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Tragic Heroes Hector, Beowulf, And Hamlet

2490 Words10 Pages

A hero does more than just a “normal person.” A hero stands up to defend his beliefs. Not only does a hero protect himself, but he protects other people as well. A hero will go to any length to fight for his beliefs, even if the odds are against him. Four examples of tragic heroes are Achilles, Hector, Beowulf, and Hamlet. Many characteristics define these four heroes; however, four characteristics are most evident as defining them as tragic heroes. These four heroes are intelligent and learn from their mistakes. Each hero suffers more than he deserves. These heroes are faced with a very serious decision they have to make. Lastly, the most heroic characteristic, that the hero must be physically or spiritually wounded by his experiences, often …show more content…

Hector realized the mistake he made and learned this when Achilles came into battle. Hector had fate to die at Achilles hand, so when Achilles came into battle, Hector realized the mistake he had made. Although Hector knew he would get killed by Achilles, he still remained the fearless leader of the Trojans fought Achilles bravely.("Hector") Hamlet makes the mistake of not killing his uncle, King Claudius, when he had the chance to. King Claudius murdered Hamlet’s father in order to be king. Hamlet had just discovered this and now needed to avenge his father’s death by killing Claudius. Hamlet had the perfect chance to kill Claudius because Claudius kneeled in the chapel and did not see Hamlet. Hamlet put aside the thought of killing Claudius at that moment because Hamlet thought Claudius had been praying and confessing his sins. Hamlet did not want to kill Claudius while he had been confessing his sins because that meant that Claudius would go to heaven, so Hamlet decided he would wait until Claudius sinned again and then he would kill him. However, Claudius actually did not confess his sins, so Hamlet could have killed him. Since Hamlet did not kill Claudius at that moment, he ended up killing Polonius because Hamlet thought that he had seen Claudius. After

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“A hero is somebody who voluntarily walks into the unknown” Tom Hanks. An assumption that can be made about the characteristics of a hero is that heroes are brave and will do anything for the safety of others. These features are found in the lifestyles of Eddie Aikau, King Kamehameha and Father Damien. The introductory example of heroes being brave and will do anything for the safety of others.

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When asked to describe a hero, Mickey Mantle, famous baseball player for the New York Yankees, Said “Heroes are people who are all good with no bad in them” This quote shows that a hero is someone who always does the right thing and has good intentions. What a hero should look like now is someone who is loyal and brave. In Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, Odysseus proves that he is a hero when he went to save his men on “Circe’s Island.” and defeated the cyclops in “The Cave of the Cyclops.”

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Claudius never intended to kill Hamlet, nor anyone else, after he became king. Even when Claudius first sensed that Hamlet knew the truth about his father. Instead of killing Hamlet right away, he tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern “I like him not, nor stands it safe with us to let his madness

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Hamlet Figurative Language Essay

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Hamlet was given the prime opportunity to kill Claudius when he found him on his knees begging for forgiveness. Hamlet negated not to kill him right then and there because he wanted Claudius to go to hell, not heaven. Hamlet’s lack of sanity, or his tragic flaw, in the play is definitely what caused his inability to

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In a chain of destruction, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, convinces everyone he’s insane, and drives Ophelia to insanity and to her suicide (only to realize after that he really loved her). In the end, he is kills both Laertes and Claudius, only to suffer his own

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As Claudius repents, Hamlet feels as though it's the best time to kill him until he says: And so ’a goes to Heaven; And so am I revenged. That would be scanned. A villain kills my father; and for that, I, his son, do this same villain send To heaven (3.3.73-78) Essentially, Hamlet wanted to murder Claudius because he was the Old King’s murderer.

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Hamlet's Madness And Revenge Actions Are Justified

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To test Claudius’s guilt, Hamlet adds a scene reenacting the murder of Hamlet’s father. Claudius abruptly leaves the play, and afterward, tries to pray. When Claudius is praying, Hamlet is considering killing him, but decides not to because he wants to kill him in sin so that he does not get a chance at last confession. They also all end up dying later in the story due to a sword fight and poison.

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