Essay/Term paper: The tragedy of hamlet

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Shakespeare

Arguably the best piece of writing ever done by William

Shakespeare, Hamlet the is the classic example of a

tragedy. In all tragedies the hero suffers, and usually dies at

the end. Othello stabs himself, Romeo and Juliet commit

suicide, Brutis falls on his sword, and like them Hamlet dies

by getting cut with a poison tipped sword. But that is not all

that is needed to consider a play a tragedy, and sometimes

a hero doesn't even need to die. Making Not every play in

which a Hero dies is 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 displays some. If every action

is controlled by a hero's destiny, then the hero's death can't

be avoided, and in a tragedy the sad part is that it could.

Hamlet's death could have been avoided many times.

Hamlet had many opportunities to kill Claudius, but did not

take advantage of them. He also had the option of making

his claim public, but instead he chose not too. A tragic hero

doesn't need to be good. For example, MacBeth was evil,

yet he was a tragic hero, because he had free will. He also

had only one flaw, and that was pride. He had many good

traits such as bravery, but his one bad trait made him evil.

Also a tragic hero doesn't have to die. While in all

Shakespearean tragedies, the hero dies, in others he may

live but suffer "Moral Destruction". In Oedipus Rex, the

proud yet morally blind king plucks out his eyes, and has to

spend his remaining days as a wandering, sightless beggar,

guided at every painful step by his daughter, Antigone. A

misconception about tragedies is that nothing good comes

out of them, but it is actually the opposite. In Romeo and

Juliet, although both die, they end the feud between the

Capulets and the Montegues. Also, Romeo and Juliet can

be together in heaven. In Hamlet, although Hamlet dies, it is

almost for the best. How could he have any pleasure 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 ruling the throne. Every tragic play must have a

tragic hero. The tragic hero must possess many good traits,

as well as one flaw, which eventually leads to his downfall.

A tragic hero must be brave and noble. In Othello, Othello

had one fatal flaw, he was too great. Othello was too

brave, too noble, and especially too proud to allow himself

to be led back to Venice in chains. A tragic hero must not

back down from his position. He also has to have free will,

in order to stand up for what he believes in. Finally, the

audience must have some sympathy for the tragic hero. In

MacBeth, although MacBeth commits many murders, one

almost feels sorry for him and his fate. Hamlet is the perfect

example of the tragic hero. Hamlet has all the good traits

needed to be a tragic hero. He is brave and daring. One

example of this is that when he went to England, he was

taking a big risk. If his plan didn't work, he would have

been executed He also is also loyal. His loyalty to his

father, was the reason he was so angry at Claudius and his

Mother. Another trait was that he was intelligent. He was

able to think up the idea of faking insanity, in order to get

more information about Claudius. But Hamlet like all other

tragic hero's had a flaw. He couldn't get around to doing

anything, because he couldn't move on. He was a full

grown adult, yet he still attended school in England,

because he couldn't move on. Also, it took him a long time

to stop grieving about his father, because he didn't want to

move past that part of his life. And after he finally did,

Hamlet couldn't get around to killing Claudius. He kept

pretending he was insane even after he was sure that

Claudius killed his father. The final example of Hamlet's

inability to get around to do anything was that he was

dating Ophelia for a long time, but never got around to

marrying her. The audience was able to feel sympathy for

Hamlet too. He had just lost his father, and his mother

remarried so quickly that according to him they could have

used the leftover food from the funeral in the wedding

reception. Also, the audience could feel that Hamlet loved

his parents and this sudden change was hurting him. In any

tragedy there is a tragic hero, and he must possess certain

characteristics in order to be one. He must have many

good traits such as loyalty and bravery, but one bad one

such as pride. Also the audience must have sympathy for

the hero. A tragic hero also must have free will or his fate

would be decided for him, and his death could be avoided.

Finally, the audience must have sympathy for the tragic

hero, or it wouldn't seem so tragic. Hamlet is a perfect

example of a tragic hero. He was brave, loyal, and

intelligent, but he couldn't move on past one thing, which

led to his death. he had a choice of how he would deal with

Claudius, and like other tragic hero's made a decision.

Also, the audience was able to feel sympathy for the

position Hamlet was in. These attributes made Hamlet the

perfect example of a tragic hero.