Tragic Figures of Ancient and Modern Tragedies - Othello vs Oedipus - Essay Example

A COMPARATIVE RESPONSE ON THE PRESENTATION OF TWO TRAGIC FIGURES: OTHELLO VS OEDIPUS Introduction The tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, is a play by Shakespeare. Oedipus, the king, is a famous play written by Sophocles. The play revolves around the rise and fall of Oedipus, the great king. These two plays are tragedies because both Othello and king Oedipus are portrayed as tragic. The plots of both plays are structured in a way that depicts the true form of tragedy. Othello, an army general, ended up killing his wife Desmodena, in a fit of rage and jealousy, on suspicion that she was having an affair. He later committed suicide on discovering Lago’s deceit and treachery. Oedipus, on the other hand, killed his father, married and sired children with his mother. He later gouged his eyes out and was exiled from Thebes. The two characters are presented similarly and differently in many aspects such as how their own faults contributed to their tragic downfalls and their horrors and how they punish themselves. Their own fault contributed to their tragic downfall and self-destruction, although, outside forces such as the oracles and influence of others like Lago contributed to their tragic downfalls. A Critical Analysis on Whether the Presentation of Tragedy Changes from Sophocles to Shakespeare In order to answer the above question an analytical approach will be adopted. There will be a contrasting and comparative approach between Othello and Oedipus Rex. Similarities Othello and Oedipus are all round characters. Oedipus is a person whose character cannot be neglected, and whatever that he tries to engage in leads him even to more trouble than what he was engaged in previously. Even if he is a well rounded character, he cannot be trusted. It would be very doubtful that Oedipus would marry a lady who was almost the same age as his mother without asking about the woman’s past history and her children. It could have shed some light in their characters, and questions could have arisen about the woman’s first born child who was sent away and presumed to be dead. Othello, on the other hand, is an all round character who can be easily trusted. He is a man filled with jealousy and mistrust and this can be seen when he realises that his wife has been sleeping with another man. Most people who have ever been in love must have had this sensation once in a while. As Othello’s suspicion is being fed by Lago, he becomes more hurt and ends up killing his wife because he cannot trust her. The plots of both plays are structured in a way that depicts the true form of tragedy. Both characters were brought to ruin and extreme sorrow. When Oedipus realized that the prophecies were true: he had killed his father Laios and married his mother and had children with her, in horror and sorrow,he gouged his eyes out and became blind. (Sophocles 743). ‘....why has she gone in such a passion of sorrow?...the queen is dead....’-when the truth and the horror of what had happened finally dawned on Locaste, she went to her room and killed herself. (Sophocles 740, 745).On discovering Lago’s deceit and treachery, Othello stabbed Lago ( ... ‘I bleed sir but not killed’)and committed suicide. (Shakespeare 142.) Their downfall was when they learned the horrifying truths which they could not withstand. Both Othello and Oedipus are presented in a manner which depicts that they possessed character traits that caused the tragedies to happen. Their own faults contributed to their tragic downfall. Both characters acted out of impulse and irrationally. ‘.....you will pay for it’ (scene I)- Oedipus was infuriated when the blind prophet, Teiresias accused him of the murder of Laios. His fiery temper is what led him to kill Laios in the first place. He believed that he was justified in killing Laios because the old king and his servant had provoked him. (Sophocles 731-33).He accused Creon of treachery and liaising with Teiresias in plotting against him instead of trusting the oracles. (Sophocles 731) As a result of mistrust, Othello ended up smothering his wife to death in a fit of anger and jealousy. He allowed jealousy to corrupt his noble nature- ‘where is this rash and most unfortunate man?’ He didn’t see past Lago’s conniving and deceitful nature. When he finally found out about Lago’s treachery, he committed suicide out of sorrow and grief. (Shakespeare 142)Both are tragic characters because Othello’s mistrust caused his wife’s death and Oedipus’ sins caused tragedies to befall his children because they were the fruits of an incestuous union. Both plays bring to life the heroic nature of the two main characters. The priest addressed Oedipus as the great powerful king of Thebes, who saved them from the Sphinx. ‘....find us remedy....you brought us fortune, be the same again’-when the curse befell their land, the people went to seek help from the king because they believed he would save them again. (Sophocles 712-13.) Choragos also attributed him to having solved the famous riddle and having towered above the most powerful men. (Sophocles 732)William Shakespeare also portrayed Othello as a man with much greatness-‘....is of a constant, loving, noble nature...’ (Act II) Differences The presentation of tragedy changes from Sophocles to William Shakespeare in that although both characters are both tragic heroes, their downfalls are different. Although, both the main characters in the two plays realized their mistakes, they inflicted upon themselves the kind of punishment they deemed fit for their sins. ‘.....killing myself, to die upon a kiss’-Othello committed suicide because he could not live with the guilt of killing his innocent wife (Shakespeare 142), whereas Oedipus lived but he chose to be a blind man because his sorrow and horror could not allow him to see anything. He was also exiled from Thebes-‘.... how could I bear to see, when my sight was horror everywhere...’ Oedipus chose to ignore the good counsel of the oracle which resulted in his downfall whereas Othello took the misguided counsel of Lago, a treacherous and vengeful soldier. ‘Apolo’s prophet said that I will marry my mother and shed my father’s blood.’(Oedipus Rex)Oedipus could not avoid his fate because it had been written before he was born whereas Othello brought his fate upon himself. Shakespeare depicts Othello as a man who hits and brutally kills his wife in a fit of rage, misguided jealousy and counsel from malicious sources-‘ whereas Sophocles portrays Oedipus as a man who could not escape his face no matter how hard he tried because it had already been sealed by the oracles. Oedipus dedicated himself fully towards finding Laios’s murderer. He also decreed that any person who knew who the murderer was and chose to conceal the information was to be shunned by the people of Thebes. Oedipus also cursed the murderer’s life to be that of misery. (Sophocles 718) This showed that, he was willing to do anything to find out the truth about Laois’ killer. Whereas Othello is depicted as shallow- minded because he was quick to kill his wife without investigating the truth further: ‘yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men...kill me tomorrow, let me live tonight...’ Shakespeare centres his play on the themes of racism (‘what a full fortune does the thick -lips owe...’), revenge, jealousy, and betrayal (...but for my sport and profit, I hate the moor.’) The play revolves around Othello, a black army general, who married Desmodena, a white woman from a privileged family. ‘...that thinks men honest that but seem not so ,..to be suspected, framed to make women false’; Lago, a trusted soldier, made Othello believe that his wife was having an affair with Cassio. In a fit of rage and jealousy, Othello smothered his wife to death. ‘O fool! Fool! Fool...I took by the throat the uncircumcised dog and smote him’ (Act 5)-on discovering Lago’s betrayal and treachery, Othello committed suicide. Racism manifested itself when Desmodena’s father accused Othello of having used witchcraft to win his daughter’s affection.(‘...by spells and medicines bought of mountebanks.’)(Act 1) On the other hand, Sophocles centres his play on the tension between Oedipus’ already sealed fate and freewill. ‘But rather think, how, when you were, you served your own destruction.’ Despite the fact that Oedipus did not have the ability to choose his own path, he had the freewill to choose how to respond to his fate. Oedipus would have chosen to cool his temper down instead of killing the man. Conclusion In conclusion, the two characters are presented similarly and differently in many aspects such as how their own faults contributed to their tragic downfalls and their horrors and how they punish themselves .From the above discussion it is clear that in as much as both plays share a lot in common, they also have a lot of differences. Works cited Shakespeare, William. The tragedy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. Thomas Walkley, 1623.print. Sophocles,Oedipusthe King.London:HavardUP,Cambridge,MA and William Heinemann. 1912 Print. Read More