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CHARACTERISTICS/ELEMENTS OF
SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY
Shakespearean tragedies are highly influenced by Greek drama and Aristotle's notion of
tragedy. It was Aristotle who had first defined tragedy in his 'Poetics' which is followed even
today to analyse modern drama. Aristotle defines tragedy as:

“Tragedy is a representation of an action which is serious, complete in itself, and of a

certain magnitude; it is expressed in speech made beautiful in different ways in
different parts of the play; it is acted, not narrated and by exciting pity and fear gives a
healthy relief to such emotions.”

According to A.C. Bradley the Shakespearean Tragedy is “a tale of suffering and calamity
conducing to death.” Although this remark describes what is common to Shakespearean
Tragedies, its main characteristics are the following:

The Tragic Hero

A tragic hero is one of the most significant elements of a Shakespearean tragedy. This type
of tragedy is essentially a one-man show. It is a story about one, or sometimes two,
characters. The hero may be either male or female and he or she must suffer because of
some flaw of character, because of inevitable fate, or both. The hero must be the
most tragic personality in the play. According to Andrew Cecil Bradley, Shakespearean
tragedy “is essentially a tale of suffering and calamity conducting to death.” (Usually
the hero has to face death in the end.)

An important feature of the tragic hero is that he or she is a towering personality in his/her
state/kingdom/country. This person belongs to the elite class of society and holds a high
position, often one of royalty. Tragic heroes are kings, princes, or military generals, who are
very important to their subjects. Take Hamlet, prince of Denmark; he is intellectual, highly
educated, sociable, charming, and of a philosophic bent. The hero is such an important
person that his/her death gives rise to full-scale turmoil, disturbance, and chaos throughout
the land. When Hamlet takes revenge for the death of his father, he is not only killing his
uncle but inviting his own death at the hands of Laertes. And as a direct result of his death,
the army of Fortinbras enters Denmark to take control.

Conflict

Conflict is another imperative element of a Shakespearean tragedy. There are two types of
conflicts:

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External Conflict

External conflict plays a vital role in the tragedies of Shakespeare. External conflict causes
internal conflict in the mind of the tragic hero. Every tragic hero in a Shakespearean play is
confronted with external conflicts that must be addressed. Hamlet, for example, is confronted
with external conflict in the shape of his uncle, Claudius. He has to take revenge, but as a
result of his uncle's craftiness and effective security, Hamlet isn’t able to translate his ideas
into action. This external conflict gives rise to internal conflict, which hinders Hamlet from
taking any action.

Internal Conflict

Internal conflict is one of the most essential elements in a Shakespearean tragedy. It refers to
the confusion in the mind of the hero. Internal conflict is responsible for the hero's fall, along
with fate or destiny. The tragic hero always faces a critical dilemma. Often, he cannot make a
decision, which results in his ultimate failure. Again, Hamlet is a perfect example. He is
usually a doer, but over the course of the play, his indecision and frequent philosophical hang
ups create a barrier to action. Internal conflict is what causes Hamlet to spare the life of
Claudius while he is praying.

Good vs. Evil / Passion vs. Reason

The predominantly tragic conflict in the minds of Shakespearean heroes is between passion
and conflict. The opposition between reason and passion, first isolated – through Othello and
Iago - in a dramatic conflict of personalities and then projected in Macbeth and Lear, beyond
the original hero to the state and universe which surround him in an eternal fight between
good and evil.

Shakespearean tragedies play out the struggle between good and evil. Most of them deal
with the supremacy of evil and suppression of good. According to Edward Dowden,
“Tragedy as conceived by Shakespeare is concerned with the ruin or restoration of the
soul and of the life of man. In other words, its subject is the struggle of Good and Evil
in the world.”

Evil is presented in Shakespearean tragedies in a way that suggests its existence is an

indispensable and ever-enduring thing. For example, in „Hamlet‟, the reader is given the
impression that something rotten will definitely happen to Denmark (foreshadowing). Though
the reader gets inkling, typically the common people of the play are unaware of the
impending evil.

In „Julius Caesar‟, the mob is unaware of the struggle between good and evil within King
Caesar. They are also ignorant of the furtive and sneaky motives of Cassius. Goodness
never beats evil in the tragedies of Shakespeare. Evil conquers goodness. The reason for

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this is that the evil element is always disguised, while goodness is open and freely visible to
all. The main character (the most pious and honest person in the tragedy) is assigned the
task of defeating the supreme evil because of his goodness. As a result, he suffers terribly
and ultimately fails due to his fatal flaw.

The Tragic Flaw/Hamartia

Hamartia is the Greek word for “sin” or “error”, which derives from the verb hamatanein,
meaning “to err” or “to miss the mark”. In other words, hamartia refers to the hero's tragic
flaw. Every hero falls due to some flaw in his or her character. A. C. Bradley asserts, “The
calamities and catastrophe follow inevitably from the deeds of men and the main
source of these deeds is character.” As a result of the fatal flaw, the hero falls from a high
position, which usually leads to his/her unavoidable death.

Shakespeare’s tragedy is above all a tragedy of character, though environment, coincidences

and chance play their parts. However, it is some flaw in the tragic hero which causes his
tragedy: the example is Othello whose tragic flaw is jealousy. The tragic flaw is not always a
shortcoming in itself. It is only in the particular situation in which the hero is placed that the
particular quality of the hero becomes damaging to him. For example, Hamlet’s habit of
carefully weighing the pros and cons of everything before taking action would have proved an
asset to Othello, while thoughtlessness of action would have cut-short Hamlet’s agonies.

The Role of Chance and Fate

Chance and fate, the latter sometimes in the form of supernatural, also play their part in
Shakespearean tragedies. However, they are never the starting point of tragedies, but are led
into when the story has taken a definite course. The incident of handkerchief in Othello is an
example of pure chance which is exploited by the villain, but this chance crops up when the
seeds of jealousy in Othello’s mind have become strong trees

Theme and Action

Shakespearean tragedies have well-defined themes which are also capable of being
expressed in moral terms. For example, the theme of King Lear is regeneration while that of
Othello is one of making a choice. His stories involve themes such as murder, madness,
duels etc. Shakespeare doesn’t conform to the classical view of tragedy which insisted on the
purity of genres and the unities of time and space. For Shakespeare, the prime unity is the
tragic effect created by a strong sense of inevitability.

Absence of Poetic Justice

Poetic Justice means good is rewarded and evil is punished; it refers to a situation in which
everything comes to a fitting and just end. There is no poetic justice in the tragedies of

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Shakespeare; rather, these plays contain only partial justice. Shakespeare understood that
poetic justice rarely occurs outside of fiction. Good deeds often go without reward and
immoral people are often free to enjoy life to its fullest. “Do good and have good” was
considered an outdated ethos in the time of Shakespeare, which is why we don’t find any
poetic justice in his tragedies. Good is crushed along with evil. Hamlet dies along with
Claudius.

Catharsis

Catharsis is a remarkable feature of a Shakespearean tragedy. It refers to the cleansing of

the audience's pent-up emotions. In other words, Shakespearean tragedies help the
audience to feel and release emotions through the aid of tragedy. When we watch a tragedy,
we identify with the characters and take their losses personally. A Shakespearean tragedy
gives us an opportunity to feel pity for a certain character and fear for another, almost as if we
are playing the roles ourselves. The hero's hardships compel us to empathize with him. The
villain's cruel deeds cause us to feel wrath toward him. Tears flow freely when a hero like
Hamlet dies. At the same time we feel both sorry for Hamlet and happy that Claudius has
received his proper punishment.

Tragic Waste

In Shakespearean tragedies, the hero usually dies along with his opponent. The death of a
hero is not an ordinary death; it encompasses the loss of an exceptionally intellectual, honest,
intelligent, noble, and virtuous person. In a tragedy, when good is destroyed along with evil,
the loss is known as a "tragic waste." Shakespearean tragedy always includes a tragic
waste of goodness. Hamlet is a perfect example of tragic waste. Even though Hamlet
succeeds in uprooting the evil from Denmark, he does so at the cost of his death. In this
case, the good (Hamlet) gets destroyed along with evil (Claudius). Neither of them wins.
Instead, they fail together.

Tragic Effect

Even without knowing the Poetics, Shakespeare is able to arouse strong pity and fear in the
minds of his readers and theatre viewers. In Shakespearean tragedies, only these emotions
are not aroused; but according to A.C. Bradley, the characteristic emotion aroused by
Shakespeare’s tragedies is a profound sense of waste. This is derived from the idea of
human worth and dignity which the plays express and the missed opportunities or wrong
choices which lead to man’s defeat without affecting his essential dignity. Shakespearean
tragedies embody a sense of profound suffering and sadness and some of them end in a
number of deaths which enhance Shakespeare’s intended tragic effect. For example, Hamlet

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and King Lear end in so many deaths that the stage is littered with dead bodies in the last
scene.

Comic Relief

Shakespeare didn’t follow in the footsteps of his classical predecessors when writing
tragedies. Greek and Roman writers didn’t use comic relief. But Shakespeare wanted to
relieve the tension for the reader and lighten up the mood here and there. A few examples of
comic relief scenes include the grave digger scene in Hamlet, the drunken port scene
in Macbeth, the fool is smarter than the king dialogue in King Lear, and the Polonius in the
wings speech in Hamlet.

Characterization

Shakespearean tragic hero is the only and the one in the play; however, there is at least one
character near him which is also highlighted. In his tragedies, male characters have a
dominant role and female characters, although unforgettable, usually play little action.
Shakespeare also uses double plots and comic scenes for comic relief.

Supernatural Elements

Supernatural elements are another key aspect of a Shakespearean tragedy. They play an
import role in creating an atmosphere of awe, wonder, and sometimes fear. Supernatural
elements are typically used to advance the story and drive the plot. The ghost Hamlet sees
plays an important role in stirring up internal conflict. It is the ghost who tells Hamlet his father
was killed by his uncle Claudius and assigns him the duty of taking revenge. Similarly, the
witches in Macbeth play a significant role in the plot. These witches are responsible for
motivating Macbeth to resort to murder in order to ascend the throne of Scotland.

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