WhatI

saShakespear
eanTr
agedy
?

Fi
rstofall
,whatisatragedy?Tragedyisagenr
eofstoryinwhichaherois
broughtdownbyhi s/
herownf laws,
usuall
ybyordi
naryhumanf l
aws–f l
awslike
greed,over
-ambit
ion,orevenanexcessoflove,
honor,orl
oyal
ty.Somet
imes,peopl
e
usethewor d“t
ragedy”foranysadevent.

AShakespeareantragedyisapl aypennedbyShakespear ehi mself, oraplay

writ
teninthestyl
eofShakespear ebyadi ff
erentauthor.Shakespear eant r
agedyhas
gotitsownspecifi
cfeatures,whichdistingui
shitfrom otherkindsoft ragedies.It
mustbekepti nmindthatShakespear ei smost l
yindebtedtoAr istotl
e’st heoryof
tr
agedyinhisworks.Acol l
ecti
onofShakespear eant r
agedies,includingt hefullt
exts
ofTitusAndroni
cus,RomeoandJul iet
, Juli
usCaesar ,Macbeth, Haml et, Ki
ngLear ,
Othell
o,andAntonyandCl eopatra.AllofShakespear e'
stragediescont ainatleast
onemor eoftheseelement s:

At
ragi
cher
o.

Adi
chot
omyofgoodandev
il
.

At
ragi
cwast
e.

Hamar
ti
a(t
heher
o'st
ragi
cfl
aw)

I
ssuesoff
ateorf
ort
une.

Gr
eed.

Foul
rev
enge.

Super
nat
ural
element
s.

Theel
ement
sofaShakespear
eant
ragedyar
edi
scussedbel
ow.

ElementsofaShakespeareanTragedyi
nHaml et–Revengemot
ive,
int
ernal
and
exter
nalconf
li
cts,
comicrel
ief
,tr
agicher
o/f
law/
mi st
ake,
super
nat
uralel
ement
chancehappeni
ngs.

Revengemotive–Haml etseeksr
evengeonClaudi
usforki
ll
i
nghi sfat
herand
marryi
nghismother,Laert
esseeksrevengeofHamletf
orki
lli
nghisfat
her,
Pol
onius…anddr i
vi
nghi ssi
steri
nsane,For
ti
nbr
asseeksrevengeontheDanesf
or
ki
ll
i
nghi sf
ather

I
nter
nal andext
ernal
conf
li
cts–Haml
ethasalotofi
nter
nalconf
li
ct,
aswellas
Cl
audius.Basi
call
yall
oft
heexter
nal
confl
i
ctsareHamletagai
nstever
yoneel
se.

Comi
crel
i
ef–gr
avedi
gger
sscene(
useofmal
apr
opi
sms)
-Haml
ett
easi
ngPol
oni
us

Tr
agi
chero/
flaw/mist
ake-Hamleti
sthet
ragi
cher
o…hi
sfl
awi
shi
sinabi
l
ityt
oact
…
hi
smist
akeiskil
l
ingPoloni
us.

Super
nat
ural
element
KingHaml
et’
sghostt
ell
sHaml
ett
oseekr
evengeonCl
audi
us
Chancehappeni
ngs–pi
rat
eshi
pHaml
ethi
desi
nthegr
avey
arddur
ingOphel
i
a’s
funer
al.