Hamlet as a Tragic Hero: A Tale of Anguish and Flawed Decisions

We all have different definitions of a tragic hero but Hamlet definitely best matched with Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero. Hamlet was a prince that had great moral integrity. Like everyone else, he had many different flaws. He was faced with a variety of obstacles both internally and externally. He also wanted to revenge and his fate ended up being greater than he deserved. Hamlet has many more characteristics of a tragic hero than Macbeth does.

Hamlet definitely suffered more than he actually deserved.

From the time his father died to when he found out that his own uncle actually murdered his father. When his father's ghost came to explain how he was killed, Hamlet started feeling so much anger. He was so hurt that he wanted to seek revenge on his uncle Claudius. He even considered committing suicide, yet he did not want the consequences that would have occurred afterwards. When it comes down to that kind of thinking that is because that person is really on the edge and they just want to seek an ending to their problems.

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This shows us that he is imperfect and some people can relate to this situation, even though he’s a prince. Due to his situation, as a reader it makes us feel empathy for him which is one of the many characteristics of a tragic hero.

Hamlet's’ story definitely arouses more fear and empathy than Macbeth's’ story does. The fact that his mother married his uncle, which is also his father’s murderer was definitely rough.

In the story the audience goes through a rollercoaster of emotions and empathy towards him. Hamlet and Ophelia’s love story also went down down hill and the way things occurred was so tragic. Him accidentally killing her father obviously ruined it all for them. It was said that his depression worsened after they finished.

Though Hamlet has many characteristics of a tragic hero, he was not a very smart person. He made numerous poor decisions that he should have taken more time on thinking about. After his first mistake everything else came falling apart, one thing after another resulting into his own death. He faced many obstacles that involved lots of thinking. He discovered his own fate by all the things he did. Though bad was done to him, he also had some bad intentions because of all the hurt he was feeling and going through. He wasn’t man of much pride but it does seem that he had some in the way.