Othello

1250 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Tragic flaws of othello

In many instances in literature, the flaws of characters lead into conflicts that arise and that the characters must attempt to overcome over the duration of the storyline. In some cases, the character facing these problems, typically the protagonist, is unable to triumph over such issues. This can cause their major character flaws to overwhelm them, and they can encounter even more troubles or even their own downfall. A comparable situation as the aforementioned is found in the Shakespearean tragedy, Othello, where the character flaws of the protagonist, Othello, cause weakness in his character, which ultimately leads to his downfall and death. One of the flaws that lead Othello to his downfall is the fact that he has very poor judgement, which is indisputably seen through the consistent trust that he finds in Iago. His downfall also occurs due to his overwhelming struggle against jealousy, which materializes primarily from the relationship that his wife has with Cassio. Furthermore, Othello’s insecurities cause weakness in his character, allowing the antagonist of the story, Iago, to use them in order to lead Othello into his downfall. With these faults in his character, it is evident that Othello’s downfall comes about due to his major character flaws.
Regardless of whether someone in real life or a character in literature has poor judgement, it is common that they can have issues with trusting the right people, and that they tend to not trust those who they should find trust in the most. This is found precisely in the character Othello and his flaw of having poor judgement. Throughout the play, he finds himself to trust Iago the most, who in reality, is secretly the main opposing force working against Othello. After Iago con...

... middle of paper ...

...o’s insecurity was one of the major character flaws that leads to him killing himself at the end of the play.
Conclusively, it is evident that in this Shakespearean tragedy, Othello’s downfall comes to be due weakness in his character, which comes into existence due to his major character flaws. Through his poor judgement, Othello can not figure out who is trustworthy and who he should find as not being loyal. Furthermore, jealousy overpowers Othello and his mindset, which fills him with thoughts of anger and hate. Likewise, Othello’s insecurity is a major flaw that bewilders him and causes him to be very distraught. Thus, with these points, it is unmistakeable that Othello faces a set of character flaws, that when found alongside each other, are almost impossible to overcome, which in the end lead to the tragic downfall and death of Othello in the end of this play.

Show More
Related

  • Human Frailty in Othello

    1530 Words  | 4 Pages

    Tragedy is an intrinsically human concept; tragic heroes are damned by what they themselves do. Othello is not so much felled by the actions of Iago, but by a quality all people possess-- human frailty. Accordingly, Othello is not a victim of consequences, but an active participant in his downfall. He is not merely a vehicle for the machinations of Iago; he had free agency. Othello's deficiencies are: an insecure grasp of Venetian social values; lack of critical intelligence, self-knowledge, and faith in his wife; and finally, insecurity-- these are the qualities that lead to his own downfall.

    Read More

  • A Comparison of Othello and the Movie O

    1551 Words  | 4 Pages

    When Shakespeare composed the tragedy Othello televisions were not. Along with no televisions, life in the late 1500s had many different qualities than it does today. This time period had no war on drugs and no high school shootings. Peer pressure was not an issue. The audiences of Othello in the 1500s did not face the circumstances that we, American high school students, face today. With these significant differences in daily life, come the attempts of movie creators to help prevent our modern day tragedies.

    Read More

  • Othello

    789 Words  | 2 Pages

    In William Shaspeare play Othello, Iago make Othello believe that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. He does by taking advantage of any situation to make of Othello doubt. Iago make Othello thing a lot of crazy thing on his head, Othello got so jelous leading him to kill his own wife, Desdemona, satisfying iago obseccion for revenge.

    Read More

  • Shakespeare's Othello

    1248 Words  | 3 Pages

    Characters in the play fail to comprehend Iago’s true nature until it is too late. Those interacting with Iago fall into the belief that Iago is loyal to his superiors, when Iago is actually focused on bringing them (Cassio and Othello) down. Iago constructs a false impression of his loyalty to Othello through ...

    Read More

  • Elements Contributing to Othello's Role of the Tragic Hero

    1180 Words  | 3 Pages

    Obviously Othello portrays the characteristics of a tragic hero. He clearly was a man of nobility, of noble character and held in a very high estate. He was discussed in this play by displaying his positive traits which man continues to search for in order to fulfill a happy life. His traits quickly came crashing down because of character flaws in other people such as deceit, fraud, selfishness, hatred, and a deep desire for revenge. Following Othello's trust for his good friend Iago, he clearly demonstrated flaws in the forms of judgments, jealousy, loss of self-control and his lack of self confidence in himself. All this eventually lead to the murder of Desdemona whom he continued to love through the end and his own eventual self inflicted death.

    Read More

  • Othello Analysis

    1139 Words  | 3 Pages

    The tragedy of Othello, written by William Shakespeare, presents the main character Othello, as a respectable, honorable, and dignified man, but because of his insecurities and good nature, he is easily taken advantage of and manipulated by his peers and alleged friends. The dynamic of Othello’s character significantly changes throughout the play. The contrast is most pronounced from the beginning of the play to its conclusion, switching from being calm and peaceful to acts of uncontrolled venomous rage. Othello’s motivation in the play appears to be his love and concern for his wife Desdemona, which ironically, ends up being his downfall in the end.

    Read More

  • The Oppression Of Women In Shakespeare's Othello

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    Women in Othello are very profound. They are very dependent on their men. During the 16th Century, women were traditional and accustomed to being submissive to their men/husband. Desdemona secretly married Othello a “Moor” (a black man). She is devoted to her husband, and respects and obeys his wishes. Even though Othello can be cruel to Desdemona, his wife Desdemona responds to her husband in a way that she gets her point across, and still respects Othello. Women during the 16th century were not highly honored by men. During that time women in Othello were very dependent on men.

    Read More

  • Free College Essays - The Noble Othello in Shakespeare's Othello

    949 Words  | 2 Pages

    1. Othello, we have seen, was trustful, and thorough in his trust. He put entire confidence in the honesty of Iago, who had not only been his companion in arms, but, as he believed, had just proved his faithfulness in the matter of the marriage. This confidence was misplaced, and we happen to know it; but it was no sign of stupidity in Othello. For his opinion of Iago was the opinion of practically everyone who knew him: and that opinion was that Iago was before all things "honest", his very faults being those of excess in honesty. This being so, even if Othello had not been trustful and simple, it would have been quite unnatural in him to be unmoved by the warnings of so honest a friend, warnings offered with extreme reluctance and manifestly from a friend's sense of duty. [Endnote 3] Any husband would have been troubled by them.

    Read More

  • Othello's Tragic Flaw

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    From the beginning, Othello is noble, quick to act, judicious, trusting, and gives much weight to the importance of duty. These are all traits that serve to make him great at the beginning of the play, and later, ironically, become key elements in his downfall. These aspects can be considered the internal causes of Othello’s tragic flaw. “Othello's nature is all one piece. His trust, where he trusts, is absolute.

    Read More

  • Othello: Iago's Irony

    1186 Words  | 3 Pages

    In William Shakespeare’s Othello, the tragic protagonist allows himself to become swept away with his emotions putting aside his responsibility to maintain a level head as a general in the Venetian army while under the influence of a malicious villain disguised as a trustworthy confidant. In this play, Shakespeare utilizes Iago’s immorality and premeditated actions to emphasize the way in which Othello’s fatal flaws prevented him from seeing the veracity of the situation.

    Read More

  • Tragic Hero's Downfall In Othello '

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mrs. Cornwall ENG3U1 October 14 2015 A Tragic Hero’s’ Path Towards His Downfall 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 the world. These traits displayed why Othello was responsible for the play’s tragic outcome. The first trait that led to Othello’s downfall was his easily manipulated conscience.

    Read More

  • Othello

    1785 Words  | 4 Pages

    Shakespeare conveys Iago's evil in many ways throughout Othello, and shows the methods that Iago uses in order to make Othello trust him. These methods obviously work, shown by the fact that he is repeatedly called honest; I will be commenting on these throughout my essay. He is much like the character 'Vice' from 'miracle plays' of the 16 and 17th Century that tell the audience what their plan is, and so they all become fellow conspirators in a way. This was done well in the production I saw in Manchester, as the actor playing Iago was good and convincing at talking to the crowd and making us realise that it is the enemy within we should fear most.

    Read More

  • Othello – Justice and Passion

    1886 Words  | 4 Pages

    Othello is, without a doubt, one of Shakespeare’s most tragic heroes. He fills every sense of the word, beginning as a character nearly without flaws but evolving into a misled, pitiful disgrace whose sense of justice has been warped by the darkness of Iago. Even the flaws he is stricken with are those that may seem praise-worthy in some. Throughout the entirety of the play Othello has one supreme goal, subconscious or otherwise, in mind: As a general and as a man, he desires to rule militarily, socially, and romantically, with justice and without passion. This ‘passion’ refers to the calmness and balanced judgment required of such a figure as Othello. When we first meet Othello in person, he is immediately stricken as our hero. He loves with all of his soul, lives to uphold justice, and apparently governs without emotion tainting his mind. However, as the play continues, he degrades into less of a paragon and into a shell of a hero struck down by tragedy. His jealousy is spurred on by that which he vowed to never let rule him; his passion. Othello becomes little more than a puppet on a string, a powerful sword swung by Iago’s arm.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Reputation In William Shakespeare's Othello

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    Othello’s personality was shaped largely by war and his pride as a capable soldier. He was intelligent and strong enough to live through countless battles and lead troops into war with successful results. Even Iago, who hates Othello for passing him over for the lieutenant position, can not deny Othello’s noble yet naïve nature, which he explains to Roderigo, “The Moor is of a free and open nature” (Act 1 Scene 3 390). However, as Iago continually hints to Othello that his wife Desdemona is cheating on him with Cassio, more of his negative personality traits begin to show up. Doubt, mistrust, jealousy and rage all grew with Iago’s hints and led him to believe that his wife had damaged his reputation by being unfaithful to him. In the beginning of Othello, Othello betted on his life that Desdemona loved him and would never betray him and by the end of Shakespeare’s story, he suffocates and kills his wife out of honor in order to preserve his reputation and sense of self. He killed her not only out of a sense of duty, but also because of how hurt and betrayed he felt about her perceived infidelity. Therefore, Othello represents the good and the bad side of human nature by being intelligent, loving, open, and honorable and the bad by doubting his wife, exhibiting jealousy, anger and

    Read More

  • Free Othello Essays: The Emotions of Othello Othello essays

    1931 Words  | 4 Pages

    For Othello to believe Iago, before even questioning Cassio or Desdemona shows that Othello allowed Iago to manipulate him. Othello became weak and allowed Iago turn him into what he became, which lead to the death of his wife and himself. Not to mention the death of Emilia, wife of Iago and Desdemona's mistress. Iago started all of this chaos with no good intentions at all. All of this was one great big set up and all planned out. Although Iago was looked upon as the evil one in this story, I think he was cool. I think that because he in a way he had the power to hypnotize people and made them believe everything that he said. Not only that, but most of the things that he set up went the way he wanted them too, making his whole plan successful. If they were dumb enough to let him do that to them all, then I don't see why he would have stopped. I guess that is the way that he though of the situation. If they believe every lie that I tell them, to get what I want I am going to continue to lie to them. That was the though of Iago, but it only ended up affecting him at the end of the play. He did get the satisfaction of manipulating Othello, Cassio and other characters, and causing chaos throughout the book. He at one point became the center of attraction, but at the end he seemed to pay for it all, not physically but mentally.

    Read More

More about Othello

Open Document