Pride, envy and greed are all deadly sins. These deadly sins are shown in the play “Death of a Salesman” and “Macbeth”, unless these sins are controlled, they can bring you to your tragic downfall. In the play Death of a Salesman “The play’s protagonist, Willy Loman, is a man whose perspective is clouded by pride that he would rather maintain the false appearance of success than accept repeated offers of help from his neighbour” (vit wagner, article). Willy Lowman is not popular and he is no longer attractive. He is incapable of doing a good job at selling, but he is unwilling to admit his failure.
His imagination and deceit take over, allowing him to tell his wife that he is very successful and extremely popular. “They don’t need me in New York. I’m New England man. I’m vital in New England” (act one,p. 14). Still, he has his doubts and these are expressed occasionally. The lies he tells entrap him. Howard ask’s Willy, “where are your sons? why don’t your sons give you a hand? “. Willy replies, “they’re working on a very big deal” Howard remarks, “this is no time for false pride, Willy you go to your sons and you tell them that you’re tired.
You’ve got two great boys, haven’t you? “. After willy is fired, he discovers that the only person he can borrow money from is Charley his next door neighbour. Willy comes to realize that Charley is his only friend and he says “Isn’t that remarkable. ” It is Charley’s success that annoys Willy and which prevents him later from accepting employment from Charley when he offers it. Charley continues to lend him money although he feels insulted by Willy’s refusal to work for him. “The excessively proud imagine a universe that plates themselves firmly at the centre.
People who bear grudges – who are too big to apologize, who can dish it out but can’t take it – are apt to discover how private that universe can be. ” (Vit Wagner, article). Macbeth’s envy, though it is what brings him to his height of power, it is also what leads him to his downfall. Envy is Macbeth’s flaw, which disables him to achieve his utmost goals and forces him to face his fate. Without this Macbeth never would have been able to become king of Scotland or to carry out his evil deeds.
In these instances, envy helped Macbeth do what he wanted to do, but consequently, is envy leads him to his tragic downfall. Had he not been so enveloped with learning king and remaining powerful, he would not have continued to kill innocent people in order to keep his position. It was because of these killings and his overbearing attitude that caused him to be overthrown and killed himself. Greed is a flaw which everyone posses, it just depends on how much they let it control their lives. For example, in the play, “Macbeth. ” Mabeth the thane of cowder was greedy and wanted the throne of England for himself.