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Hamlet Tragic Hero Essay

Decent Essays

A Hero’s Demise
According to the Aristotelian view of tragedy, a tragic hero must lead towards his own demise through his own errors. This notion is typically known as the tragic flaw. It is the aspect of their core personality that causes a deviation from the desired path of success. This may not only be a quality but could also be seen as a mistake such as lack of judgement or decision. In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare depicts the protagonist of the play, Prince Hamlet, as an archetypal tragic hero since he posses all the characteristics (of a tragic hero) which are outlined by Aristotle in Poetics.
The Prince of Denmark-Hamlet is an intelligent, calculated and a rational thinking individual. This is why it makes it rather …show more content…

The morals of the afterlife, derived from Hamlet’s intellectual thinking, poses an obstacle to killing Claudius. However, with such brutal crime, revenge should be something ruthless and without boundaries. Hamlet is yet again buying some time.

Conversely, at the turning point in the play, Hamlet's characteristics presents a dynamic change. He has an epiphany that completely contradicts his tragic flaw. The idea of “spur[ing his] dull revenge” in Act 4, Scene 4, Line 35 Hamlet motivates himself to get the job done and stop at nothing: "My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!" (4.4, 65) he believes that if Fortinbras could march thousands of men to their death over a small benefit, then he should not have any excuses to delay the revenge. However, this plan of action came too late in the play. The tragic flaw had already set up the fate for Hamlet and the Throne of Denmark.

The ultimate effect of Hamlet's tragic flaw is magnified over time. It's effects echos throughout the play and near the very end where the tragedy occurs. Had Hamlet killed Claudius sooner, honour and virtue could have been restored to the throne and the end of the play with so many royal casualties could have been

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