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Aristotle’s Poetics is considered the guide to a

well written tragedy; his methods have been used for

centuries. In Aristotle’s opinion, plot is the most

important aspect of the tragedy, all other parts such as

character, diction, and thought stem from the plot.

Aristotle defines a tragedy as “…an imitation of an

action that is serious, complete, and of a certain

magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of

artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in

separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not

of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper

purgation of these emotions”(p. 22). Shakespeare’s

Hamlet follows this definition for the most part, and

even though it is not always in agreement with

Aristotle’s guidelines, it is still a great and

effective tragedy.

Aristotle states that tragedy is “an imitation of

an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain

magnitude”(p. 22). Hamlet is an excellent example of

this. The play centers around Hamlet’s quest to avenge

his father’s death, this is a serious action. It is

also complete in the sense that all the loose ends are

tied together in a sensible, believable manner. Hamlet

is able to avenge his father’s death by killing his

uncle. Shakespeare also follows Aristotle’s idea of the

tragedy being of a certain magnitude. The characters

are supposed to be the most perfect people whom the

audience can still relate to. Hamlet is a wealthy

prince, however he deals with the same problems as the

common man. He is confused, paranoid, and...