Willy Loman's Tragic Pursuit of a Fictional Final Goal in <italic style="font-style: italic">Death of a Salesman </italic>from an Adlerian Perspective

Zhicheng Zhang

doi:10.47297/wsprolaadWSP2634-786548.20260703

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Willy Loman's Tragic Pursuit of a Fictional Final Goal in <italic style="font-style: italic">Death of a Salesman </italic>from an Adlerian Perspective

7卷第3期

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Willy Loman's Tragic Pursuit of a Fictional Final Goal in Death of a Salesman from an Adlerian Perspective
Willy Loman's Tragic Pursuit of a Fictional Final Goal in Death of a Salesman from an Adlerian Perspective
Yanbian University, Yanbian, Jilin, 133002, China
2026年7卷第3期页码：220-223
网络首发：2026-08-04，

纸质出版：2026-06-30
DOI：10.47297/wsprolaadWSP2634-786548.20260703
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Zhicheng Zhang. (2026). Willy Loman's Tragic Pursuit of a Fictional Final Goal in Death of a Salesman from an Adlerian Perspective. 文艺发展研究（英文版）, 7(3), 220-223. DOI: 10.47297/wsprolaadWSP2634-786548.20260703.

Zhang Zhicheng.Willy Loman's Tragic Pursuit of a Fictional Final Goal in Death of a Salesman from an Adlerian Perspective[J].Research on Literary and Art Development,2026,07(03):220-223.
Zhicheng Zhang. (2026). Willy Loman's Tragic Pursuit of a Fictional Final Goal in Death of a Salesman from an Adlerian Perspective. 文艺发展研究（英文版）, 7(3), 220-223. DOI: 10.47297/wsprolaadWSP2634-786548.20260703. DOI：

Zhang Zhicheng.Willy Loman's Tragic Pursuit of a Fictional Final Goal in Death of a Salesman from an Adlerian Perspective[J].Research on Literary and Art Development,2026,07(03):220-223. DOI： 10.47297/wsprolaadWSP2634-786548.20260703.

摘要

Abstract

Arthur Miller's

Death of a Salesman

is widely regarded as a major critique of the American Dream and the social values of postwar American society. Many critics have explained Willy Loman's tragedy in terms of capitalist ideology

psychological conflict

or the collapse of personal aspirations. However

relatively little attention has been paid to the psychological force that drives Willy to persist in an unrealistic ideal despite repeated failures. Drawing on Alfred Adler's theory of the final goal

this paper argues that Willy's tragedy results from his lifelong pursuit of a fictional final goal based on a mistaken understanding of success. Through an analysis of Willy's attitudes toward success

his refusal to accept reality

and his decision to commit suicide

this paper shows that Willy's death is not a rejection of his dream but the ultimate attempt to fulfill it. Therefore

Miller's play reveals the destructive consequences of adhering to an unrealistic ideal when it becomes the guiding principle of an individual's life.

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Keywords

references

Adler, Alfred. What Life Should Mean to You , Little Brown, 1931.

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Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman , introduction by Christopher Bigsby, Penguin Books, 1998.

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