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The Tragedy of Hamlet

        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.

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