Shakespearean Tragedies
Paper Masters has writers that are specialists in Shakespeare's works. The Tragedies are particularly complex and require more effort in understanding the literary devices used. Famous tragedies such as Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet are outilined in detail in custom research.
Unlike the comedies, research papers on the Shakespearean tragedies are littered with characters who suffer the repercussions of possessing major flaws. While some of these sad creatures are still sympathetic, such as Romeo and Juliet or Ophelia, a great many are despicable, as is the case of Lady Macbeth and Iago. The emotional content of the tragedies is wrenching and painful, and explores the darkest sides of humanity and Shakespeare.
Below is a list of Shakepeare's tragedies:
- Antony and Cleopatra
- Coriolanus
- Cymbeline
- Hamlet
- Julius Caesar
- King Lear
- Macbeth
- Othello
- Romeo and Juliet
- Timon of Athens
- Titus Andronicus
- Troilus and Cressida
The tragedies also focus on our human weaknesses such as jealousy in "Othello," vengeance in "Hamlet," mistrust and pride in "King Lear," and prejudice in "Romeo and Juliet". These negative human aspects are present in every one of Shakespeare's tragedies. The tragedies are, like the comedies, most often complete fictions, but occasionally dip into the realm of the familiar so as to make the audience uncomfortable. A tragedy, finally, would not be such without an impossibly morbid ending. The heroes must die, and often, so must all those people dear to them. Then, a survivor witness utters a bitter moral for the audience to take home with them. Thus, a literature research paper on Shakespearean tragedy is marked by an exploration of human weaknesses and a vivid illustration of what happens when these weaknesses are given a vent.
The tragedies belong to a later period of William Shakespeare's life, after 1600 and after Shakespeare had reached his early 40's. Perhaps at an age which it is possible to write and fully comprehend the relationship of irony and tragedy. In each of the following plays discussed, (Macbeth, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet) we see fatal character flaws in the main characters. This leads to what can be referred to as Shakespearian "tragic flaw".
In the play Macbeth, we discover that Macbeth is a tragic hero. He is very ambitious, courageous, and a moral coward: all these things lead to his tragic death at the end of the play. From the courage displayed in defense of Scotland in the opening scene, Shakespeare clearly defines Macbeth as a hero. However, he is not without ambition, which leads to his downfall. At the beginning of the play, he was loyal to the king. His mind rejects ambitious disloyalty and he proclaims "Why, if fate will have me king, why, chance may crown me," (Act 1, Sc 3, p.44-45).
Yet his ambition increasingly defeats his good nature. When Duncan named Malcolm the Prince of Cumberland, Macbeth decided on the murder of Duncan. When Duncan arrived at Inverness, Macbeth controlled his ambition for the time being and did not kill him. Lady Macbeth, who called him a coward, soon rectified the failing of his decision. From then on, after the murder of Duncan, Macbeth entered into a life of evil.