Aristotle's poetics are often considered the model of successful tragedy; his plan has been used for hundreds of years. Aristotle defines a tragedy as “an imitation of a serious, complete action of a certain magnitude…in the form of an action and not of a story; through pity and fear, effecting the appropriate purging of these emotions” (House 82). Aristotle believed that the most important part of a strong tragedy was the plot, and from there the other elements such as character, diction, etc. would emerge. Aristotle states, “the principle of tragedy—the soul, if you will—is the plot, and then the characters” (Whalley 27). Shakespeare's Macbeth and Hamlet essentially reflect this definition. While it is true that both plays do not always follow every detail of Aristotle's rules, they are true in so many ways that the relationship between the works and theory cannot be ignored. Aristotle states that tragedy is "an imitation of an action as serious, complete and of a certain magnitude" (House, 82) and goes on to insist, "the most tragic situations occur between friends or between blood relatives, that is to say, between those in whom are found the affections and loyalties which characterize the good” ( Maison, 84). Hamlet is the perfect example. The play opens, focuses, and ends almost entirely on the actions or reactions of Hamlet's quest to avenge his father's murder. To begin with, old Hamlet's ghost reveals the truth about his death to his son when he says: "But know, noble young man, that the serpent that bit your father's life now wears his crown" (Hamlet Iv38- 30). Hamlet soon realizes that he would be able to avenge his father's death by killing his uncle and taking the middle of a paper......o sleepwalks and unwittingly reveals to his doctor and nurses why she and her husband sinks deeper into madness. William Shakespeare's Hamlet and Macbeth are both famous and popular tragedies that adhere to the majority of the guidelines set by Aristotle in the Poetics. The multiple connections between the two masterpieces show that Shakespeare was indeed an extremely talented playwright who knew not only how to relate characters to the audience, but also how to tell a story in a way that kept everyone watching engaged until the end. final. scene.Works CitedHouse, Humphry. (1978). Aristotle's poetics: a course in eight lectures. Great Britain: Greenwood Press. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans et al. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997. Whalley, George. (1997). Aristotle's Poetics. Canada: McGill-Queens University Press.