The Story of Adolf Hitler is a Shakespearean tragedy

A tragedy is a very specific branch of Shakespearean literature. It requires a number of things to happen, including a fair amount of death and the hero of the play has to be a tragic hero; one who is likable and has many positive qualities but is also governed by a fatal flaw that ultimately leads to their demise and sets the closing scenes of the tradegy into motion.

Othello, for example was a decorated war hero, well liked by the people of Venice. He had found himself a beautiful wife whom he loved despite her father's wishes. His one weakness was his jealousy and it was this that lead to him being tricked by his ancient into killing his wife and himself one evening.

Hitler was also a decorated war hero well liked by the people of Germany. He found himself a good spot in the German government despite the wishes of the Jewish socialists. His weakness was the dislike of said Jews and this lead to him being hated by the world at large and allegedly killing himself in a bunker one evening.

So yes Hitler at the beginning of his story was very likable; he was a boy from a middle class family who was a true patriot. He had stood up for his beliefs in the great war and had spoken strongly against beliefs he didn't believe in. People liked him and that is the first mark of a tragic hero. He had a flaw which is the second mark and he died in the end; the third mark.

Yes, you might tell me, but these are stories. There are no real tragic heroes. You'd be wrong of course: Julius Ceasar was both a real person and the star of  Shakespearean tragedy. So were Anthony and Cleopatra. If they could be tragic heroes then why not Hitler?

I like the tale of Adolf Hitler a lot as the hero is probably the most spectacularly human person of all times: He was creative, bright but far too destructive. Potentially a good man but ultimately evil. It sums up our civilization in such an amazing way if you think about it. Here we are, apex predator of the world, the only creature with such a thing as a civilization but we're screwing everything up with our predisposition toward violence. That, however, is a story for another day. Here is a picture I drew for a friend of mine, the caption means "'Top hats' make everything better." It is naturally in German.