Hamlet as a Trajic Hero
According to Aristotle, he defines a "tragic hero" in a very simple but true, to most stories, manner. To start of, Aristotle states that a tragic hero is, "a man characterized by good, as well as evil." This statement holds true in most Shakespeare tragedies. Hamlet for instance, was good in his ways. He was attempting to avenge his father's untimely death, an act performed by only those with a noble stature. Parallel to this, Hamlet was also perceived as bad in the play. Hints of Hamlet growing more than fond of his mother set a bad portrayal of him. As did Hamlets carelessness throughout the play, where he spontaneously, yet accidentally, stabs Polonius. Aristotle also describes a tragic hero as having a tragic flaw, thus leading to his downfall. This is perfectly portrayed in Othello. Throughout the play, Othello is known to be the gullible one. Maybe partially to blame on his race, age, or life as a soldier, never the less Othello is lead to believe many of Iago's lies without a mention of second thought. Othello's gullibility ended up b
eing the catalyst to his, and his wife's life. "The tragic hero has a hubris surrounding him," Aristotle points out as another characteristic. Iago is defiantly the hubris in Othello. Iago is the one that sets up Othello to kill Desdemona therefore acting as the hubris surrounding the tragic hero (Othello).Another point Aristotle makes about the Tragic Hero is that they always go on a journey. A journey to build up to a dramatic ending? A journey to discover more about the other characters? Or maybe a journey to discover the tragic hero himself? The conclusion most would come to would be that of a combination of all these things. Hamlet's journey consisted of all these things and with considerable detail teaching us and Hamlet of the real cause of Hamlet's father's death. Hamlet also is well represented to us in light of another of Aristotle's characteristics. Hamlet portrays the role of someone we can relate to. Hamlet falls in love, and is rejected by the object of this affection. This is probably the best way for an audience to relate to a character because rej
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Approximate Word count = 728
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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