Personality verses Fate

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Recommended: Development of the character of hamlet

In all of Shakespeare’s plays there is a common pattern. This pattern is Aristotle’s “Tragic Hero”. In order for the play to follow this theme there must be a character that is of noble birth, he must cause his own downfall, that regrets what he has done, and then dies. All of Shakespeare’s plays follow this theme, all except Hamlet. Hamlet follows a different theme called a “Revenge Play”. The Revenge play is based off of a play called the “Spanish Tragedy” by Thomas Kyd. The Revenge play was very popular during the Renaissance. In order for a play to be considered a “Revenge play” it must have the following criteria: a secret murder (Hamlet’s father is murder), a ghostly vision of the victim (Hamlet sees his fathers ghost), a period at which the plot for vengeance is planned (Hamlet thinking about how to have Claudius confess), a madness of anger in a sudden act from the avenger (Hamlet kills Polonius), and an ending with the death of everyone including the avenger. In Hamlet all of this is present. So yes, Hamlet’s personality does affect the tragic events that happen through out...

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