Aristotle's theory of a tragic hero, and a combination of Merriam Webster dictionaries, a person can be classified as a hero even if he does not live to see the good that he has done or accomplished in his lifetime. This type of character is more correctly called a tragic hero. In the play, Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, Hamlet fits the mold of a tragic hero perfectly as he meets all of the requirements to be a tragic hero which are: A person of noble birth who occupies a powerful enough position to make choices which involve great numbers of people, decisions which can bring catastrophe to an entire

kingdom. He also has to have a trait of goodness, but he cannot be perfect. The tragic hero also must possess some sort of flaw due to pride or his character and the destruction of this character is due to this flaw. The tragic hero must have a final moment of potential self-awareness, be a man of godlike prowess, and the his goodness must come to be honored as divinity in

Gertrude, and Laertes in the end. Horatio says, " What is it you would see?/ If aught of woe or wonder, cease your search." Fortinbras replies, " This quarry cries on havoc. O proud Death,/ What feast is toward in thine eternal cell/ That thous o many princes at a

beast that wants discourse of reason/ would have mourned longer) married with my uncle;.."The people who were around him saw this and admired him for it. The people understood what it was that Hamlet was feeling because they never looked down on Hamlet. In the end Hamlet's goodness came to be honored as divinity. In the last moments of the play Fortinbras recognizes this in Hamlet and honors him with the most

situation. Instead of acting Hamlet analyzed the situation thoroughly and changed his mind several times. This is observable when Hamlet has a chance to kill Claudius, while he pretends to be in prayer, but Hamlet thinks about the situation too much and changes

shot/ So bloodily has struck?" (V. ii. 390-394) This quote shows that in the end there was nothing left because Hamlet never stopped thinking and never acted until it was too late. So in the end only total "havoc" prevailed.

father;/ for let the world take not/ You are the

almost by his looks." (IV. vii. 13-14) Hamlet showed his loyalties to his father, King Hamlet, after his death by mourning him and disapproving of his mother's marriage to his uncle. "O that this too too solid flesh would melt,/Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!.../ How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable/ Seem to me all the uses of this world!/ Fie on't! ah,

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For your intent in going back to school in

Abram's Glossary says the tragic hero must be a man of godlike prowess. Unmistakably, Hamlet was a man of godlike prowess because of the power and influence he held in Denmark. The people of Denmark were substantial to anything that harmed Hamlet and anything Hamlet harmed. Hamlet commits a heinous crime by brutally killing Polonius in his mother's chamber. Hamlet does not get prosecuted for the crime because the King says that Hamlet is adored too much by Denmark and the Queen. "O heavy deed!/ It had been so with us, had we been there./ His liberty is full of threats to all-/ to you yourself, to us. To everyone/ Alas, how shall this bloody deed be answered?/ It will be laid to us, whose Providence/ should have kept short, restrained, and out of haunt/ This mad young man. But so much was our love/ We would not understand what was most fit,/ But, like the owner of a foul disease,/ To keep it from divulging, let it feed on the pith of life. Where is he gone?" (IV. II. 14-25)

And we beseech you, bend you to remain/ Here

According to Aristotle's definition the hero must have a final moment of potential self awareness. Hamlet's final moment of potential self- awareness comes in Act V Scene II lines 218-222, "Not a whit, we defy augury; there's a special/providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not/ to come; if it be not to come, it will be now, if it be not / now, yet it will come: the readiness is all. Since no man/ has aught of what he leaves, what is't to leave betimes?/Let be." Hamlet finally comes to terms with death and just accepting the situation for what it is.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2592
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)