William Shakespeare masterfully crafted Othello, the Moor of Venice as an Aristotelian tragedy play. The main protagonist of the play, Othello, is the perfect example of a tragic hero. Shakespeare was influenced by Aristotle’s concept of a tragic hero and used Aristotle’s principles to create Othello. William Shakespeare attempted to create an Aristotelian tragedy play with a tragic hero and succeeded in Othello, the Moor of Venice by weaving in pity and fear into each line and action. The power of pity and fear creates the upmost tragic situation and follows in accordance of Aristotle’s definition of tragedy. Othello makes the ultimate act as a tragic hero by killing himself at the end of the play. “Othello, more than any play in the canon, has a fascinating and contentious performance and reception history,”
Aristotle constructs the definition of a tragedy and a tragic hero in the fourth century B.C. He defined tragedy with a well stated sentence which he said:
Tragedy is an imitation of an action of high importance, complete and of some amplitude; in language enhanced by distinct and varying beauties; acted not narrated; by means of pity and fear effecting its purgation of these emotions.
Aristotle sees tragedy of being made of pity and fear. When tragedies occur in people’s lives it appears fear and pity is always an accompanying trait. Aristotle finds these two emotions to be staples in creating the perfect tragedy play. A tragic hero is the direct spawn of creating a tragic play.
Aristotle’s tragic hero is made up of three requirements. The protagonist of the play must be a person of high estate. This allows the protagonist to fall from power or happiness to create a tragedy. The next requirement is the protagonist mus...
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Aristotle states that "For Tragedy is an imitation, not of men, but of an action and of life, and life consists in action, and its end is a mode of action, not a quality. Now character determines men's qualities, but it is by their actions that they are happy or the reverse. Dramatic action, therefore, is not with a view to the representation of character: character comes in as subsidiary to the actions. Hence the incidents and the plot are the end of a tragedy; and the end is the chief thing of all.
How Othello Follows the Rules of Tragedy Tragedy is not just simply one sad event, in ancient Greek plays and in Shakespeare's tragedies it usually follows a number of common ingredients or rules. Firstly it involves a conspicuous or exceptional personality. For example in the occurrence of Princess Diana's death she was the exceptional character. She was a woman who had done an astonishing amount of work for charities and a Princess. The second rule of tragedy is that it must be unexpected and constructed with previous happiness or glory.
Jones, Eldred. "Othello- An Interpretation" Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994. (page 39-55)
Aristotle thought up a list of compulsory requirements for something to be called ‘tragedy’. He concluded “Tragedy affects through pity and fear the catharsis of such emotions.” meaning that during a tragedy, one should feel the emotions of pity and fear--fear that the circumstances which they are observing could one day affect themselves--but that after the spectacle had ended, one would leave feeling ‘lifted up’, as if they had purged themselves of those emotions. In Aristotle’s ‘Poetics’, he stated:
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"Othello." Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Lynn M. Zott. Vol. 68. Detroit: Gale, 2003. N. pag. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 8 May 2014. .
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,...
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
In Shakespeare's Othello the Moor of Venice, Othello is considered a tragic hero because he undergoes a
Tragic events can happen as a result of accidents, misunderstandings, or specific situations, hence, they relate little to others. However, tragedy is rooted in the order of our universe because it reveals hypothetical situations that can occur at any time or place. This feeling of uncertainty arouses feelings of pity and fear because we can imagine ourselves having to face tragedy. In Aristotle's Poetics, Aristotle defines tragedy as, “a representation of an action of serious stature and complete, having magnitude, in language made pleasing in distinct forms in its separate parts, imitating people acting and not using narration, accomplishing by means of pity and fear the cleansing of these states of feeling” (Aristotle, 26). A dramatic composition that captures the true essence of suffering and awakens our senses is one that Aristotle would call a tragedy worthy of our praise. He notes, “It is clear first that decent men ought not to be shown changing from good to bad fortune (since this is neither frightening nor pitiable but repellent) and people of bad character ought not to be shown changing from bad to good fortune (since this is the most untragic thing of all, for it has none of the things a tragedy needs, since it neither arouses love for humanity nor is it pitiable or frightening)” (Aristotle, 36).
...n Aristotle’s view of characters. Aristotle also suggests that a tragedy should have the power to provoke audience’s emotion of pity and fear. The suffering and behavior of each character in Hamlet possess that power. The author agrees with the Aristotelian analysis of Hamlet, the story of Hamlet was perfectly based on Aristotle’s tragedy theory. However, the author thinks that the tragedy doesn’t always have to end up in misery. A tragic story can also have some hidden happiness in the suffering, misery of tragic hero(s), in which way can audience realize that there is still hopeful when your life is tragic and encourage people to strive hard to create a better life.
Aristotle also says that in order to have the finest tragedy the plot must be complex and must imitate actions arousing fear and pity - the distinctive function of this sort of imitation. He reasons that there are three kinds of plot to avoid. First, to be avoided is that a good man must not be seen going from happiness to misery because it is repellant. Second, a bad man cannot go from misery to happiness because it does not appeal to our human...
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.
Tragic heroes tend to have very pre-determined paths; usually making the most virtuous of characters destined to suffer. The hamartia or ‘tragic flaw’ is the typical reason the hero falls. Shakespeare was noted to be one of the best writers of tragedies, one of his most prominent to be Othello. In Othello, we find a number of tragic flaws two including pride and ambition. In William Shakespeare’s play, Othello, pride and ambition are used to identify the outcomes for the main characters in the play when seeing the resolution of the play, perceiving those who survive and those who don’t, and considering each character’s role in the turn of events.
Of the 38 plays Shakespeare has produced over his lifetime, his tragedies are the most heart-wrenching, horrifying productions the theater has ever seen. In these tragedies, there are gruesome ideas such as lethal love, megalomania, and the absolute corruption of heroes that were originally considered to be wholesome. The latter theme can especially be seen in the play Othello. In this tragedy, there is an ongoing theme of corruption in a considerable amount of characters in the play, the most significant change being in Othello. Othello undergoes a shocking transformation, as he starts off as the storybook hero, a reputable soldier who illustrates great passion towards his wife, but transforms to become a twisted