In Death of a Salesman and Oedipus Rex, pride plays an integral role in the development of the plot. In each play, the hamartia for both Willy and Oedipus is pride, along with other lesser things. Willy and Oedipus' sense of self-worth seems to stem from their pride, as misguided as that may seem. Pride is the hamarita that connects Willy and Oedipus, in which case pride makes them live in their past and prevents them from seeing the present, resulting in their tragic end. For Oedipus, pride drives him to seek the truth in his hidden past, inadvertently causing him to become the instrument of his own downfall. Willy's pride causes him to live in an unrealistic past, preventing him from seeing what he currently has instead of what he doesn't see, leading to a vain death. Finally, the sense of pride shown by Willy and Oedipus and how it impacts their past also extends to the people closest to them. For Willy, his pride and past are imposed on his children, and to some extent their mother, while for Oedipus his search for the truth in the past leads to the downfall of his own wife and mother. Pride deludes how Oedipus and Willy view their past, influencing their current lives and leading to their tragic end. C.S. Lewis said, “A proud man always looks down on things… as long as you look down you cannot see anything that is above you” (Lewis), and so for Oedipus and Willy they are unable to see what their life as well as pride always pushes them to look down and at the past. For Oedipus, his past is what gives him all his problems. Although his pride is his hamartia and what begins his tragic downfall, Oedipus' past is the fire that burned his world. Initially, Oedipus is the cause of the curse on Thebes, ...... middle of paper ......de benefiting his family, but which in turn benefited no one. Their hamartia, their pride made them unable to let go of the past, which caused their tragic downfall. Two proud men couldn't just accept the way things were, but had to go and try to change things that didn't need to change. Oedipus and Willy because of their pride did exactly the opposite of what they intended: Willy wanted to help his family, and instead he had only hurt them. Oedipus intended to find Laius' murderer to further glorify him; rather it simply made him bring the shame upon himself. This was the price they paid for their pride, and while Willy does not realize what he has done before dying, Oedipus must bear the shame of his actions until his death. Pride destroyed both men, in different ways, and such is the way of hamartia and the tragic fall of a tragic hero..