An essay on Shakespeare's "Hamlet" as a tragic hero

According to Aristotle a tragic hero must have tragic flaws in their character or judgment that leads him to his doom. In Shakespeare's play "Hamlet" there are many tragic flaws identified within the main character, Hamlet. Some of the most obvious and important are Hamlet's indecisiveness, his excessive concern with death, and his exaggerated moral sensibility which ties in with his abhorrence of sex. Hamlet's indecisiveness is portrayed throughout the tragedy in many ways. The …

…abhorrence of sex. Hamlet's indecisiveness is mostly within his decision on weather or not to murder Claudius, and weather or not he believed the ghost. His excessive concern with death is based on his contemplation of suicide, which he ends up talking himself out of. Finally, his moral sensibilities and abhorrence of sex basically deals with the "incestuous sheets" that Claudius and Gertrude share. All three of these factors make Hamlet a true tragic hero.