Hamlet Tragic Hero Essay

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Recommended: Aristotle's ideas about tragedy

Aristotle, a famous Greek philosopher, examined the impact tragedy has within plays. He states there are three important factors that must exist in order for a story to be tragic. First there must be a tragic hero; second, there has to be a moment of “recognition” in which the protagonist realizes the unthinkable; and lastly, the play must plant fear or pity within the audience. All three aspects exist in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, making the work a clear example of Aristotle’s definition. Aristotle defines a tragic hero as someone who is high in rank, capable of making mistakes, and has at least one flaw, or hubris, that will lead to their downfall. Writer P. Indira Devi, in the IUP Journal of English Studies, describes Hamlet as a, “scholar …show more content…

In order to discover her son’s troubles Gertrude was sent to talk to him while Polonius, the chief counselor, was placed behind a curtain to eavesdrop. Soon, their conversation took a violent turn which forced the hidden Polonius to cry for help. Driven by his need to kill Claudius, Hamlet mistook the counselor’s voice for the king and stabbed the man while yelling, “How now, a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead!” (3.4.24). One could argue the prince was becoming truly insane since “a change in mode of thinking entails a change in both action and emotion” (Levy). Hamlet was only pretending to be crazy, yet his paranoid actions indicate otherwise. When witnessing this scene, the audience surely becomes wary of Hamlet, fearing he may cause more damage in the future. These thoughts foreshadow the end of the play when the entire royal family lies dead after a battle between Laertes and Hamlet. Horatio, a loyal friend, describes the event as one full, “…of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause,...purposes mistook fall’n on th’ inventors’ heads” (5.2.383-386). These lives would have been spared if Claudius chose to reveal that he murdered his brother to take the throne. Instead, he tried to prevent Hamlet from avenging his father by plotting the prince’s demise. Regardless, his plans backfired causing the death of the queen, Laertes, Hamlet, and himself. The utter chaos leaves those watching

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