Hamlet 2
Hamlet 2The tragedy in literature is defined by Gage Canadian Dictionary as a serious play having, usually, a central character and an unhappy or disastrous ending. Also, in many tragedies the hero experiences great mental suffering and, finally meets his death. Great literature usually defines this term throughout its course by clarifying and illustrating its meaning. One of such classic examples is Hamlet by William Shakespeare, where characters such as Polonius and Claudius have freedom to choose their fate and where death of innocent becomes a frequent event.
Although many people lose their lives as a result of their own wrongdoing, for example Hamlet, there are a few others whose death is a result of bad luck and misfortune, for instance Polonius’ daughter, Ophelia. . She, like others in the play, was manipulated by Claudius for his own purposes. In Act II, Scene 2, Claudius and Polonius use Ophelea to determine the cause of Hamlet’s madness.
Polonius: At such a time I’ll lose my daughter to him:
Be you and I behind an arras then;
Mark the encounter: if he love her not
And be not form his reason fall’n thereon,
Let me be no assistant for a state,
But keep a farm and carters
And in Act II, scene 1, Ophelia tells Polonius how Hamlet has scared her, making Polonius believe that Hamlet has gone insane. Thus the death of Ophelia is a tragedy because she did nothing deserving of her horrible death, besides allowing herself to be used by others.
One of the most important elements of tragedy, according to Gage Canadian Dictionary, is a number of opportunities a character has to escape his or her fate. The sad part is that in the tragedy, hero’s death could be easily avoided by making the right choices, it’s not simply controlled by his fortune or destiny. Polonius had many chances to escape his fate but he acted deceitfully throughout the play trying to show his loyalty to the king and the queen by spying on Hamlet.
Polonius: my lord, he’s going to his mother’s closet;
Behind the arras I’ll convey myself,
To hear the process; I’ll warrant she’ll tax him home
I’ll call upon you erie you go to bed,
And tell you what I know.
He could have chosen not to follow king’s wishes and thus to avoid his own death. Also, while being the king’s advisor Polonius’ duty is to obey king’s desires and it’s his stupidity and devotion to the task that eventually kill him in Act III, scene 4. Hence Polonius’ fate can be viewed as a tragedy.
Not every play in which a hero dies is considered a tragedy. To classify a play a tragedy, according to Gage Canadian Dictionary, a hero must have many good traits as well a flaws which eventually lead to his downfall. Hamlet is a perfect example of a character possessing these qualities. He...
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