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Example research essay topic: Consequences Of His Actions Death Of His Father - 1,513 words

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William Shakespeare's tragedies are often gripping plays with bloody endings that leave the audiences and readers breathless. Set in places like Rome, Venice, and even Denmark; these tragedies tend to end with all the cards lying on the table, or in other words, all the main characters are dead. Not all tragedies however, have to necessarily be self-contained tragic plays; in fact, many plays on Romance and Fantasy also have tragic characters, as we shall see in the upcoming examples. William Shakespeare not only creates tragedies within plays, but he creates tragic events within characters lives, which inevitably draws the audience in. Shakespeare uses tragedies to reveal the consequences of a leaders actions and emotions. A.

C. Bradley, who wrote Shakespearean Tragedy sums up the plot of a true tragedy in perhaps one of the best ways. First, he suggests that there is a circle of events (web) to all Shakespearean tragedies that lead up to, and include, the death of the hero. Secondly, there has to be a fall of the conspicuous person (such as Iago and Aaron), and third, the tragic character / hero must be a great man. Shakespeare definitely follows these rules, or more importantly, he created them, and in the meantime, set the standard for the modern day tragic hero as well. Perhaps one of the best know Shakespeare plays is Hamlet, where the premise is focused on a young Prince who has lost his father through the devious actions of his Uncle, who has also become his new stepfather.

Readers can see many examples of a leader or a character in a leadership role fall from grace because of the way the characters all seem to go through role changes. The critic Michael Mangan has many insights into the character of Hamlet in his book A Preface to Shakespeare's Tragedies by revealing the role-playing (139) aspect of the character. This ties-in nicely to the idea that Shakespeare creates a character that will inevitably fall due to his own actions, as it is the preempted acting that drives Hamlets family and friends to change his life for him. The death of King Hamlet left a somber setting to the introduction of Hamlet, and the young Prince is left to his own devices after learning of the true reasons for his fathers death.

We see Hamlet as a leader who is losing his place in monarchal society to revenge the death of his father. This leadership role was not destined to last for Hamlet, as his madness, or implied madness led to his family striping him of his position, and trying to send him away. As the reader can see, Shakespeare created Hamlet as an eccentric young Prince who the audience could relate too and feel sympathy for, and having him lose his position did exactly that. It is easy to see the tragic flaws of anger and revenge here, but on closer inspection of the play, the reader can find a better example of a leader who suffers the consequences of his actions; King Claudius. Claudius is the true evil in Hamlet because it is he who willing poisoned the old King Hamlet, and married his wife, Queen Gertrude. The reader and audience sees the killing and quick marriage as a grab for power, so it is only right that the evil Claudius dies in the end.

Truly it is a perfect end for this character, but what about Hamlet himself? As we can see, Shakespeare creates Hamlet as a mean for sympathy. He has lost his father, seen his mother re-marry, and learns of a treacherous plot which ended in his fathers murder. Basically the audience is drawn to Hamlet to actually feel sympathy for him, which makes the entire play a complete tragedy when his roles eventually change for the worst. Hamlet goes from the young mourning Prince to the schemer and then the avenger hoping to bring out his fathers killer. In the mean time, his family perceives him as a madman, and when Polonius is killed, the play works towards its end, at the duel.

Prince Hamlet got his revenge for the death of his father, but at the same time he lost his life, which is a consequence of his own tragic flaw; revenge. So in the end we have a murderer being murdered, and a son of a murdered man becoming a murderer himself, and then being murdered as well. It is quite the ending, and quite the tragedy, but Shakespeare reveals much about the consequences that these leaders evidently felt. The thing that makes Hamlet a really good tragic play is that Shakespeare actually has one character as the focus, yet many are guilty of going through a tragic life circle. King Claudius and Queen Gertrude are also guilty in this play of emotional and physical actions that lead to tragic consequences. King Claudius falls after being discovered for his part in King Hamlets death, and Gertrude is found guilty (at least by Hamlet) of loving another man too quickly, and therefore dishonoring her late husband.

Harold Bloom said it best in his book Shakespeare Invention of the Human, when he described Hamlets predicament as follows: Hamlets only persuasive enemy is Hamlet himself (431). Here we see a perspective insinuating that Hamlet and his true enemy, himself, or rather, his own actions and emotions led up to his downfall. This is exactly what Shakespeare is trying to convey; that ones own actions will be felt as consequences upon oneself. In Shakespeare's Othello, we again see a man tragically brought down by the consequences of his own flaws as he succumbs to the whims of his own jealous and distrusting heart. Othello was treated as a pawn by the unfathomably evil Iago, who shows little motivation for wanting to see Othello fall from grace, yet he goes out of his way to orchestrate a large production of back-stabbing, jealousy, and lying. On the first reading of Othello it is rather easy to say that the dark Othello is truly a man led into a lifestyle of anger and jealousy, but some of the blame for his madness must rest on his own shoulders.

Iago is truly the most evil aspect of the play, but it is Othello's jealousy and distrust for Desdemona that led to her outrageous murder. Again we see a leader, this time Othello, tragically fall from grace from the consequences of his own emotions and actions. Unlike Hamlet, who rises and falls with mere revenge, Othello falls because of his own naivet and jealousy. Shakespeare also introduces the reader to the evil persona of a character called Iago, who is definitely behind much of Othello's feelings and twisted emotions toward his wife. So with that being said, can we really blame Othello?

I think we have to give him at least some responsibility because after all, Othello was a calculating, well trusted warrior, and he claimed that Desdemona's and his love was completely genuine, so how could he believe all of Iago's lies if he really never had much proof at all? It is those facts that lead the reader to believe that Othello was not completely innocent after all. He was obviously guilty of murder, but it was his jealousy, naivete, and his too easily influenced mind that were his greatest flaws, for they actually led to the murder / suicide in the end. The truly ironic part of this play, and what might actually be one of the strongest points when talking about the consequences of Othello is that he too, like Claudius, died as he lived. In Act I, Scene 3 we see Othello gracefully speak about the things that wooed Desdemona, She loved me for the dangers I had passed, /And I loved her that she did pity them (Greenblatt 2110).

What the reader / audience sees again is the circle of tragedy; where Othello is the experienced warrior, who inevitably uses those very skills to bring about his own downfall. After talking about Othello and his complete circle of hero to jealous madman to killer, we must include Iago's role and how he too fell from the consequences of his actions. This play shows us the quintessential Shakespearean trickster so to speak, who is always illusively in the background, pulling strings and twisting people around. Iago uses many people in this play, starting with Rodrigo, Cassio, Emilia and of course Othello. With all this backstabbing and behind-the-scenes conjuring, it is little wonder that the audience can easily grow to hate Iago, but it is most likely because we never really get a sound reason why he does what he does. Even though Iago has a few minor problems with Othello, mostly due to the promotion of Cassio over himself, it still gives him little reason to embark on such a monumental quest of deception.

In fact, Iago even admits to the falsity, which he serves Othello, stating that, In following him I follow but myself. (Greenblatt 2101). We see here the beginnings of Iago's...


Free research essays on topics related to: shakespeare creates, death of his father, queen gertrude, shakespeare tragedies, consequences of his actions

Research essay sample on Consequences Of His Actions Death Of His Father

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