Othello

Name: University: Course title: Instructor: Date: Othello the Moor of Venice as a Tragic Hero Introduction In one of his great works, William Shakespeare is well acknowledged for his play Othello which he wrote on the year 1950. It brings out the theme of tragedy befalling one of the main characters. Tragedy is a common ending that is experienced among most of the influential characters according to Aristotle. According to Aristotle, tragedy was inevitable in his piece work of philosophy (Adas, Liftig & Barrett, 66). In this play we find out that the tragedy was Othello killing his wife Desdemona because of infidelity. After killing his wife he then murders himself after realizing what he has done was out of clear proof. Tragedy according to Aristotle is depicted as a strong force of shortcomings beyond the control of the main character. The tragic character is challenged by outcomes and their final decision is significant in their fate. Particular tragedies have to hit the hero to influence their thoughts and lead them to their breakdown. In this paper, I present a discussion on the play Othello by William Shakespeare as it outlines tragedy according to Aristotle and find out whether or not really Othello was a tragic hero. The paper also answers the question whether the play is an Aristotelian tragedy. Othello is a character in this play that the title of tragic hero can be related to him. He is one of the most influential characters in the play. He is depicted as a handsome guy who is married to a beautiful wife named Desdemona (Cinthio). Othello’s role is described as a noble man who works in the military and his misfortunes are death and terror that strikes his territory (Shakespeare, 2). It can be seen that the beginning of Othello’s tragedy is when Iago who is an ensign to Othello initiates a plot against him (Shakespeare, 3). Othello does trust Iago too much not knowing that Iagon will be the beginning of his demise. From the play we can see that Othello has a problem of unquestioning people and despite his renowned character, he lacks good judgmental skills. Iago takes advantage of his weaker side. Just as described by Aristotle, Othello like any tragic hero is not perfect. In the play, we see that the jealousy fills Othello’s heart and his character starts to change and weaken (Shakespeare, 2). Out of Othello’s virtuousness, we see that he falls into Iago’s trick despite him having noticed that there is conspiracy with Roderigo (Shakespeare, 3). According to Aristotle, an eminent philosopher, any play character that is to be described as tragic hero has to go through certain challenges. He/she has to be a renowned main character that is ranked highly in the play. The described tragic hero has also to possess dignity and virtue as his inner personality. Even though the tragic hero has a noble person of high status, Aristotle requires that he/she not to be perfect and that they have their weaker side. The hero has also to go through a particular downfall in their role which created a lot of feelings and judgments about. Most of the Aristotelian tragedy heroes were victims of circumstances (Dutton & Howard, 7). The short comings that came to the tragic hero had to be really pitiful and pose a situation that they were not be worthy of. Aristotelian tragedy is depicted by the tragic hero being the cause of the tragedy solely or partially either by fault of free choice and misjudgment but not accidental. According to Aristotle’s argument on tragic heroes, fall is not a setback of the hero but the aftermath of the tragedy which gives experience to the hero and improves their self-esteem (Dutton & Howard, 7). The supermen who were victims gained their confidence back and swallowed their pride after the fall. However, it is noted that although Aristotelian tragedy heroes suffer a lot this unfortunate endings, there is a lot to learn from the play on the heroes’ faults. However, according to Aristotle, this tragedy is of paramount importance as the audience not only gets entertained but also gets to learn. It is absolutely correct to label Othello a “tragic hero” because in the play we see Othello as a high-ranked man with greatness described him but later falls due to jealousy. Serving in the military, thus rendering from Aristotle descriptions of a tragic hero, Othello is depicted as noble and a leader. Analyzing the character of Othello with the citing of Aristotle’s description of tragic her...