[Vocabulary] Shakespearean proportions

[Silverobama]

Hi,

What does "Shakespearean proportions" mean in the following paragraph?

“It was a widespread conspiracy," Lichtman said. "Several dozen people went to jail, including other very high officials of the [Nixon] campaign and of the Nixon administration. So a lot of people who should have known much better got sucked into this terrible scandal and it is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions because in many ways Richard Nixon did a lot for the country.”

My guess: It's really a big tragedy.

Can anyone help?

 

[emsr2d2]

You're right.

 

[Rover_KE]

Your guess is near enough.

Shakespeare's tragedies, which include Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, and King Lear, have some pretty gruesome plots – often with wide-ranging repercussions for a number of people.

Rover