The character of Hamlet and the characters of others are the centers of gravity of William Shakespeare's play, just as Oedipus and Jocasta are at the heart of the Aristotelian tragedy Oedipus Rex. However, it is important that a character be more than just the subject of a play to make it a true tragedy. Aristotle's tragic hero possesses several important qualities that lend relevance, power, and poignancy to the cathartic nature of tragedy. First, the tragic character must be consistent and relevant to the audience in that it must reflect a picture of life, at least initially. Hamlet lives up to this requirement. At the beginning of the play, it is about a student (like many of us) temporarily removed from school to deal with the death of a loved one. However, tragic characters, as real as they are, must also have a certain nobility. This nobility must be spirited and outward-looking to establish the coherence found in tragic heroes. Finally, the greatest part of being a tragic hero is, of course, tragedy - as vast as Oedipus's hamartia in which he marries his own mother, or as reserved as Hamlet's - simply being the victim of a million evils. Hamlet has less hamartia than Oedipus in his tragedy - but he can still be considered a tragic hero. Not only does he have the