Hamlet
...of a tragedy. In all tragedies the hero
suffers, and usually dies at the end. Othello stabs himself, Romeo and Juliet
commit suicide, Brutis falls on his sword, and like them Hamlet dies by getting
cut with a poison tipped sword. But that is not all that is needed to consider a
play a tragedy, and sometimes a hero doesn't even need to die. Making
Not every play in which a Hero dies is considered a tragedy. There are
more elements needed to label a play one. Probably the most important
element is an amount of free will. In every tragedy, the characters must
displays some. If every action is controlled by a hero's destiny, then the hero's
death can't be avoided, and in a tragedy the sad part is that it could. Hamlet's
death could have been avoided many times. Hamlet had many opportunities
to kill Claudius, but did not take advantage of them. He also had the option of
making his claim public, but instead he chose not too. A tragic hero doesn't
need to be good. For example, MacBeth was evil, yet he was a tragic hero,
because he had free will. He also had only one flaw, and that was pride. He
had many good traits such as bravery, but his one bad trait made him evil.
Also a tragic hero doesn't have to die. While in all Shakespearean tragedies,
the hero dies, in others he may live but suffer "Moral Destruction". In Oedipus
Rex, the proud yet morally blind king plucks out his eyes, and has to spend his
remaining days as a wandering, sightless beggar, guided at every painful
step by his daughter, Antigone. A misconception about tragedies is that
nothing good comes out of them, but it is actually the opposite. In Romeo and
Juliet, although both die, they end the feud between the Capulets and the
Montegues. Also, Romeo and Juliet can be together in heaven. In Hamlet,
although Hamlet dies, it is almost for the best. How...
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