Othello the Moor of Venice as a Tragedy - Research Paper Example

Othello, the Moor of Venice, as a Tragedy of the Name of the Concerned Professor March 8, 2011 Thesis Statement Aristotle’s Poetics a pamphlet of about fifty pages, incomplete, ill preserved and unsystematic, has proved a book of perennial interest for students of literature. It deals mainly with tragedy and here too with Greek tragedy which alone was known to him. He wrote at a time when there was no literary criticism to go by except Plato’s attacks, not on tragedy as such but on poetry in general. Again and again people refer back to Aristotle, when dealing with the nature and function of tragedy, when they deal with the concepts of tragedy and morality. Aristotle’s concept of tragedy is based on a sum total of a few essential fundamentals that are a complex plot with a suitable beginning middle and the end, organic unity, appropriate length, the unities of time and place, apt relationship between the character and plot, goodness, consistency of characterization, hamartia, peripity, anagnorisis or discovery, feelings of pity and fear and catharsis.1 Based on the parameters as established by Aristotle for a worthy tragedy, William Shakespeare’s Othello, the Moor of Venice is an ideal Aristotelian tragedy. Othello is a specific tragedy of passion and to label it as an Aristotelian tragedy is certainly appropriate. Of all Shakespeare’s tragedies, Othello is the most painfully exciting and the most terrible. As one goes through it, one experiences the extremes of the feelings of pity, fear, sympathy, disgust, sickening hope and dreadful expectation. Outline I. Introduction A. Cursory analysis of Othello B. Aristotle parameters for a tragedy and a “tragic hero” II. Body A. Tragedy and plot B. Attributes of a “tragic hero” as per Aristotle B. Catharsis and tragedy III. Conclusion A. Othello, the Moor of Venice satisfies all attributes of a tragedy enunciated by Aristotle Essay Introduction Othello, the Moor of Venice, could and should essentially be classified as a typical Aristotelian tragedy and Othello is the most worthy tragic hero of Shakespeare who satisfies almost all the credentials of a tragic hero as evinced by Aristotle. As one goes through the play Othello, one experiences the extremes of the feelings of pity, fear, sympathy, disgust, sickening hope and a dreadful expectation.2 Evil is displaced before the reader in such a way that one simply watches its progress in an awed and fascinated manner. A lot of factors contribute to the exciting and painful impact of this play as the conflict in Othello’s mind, the ensuing sexual jealousy, Desdemona’s humiliation and murder, the accompanying intrigue and so much.3 Besides, the role played by ‘accident’ in Othello produces not only a strong sense of the working of fate, but makes the play more terrible. In Othello, so many things happen by chance to aid Iago’s plot that one feels that his victims are also the victims of fate. Then there is the little comic relief in the guise of Iago’s humor, which is most of the times grim rather than amusing. In the context of the tragedy and a tragic hero, Aristotle in his work Poetics elucidated on some specific requirements as to the nature and form of plot and the qualities of a tragic hero. It will be really interesting to gauge Othello, the Moore of Venice, on the parameters set by Aristotle as to establish that it is a worthy tragedy with a suitable tragic hero. Plot In the context of a tragedy, Aristotle stresses the primacy of plot.4 He begins his ranking of the six parts of the tragedy with the assertion that “The most important of these parts is the arrangement of incidents, for tragedy is not an imitation of a man, per se, but of human action and life and happiness and misery.”5 Aristotle further reinforces the need for the right plot by declaring the human life to be a process. Aristotle holds that the human life is constantly changing and the changes that a man experiences tend towards happiness or unhappiness. Thus a tragedy is not possible without a plot that unravels the steps in the process that is taking place. According to Aristotle, a plot must have an apt and well contrived beginning, middle and the end to bring out the true depth and seriousness of a tragedy.6 In addition a plot must be an organic whole, with different parts interacting in an effective way, maintain the unity of the whole. In addition a good tragic plot should also be endowed with the unities of time and place.7 In that perspective, the plot of Othello is simple with no sub-plots or distractions. An ensign, expecting to be promoted to the post of a lieutenant, feels annoyed when his general appoints another man over his head. The ensign decides to avenge his supersession by plotting the ruin of both his general and his rival. By a series of skilful moves he is able to convince the general of the adultery of the general’s wife with the lieutenant. As a result the general kills first his wife and then himself. But the ensign fails in the second part of his design since the plot is disclosed and the lieutenant receives yet another promotion while he himself faces trial and torture. There are no digressions in the play, no irrelevancies and no superfluities. The play comes very near to observing the three unities of time, place and action. The entire action at Cyprus takes no more than 33 hours. The number of important characters is just 7. By means of the observance of the three unities, the short list of principal characters, the scanty comic relief; the plot in Othello achieves a powerful effect and a tension greater than in any other tragedies. Tragic Action and Character According to Aristotle, goodness is the primary requirement in a tragic hero, as a character must be good for the reader or spectator to make one sympathize with him. People do no sympathize with vicious or vile people.8 This sympathy is important for the emotion of pity to be aroused and the ultimate tragic pleasure be conveyed. In addition the tragic hero must be appropriate that is he should have characteristics that are in consonance with the class to which he belongs.9 A tragic hero must be believable and true to life. Aristotle also stresses that the character of a tragic hero should be consistent and in consonance with the intelligible principles of behavior. In addition Aristotle stipulates the concept of hamartia.10 The tragic hero should not be perfect and must be susceptible to committing an error of judgment. In addition a tragic hero should at some time in the plot, must experience anagnorisis or discovery.11 It essentially means the revelation or discovery of a circumstance or a state of affairs about which a tragic hero was ignorant or mistaken. True to say that the character of Othello satisfies all the essentials of a tragic hero enunciated by Aristotle. He is in one sense of the word, by far the most romantic figure amongst Shakespeare’s heroes. He is noble and romantic partly from the strange life of war and adventures which he has lived from childhood. He happens to be a decent man in more than one ways. He is grave, self controlled, hardened by the experience of countless dangers, hardships and strife, at once simple and dignified in bearing and speech, a great man naturally modest but full conscious of his worth, proud of his service to the State, unawed by dignitaries and unexcited by honors. In addition he is a profound lover of Desdemona.12 Yet, Othello is a man whose passionate sexual jealousy, once roused, is uncontrollable and brings catastrophe. Analyzing Othello as a tragic hero, what one comes across is a man of essential nobility, who gets debased by humiliating passion to a level not far above the animal, a level far lower than to which any of Shakespeare’s other tragic heroes sink. Under the power of this jealousy, Othello becomes susceptible to committing a great error of judgment. Being attributed all these traits; Othello qualifies almost much of the characteristics stipulated by Aristotle to be present in a tragic hero. Catharsis Aristotle’s conception of a tragic hero is based on his doctrine of catharsis of pity and fear as being the distinctive function of a tragedy.13 According to Aristotle, a tragic hero should neither be too virtuous nor too evil. This arouses the emotions of pity in spectators at witnessing the fall of an essentially noble man. At the same time the fall of a tragic hero arouses fear, as he is very believable and is a character that the audience could identify with. Thus, the tragedy of Othello furnishes the Aristotelian catharsis to all intents and purposes and the character of Othello is realistic and believable enough to arouse the feelings of fear, while he falls. Conclusion Considering the quintessential parameters for a tragedy and a tragic hero set by Aristotle and correlating the Othello, the Moor of Venice, one credibly arrives at the conclusion that it is indeed a tragedy with an authentic “tragic hero”. Bibliography Abdulla, Adnan K. Catharsis in Literature. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1985. Aristotle. Poetics. New York: Penguin Classics, 1997. Hadfield, Andrew (ed.). William Shakespeare’s Othello: A Sourcebook. New York: Routledge, 2002. Jones, John. On Aristotle and Greek Tragedy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1962. Kolin, Philip (ed.). Othello: Critical Essays. New York: Routledge, 2001. Palmer, Richard P. Tragedy and Tragic Hero. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1992. Read More