Final answer:
A Shakespearean tragedy is a serious, complete, and significant dramatization that involves ethical dilemmas leading to catharsis for the audience through pity and fear.
Step-by-step explanation:
A tragedy in Shakespeare's time is defined as a type of drama that is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude. This action is conveyed in language embellished with artistic features like heightened language or verse, and is presented through a formal structure having a defined beginning, middle, and end. Often centering around ethical choices and the resulting consequences, Shakespearean tragedies like Hamlet depict the protagonist's inner conflicts and high-stakes decisions which lead to catharsis—an emotional purgation—through the audience's experience of pity and fear.