Shakespearean Tragedy is a criticism of Shakespeare’s work by A.C Bradley. Bradley uses series of lectures to give a substantial analysis of Shakespeare’s work. The idea of greatness seems to baffle Bradley because in his first lecture he analyzes what he calls ‘Shakespeare’s tragic characters’ and describes how Shakespeare glorified them. Bradley is presenting Shakespeare’s characters as real humans and examines how greatness was fundamental to Shakespeare. The Shakespearean Tragedy points out a flawed story of tragic characters. Bradley argues that Shakespeare’s tales involve a tragic character who is perceived as a hero but at the end faces death.
The conflict between good and evil is evident in Shakespeare’s work. In most of his plays, Shakespeare presents evil as an inevitable thing that all humans must endure. According to Bradley, Shakespeare wrote about exceptional people who are valuable than the society they live in. However, these people fall from high positions due to some flaws. For instance, Hamlet faces death because he wants to kill Claudius to revenge the death of his father. Bradley maintains that the exceptional characters displayed in Shakespeare’s plays are fundamentally flawed and this leads to their downfall.
Shakespeare displays wealth and powerful characters who in the end experience downfall. Julius Caesar is killed by entrusted friends. Eventually, Brutus and Cassius start fighting one another leading to their untimely demise. Bradley is trying to fault Shakespeare for using these tragic heroes in his works. The process of these characters' downfall is flawed.
