Aristotle's Poetics & Hamlet

Hamlet Analyzed in Terms of Aristotle's Poetics 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 …

…aspects of Poetics that Shakespeare does not include or follow, however the play still effects the audience in the desired manner. In reality, Hamlet would not have the same impact if it followed all the guidelines. For instance, the whole aspect of the subplot about Ophelia’s insanity adds so much to the play. Shakespeare broke some of Aristotle’s rules and still wrote an effective tragedy that has been appreciated by audiences for centuries.