Othello a tragic hero - Essay Example

Othello a tragic hero 1 Introduction One Master took up the mantle of another previous Master and wove a tale of great human tragedy. Shakespeare took up the gauntlet thrown by Aristotle, who defined the term Tragic Heroes, and portrayed it to perfection over others. Aristotle, the great philosopher and critic defined a tragedy thus; “Tragedy is the imitation of an action; and an action implies personal agents, who necessarily possess certain distinctive qualities both of character and thought; for it is by these that we qualify actions themselves, and these- thought and character- are the two natural causes from which actions spring, and on actions, again all success or failure depends.” 1 . He further indicates that a tragic hero must have these characteristics: (1) be a nobleman, prince, or person of high estate; (2) have a tragic flaw, and a weakness in judgment; and (3) fall from high to low estate.2 2 Othello – The Play Othello is a valiant soldier, a Black Moor from Cyprus, who now owes allegiance to Venice, and has been elevated to a position of General and is the admired protector of the city. He has been raised to this position of eminence by the White Senators of the city who see in him the savior of the city. Othello has taken Desdemonia, daughter of Barbantio, as his wife, with her willingness, and the father is grieved at this match of his white daughter to the black Moor, who he considers a foreigner despite his polished manners and exalted position. Iago, a soldier Othello trusts, but who is not chosen as his lieutenant, is jealous of Othello on two counts. One he resents as not being chosen as his rightful lieutenant, and second his own lust for Desdemonia whom he desired but was denied by Desdemonia herself. Seeking vengence, Iago spins a deceitful plot by tainting Desdemonia as unfaithful and having an affair with Cassio, the lieutenant Othello had chosen in preference over Iago, and Othello falls in the trap. Othello dismisses Cassio from his service and when Desdemonia pleads with Othello for his reinstatement, it merely serves Iago’s cause and firms up his allegation about her in Othello’s confused mind. Othello then confronts her with the accusation of unfaithfulness and refuses he plea of innocence and kills her. Iago had earlier used Emily his wife, who unwittingly aided him, but when realization dawns on her she tries to make amends and clarifies her role and that of Desdemonia to Othello, but it is too late. In rage Othello seeks revenge of Iago but is prevented by the city elders, however in deep sorrow over his own acts Othello commits suicide leaving Iago to be punished and tortured by Cassio. 3 The Tragedy Any Shakespearean tragedy is overwhelming, and Othello is one of the best that the Master wrote. A tragedy is composed of many different elements and Shakespeare presents all of these elements dramatically in Othello. They are a) that the protagonist will meet total loss in ranking and meet untimely death and; b) the whole story evolves around one main character. c) that the protagonist, in this case Othello, will have a tragic flaw, which together with pride force him into judgmental errors; d) there will be quick pacing, pulsating timings and damning actions all along without let up; and e) there will a catharsis effect on the audience and they will feel emotional attachments to the characters; All the five elements are vividly present and interwoven in crisp and crafty way that is exclusive domain of Shakespeare. In a brilliant portrayal of a rare character he is able to expose human nature riddled by desires, naiveté, jealousy and foolishness, all rolled into a single person who has been manipulated by individuals and events. 4 The Tragic Flaws That a character can be so easily influenced so as to bring about his downfall from a high pedestal is something any person can relate to in our age and time. Human flaws are common but become high drama when a person of noble birth and high position, such as Othello, become their victims. Shakespeare is at his best when brings forth these human failing to play in Othello’s character. Othello is originally depicted as a very respected and noble character. His position as Governor-General, the allegiance from both the people of Venice and his soldiers and his confidence in himself can all be considered major contributors to his overall negative character flaws. In other words his positive aspects are responsible for bringing out his negative side, his flaws in character. His biggest flaws are all too trusting nature and that he is very possessive. His eventual downfall comes from the insecurity that he feels when he is misinformed. He has no investigative nature and he jumps to conclusions merely on hearsay. These flaws begin to surface following his decision to select Cassio, as opposed to Iago, as his lieutenant, his second in command. This germinates the seed of revenge in Iago’s mind and ends in the eventual tragedy. 5 The Plot But Iago is devious alright. He plans a devious plot, a mighty cobweb to achieve his objective. He first causes Othello’s trusted lieutenant Cassio to disrepute himself and loose his position. He thus cuts off Othello’s lifeline, should he had wanted one. Next he convinced Desdemonia to prevail upon Othello to re-employ Cassio and foretold this to Othello by fabricating the story of Desdemonia in sordid relationship with Cassio. So when Desdemonia persisted, it only cemented the suspicion gently aroused by Iago in Othello’s mind. Jealousy took over and lead to Desdemonia’s death by the hand of Othello in dramatic settings. Now remorse takes over the lonely prince, the vain Moor, the haughty General but how could he repent for this act. The only way out of despair was death. This again was not a welcome relief as the grief was so overwhelming that Othello desired to be punished gravely in Hell for his atrocious crime. Thus he chooses suicide to end his worldly misery to begin the next phase of desolation in the hereafter. 6 Conclusion Shakespearean tragedy is one that encompasses many different elements. Shakespeare presents all of these elements spectacularly in Othello. For a tragedy to occur there are five conditions. The protagonist, Othello in this case, must experience a death or a total loss of ranking in society. The audience must also be captured by the actors and feel some sort of connection to them. This is known as catharsis. In Shakespearean tragedies the protagonist always has a character defect or a tragic flaw. This tragic flaw along with pride will cause the protagonist to make an error in judgment leading him to his downfall and eventual death. These two elements are called hubris and hamartia. The unities of time, space, and action must also be followed. This means that the play must take place in a very short period of time, occur in one general area, and follow one main character throughout the play. Shakespeare orates for us a tragic occurrence in the life of a man who once had it all Shakespeare successfully laid the trap through Iago, flawlessly executed it in speed of events, impeccably layered it with the flow of Iago’s love for all, contoured with jealousy, the resilient emotion of human nature which refuses to go away even from sane men, and resulted in a tragedy that made a prefect tragic hero in the shape of Othello. If we look at the modern world around us we see a replay of these events all round us. We see a manifestation of these flaws in today’s stressed out executives all around us. Not a single day passes by that we hear or read a similar story of love, denial, and jealousy doused with liberal portions of blind trust and failure to reason out the situation. It must be said that the Master has analysed human nature very deeply for all times to come. References: 1 Aristotle; Poetics 2 Aristotle; Poetics Read More