FREE ESSAY ON HAMLET

HAMLET

Arguably the best piece of writing ever done by William Shakespeare, Hamlet the is the
classic example 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 pleasure during the rest of his life, with his parents
and Ophelia dead. Also, although Hamlet dies, he is able to kill Claudius and get rid of
the evil ruling the throne. Every tragic play must have a tragic hero. The tragic hero
must possess many good traits, as well as one flaw, which eventually leads to his
downfall. A tragic hero must be brave and noble. In Othello, Othello had one fatal flaw,
he was too great. Othello was too brave, too noble, and especially too proud to allow
himself to be led back to Venice in chains. A tragic hero must not back down from his
position. He also has to have free will, in order to ezd up for what he believes in.
Finally, the audience must have some sympathy for the tragic hero. In MacBeth, although
MacBeth commits many murders, one almost feels sorry for him and his fate. Hamlet is the
perfect example of the tragic hero. Hamlet has all the good traits needed to be a tragic
hero. He is brave and daring. One example of this is that when he went to England, he was
taking a big risk. If his plan didn't work, he would have been executed He also is also
loyal. His loyalty to his father, was the reason he was so angry at Claudius and his
Mother. Another trait was that he was intelligent. He was able to think up the idea of
faking insanity, in order to get more information about Claudius. But Hamlet like all
other tragic hero's had a flaw. He couldn't get around to doing anything, because he
couldn't move on. He was a full grown adult, yet he still attended school in England,
because he couldn't move on. Also, it took him a long time to stop grieving about his
father, because he didn't want to move past that part of his life. And after he finally
did, Hamlet couldn't get around to killing Claudius. He kept pretending he was insane
even after he was sure that Claudius killed his father. The final example of Hamlet's
inability to get around to do anything was that he was dating Ophelia for a long time,
but never got around to marrying her. The audience was able to feel sympathy for Hamlet
too. He had just lost his father, and his mother remarried so quickly that according to
him they could have used the leftover food from the funeral in the wedding reception.
Also, the audience could feel that Hamlet loved his parents and this sudden change was
hurting him. In any tragedy there is a tragic hero, and he must possess certain
characteristics in order to be one. He must have many good traits such as loyalty and
bravery, but one bad one such as pride. Also the audience must have sympathy for the
hero. A tragic hero also must have free will or his fate would be decided for him, and
his death could be avoided. Finally, the audience must have sympathy for the tragic hero,
or it wouldn't seem so tragic. Hamlet is a perfect example of a tragic hero. He was
brave, loyal, and intelligent, but he couldn't move on past one thing, which led to his
death. He had a choice of how he would deal with Claudius, and like other tragic hero's
made a decision. Also, the audience was able to feel sympathy for the position Hamlet was
in. These attributes made Hamlet the perfect example of a tragic hero.