The Tragedy Of 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 could he have any...
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