The Pattern of Shakespeare's Tragedies.

In all his tragedies Shakespeare represents the tragic aspect of life, the tragic fact. They have up to a certain point a common form or structure, however the question here is: what is Shakespeare's conception of tragedy? Shakespearean tragedy is the story of one person - the hero (or in love tragedies hero and the heroine). The story leads up to and ends in the death of the hero. The story depicts the troubled part …

…the principle of good which animates them. They also acquire our respect and confidence. Finally, a tragedy would not be a tragedy if it didn't involve a painful mystery. We remain confronted with the inexplicable impression of a world striving for perfection, but bringing to birth along with the good an evil which it is able to overcome only by self-torture and self-waste. And this fact is tragedy. The tragedy is the waste of good.