Hamlet As A Tragic Hero In Oedipus And Hamlet

A tragic play is a combination of dramatic scenes that act out a tragic event and usually labors unhappy endings. The play would usually portray the downfall of the main character. According to Aristotle, “Every Tragedy therefore must have six parts, which parts determine its quality—namely, Plot, Character, Diction, Thought, Spectacle, Song.” Based on Aristotle’s definition, Oedipus and Hamlet are a good examples tragedy. They both have been developed with a strong Plot and Characters. According to Aristotle, Plot is considered to be “the soul of tragedy” and very important in a play. Aristotle also implies Character to be second in line when it comes to developing a successful tragedy. A well formed plot should be unified in a way, in

Hamlet and Oedipus are both good example of Aristotelian tragic hero. Defined by Aristotle, “A tragic hero is literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction.” Both Oedipus and Hamlet made critical error that was the cause of their downfall. Oedipus decided to find the killer of the King and was presented to know about his birth parents, even when he was warned not to. Hamlet decided not kill his uncle when he was praying, which ultimately brought death upon him. Other characteristics an Aristotelian tragic hero is defined by a reversal of misfortune, flaw or error of judgment, and the character 's fate must be greater than deserved. It was unfortunate that both Hamlet and Oedipus were fated to misery and death at the end of their

Diction is the wording style of the play and generally focuses on the metaphors. For example, in Hamlet the famous line, “To be, or not to be: that is the question.” Thought is the idea of the character’s motive revealed in their speech. According to Aristotle, “Thought,--that is, faculty of saying what is possible and pertinent in given circumstance.” This is presented in both Hamlet and Oedipus, through the dialogue and monologue; the characters reveal their intentions and motives to the audience. Spectacle is the inner working of the play and how it is presented on the stage. Both plays use visual affects and stage appearance for the audience to help understand the play. Aristotle says, “Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of a poet.” Aristotle believes that the poet has nothing to do with the visual effects of the stage, but it’s the stage workers who should be credited. Finally, the Song element of the play is the chorus presented throughout the play to narrate the story as it