When you think of William Shakespeare, Hamlet is the first thing most people think of, as his work. Hamlet is also a classic example of a tragedy. In all tragedies the hero suffers, and usually dies at the end. All good pieces of literature written way back when, are usually tragedies. The most important element is the amount of free will the character has. In every tragedy, the character must display free will. 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. In Hamlet, although Hamlet dies, it is almost for the best. His life was not worth living anymore, with his parents and Ophelia dead. Also, although Hamlet dies, he is able to kill Claudius and get rid of the evil on the throne. This is another key thing a tragedy must have. 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 heromust be brave and noble. 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 and knew they were out to kill him. His loyalty to his father, was the reason he was so angry with Claudius and his Mother. Eric Bentley said that a Tragedy is dependent on comedy. Comic relief is used in tragedies to change the atmosphere of the reader, who is constantly focusing on the death and corruption of a tragedy. If a play were full of the death and sorrow, as in tragedies, it would make the reader very depressed and no...
