Hamlet, A Tragic Hero

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Hero’s are defined by the actions they take, but they either live to see there fall or die heroically. One of shakespheres most memorable tragic hero’s Hamlet is the definition of a tragic hero. In the book, Hamlet, Shakespeare’s character hamlet is determined on killing his uncle the king. This goal proves to be challenging to him due to his morals. He often struggles with this throughout the book. This proves to be his downfall for not deciding to kill the king until the very end. A tragic hero has to have a fatal flaw that, combined with fate, brings tragedy. This is one of the key characteristics of a tragic hero. He had many chances to kill the king, but due to his inner turmoil he allows adversity to build up against him. This leads to him being poisoned, and ultimately heroically dying along with his mother, the king, and Laertes. Hamlet proves he is a tragic hero because he gets supernatural guidance, his morals contradict his goal, and he possesses tragic flaws.
Hamlets can be defined as a tragic hero because he has an objective given to him by the supernatural. This objective turns hamlets life in a direction he could never imagine possible. “For Hamlet it is a secret, revealed to him by the ghost of his murdered father. Hamlet shares the same roof as his father’s murderer, and the assassin has now in great haste married Hamlet’s mother. Suspicion, anguish, unbearable tension.”(Duran 3) To be a tragic hero a literary character must have some sort of guidance which hamlet gets. Without his fathers perspective hamlet would live the rest of his life not knowing. This is the first time hamlet has an encounter with the supernatural, but not the last time he will speak with him. Throughout the book hamlet gets instructions fr...

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...eare's Feminine Endings. 44-71. n.p.: Taylor & Francis Ltd / Books, 1999. Literary Reference Center. Web. 5 Feb. 2014.
Duran, Manuel. "Don Quixote And Hamlet: Strangers Or Brothers?." Confluencia 20.1 (2004): 2-8. Literary Reference Center. Web. 5 Feb. 2014.
Johnston, J. “Characteristics of a Shakespearean Tragic Hero.” Sussex High. N.p., n.d. web. 1,Feb. 2014 http://sussexhigh.nbed.nb.ca/jjohnston/pdf%20files/tragic_hero_characteristics.pdf
Nevo, Ruth. “Acts III and IV: Problems of Text and Staging.” Modern Critical Interpretations: William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1985. 53-56. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Dover, 1992. Print.
Smith, Nicole. “Shakespeare’s Hamlet as a Tragic Hero.” Articlemyriad. Article Myriad, 2014. Web. 6 Feb. 2014. http://www.articlemyriad.com/shakespeares-hamlet-tragic-hero/

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