What Makes Hamlet a Tragic Hero?

What makes Hamlet a tragic hero?

A tragic hero is someone who makes a fatal, deadly mistake, despite his good intentions. What makes Hamlet a tragic hero is that first of all, because Hamlet begins with very noble motivations: he wanted to punish the murderer of his father, and he wants to do it in a fair and just manner, making sure that he does not mistake the murderer. However, he does a fatal mistake which brings about his downfall. So what is Hamlet's tragic flaw? His great connection with words and language lead him to be greatly introspective and highly verbose. This has led him to wait a long time before deciding, because he wanted to make sure that the one who killed his father is Claudius not anyone else. Yet he is unsure about this. So he gives himself sufficient time to verify that Claudius is the hero, while being deeply connected to words and language. For example, Hamlet says: "O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!" (2.2.550), at the beginning of his second soliloquy, where he accuses himself of being a coward and someone who lacks passion and action.  More so, he says:  "To be, or not to be: that is the question" (3.1.56), which reflects his introspective nature, longing for death and blames himself for thinking rather than acting. So, we can see that Hamlet is aware that he is hesitating and he is indecisive. Yet does this hesitation bring about his downfall? It sure does, because Claudius sets a trap for Hamlet. He stages a duel a fight between the two young men: Hamlet and Vertis, and both kill each other. It takes him a long time to understand that Claudius is a foxy character, and he only realizes this when he dies, which was too late, and he does not live to see the full result of his actions. Therefore it was Hamlet's hesitation and highly introspective nature which were his greatest gift yet also his major flaw which eventually led to his downfall, making him a tragic hero.