Othello: Characters Bring About Their Own Demise.

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As in almost all tragedies, especially those of William Shakespeare, the tragic hero always runs into misfortune. The play Othello is no exception. In this play, every character acquainted with the tragic hero appears to be unfortunate. While these misfortunes are oddly related to Othello, are they his fault or did each character attract them out of their own actions? To answer this daunting question, one must consider the three most unfortunate characters: Othello, Desdamona and Roderigo and analyse their downfall which eventually lead to their deaths. It is known from reading the play that Iago is the one who manipulates all three of them. Examinations of their connection with him before their deaths are necessary to answer this question. After scrutinizing those three characters it is apparent that all of the characters who experience misfortune in Othello bring it on themselves.

The protagonist and tragic hero of this play is Othello, the moor of Venice. From the beginning of the play, Othello's actions or assumed actions have influenced, either directly or indirectly, his fate. In the first scene, we learn that Othello has promoted Cassio to be his new Lieutenant rather than the seemingly fit Iago, much to Iago's disdain, "I have already chose my officer./ And what was he?/ Forsooth, a great arithmetician,/ One Michael Cassio, a Florentine."(I, i, ll.18-21). This is one of Othello's first actions in the play and also one of the most influential to his fate. Iago henceforth dedicates himself to ruining Othello's life. While Iago's actions are questionable even under circumstances such as not being promoted, he decides that he must do all he can to achieve his goal. Iago lacks motivation for his morbid actions, which is possi...

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...derigo's flaws: his misplaced trust in Iago and his desperation to win Desdamona's hand. The former is the direct cause but the latter is the fuel behind his attack on Cassio.

As in almost all tragedies, especially those of William Shakespeare, the tragic hero always runs into misfortune. The play Othello is no exception. Othello, Desdamona and Roderigo place trust in Iago which eventually lead to their deaths. It is known from reading the play that Iago is the one who manipulates all three of them. After scrutinizing those three things it is apparent that all of the characters who experience misfortune in Othello bring it on themselves with a great deal of help from Iago. Each character had a controllable tragic flaw which was manipulated by Iago. Their inability to judge Iago's character and trust the other characters in the play eventually lead to their downfall.

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