Othello: the Story of a Noble Being

Othello: the Story of a Noble Being

The William Shakespeare creation Othello sees the demise of a noble general, as a result of the incessant brainwashing by his ancient. Let us in this essay present the noble Othello and wherein lay his tragic mistake.

Lily B. Campbell in Shakespeare’s Tragic Heroes describes the unquestioned nobility of the Moor:

From the first we hear the fact insistently repeated that he is a Moor, that he has thick lips, that Desdemona has chosen to go to his sooty bosom. Yet we are told that he is of noble birth, that war and adventure have bee his nurses, that he may be considered a barbarian and yet that the Venetian state has found him so valuable in action that he cannot be expelled, no matter what offence may be found in him. His vaunting has won him his wife; his actions have won him the confidence of the state. His noble nature is not questioned even by Iago. (152)

Helen Gardner in “Othello: A Tragedy of Beauty and Fortune” talks of the hero’s exceptional personal qualities:

Othello is like a hero of the ancient world in that he is not a man like us, but a man recognized as extraordinary. He seems born to do great deeds and live in legend. He h as the obvious heroic qualities of courage and strength, and no actor can attempt the role who is not physically impressive. He has the heroic capacity for passion. But the thing which most sets him apart is his solitariness. He is a stranger, a man of alien race, without ties of nature or natural duties. His value is not in what the world thinks of him, although the world rates him highly, and does not derive in any way from his station. It is inherent. He is, in a sense, a ‘self-made man’, the product of a certain kind of life which he has chosen to lead. . . . (140)

Despite the wonderful personal attributes he possesses, Othello still falls prey to the sinister Iago. His gullibility and naivete make this possible. Francis Ferguson in “Two Worldviews Echo Each Other” describes how Othello carries out Iago’s plan of destruction:

Othello moves to kill Desdemona (Act V, scene 2) with that “icy current and compulsive course” which he had felt at the end of Act III, scene 3.