Hamlet Tragic Hero Research Paper

Hamlet is one of the most controversial tragic heroes in Shakespearean literature. A tragic hero can be defined as an individual who has heroic qualities but his fated to doom due to a character flaw but still manages to win over our admiration. Hamlet’s character flaw is his inability to distinguish between his expectations and reality. He has a deep hatred/disrespect towards woman and treats them unjustly but that does not rob him of his tragic hero status. Hamlet is afraid of women due to the way they have hurt him in the past. His mother, Queen Gertrude, married his uncle, Claudius, within a month of his father, Hamlet Senior’s death. Hamlet and Ophelia have a budding relationship but he suspects that she is helping her father spy on him. …show more content…
Hamlet criticising his mother for moving on so soon after her husband’s death by saying “a beast that wants discourse of reason would have mourn’d longer”.
Hamlet generalises women based on his mother’s behaviour by saying “Frailty, Thy name is woman” which makes it evident that he associates women with being weak and frail. Many of the scenarios between Hamlet and the women in his life are due to the reality of the situation not meeting his expectations. For example, he expects Ophelia to love him unconditionally yet she starts ignoring him because of her Father and he expects his mother to be loyal to his father but she is not.
In conclusion, it is evident that Hamlet treats women in the unjust way that he does because he feels betrayed by the two women that mean the most to him. He cannot distinguish between his expectations in contrast with the reality of his situation and therefore he takes his frustration out on who he views as the weaker sex. However, Hamlet remains a tragic hero as he admits his fault and is remorseful by the end of the