Hamel As A Tragic Hero

3 Pages 681 Words

Hamlet as a tragedy

In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet the question on weather or not it falls into the category of a tragedy. “Tragedies recount an individual's downfall; they usually begin high and end low (1)”. According Aristotle a tragedy is a play that ha a beginning middle and an end; a unity of place and time; a tragic hero who goes through peripetia and anagnorisis.

The first issue of whether something is classified as a tragedy is whether it contains a distinguishing beginning, middle and an end. The play early on reveals that Hamlet’s father was killed and he ponders how to go about seeking revenge. The middle of the play is distinguished as the Hamlets “mouse trap,” catching Claudius right where he wanted him. The end is distinguished as Hamlets tragic flaw leading to the end of his life but not until Claudius, Leartes, and Gertrude are all dead. (Act v scene ii)

The next aspect of a classic tragedy is a tragic hero. A tragic hero is someone who leads to his/her down fall due to a tragic flaw. Hamlet’s tragic flaw is that he over analyses/thinks about what to do about his father’s murder throughout the play. This flaw predominately shown when Hamlet has a perfect opportunity to kill Claudius while he is praying (Act III scene iii), but Hamlet decides to think about it. Hamlet determines that if he kills Claudius while he is praying, that will send him to heaven. Therefore, Hamlet decides to wait for Claudius to sin, and then kill him, sending him to hell. This opportunity to wait turns to be a bad one that sends Hamlet into his own spiraling downfall.

Another aspect of a classic tragedy is the tragic hero must experience peripetia or reversal of events. Hamlet experiences peripetia on his voyage to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. On the voyage over, Hamlet finds his death warrant with his name on it to be delivered to England. Hamlet, being the thinker he is, decides to re-write i...