A tragic hero is defined as a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined to fall, suffer, or defeat. The hero in these tragedies is often presented as a noble but flawed character, whose death is often due to his own decisions, often due to previously mentioned flaws, errors in judgment, and careless actions. Written in the early 1600s, Shakespeare wrote arguably one of his greatest and most controversial plays, the tragedy known as Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Shakespeare in his work presents us with the character of one of his most popular, enigmatic and dynamic characters, the tragic hero, Prince Hamlet. Hamlet is presented to us as a sensitive, religious, loyal, moral, intellectual college student who often contemplates difficult philosophical questions that cannot be answered with any degree of certainty. When Hamlet learns that his father, the King of Denmark, has been murdered, he is dismissed from his studies and returns home to ascertain the truth about his father's death. In his investigations, he encounters the ghost of his father who tells Hamlet that his uncle Claudius, the current king of Denmark, is responsible for his murder. Now that he is presented with evidence that Claudius killed his father, Hamlet becomes obsessed with proving Claudius' guilt before taking any action to take revenge on him. However, Hamlet is extremely thoughtful and reluctant to carry out his intended actions as he constantly analyzes every due thought. to his intellectual nature, causing him to ignore his emotions and instincts but rather rely on his morality and logic to make decisions. However, with the idea that Hamlet is intellectual and logical in nature is...... at the center of the card ...... and Ghost. Being an introspective scholar, Hamlet reflects on his desire to avenge his father's death, but wishes to carry it out in a moral and accepting manner. But Hamlet's awareness of his morals creates the impossibility of killing Claudius in a way that he finds morally acceptable, thus leading to Hamlet's frequent delay in exacting revenge. Works Cited Bevington, David. The necessary Shakespeare. 4th edition. New Jersey: Pearson, (2013): 546-604. Print.Kemp, Lisandro. "Understanding "Hamlet." National Council of Teachers of English. 13.1 (1951): 9-13. JSTOR. Web. December 8, 2013. McCloskey, John C. "Hamlet's Quest of Certainty." College English Vol. 9 (1941) : 445-451 Web. 11 December 2013. Snider, Jacques Denton. Online 15 December 2013.