Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of his most well-known plays and it is generally
considered to be a tragedy. It has to be noted that Shakespeare’s plays can be depicted
as belonging to three basic categories, which include comedy, tragedy, and histories.
In this regard, we find that Hamlet can be described as being a tragedy. In all the
various tragedies that Shakespeare has written, there is great suffering for the hero
and he usually dies at the end. For instance, in several of Shakespeare’s other plays,
we find that Othello kills himself, Brutis falls on his sword and dies, while Romeo
and Juliet commit suicide and kill themselves. This is something that is also true for
Hamlet, as Hamlet dies at the end of the play, as he is
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In many tragedies, the hero does not necessarily have to die and
not every story where the hero dies is a tragedy. Several other elements also have to
be considered with regards to calling a play a tragedy. One of such things can be
depicted as the idea of free will. People who have more free will are able to do more
things and are able to live a much better and satisfied life. On the other hand, people
who do not have much free will are the ones that tend to suffer and face a tragedy.
One of the things to note about the idea of free will is that the characters in
every tragedy have to display some aspect of free will or another. In this regard, if the
hero’s destiny is what controls every action and the hero’s death could have been
avoided, yet he still dies, then this is the element of a true tragedy. Looking at the play
Hamlet, we find that his death could have been avoided at several different points in
the play. He had many opportunities to kill Claudius; however he never did. He could
also have made his claims public but he chose to keep them a secret. It has to be noted
that there can be several misconceptions about what makes a tragedy. Many
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This is because he would not have been able to enjoy
his life after his parents as well as his wife had been killed. Moreover, while Hamlet
dies, he is also at the same time able to kill Claudius, which means that he is able to
rid the citizens from an evil king.
Another thing about Hamlet that makes it a tragedy is that its hero, Hamlet, is
a tragic hero. A tragic hero is a person who has several good traits; however, he also
has a massive flaw that leads to his eventual downfall. Some of the traits that a tragic
hero tends to have include being brave as well as honest, noble, and virtuous. In
several other Shakespearean tragedies, we find that all the heroes had a flaw that
brought about their demise. For instance, Othello was too great, brave, and noble and
he was too proud to let people see him in chains. This is why he decided to kill
himself. A tragic hero is one that has certain ideals that he would not be willing to go
back upon. The audience end up sympathizing with the tragic hero. For instance, in
MacBeth, even though MacBeth kills so many people, the audience end up feeling
sorry for him and what becomes of him. In the same vein as all these
One source says, “Between acts 1 and 4, Hamlet works against fortune to some extent, not fully understanding it and its power. He questions his own fate, and the fate of others” (Fortune, Fate, Providence). This claim seems to be highly flawed. Throughout the text Hamlet is trying to work against fortune but it appears that he seems to be fighting against it more so. In his life it is more that hamlet is attempting to separate the good and evil. It’s not that he believes in fate it’s that he has a moral dilemma of the act of murder. It is against his Christian beliefs for him to murder anyone no matter how horrible of a man the object of those violent ideas were. Most people do not need to evaluate whether or not they should kill a person but hamlets religious aspect makes it so the idea of killing a person seem horrible because they think that if they murder someone they will be forced to spend an eternity in a hell worse than what he was currently living
Beginning with the Greeks, tragedy has been an essential form of entertainment. Although it has changed slightly over time due to different religious and social values, it is still written and performed to this day. Perhaps the most well known tragedy of all time is Shakespeare's Hamlet. Hamlet is perhaps the epitome of all tragedy. Not only does the tragic hero Hamlet meet his demise, but all the main characters in the play at some point due to some flaw in their character, or some fatal decision, also meet the same fate. It is because of their character flaw and/or their fatal decision at some time during the play that their death can be justified.
Most readers are aware of the many famous deaths or acts of death within the Shakespearean plays. And when the main characters die in Shakespeare’s plays, indeed, the readers would categorize the play as a tragedy. The problem with any tragedy definition is that most tragic plays do not define the tragedy conditions explained or outlined by Aristotle. According to Telford (1961), a tragedy is a literary work that describes the downfall of an honorable, main character who is involved on historically or socially significant events. The main character, or tragic hero, has a tragic fault, the quality that leads to his or her own destruction. In reading Aristotle’s point of view, a tragedy play is when the main character(s) are under enormous pressure and are incapable to see the dignities in human life, which Aristotle’s ideas of tragedy is based on Oedipus the King. Shakespeare had a different view of tragedy. In fact, Shakespeare believed tragedy is when the hero is simply and solely destroyed. Golden (1984) argued the structure of Shakespearean tragedy would be that individual characters revolved around some pain and misery.
Hamlet 's tragic flaw influenced his own fate. He was a procrastinator that made all the people around him die. If he had just killed Claudius right after he proved that Claudius was guilty, life would be easier for everyone. Hamlet chose to delay the death of his uncle because he was unsure of truth. He was unsure if the ghost was saying the truth that’s why he organized a play as an experiment to prove Claudius’s guilt. According to Aristotle’s Poetics, despite Hamlet’s intention of avenge his father’s death, Hamlet flawed actions caused his own catastrophe. There were a lot time where Hamlet could have died if it was not for his tragic flaw. If Hamlet did not found out about the letter of the king to England, he would be dead and unsuccessful. He would not have the chance to kill Claudius. Also, if the pirates had not come and captured him as a prisoner, he would not have a chance to talk to them and negotiate. As soon as the truth was revealed, he should have taken action on it so that only few people will be affected. Because of his tragic flaw, he killed almost everyone in the play and transferred the crown to their enemy. Thus, Hamlet led his flawed self to his own
Choices made by Hamlet, which ultimately lead to his death, are all guided by his own free will. In mourning his father's death, Hamlet chooses to do so for what others consider to be an excessive amount of time. “But to persever/ In obstinate condolement is a course/ Of impious stubbornness”(I.ii.99-100), according to Claudius. During this period of mourning, Hamlet meets his father’s spirit and promises to avenge his father’s death. However, upon reflection, he questions the validity of the ghost’s message. At this point he carefully goes about choosing a plan of action that will inevitably show that “the king is to blame” (V.ii.340) In following his plan, Hamlet freely chooses to kill Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Ophelia, Laertes, Claudius and himself.
Well Kylie, a tragedy is usually a story of one person, with both the hero victims in the play usually of a high standing of society. This is especially the case in “Hamlet”, with his victims being King Claudius, Queen Gertrude, Polonious, Laertes, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, all being linked to the Royal Family of Denmark. A personality fault (the tragic flaw) causes the hero to act in a manner which brings about his own misfortune and eventually death, during which he lets the audience know he is dying by delivering a final speech. In “Hamlet”, it is his tragic flaw of his indecisiveness and inability to act, which brings his own suffering and misfortune. Had he been able to kill King Claudius in the beginning none of the suffering would have occurred. He also delivers his final speech telling the audience of his death, “I am dead Horatio. Wretched queen, adieu!” he exclaims after being poisoned by Laertes envenomed rapier.
Webster’s dictionary defines tragedy as, “a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (such as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that excites pity or terror.” A tragic hero, therefore, is the character who experiences such a conflict and suffers catastrophically as a result of his choices and related actions. The character of Hamlet, therefore, is a clear representation of Shakespeare’s tragic hero.
By many accounts of Williams Shakespeare’s Hamlet the main character, Hamlet, is considered to be the classic tragic hero, but in fact Hamlet is not a hero at all. There are many accounts of heroes in earlier writings such as The Odyssey and Beowulf. These heroes had confidence, careful thought, and thought clearly in their times of trial. Hamlet was not any of these things. His inability to think clearly through his anger leads to indecisiveness which inevitably puts him in a situation that costs him his own life. Hamlet is a victim to himself in this play. Throughout the entire play Hamlet is very confused, indecisive, and blinded by his mission for vengeance. It also seems that while he is angry about the murder of his father he
The Greeks considered tragedy the greatest form for literature. However, the tragic ends for the characters were not ordained or set by fate, but rather caused by certain characteristics belonging to that person. Such is the case with the characters of Sophocles' plays Oedipus the King and Antigone. Oedipus from King Oedipus, and Antigone and Creon from Antigone posses characteristics, especially pride, that caused their tragic ends. As the play progress, other characteristics appear and further add to the problem to such a point that it is inevitable that it will end in tragedy. Therefore the tragedies were not a result of a plot by the fates, but rather a result of the characteristics that the characters possessed.
tragedy has been called the tragedy of necessity or fate."(1) This is shown in the play in the way that
What is tragedy? Aristotle defines tragedy: "A tragedy must not be the spectacles of a perfect good man brought to adversity. For this merely stock us" (1). Not in every play where a hero dies is considered a tragedy. Also, "Nor, of course, must it be that of a bad man passing from adversity to prosperity: for that is not tragedy at all, but the perversion of tragedy, and revolts moral sense". Further "Nor, again, should it exhibit the downfall of an utter villain pity is aroused by undeserved misfortunes, terror by misfortunes befalling a man like ourselves". "There remains, then, as the only proper subject for tragedy, the spectacle of a man not absolutely or eminently good or wise, who is brought to disaster not by sheer depravity but by some error or frailty". "Lastly, this man must be highly renowned and prosperous-and Oedipus, a Thyestes, or some other illustrious person" (Quiller-Couch 1). "A tragedy, he tells us, is a play in which the chief characters experience a change from good fortune to bad, and in a comedy, alternately, the change is from bad to good" (Fallon, Themes 210). The tragedy in Macbeth is between friends, but the tragedy in Hamlet occurs within the family.
Hamlet opens the door of the empirical world and succumbs before him. The death of Hamlet is symbolic, what has died is idealism so that his death could only be the result of anecdotal events, that is, of an error, according to the point of view of the actor, or of daily events, considered from the point of view of the future of humanity. If Hamlet had died as a result of justified revenge, the symbolic character of his demise would have been lost. But it could not have been the consequence of a fortuitous event, the chance of showing knowledge about existence would have been lost. His death had to be explained as a consequence of previous events and known but unsuspected consequences.
Hamlet is affected by fate numerous times throughout the play and he thus comes to realize that there is nothing he can ultimately do. This quote foreshadows Hamlet's ultimate fate as he says that he was fated to take part in the match which allows him to thus avenge for his father's death and also fall to his death. “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will—“ Hamlet is explaining to Horatio what happened to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, "There's a divinity that shapes our ends," is what Hamlet says to tell of his aware of the plot against him, and how he turned tables, leading to their death. Hamlet acknowledges that not everything is in his control and ultimately God determines the outcome. Earlier in the play Hamlet could not come to a conclusion because he had not gone yet through these trials.
Hamlet is one of the most often-performed and studied plays in the English language. The story might have been merely a melodramatic play about murder and revenge, butWilliam Shakespeare imbued his drama with a sensitivity and reflectivity that still fascinates audiences four hundred years after it was first performed. Hamlet is no ordinary young man, raging at the death of his father and the hasty marriage of his mother and his uncle. Hamlet is cursed with an introspective nature; he cannot decide whether to turn his anger outward or in on himself. The audience sees a young man who would be happiest back at his university, contemplating remote philosophical matters of life and death. Instead, Hamlet is forced to engage death on a visceral level, as an unwelcome and unfathomable figure in his life. He cannot ignore thoughts of death, nor can he grieve and get on with his life, as most people do. He is a melancholy man, and he can see only darkness in his future—if, indeed, he is to have a future at all. Throughout the play, and particularly in his two most famous soliloquies, Hamlet struggles with the competing compulsions to avenge his father’s death or to embrace his own. Hamlet is a man caught in a moral dilemma, and his inability to reach a resolution condemns himself and nearly everyone close to him.
The tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s most popular and greatest tragedy, presents his genius as a playwright and includes many numbers of themes and literary techniques. In all tragedies, the main character, called a tragic hero, suffers and usually dies at the end. Prince Hamlet is a model example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. Every tragedy must have a tragic hero. A tragic hero must own many good traits, but has a flaw that ultimately leads to his downfall. If not for this tragic flaw, the hero would be able to survive at the end of the play. A tragic hero must have free will and also have the characteristics of being brave and noble. In addition, the audience must feel some sympathy for the tragic hero.