman, however this is self destructive because his real talents lie with working with his hands, so not only is he damaging his own life he is damaging the life of his family. He also tries to forge a positive relationship with his children which is ethical, however the results of his actions are destructive because it ends up that his children share the same distorted views as him, that being 'liked' is the most important trait to be successful. However it can be that Willy's actions are unethical but still destructive, for example he has an affair which leads to his guilt and dishonesty to Linda, which is self destructive. His negative attitude also is self destructive as it means he can never be as successful as he would like because he does not believe in himself.

End of act one..

 The end of act 1 leaves suspense as I feel there is tension between Biff and Willy which is unresolved, as they are very similar characters, despite Biff being more outspoken about his true feelings. They both have delusional views of how to be successful and alternating moods towards each other. It could be seen that their relationship is tragic because they cannot help each other. It could be suggested that Willy is jealous of Biff's way of thinking, he is always seeking attention with small meaninless comments which are often ignored;
'I'm getting married'
This what should be a significant event and a celebration isn't taking seriously, suggesting one of two things, either he shouldnt be taken seriously, or the worry of Willy is too central in Biff and Lindas head.