Shakespeare wrote a number of tragedies, the greatest among which are Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, and Hamlet. Can the tragic experience as conveyed by Shakespearian in his tragedies be conceptualized into an intellectually coherent system? Nevertheless we certainly can arrive at a few factors which are shared, more or less, by all the great tragedies of Shakespeare. Let us examine what these common factors are:

The story of One man:

            A Shakespearean tragedy is inevitably built around one pivotal figure, the hero, who stands as a colossus beside the many other characters of the play. It is only in the lobe tragedies, Romeo and Juliet and Anthony and Cleopatra, that some importance is given to the heroine also, her name is also the part of the tragedy. Elsewhere she is just found to be in minor characters.

Suffering and death:

            A tragedy always ends in suffering and death, for otherwise it will not be a tragedy. Shakespearean tragedy depicts always the suffering and death of hero. If a play does not end in the death of the hero, it is not, in the Shakespearean tragedy. Therefore, Troilus and Cressida and Cymbeline, though they have some elements of a tragedy they cannot be classified into tragedies. The suffering and calamity which befall the hero are quite exceptional in their nature and magnitude. However they befit the exceptional nature of the hero himself. Hamlet by his mental torture is virtually laid on the rack. Othello experiences a tempest in his very soul. Lear turns mad. Macbeth loses all interest in life and is obliged to characterize it as:

                        A tale told by an idiot

                        Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing!

The Hero as an outstanding figure:

             The hero who undergoes this nerve breaking ordeal of suffering culminating in death is, in Shakespearean tragedy always a man of an outstanding social status. He may be a king, a noble, a prince, a very high official, and so on. Thus ,for instance

1). Lear and Julius Caesar are kings.

2). Macbeth and Brutus are nobles.

3).Hamlet is a prince.

4). Othello is the General of Republic.

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