The Role of Pride, Miscommunication, and Fate in Othello - Research Paper Example

?The role of pride, jealousy, suspicious attitude, miscommunication and fate in Othello’s downfall in Othello by William Shakespeare Generally, tragedies portray the downfall of heroes who are considered as powerful individuals, able to perform successfully during critical situations in life. Within this context, the tragic fall of the hero from fame to untimely downfall or even doom is related to the change in character. Similar to this fact, the tragic fall of the hero (say, Othello) in the play Othello by Shakespeare is interconnected with the change in the character/personality of the hero. In the play, Othello’s downfall reminds human life which is full of twists and turns. Thesis statement: In the play Othello, William Shakespeare makes use of the main character Othello to pinpoint the effect of pride, jealousy, suspicious attitude, miscommunication, and fate in human life. The role of pride, jealousy, suspicious attitude, miscommunication and fate in Othello’s downfall This section is broadly divided into five sub-sections, which include: pride, jealousy, suspicious attitude, miscommunication and fate. Still, suspicious attitude and miscommunication are the most important factors which eventually led Othello to face the tragedy. Pride: Othello was proud of his military craftsmanship and love towards Desdemona. Still being a Moorish descendant, Othello is able to be the general in the army of Venice. Kurian Mattam stated that, “Like Macbeth, Othello too falls off from a pristine state of excellence” (103). On the other side, he was able to marry Desdemona, the daughter of a high ranking senator in Venice. So, one can easily identify the fact that Othello’s military success and the ability to attract a Venetian beauty towards him made him proud. Gradually, a commissioned officer (say, Iago) under Othello’s turns against him and began to create problem between him and his wife. But Othello did not try to talk to Desdemona because his pride did not allow him to do so. On the other side, Iago was aware of the fact that he can make use of Othello’s pride to fulfil his selfish motives. At the same time, Othello trusted the villain (Iago) and punished innocents without any solid evidence and reason. From a different angle of view, one can see that Othello is totally under the control of Iago. So, Othello’s pride, added with his trust on his commissioned officer, Iago, led him towards his fate. Still, Othello’s damaged pride forces him to mistrust all others and resulted in his downfall in the end. Jealousy: In the beginning, Othello was not a jealous man because he was aware of his strengths and weaknesses. For instance, Othello believed in his ability in military craftsmanship. He was aware of his influence among the political circles in Venice. At the same time, he was proud of his romantic spell on Desdemona. But there were some weaknesses in Othello’s character. He felt inferiority complex on his racial identity. So, he considered other Venetians as his rivals and he trusted nobody, excluding Iago. So, Othello’s character never reveals jealousy in the beginning but the same is exposed in the end. One can see that Othello’s cultural background is entirely different from the people of Venice. His attitude towards women is deeply influenced by his Moorish origin. This clash between cultural differences is one of the reasons behind Othello’s downfall in the end of the play. But one can argue that Othello was a military man, not a romantic individual. Othello considers his love affair with Desdemona as the pinnacle of his glory. Othello never shares his feelings with others because he did not trust others. Andrew Cecil Bradley stated that, “Such jealousy as Othello’s converts human nature into chaos, and liberates the beast in man; and it does this in relation to one of the most intense and also the most ideal of human feelings” (96). Still, Iago’s role in igniting jealousy in Othello’s mind is visible. In short, jealousy is inherent in Othello’s character, but Iago ignited it, manipulated him, and destroyed his military career and personal life. Suspicious attitude: In the play, Shakespeare portrays Othello as an individual who is suspicious of his wife and his friends. Othello is not a Venetian by birth, but his military success helped him to be within the political and military circles of Venice. His cultural and racial identity as a person from a different cultural background is visible in his dealing with others. He was aware of the fact that his wife loves him because of adventurous attitude towards life and military craftsmanship. Besides, he was able to convince his wife’s father on his real motive to marry his daughter. So, one can see that the glory and fame gained by Othello was not accidental. He tried his level best to gain importance in the Venetian society. Within this scenario, he never tried to create cordial relationship with others. Iago realized this fact and turned Othello against others. In the beginning of the play, Othello is portrayed as a noble individual. When he became under Iago’s influence, he began to mistrust others. The cultural and racial characteristic in Othello forces him to be under the influence of Iago, a traitor. Othello revealed that, “My life upon her faith! Honest Iago, my Desdemona must I leave to thee: I prithee, let thy wife attend on her: And bring them after in the best advantage” (18). Still, Iago is not the one and only factor behind Othello’s tragedy because suspicious attitude towards others is inherent in Othello’s character. Miscommunication: One can see that miscommunication is vital factor which leads Othello to face the consequences of the same. Marvin Rosenberg made clear that, “The critics who were to solve Othello’s character problem by writing him down a braggart, puffed up with self-delusion, managed to frame a context for the hero’s every act” (13). From a different angle of view, Iago manipulated Othello and turned him against others, including Cassio and Desdemona. Within this context, Othello never tries to communicate with Cassio because Othello was against him due to the influence of external factors. On the other side, Othello did not try to understand his wife and he never try to communicate with his wife. One can see that miscommunication is an important factor which that leads Othello to believe that Desdemona is in love with Cassio. Later, Othello came to know that Iago is the mastermind behind his downfall and Desdemona is innocent and trustworthy. But this did not help him to correct his mistakes because he killed wife without any solid evidence and reason. Othello never tried to trust his wife because Iago never allowed him to do so and he instilled mistrust in his mind. To be specific, Iago is one of the factors behind the miscommunication among the main characters in the play. Besides, Iago never allows Othello to communicate with others and to share his feelings. Iago was aware of the fact that Othello thrusts him and he will never try to communicate with other and realize his mistakes. This is important because miscommunication led Othello to trust the real villain and to distrust his friends. Fate: Shakespeare’s protagonists in his tragic plays face tragedy due to the rapid or gradual change in their character. To be specific, character determines the destiny of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes. In the play Othello, the hero is portrayed as a military man who is able to gain importance and glory in a different culture. Still, his fate is to face tragedy in his private and public domains. All the negative factors in Othello’s character like pride, jealousy, suspicious attitude, and miscommunication eventually led him to face his fate. Anne Whitehead opined that, “However, when this is combined with the hypocrisy and racism of Venetian society, Othello’s fate is sealed” (95). From a different angle of view, Othello’s fate was to trust the villain and to mistrust his friends and well-wishers. In the play, Othello is portrayed as the victim of human fault. His military craftsmanship helped him to be in the limelight of fame. But fate did not allow him to keep himself away from its claws. To be specific, Othello’s fate was inevitable because he did not suspect Iago. Instead, he trusted him and acted according to his will. Iago is the real villain in the play and the most important factor behind Othello’s downfall. Later, Othello came to know about Iago’s motives from others. But this revelation of Iago’s motives did not help Othello to correct his mistakes. So, Othello’s passionate love towards his wife and the flow in his character led him to face the inevitable fate in the end. Summing up, almost all the tragedies by Shakespeare are symbolic of his deep understanding of human character. In the play Othello, Shakespeare unveils the grass root level reasons behind the protagonist’s downfall. To be specific, the basic feelings and attitudes in human mind like pride, jealousy, suspicious attitude and miscommunication leads Othello towards his downfall or fate. On the other side, Shakespeare makes use of Iago as a tool or medium to unveil the effect of disloyalty in human life. Iago considers Othello as a tool to attain his aim and to fulfil his selfish motives. He provides less importance to loyalty and trustworthiness. Still, one cannot ignore the fact that there are other factors which constitute Othello’s downfall. In short, Shakespeare makes use of Othello to unveil the influence of external factors in the downfall of human beings in general. Works Cited Bradley, Andrew Cecil. Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. Teddington: Echo Library, 2006. Print. Mattam, Kurian. The Unweeded Garden. Delhi: Anamika Pub & Distributors, 1995. Print. Rosenberg, Marvin. The Masks of Othello: The Search for the Identity of Othello, Iago, and Desdemona by Three Centuries of Actors and Critics. Cranbury: University of Delaware Press, 1992. Print. Shakespeare, William. Othello. Stilwell: Digireads.com Publishing, 2005. Print. Whitehead, Anne. Trauma Fiction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2004. Print. Read More