Othello as a Tragic Hero
William Shakespeare is known to create magnificent tales of love and tragedy. His play Othello is a tragedy as it meets the definition according to Aristotle, who describes it as using drama to tell the story of a downfall of a nobleman. Othello fits the definition which is proven by his actions throughout the play. In tragedies, the character often leads to their downfall due to misconception or treachery. A tragic hero is described as a character that is of noble stature and has a high status. This character is usually treated with a great amount of respect due to their position in society. The character has an error of judgment, excessive pride in themselves, the character suffers more than he deserves and a flaw
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Everyone talks to Othello in a respectful manner and treats him with honor. An example in the play: “Here comes Brabantio and valiant Moor” (1.2). This quote shows that the senators listen to what he has to say, respect, and value him. Othello never acts dishonestly and he is dedicated to his job and his religion. He values the services that he has done for the state of Venice proving that he has qualities of a man of high stature. Othello’s character slowly begins to change from a leader/soldier to a murderer. Iago constantly uses his tactics to manipulate Othello into believing that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. He easily trusts him and begins to lose his reputation into becoming a murderer. His title defines him as someone who has a high esteem and people have a good impression of …show more content…
We see Iago plot against Othello from the beginning of the story and he involves several characters in his plan: “But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve for daws to peck at, I am not what I am.” (1.1). This quote shows that Iago is showing false emotions, he’s fooling everyone and no one can see what he really is. He is a tragic hero due to his tragic flaws which are jealousy and gullibility. He is a gullible character due to his lack of self-esteem and lack of trust in Desdemona. Iago becomes intolerant in the beginning of the story because he was passed over for a promotion. Iago puts into Othello’s mind that Desdemona is cheating on him and Othello blindly trusts Iago. Othello quickly doubts his love, Desdemona takes Iago as being credible and honest. This trickery by Iago leads Othello into becoming jealous and angry. Iago knows that he values Desdemona and he takes advantage of that fact. Othello’s tragic flaw leads to his downfall in the story which causes him to suffer extreme sorrow afterward. Othello’s jealousy turns him crazy with hatred which eventually is led to the murder of
In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is the antagonist and villain who causes all the trouble and disorder. Othello is the protagonist, and is the main person Iago’s destruction and revenge is aimed towards. Othello is naïve and gives everybody his trust even though he may not know them or they haven’t earned his trust yet. He often refers to Iago has “Honest” Iago, which is a direct showing of irony because Iago is not honest at all (Shakespeare, I, iii. 289). Iago is so angry that Othello didn’t give him the promotion that was given to Cassio that he plans to seek revenge against Othello. He seeks his revenge against Othello by manipulating and lying to all of the people around him including his closest friend Roderigo, Cassio, Othello’s wife Desdemona and even his own wife Emilia. In the end, Iago’s lies and manipulation led to the deaths of Roderigo, Emilia, Othello and Desdemona. This isn’t the first time many of these individual characteristics have shown up in one of Shakespeare’s plays.
Hamlet. Romeo. Othello. These men not only star in some of Shakespeare’s finest plays, but they are all classic examples of tragic heroes. A tragic hero is one who is courageous and admired but who has a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. Othello was one of the greatest military men of the time. He was highly respected among his superiors for both his military prowess and level headed nature. This was a man who could be in the heat of a battle and would remain collected. Though this great hero also had great shortcomings. Othello was naive, jealous, and concerned with public appearance. Othello is truly a dynamic character. As the play continues and his jealous increases, Othello gradually changes from a flawless military general into
Iago is a very strategic and clever person, and he despises Othello because Othello appointed Cassio as a lieutenant over Iago. He plans to ruin Othello’s life by ruining his relationship with Desdemona. He starts off by telling Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, of Othello and Desdemona’s secret marriage. Iago goes to
...race, beauty and status put her on a pedestal like a goddess allowing him to idolize her and therefore never truly deserve her. Beneath his noble persona on display for all to see, the idealistic view of his wife, leads him to believe that she will never be able to fully reciprocate the love he has for her. Iago’s exploitative tactics used for revenge trigger Othello’s fatal insecurities to surface for the ultimately climactic ending in which he smothers Desdemona with a pillow before discovering “honest” Iago had been deceiving him, as well as the majority of the other characters, the entire time. Outraged, Othello attempts to stab Iago as revenge for being manipulated into killing his beloved wife, however when his hasty murder attempt fails, the heartbroken and worn-out man stabs himself next to the already dead Desdemona, whom he never believed he was worthy of.
Aristotle’s concept of the tragic hero and that a hero must meet the following definition, (1) must be a noble man, prince, or person of high estate, (2) have a tragic flaw or a weakness in judgment and (3) fall from high to low estate. When Shakespeare wrote about Othello, he envisioned an exotic figure, a North African man, well-educated and although raised in the Muslim faith he converted to Christianity as an adult. Reference to Othello as a “Valiant Hero” (I.iii.49) by the majority of other characters makes his nobility indisputable Regardless of his nobility, seniority, wealth, and accomplishments; Othello was an outsider in Venice. Before the reader is introduced to Othello, he is obscurely referred to as he or him and is also called “the Moor” (I.i.57), “the thick-lips” (I.i.66); which are all names implying that Othello is dark skinned. He was admired and valued for his military genius, yet his “distinction’ evoked curiosity,...
Most readers are aware of the many famous deaths or acts of death within the Shakespearean plays. And when the main characters die in Shakespeare’s plays, indeed, the readers would categorize the play as a tragedy. The problem with any tragedy definition is that most tragic plays do not define the tragedy conditions explained or outlined by Aristotle. According to Telford (1961), a tragedy is a literary work that describes the downfall of an honorable, main character who is involved on historically or socially significant events. The main character, or tragic hero, has a tragic fault, the quality that leads to his or her own destruction. In reading Aristotle’s point of view, a tragedy play is when the main character(s) are under enormous pressure and are incapable to see the dignities in human life, which Aristotle’s ideas of tragedy is based on Oedipus the King. Shakespeare had a different view of tragedy. In fact, Shakespeare believed tragedy is when the hero is simply and solely destroyed. Golden (1984) argued the structure of Shakespearean tragedy would be that individual characters revolved around some pain and misery.
Through out time tragedy has been occurring. It is seen in our everyday lives and has been portrayed in writings, plays, and movies and within those tragedies there is a tragic hero. When the word hero come to mind people tend to think of someone like Superman or Batman, someone courageous and has heroic quality, performing heroic deeds. But a tragic hero could not be farther from that. A tragic hero is usually someone of high status or a member of royalty. They have a tragic flaw or personal weakness that lead to their downfall. The idea of a tragic hero comes from ancient greek plays, which were developed from their religious stories. Many of these play were written by Sophocles; an ancient greek playwright. Sophocles’ work mostly consisted of tragedies, Aristotle - a Greek philosopher - observed Sophocles’ plays and defined tragedy and tragic hero. In the play Antigone by Sophocles, the headstrong King Creon is the tragic hero. His stubbornness and his concern of what other think of him leads to his disgrace. Whereas in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare The honorable Brutus is the tragic hero. Brutus’ honesty and being overly trusting leads to his demise. In these two plays the tragic hero are very different, but they are both still considered tragic heros. They both have tragic flaws, but Brutus is still considered a integrable man inspite of his flaw, whereas Creon is considered to be dishonourable by his flaw. Both Brutus and Creon stood up for what they believed was but right but Brutus is the most tragic of the two.
Iago is straight away introduced as a dubious character. Having his fingers in Roderigo's purse show his interest in money. The language that he uses is vulgar and rude and he has no shame in his deceitful actions. In order to get what he wants, Iago will do anything. This includes insulting Desdemona, an innocent young woman who does not intend to harm anyone. Her sorrow at her divided loyalties shows this. Like her husband, Desdemona deals with situations carefully. Othello is the opposite of Iago in that he does not pride himself on killing people. It may be his strong point, but he feels that it should not be bragged about, especially in noble company.
Throughout Othello’s journey, it is apparent he had many drastic changes in his behavior and how he reacted to people as he became more and more upset. He went from being a gentle and calm character, to a paranoid and insecure character, to an out of control and enraged monster. In the end, he finds out the truth as to what was really going on, ultimately resulting in Othello’s suicide.
In Shakespeare’s play Othello, the main character Othello is typically victimized and portrayed as a mere scapegoat of the villainous Iago’s devious plans. However, Othello is not completely void of responsibility for the death of his wife. Othello, the tragic hero, is just as responsible as Iago for his premeditated murder of Desdemona due to his own internal flaws. Specifically, flaws such as his vivid imagination and his self over-idealization are brought to the surface by Iago, which consequently allows Iago to easily manipulate Othello.
Iago has been excellent at saying the what is needed to get to people, he misleads them to get a reaction he wants out of them. He is clever with his words to avoid confrontation that can easily happen. “Othello 's confusion is the human experience of language. In other words, language itself, not the outside world, determines meaning” (Christofides 2). Iago uses his words against Othello to get him to do Iago’s doings. Iago has an eloquence with
Webster’s dictionary defines tragedy as, “a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (such as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that excites pity or terror.” A tragic hero, therefore, is the character who experiences such a conflict and suffers catastrophically as a result of his choices and related actions. The character of Hamlet, therefore, is a clear representation of Shakespeare’s tragic hero.
In society there are always people who are easily manipulated and possess poor judgment. This leads them to make wrong decisions and negatively affect their lives and the lives of the people around them. The reason for Othello’s tragic downfall was because of his poor judgement, his easily manipulated conscience and his jealousy and obsession with. These traits displayed why Othello was responsible for the play’s tragic outcome.
Before the twentieth century plays were mainly written as either a tragedy or comedy. In a tragic play the tragic hero will often do something that will eventually destroy him. In the book Oedipus the King, Oedipus is the tragic hero. In this tragic play the main character, which is portrayed as Oedipus, will do a good deed that will in turn make him a hero. This hero will reach his height of pride in the story, and in the end the action, which he had committed earlier, will return and destroy this man who was once called a hero.
A tragic play is a combination of dramatic scenes that act out a tragic event and usually labors unhappy endings. The play would usually portray the downfall of the main character. According to Aristotle, “Every Tragedy therefore must have six parts, which parts determine its quality—namely, Plot, Character, Diction, Thought, Spectacle, Song.” Based on Aristotle’s definition, Oedipus and Hamlet are a good examples tragedy. They both have been developed with a strong Plot and Characters. According to Aristotle, Plot is considered to be “the soul of tragedy” and very important in a play. Aristotle also implies Character to be second in line when it comes to developing a successful tragedy.