Both "King Lear" and "Hamlet" can be described as a tragedy because Shakespeare used Aristotle's definition of tragedy to construct these plays . In a tragedy, the main character suffers because of his fatal flaw. King Lear fits Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero. Aristotle said that a tragedy should be a play in which the hero suffers because of his fatal flaw, has pride or overbearing presumption, experiences a dramatic episode of emotions, realizes his mistakes but it is too late . King Lear suggests retreat from worries. of his kingdom which is of considerable importance. His fatal flaw and King Lear's harmatia is his vanity which makes the audience feel pity and fear when he falls victim to flattery and is mercilessly betrayed by those he should have been able to trust the most. Hamlet's fatal flaw is his ability to overthink. When his father's ghost appears to him and gives him the demanding task of avenging his most heinous murder, Hamlet accepts the challenge. However, as the play progresses, Hamlet struggles to carry out such a deadly task. In order to delay the murder of Claudius, Hamlet plans to go mad, causing Claudius to send him to England. He also designs the "mouse trap" scene (act 3, scene 2), where he asks a troupe of actors to enact a scene similar to how Claudius murdered his brother (King Hamlet). Hamlet's inability to act and avenge his father's death leads him and many others to their graves. Shakespeare's plays were written during Elizabethan England because he had to impress the queen. This happened on the eve of the Renaissance, where ordinary people were liberated, which was a great step forward in the intelligence of humanity. The Renaissance was when people were... middle of paper... and how others wanted the plot. This means that King Lear and Hamlet are not plays entirely from Shakespeare's imagination; rather, they are plays written in the way that Shakespeare interpreted them to be most likely to be popular. Therefore, Shakespeare cannot be considered the architect of their tragedies, Elizabethan England is responsible for the creation of these tragedies. Traditionally, because Lear and Hamlet are characters in plays, they cannot be the architects of their tragedies. However, the way they were created, with such dominant and apparent flaws, makes them the architects of their tragedies. Indeed, they both allow themselves to be manipulated by their emotions and react in contrasting ways. Emotions cause Hamlet to think too much, while they cause Lear to ignore the potential consequences of his action and not think at all..