Most people will consider and agree that Othello is a dramatic tragedy. Shakespeare cleverly wove many different layers into his playwright and thus it has stood the time as a literary masterpiece. There are many different definitions of tragedy and Othello would fit into most of their definition. Aristotelian tragedy consists of many parts to meet the definition described by Aristotle. Using these requirements through definition, Othello still would qualify as a tragedy as discussed through thought, diction, tragic hero, and emotional action.
Beginning with the definition, “A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in appropriate and pleasurable language;... in a dramatic rather than narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions.” Both the definition and play can lay together and see the corresponding indicators that create the needed tragedy. As the emotional action of the play unfolded, the entire cast began to embrace the unforeseen conflict. This embrace started to change their character and how the audience would perceive them as a whole. This one emotional action not only effected the two directly involved, Othello and Iago, but Cassio, Desdemona, Rodrigo and even Emilia. This action would justify itself in magnitude and complete itself at the end of the play. The diction and thought of Iago to weave this action from seedling to fruition is unequaled. Iago cautiously and meticulously placed careful thought into Othello’s mind. The thought process not only spoken out by Othello but also permeated through action and emotion.
To conclude comparison through definition, the entire tragedy draws ...
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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.
Crawford, Alexander W. Hamlet, an ideal prince, and other essays in Shakesperean interpretation: Hamlet; Merchant of Venice; Othello; King Lear. Boston R.G. Badger, 1916. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2009. (April 30 2014) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/othello/othelloessay2.html >.
This paper contains 237 words of teacher’s comments. What one perceives is influenced by one’s environment. The setting and commentary surrounding events changes our perception of them. Any innocent gesture can be perceived in the wrong way with enough persuading from someone else. Even if someone has total faith in another person's innocence, they can be persuaded to doubt them through the twisting of events. Once just a small amount of doubt has been planted, it influences the way everything else is seen. This occurs throughout the play, Othello. In this play, Iago influences Othello's perception of events through speeches and lies, making him doubt Desdemona's fidelity. Iago uses his talent of manipulating events to exact his revenge on Othello. Iago's twisting of events in Othello's mind leads to the downfall of Othello as planned, but because he fails to twist Emilia's perception as well, he facilitates his own eventual downfall.
Kernan, Alvin. “Othello: and Introduction.” Shakespeare: The Tragedies. Ed. Alfred Harbage. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1964.
Othello avoids all irrelevancies and the action moves swiftly from the first scene to the denouement. We never get lost in a multiplicity of incidents or a multitude of characters. Our attention remains centered on the arch villainy of Iago and his plot to plant in Othello’s mind a corroding belief in his wife’s faithlessness. (viii)
Kennedy, X. J., & Gioia, D. (2010). Literature an introduction to fiction, poetry, drama and
Othello has been described as one of William Shakespeare’s most popular plays because the play focuses on its themes of good and evil, military, politics, love and marriage, religion, racial prejudice, gender conflict, and sexuality; but the controversy and debate surrounding Othello is “Why is Othello a qualification for a tragedy?”
The first rule that is met in Shakespeare’s play is that Othello is considered tragic hero, which every tragedy must contain. According to Aristotle, the tragic hero must be a man in a position of power who is a good person and makes a mistake during the timeline of the play due to a tragic flaw. Othello’s major flaw can be seen as jealousy: “Othello has often been described as a tragedy of character, as the play’s protagonist swiftly descends into a rage of jealousy
The Tragedy of Othello William Shakespeare’s, The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, from the sixteenth century is an excellent example of Renaissance humanism. “A poet of unparalleled genius, Shakespeare emerged during the golden age of England under the rule of Elizabeth I.”(Fiero 3:98) He produced comedies, tragedies, romances and histories. According to Webster’s pocket dictionary, a tragedy is defined as a form of drama in which the protagonist comes to a disaster, as through a flaw in character, and in which the ending is usually marked by pity or sorrow. I would like to concentrate on the character Iago and the theme of deceit.
Othello’s true flaw is not vile, destructive jealousy, but rather pure and prevailing love. He has a very strong character of virtue and nobility that is intact up to the horrid end. Iago’s deceit and trickery are more the cause of Othello’s tragic fall than any fault of Othello himself. This innocence and greatness of the tragic hero unequaled in any other Shakespearean tragedy is what gives the play its terrible irony and passion. Othello plays on the most powerful of all human emotions: faith and love, both embodied to the fullest in the great and honest Othello.
Neely, Carol Thomas. “Shakespeare’s Women: Historical Facts and Dramatic Representations.” Shakespeare’s Personality. Ed. Norman N. Holland, Sidney Homan, and Bernard J. Paris. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989. 116-134.
... ultimately recognizes the goodness of Desdemona. The play’s antagonist, Iago, is finally put to shame as the terrible person that he was, and the power of evil was revealed. In the last act the guards took him away to be executed and he was put to death. Othello’s character is shown at the end when he commits suicide due to the enormous amount of regret and pain that he experienced. His love for Desdemona and the outcome of the play was truly tragic. He realized his faults and as a result, no longer wanted to remain living. In conclusion, Othello the Moor is a tragic hero due to his self-centered nature and his innocence. He allowed himself to be controlled by someone instead of trusting his heart in the process. Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero is embraced through the character of Othello, the moor, and the play is indeed considered an Aristotelian tragedy.