Tragic Loss of Potential in Hamlet, King Lear and Richard III Tragic figures from classical drama through Renaissance drama signify not just individual loss but communal injury, as a character raised to immense height by the gods (or God) falls publicly. Such is the situation for three very different examples of ShakespeareÂ’s tragic protagonists, young Prince Hamlet, old King Lear, and ambitious King Richard III. Though these characters bear little resemblance to each other aside from their noble blood, all their deaths evoke a sense of communal loss, a recognition of what might have been, and their respective tragedies are all, in a sense, tragedies of denied potential. Pages: 7 Bibliography: 6 source(s) listed Filename: 20275 Shakespeare Tagedy Potential.doc Price: 62.65