Hamlet TragismArguably, the best piece of writing ever done by William Shakespeare, Hamlet isthe classic example of a tragedy. In all tragedies the hero suffers, and usuallydies at the end. Othello stabs himself, Romeo and Juliet commit suicide, Brutisfalls on his sword, and like them Hamlet dies by getting cut with a poisontipped sword.
But that is not all tht is need to consider a play a tragedy, andsometimes a hero doesn’t even need to die. Not every play in which a hero diesis considered a tragedy. There are more elements needed to label a play one. Probably the most important element is an amount of free will. In every tragedy,the characters must display some. If every action is controlled by a hero’sdestiny, then the hero’s death can’t be avoided, and in a tragedy the sad partis tht it could.
Hamlet’s death could have been avoided many times. Hamlet hadmany opportunities to kill Claudius, but didn’t take advantage of them. He alsohad the option of making his claim public, but instead he chose not too. Atragic hero doesn’t need to be good. For example, MacBeth was evil, yet he was atragic hero, because he had free will.
He also had only one flaw, and that waspride. He had many good traits such as bravery, but his one bad trait made himevil. Also a tragic hero doesn’t’ have to die. While in all Shakespeareantragedies, the hero dies, in others he may live but suffer “”oralDestruction”” In Oedipus Rex, the proud yet morally blind king pluckshis eyes out, and has to spend his remaining days as a wandering, sightlessbeggar, guided at every painful step by his daughter, Antigone. A misconceptionabout tragedies is that nothing good comes out of them, but it is actually theopposite.
In Romeo and Juliet, although both die, they end the feud between theCapulets and the Montegues. Also, Romeo and Juliet can be together in heaven. InHamlet, although Hamlet dies, it is almost the best. How could he have anypleasure during the rest of his life, with his parents and Ophelia dead. Also,although Hamlet dies, he is able to kill Claudius and get rid of the evil rulingof the throne.
Every tragic play must have a tragic hero. The tragic hero mustpossess many good traits, as well as one flaw, which eventually leads to hisdownfall. A tragic hero must be brave and noble. In Othello, Othello had onefatal flaw, he was too great. Othello was too brave, too noble, and especiallytoo proud to allow himself to be led back to Venice in chains.
A tragic heromust not back down from his position. He also had to have free will, in order tostand up for what he believes in. Finally, the audience must have some sympathyfor the tragic hero. In Macbeth, although MacBeth commits many murders, onealmost feels sorry for him and his fate. Hamlet is the perfect example of thetragic hero.
Hamlet has all the good traits needed to be a tragic hero. He isbrave and daring. One example of this is that when he went to England, he wastaking a big risk. If his plan didn’t work, he would have been executed. He alsois loyal.
His loyalty to his father, was the reason he was so angry at Claudiusand his mother. Another trait was that he was intelligent. He was able to thinkup the idea of faking insanity, in order to get more information about Claudius. But Hamlet like all other tragic heros had a flaw. He couldn’t get around todoing anything, because he couldn’t move on.
He was a full grown adult, yet hestill attended school in England, because he couldn’t move on. Also, it took hima long time to stop grieving about his father, because he didn’t want to movepast that party of his life. And after he finally did, Hamlet couldn’t getaround to killing Claudius. He kept pretending he was insane even after he wassure that Claudius killed his father.
The final example of Hamlet’s inability toget around to do anything was that he w as dating Ophelia for a long time, butnever got around to marrying her. The audience was able to feel sympathy forHamlet too. He had just lost his father, and his mother remarried so quicklythat according to him they could have used the leftover food from the funeral inthe wedding reception. Also, the audience could feel that Hamlet loved hisparents and this sudden change was hurting him.
In any tragedy, there is atragic hero, and he must possess certain characteristics in order to be one. Hemust have many good traits such as loyalty and bravery, but one bad one such aspride. Also the audience must have sympathy for the hero. A tragic hero alsomust have free will or his fate would be decided for him.
And his death couldhave been avoided. Finally, the audience must have sympathy for the tragic hero,or it w ouldnt seem so tragic. Hamlet is a perfect example of a tragic hero. Hewas brave, loyal, and intelligent, but he couldn’t move past one thing, whichlet to his death. HE had a choice of how he would deal with Claudius, and likeother tragic heros he made a decision.
Also, the audience was able to feelsympathy for the position Hamlet was in. These attributes made Hamlet theperfect example of a tragic hero.
