Inevitability of Willy’s Tragedy as Seen from Lacan’s Mirror Stage

鄭小鳳

Arthur Miller （1915-2005） is one of three most brilliant American playwrights in the 20th century. Death of a Salesman is Millers most celebrated work which describes a common man Willys self –destruction story because of his serious mental crisis. Critics have already analyzed it from different kinds of perspectives such as Marxism， naturalism etc. However， it is rare for people to analyze Willys tragedy using Lacans theory. So based on former researches， this thesis intends to make a thorough inquiry on inevitability of Willys tragedy with the key point of Lacans Mirror Stage theory. This paper will state it from two main aspects： image misidentification between mirage and reality and others unrecognition， which arouse Willys desperate disappointment which eventually forces Willy to set his foot on the way to death.

Ⅰ. Image misidentification between mirage and reality

Lacan points out that the child in the mirror stage has no self. Only when he or she enters into the mirror stage， the formation of I has come into being. But he still cannot identify himself from the image in the mirror. In the mirror stage， which is a critical period in the childs self-development， the child recognizes himself as a whole being in the real world， but his understanding of himself only keeps on the levels of imaginary order which consists of fantasy and image. The image is only one of the reflective images in ones unconsciousness which can adjust the way the subject understands others and the fantasy is only the imaginative reflection to the reality. But the child is too eager to get rid of the state of discordance and deeply obsessed with the mirage though it is not real. According to Lacans theory， Misrecognition of the mirage and reality can lead to the inability to take effective steps to face the reality.

Most of Americans have a deep faith in American dream in that period. That is， people believe that even the poorest could be successful in the society through hard work and determination. Willy Loman is no exception. He fixes on the superficial qualities of attractiveness and charm， and believes that he could be rich and achieve success as his brother Ben and his idol Dave Singleman through hard work and personal charm. This is Willys ideal image that he builds as he understands. Thus though he reaches his hardest time when he is fired by his company and even his disappointment with his son Biffs unwillingness to fulfill his dream， he does not lose heart or discards his American Dream. From the play， we can find that Willy has already realized the societys cruelty and coldness. But he chooses to self- conceit and ignores it but firmly holds his thoughts and dream. Even he chooses death to help his sons to fulfill his dream at last. In his eyes， his American dream is his perfect image which forms in the mirror stage and he madly indulges in it. Maybe you could say Willy is great father or a stubborn dream pursuer. But more specifically we could find that it is Willys blind faith in his stunted version of American Dream which is built in the mirror stage that leads his rapid death when he is unable to accept the difference between the image and his real life. His problem lies in his misrecognition of himself and the society. He puts his dream into imaginary world， which caused his tragedy in the end.

Ⅱ. Unrecognition from others

As for Lacan， the infants new understanding of itself as a whole being， after its birth， does not come from itself but from an image outside， from other people. “to have a self， the subject must undergo， with the intervention of the other， the process of identification with a mirror image outside， ” and “ the self in Lacans theory can only exist within and be discovered by the other”（ Fu Yuantaiping 49 ）. So Lacan reckons that the self-identity depends on the others recognition. Here I am going to simply illustrate the meaning of other which has two different kinds of conceptions： the other and the Other. The other means mother， father or other relevant people to the subject. The Other means the structure of language itself， or the “Nom de Pere”. It is the social law. In all， the existence meaning of the other for self is not only to help to construct self， but a crucial factor to get it survival.

Willy works hard through all his life in order to be liked and recognized. However， his sons especially his most loving son Biff does not recognize and honor him as an ideal husband and father as he used to be. When Biff was young， he thought Willy was like a superhero —make a great business and treat his mother loyally. However， when Biff failed his math， he hurried to look for Willy for help but happened to discover Willys sexual affair with Boston woman and in the common days Willys abuse at Linda， the image as a brilliant husband and father shattered into pieces. Willy did not get recognition from his beloved son Biff any more.

Another identity of Willy is his professional status —— a salesman. In the play Willy is dismissed by the company which he worked for almost thirty-six years. He cannot accept this truth. Because he was full of confidence and thought that he would be like a successful and lovable salesman like Dave Singleman through hard work and personal attractiveness when he was young. Finally he would set up his own company. Willy has already assumed a perfect image in the Imaginary Order by getting recognition from other people， for example， the talk with the mayor of the city of providence， his attractiveness among people around him. However， his situation in the reality is on the contrary. In the play， we know that Willy drives his car all day long but does not sell any products even he is fired by company. And he talks to Linda that people around him dont respect but laugh at him. There is a piece of fragment： “…as I was going in to see the buyer I heard him say something about—walrus. And I—I cracked him right across the face. I wont take that. I simply will not take that. But they do laugh at me. I know that” （Miller 37）. Willy does not get recognitions from the company and companions. According to Lacan， in Symbolic Order the recognition of the name of father for the child means that he or she obeys the social rules which exist before his or her birth. In the process of the recognition of the social rules， the child begins to internalize and accept his fathers status in the society and at the same time the father can show his own existence by a set of rules which are also his own language. In Willys times， America has already become the money-mad society. The doctrines of capitalist society have already changed into the jungle of law or the fittest survival and so on. But Willy still holds work hard and personal attractiveness are two most important factors for success. He does not obey social rules and his selling skills do not adapt to the competitive society. Willy loses his root in the cruel capitalist society though he sacrificed all his youth for getting the recognition from the society. As we know， Willys fate is not under control by himself because he just wants to get recognition from the others like Biff or his boss. Thus when others abandon him， the only way Willy can go is to die.

Ⅲ. Conclusion

Willy committing suicide is not an accident. It is my view that Willys confusion and misrecognition of the real and Imaginary Order should take the full responsibility. The inevitability of his tragedy has a close relationship with the self image formed in the mirror stage. He cannot distinguish the difference between the mirage and the reality but just indulges himself into the hallucination that he builds. He firmly believes that through hard work and personal attractiveness man can achieve his dream. Willy ignores the change and the cruelty of the society and disobeys the social rules which lead to his rootless in the society. Willy is seemingly toiled to death by his dream. And he is the victim of American dream which is injected into his minds when he was born. Whats more， Willy cannot get the recognition from others which forces him to step closely to the death. According to the theory of the mirror stage， the existence of the subject should depend on the others recognition. The most important factor in the recognition of self is the recognition from others. When the recognition has been denied， it is impossible to construct self. So on the part of Willy， his misrecognition between the real and the image together with unrecognized from society and family play an absolute role in his disillusionment which is the main cause of his destiny.

References：

[1]Miller，Arthur.Death of a Salesman：Certain Private Conversation in Two Acts and a Requiem.New York：Penguin Books，1998.

[2]福元泰平（日）.拉康—鏡像階段[M].河北：河北教育出版社. 2002.

[3]拉康.褚孝泉，譯.拉康選集[M].上海：上海三聯書店，2001.