Hamlet - the Tragic Hero in Aristotle’s

The tragic hero in Aristotle’s terms is a character of noble birth that is faced with a tragedy and difficult circumstances, which then lead to the character being faced with knowledge such as the knowledge Hamlet receives from the ghost; which eventually leads to the hero’s tragic fall. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a perfect example of an Aristotle tragedy. 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 hero must be brave and noble. Throughout the play Hamlet experiences certain situations which combine with his tragic flaws to lead to his downfall. Hamlet also possesses a tragic flaw, and this flaw is his inability to revenge his father’s death, in combination with the tragic events he faces helps slowly kill Hamlet and make him a tragic hero. Probably the most important element is the amount of free will Hamlet has. In every tragedy, the characters must display some. 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 to.
In Hamlet, although Hamlet dies, it is almost for the best. How could he have any pleasure during the rest of his life, with his parents and Ophelia dead. Also, although Hamlet dies, he is able to kill Claudius and get rid of the evil ruling the throne. Though it was for the best he did have the free will to change the outcome. At any point in time he could have stopped his games and ridiculous antics and sought out the revenge he has become so obsessed over. This never happens and Hamlet is unable to carry out his revenge till the final moments of the play. He couldn't get around to doing anything, because he couldn't move on. He was a full...