To What Extent Is Hamlet A Tragic Hero

A tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle, is a “literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction.” Another characteristic for a tragic hero is that they are a person of high rank, making their fall all the more tragic. These two factors contribute to the fact that hamlet, in the play Hamlet by Shakespeare, is our main, tragic hero.
For a hero to be tragic they have to have some goodness in them so we can empathize with them. They can’t be entirely bad, thus making the reader feel that they deserve their tragic end. Hamlet is a tragic hero because in the beginning Hamlet is portrayed as a sensitive prince, grieving for his father’s death. “But I have that within which passeth show, these but the trappings and the suits of woe.” In addition, his mother’s abrupt marriage to his uncle leaves him in even more despair. Leaving the reader feeling sympathetic to Hamlet.

His loyalty to his father was what aided him in his journey of revenge. The best example of his intelligence is the fact that he convinces others that he became insane when in fact he has not. Evidence of that is when Hamlet reveals his plan to Horatio. “How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself, as I perchance here after shall think meet to put an antic disposition on, that you, at such times seeing me, never shall, with arms encumber'd thus, or this headshake, or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase, or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase, as 'Well, well, we know,' or 'We could, an if we would,' or 'If we list to speak,' or 'There be, an if they might, r such ambiguous giving out, to note that you know aught of me: this not to do, so grace and mercy at your most need help you,