Shakespeare's Big Four
Explanation
The Joke
The comic presents absurdly compressed summaries of Shakespeare's four great tragedies:
Hamlet: A ghost tells Hamlet "Your uncle definitely killed me." Hamlet asks, "Hey uncle, did you kill my dad?" The uncle replies, "Pretty much." Hamlet then says, "I wonder what happened to Dad." (He fails to act on information he already has.)
Othello: Othello says, "I need someone I can trust." Iago laughs maniacally ("HAHAHA ALL AHAHAHA"). Othello responds: "IAGOOOOO!" (He trusts the most obviously untrustworthy person.)
King Lear: Lear announces each child shall inherit land in proportion to their "awfulness." One child says "I choose not to be awful," and Lear banishes them: "Then you get nothing!" Later, a destitute Lear asks, "Where do I go now?"
Macbeth: Macbeth says, "HAHAHAHA! Now I get to be king!" and then immediately reflects, "Somehow this victory feels haunted."
The Humor
The comedy comes from reducing each complex tragedy to its most absurd core logic, highlighting how the protagonists' downfalls stem from bafflingly poor decision-making. Hamlet has all the information he needs but refuses to act. Othello trusts a man who is literally cackling with evil glee. King Lear rewards sycophancy and punishes honesty, then is shocked when things go badly. Macbeth gets exactly what he wanted and is immediately miserable. By stripping away the beautiful language and dramatic tension, the comic reveals that Shakespeare's tragic heroes are, at their core, making spectacularly stupid choices.
References
- Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth are widely considered Shakespeare's four great tragedies. Each features a protagonist undone by a critical character flaw: Hamlet's indecision, Othello's misplaced trust and jealousy, Lear's vanity and poor judgment, and Macbeth's ambition and guilt.