FREE ESSAY ON PRIDE

PRIDE

PRIDE
Any great accomplishment can make someone feel proud about their work. It makes one feel
good; it raises a person's spirits. "No question, pride has its good points." (The
Toronto Star, Nov 1999) Then again, there are also the bad points of pride one must
consider, before being proud. Pride can deceive a person into being ambitious, and make
them strive for something that is not rightfully theirs. Both Macbeth and Willy
encountered this problem. Pride can also cause a bad relationship with the people one
loves most. For Macbeth and Willy, their relationships with their families were burdened
as a consequence of this pride. Pride can lead to much worse things; it can put a person
in a position to be their ultimate cause of their death, and such was the fate for Willy
Loman and Macbeth. "It's an excess of pride that buys you one-way, economy coach passage
to the fires of hell." (The Toronto Star, Nov 1999) In the play Macbeth and Death of a
Salesman, both Macbeth and Willy are seen as tragic heroes due to their pride, as seen in
these three situations.
First, both characters' pride swindled them into believing they could be so much more
than they were meant to be, it made them ambitious. In any monarchial country, such as
Scotland, the greatest achievement would be the crown. When King Duncan announced that
Malcolm, his son would succeed him, Macbeth's vaulting ambition made him believe that
"[this] is a step, On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap." (Macbeth, Act 1, Sc. 4,
ll. 49-50) His pride forced him to want to be king. Willy, who also has an excessive
amount of pride, told his wife that "if he keeps it up he'll be a member of the firm".
(Death of a Salesman, Pg. 85) This small compliment paid to Willy by his boss is
misinterpreted, taken much too seriously, and because of it he turns down a very good
business offer from his brother Ben. Ben offered Willy the chance to go to Alaska to run
a logging company, but because of that one compliment, and his pride causing him to
embellish, he told his brother he could not go because he was "building something with
this firm". (Death of a Salesman, Pg. 85) Willy's pride exaggerated that one compliment
from his boss, Old Man Wagner, ridiculously, making him yearn for the wrong goal. Instead
of staying in New York, Willy should have gone to Alaska with his brother. Macbeth, after
being crowned Thane of Cawdor, thinks to himself "Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor. The
greatest is [to come]" (Macbeth, Act 1, Sc. 3, ll. 117-118) Even with all he has
accomplished, Macbeth's pride makes him want more. Both Willy's and Macbeth's pride
caused them to be ambitious.
Second, in each play, both characters' pride caused undue hardship and stress on their
relationships with their families. Willy had big hopes for his son Biff. He dreamed of
him becoming a football superstar saying to his friend Charley "They'll be calling him
another Red Grange. Twenty-five thousand a year." (Death of a Salesman, Pg. 89) Willy had
done this to Biff all his life. Because of these high hopes, when he did not succeed,
Biff believed he had failed, which made him feel terrible. He eventually realized "[he's]
a dime a dozen, and so is [Willy]" (Death of a Salesman, Pg. 132) This infuriate Willy,
and he exclaimed "I am not a dime a dozen! I am Willy Loman, and you are Biff Loman!"
(Death of a Salesman, Pg. 132) Willy truly believed he was big. Biff crushed this belief
with the peak of his argument, saying, "Pop, I'm nothing! I'm nothing, Pop. Can't you
understand that? There's no spite in it any more. I'm just what I am, that's all." (Death
of a Salesman, Pg. 132-133) With that said, Willy no longer cared about those high hopes
for Biff, and just left the argument alone. Having family problems alike, is Macbeth.
After Duncan's murder (caused by Macbeth's pride), Macbeth's relationship with his wife
withered away. She believed they were "[dwelling] in doubtful joy." (Macbeth, Act 3, Sc.
2, ll. 7) from that point on, the couple could not have been bothered to even sit
together as Lady Macbeth has to ask Macbeth "Why [do you] keep alone?" (Macbeth, Act 3,
Sc. 2, ll. 8) This is not the relationship of a happy couple. In both plays, due to
pride, important family relationships have fallen apart.
Finally, the pride of both characters, Macbeth and Willy, was the cause of their deaths.
Macbeth's pride made him feel that he was invincible, when he really was not. He stayed
to fight an entire army by himself, instead of fleeing. He believed that "Our castle's
strength will laugh a siege to scorn." (Macbeth, Act 5, Sc. 5, ll. 2-3) This stupid act
almost ensures Macbeth's death. Willy's problems on the other hand were monetary. "Willy
Loman is a man whose perspective is so clouded by pride that he would rather maintain the
false appearance of success than accept repeated offers of [job offers] from his
neighbour [Charley]." (The Toronto Star, Nov 1999) This pride forced Willy to take a
coward's way out. He believed if he killed himself, his twenty thousand-dollar life
insurance policy would be paid out to his family. He foresaw his son Biff being able to
do something with his life if he had that money. "Can you imagine that magnificence with
twenty thousand dollars in his pocket?" (Death of a Salesman, Pg.135) Soon after saying
this, he killed himself in a car accident. Macbeth's suicide is just as ridiculously
unnecessary, as he stayed to fight Macduff to the death; meanwhile his pride blinded him
from the fact that Macduff was the one man that could kill him. He cried out "Lay on
Macduff, and damned to him that first cries 'Hold, enough!'" (Macbeth, Act 5, Sc. 8, ll.
33-34) For both characters, their pride was ultimately the cause of their deaths.
"The deadliest of the seven deadlies." (The Toronto Star, Nov 1999) holds very true in
the situations of Macbeth and Willy. For both, their pride tricked them into ambition. It
also placed stress on their relationships with their families. These two character's
pride could not have done anymore damage, as it was the cause of their deaths. The three
situations aforementioned exhibited Willy Loman and Macbeth as tragic heroes, the cause
being their pride. "As the old saying goes, the bigger they are, the harder - and farther
- they fall." (The Toronto Star, Nov 1999)