Tragedy?

When asked who i thought was the most popular literary author in the history of mankind was (excluding the Bible) i though about it for a while, and responded Shakespear. Now i think about the amazing works that Shakespear put forth and 3 came to mind. Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth. Now all three of these works are tragedy's. Stories in which nearly every one of the major charecters die, whether by violence, suicide, old age, murder, or accident almost all of them die. This revealation seems to me to be rather telling about the human condition. That our favorite "reflections of reality" are stories where death, sadness, and suffering are the main ideas behind the stories. Then i thought more about these "tragedy's", and i have come to the conclusion that they are not tragedy's. Rather they are an accurate reflection of reality, in that the greater evil is always defeated, but in the process of A. indentifying the evil, and B. defeating it that some people will be lost. In each one of Shakespear's "tragedy's" a greater evil is defeated. For example, Romeo and Juliet, in the story even though the list of dead is long the underlying problem of the Capulet's and Montegue's feud is ended because of the "tragedy". Hamlet, the issue of succession of the throne is dealt with and the usurper is killed. Macbeth is differant because of the point of view of the story. However the usurper is killed and justice is served. So my question is this. Are ideals and morals more important than the people that die to uphold them? Because if they are then these stories are tragedies but if they are not then these stories are stories of reality, because i promise that good never comes free and to defeat evil a price must be paid.