Arguably the best piece of writing ever done by William Shakespeare, Hamlet the is the classic example of a In all tragedies the hero suffers, and usually dies atthe end. Othello stabs himself, Romeo and Juliet commitsuicide, Brutis falls on his sword, and like them Hamlet diesby getting cut with a poison tipped sword. But that is not allthat is needed to consider a play a tragedy, and sometimesa hero doesn't even need to die. Making Not every play inwhich a Hero dies is considered a tragedy. There are moreelements needed to label a play one. Probably the mostimportant element is an amount of free will. In everytragedy, the characters must displays some. If every actionis controlled by a hero's destiny, then the hero's death can'tbe 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 nottake advantage of them. He also had the option of makinghis claim public, but instead he chose not too. A tragic herodoesn't need to be good. For example, MacBeth was evil,yet he was a tragic hero, because he had free will. He alsohad only one flaw, and that was pride. He had many goodtraits such as bravery, but his one bad trait made him evil.Also a tragic hero doesn't have to die. While in allShakespearean tragedies, the hero dies, in others he maylive but suffer "Moral Destruction". In Oedipus Rex, theproud yet morally blind king plucks out his eyes, and has tospend his remaining days as a wandering, sightless beggar,guided at every painful step by his daughter, Antigone. Amisconception about tragedies is that nothing good comesout of them, but it is actually the opposite. In Romeo andJuliet, although both die, they end the feud between theCapulets and the Montegues. Also, Romeo and Juliet canbe together in heaven. In Hamlet, although Hamlet dies, it isalmost for the best. How could he have any pleasure duringthe rest of his life, with his p...
