Hamlet also demonstrates his flaw when he says “That would be scanned,”(Shakespeare III.iii.76) which basically means that he wants think more about the situation at hand, before following it through. His nature to over-think matters is considered a tragic flaw, because his decision to put off the murder of Claudius, leads to the death of many characters in the play, including him. Not only does Hamlet miss his opportunity when he scum’s to his flaw, but he also displays another tragic flaw, which is to procrastinate. Ophelia’s character flaw that is displayed is her emotional weakness. Ultimately Ophelia’s flaw is the reason for her own death, which is what makes it so tragic.
Revenge is often seen as a person’s way to “get even” after he or she has suffered, in attempt to harm the wrongdoer in retaliation. The only purpose of revenge is to gain satisfaction in seeing the wrongdoer suffer. Through ethical, religious and legal perspectives, revenge is not ever justified. The act upon taking revenge is unethical. For instance in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the feud between the Montagues and Capulets caused pain and suffering towards the innocent characters such as Romeo, Juliet, Mercutio and Tybalt.
This loyalty to Lear and what he stands for is part of the reason that Kent and Cordelia are banished and even leads to the death of Cordelia. Shakespeare uses loyalty in two different ways throughout the play. He uses it to show the good in characters such as Kent and Cordelia but also uses it to create the destruction of several of the characters including Cordelia. To fully understand the effect that loyalty has on the play, we must first look at the way Shakespeare presents the trait. He starts off with a test of loyalty for Kent and Cordelia in the form of banishment by Lear.
Hamlet's tragic flaw is his indecisiveness to act on his thoughts. Hamlet tends to over-think and weigh the consequences of his actions rather than just act on them, this is shown through Hamlet's soliloquys. Hamlet is always questioning himself so he will make the best decision. No matter how admirable this is it slows him down from killing Claudius. Hamlet even says himself, “Thus conscience does make cowards of us all” (III.i.54).
Shakespeare's Presentation of Othello as Responsible for his Own Downfall Shakespeare’s Othello consists of the themes betrayal, love and dishonesty. At the centre of this play is the tragic downfall of Othello at the hands of his so called friend Iago. In this essay I will be discussing the reasons for and against Othello being responsible for his downfall through looking at critical interpretations of his character and actions. In some ways you could say that Othello was highly responsible for his own downfall as he was easily manipulated by Iago showing him to be gullible and naïve. Iago manipulates Othello by making him suspicious through inference, “Ha I like not that”.
At the end of every tragic play, the audience must feel pity or remorse for the deceased hero. This is also known as catharsis, which means purging of emotions. However these negative emotions are washed away because the tragic hero's death is an example of the axiom of true Puritan values. John Proctor, a character in Arthur Miller's The Crucible, is a classic tragic hero because he contains all the elements of a tragic hero such as hamartia, peripeteia, catharsis, and despite not being born into nobility, he possesses many noble characteristics. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor's fatal flaw was his overwhelming hubris that made him eventually succumb to his death.
There is a duality to the character of Hamlet, as his madness changes from a performance to true insanity throughout the play. Initially, in Act 1 Scene 5, Hamlet is coerced by the ghost and decides that he will “put an antic disposition on”. This is the main use of dramatic irony in the play, as the audience knows Hamlet’s madness is performed. However as the play develops and changes, so too does Hamlet’s madness. Act 3 Scene 4 is the main turning point for Hamlet’s madness.
The downfall of Othello – The dramatic play Othello by William Shakespeare epitomises a tragedy, which is defined as “a literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with un-favourable circumstances”. Throughout the play it becomes evident that the ultimate downfall of Othello is caused by his own weaknesses in his personality and his vulnerability to those who have identified these weaknesses and prey upon them. Othello’s weakness is his trusting nature and his willingness to believe whatever he is told without question. The second character flaw is that he can be overcome by his uncontrollable jealousy. Desdemona is Othello’s wife who he is madly in love with and Iago preys upon Othello’s jealous personality and trusting nature to convince Othello of his wife’s infidelity resulting in the ultimate downfall of Othello – death.
Jealousy in Othello results in the tragic ending like in the beginning of the play, Iago was jealoused of Cassio because he wanted to get Cassio’s position as a lieutenant, Rogerigo was jealoused of Othello because Desdemona loves Othello and not him and Othello was jealoused of Cassio because he thought that Cassio loves Desdemona more than him. Roderigo was jealoused of Othello because Desdemona loves Othello and not him. He was willing to do anything to win her love. It is the jealousy which moves him to do many evil things in the play. He gave a large amount of money to Iago to get Desdemona but he failed.
Madness in Hamlet and King Lear The subject of madness is a major theme in two of Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedies, “Hamlet” and “King Lear”. In both of these plays, a character feigns insanity to carry out a motive - Hamlet and Edgar respectively. However, while it is made quite clear to the audience that Edgar is only pretending to be a mad beggar (“Whiles I may escape I will preserve myself, and am bethought to take the basest and most poorest shape that ever penury, in contempt of man brought near to beast”), it is somewhat less clear whether Hamlet has crossed the line and lost control of his “antic disposition”. Shakespeare gives evidence which suggests that Hamlet is sane by having three other men also witness the manifestation of the ghost of Hamlet’s father. If Hamlet were to have seen his father’s ghost by himself, there would be a greater argument for him being insane from the outset of the play.