Define Tragic Hero. Then, using the six elements of the tragic hero, the outline of Hamlet, the character, is the perfect example of a tragic hero.

The term “Tragic Hero” was first used by Aristotle and can be defined as the type of character with the following elements: hamartia, hubris, peripeteia, anagnorisis, nemesis, catharsis. The first attribute means that a protagonist has a flaw or an attitude that is human yet causes serious problems; indeed, Hamlet’s doubts about every decision and hesitation made him let Claudius stay alive.

The protagonist claims, “O all you host of heaven! what else? And shall I couple hell? O, fie! Hold, hold, my heart; And you, my sinews, grow not instant old, But bear me stiffly up” (Shakespeare I, iv). Hamlet addressed hubris by claiming, “O, from this time forth, My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth” (Shakespeare III, iv). The element is the overestimated pride described through Hamlet’s confidence in beating Claudius and Laertes.

Peripeteia addresses the unfortunate event against a protagonist; the scene Hamlet kills Polonius discloses the former’s intentions towards revenging the king. After discovering the confusion, he claimed: Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell! I took thee for thy better: take thy fortune; Thou find’st to be too busy is some danger” (Shakespeare III, iv).

Anagnorisis is the element of discovering the information which dramatically affects the hero, such as the ghost telling Hamlet that Claudius murdered his father. The essence stated, “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life, Now wears his crown” (Shakespeare I, v). Nemesis is the inevitable fate, such as Hamlet’s fight with Laertes resulted in the death of both; “O, I die, Horatio; The potent poison quite o’er-crows my spirit” (Shakespeare V, ii).

Horatio’s last lines are, “Even while men’s minds are wild; lest more mischance; On plots and errors, happen” (Shakespeare V, ii). They address catharsis, the element that includes the audience’s feeling of pity for the hero’s destiny.