William Shakespeares Othello, the Moor of Venice as a Tragedy - Essay Example

?Client’s 11 May Polymath refers to a person who is a man of many talents; Aristotle was a polymath without a shadow of a doubt. He was a great philosopher; he was also a theologian, in addition to this he was also a literary critic. “Poetics” written by Aristotle define several important literary elements and it also serves as a benchmark for all the other literary critics during the time of Aristotle. His definition of a tragedy was widely accepted by writers and they tried to match his description, Aristotle wrote in his poetics that the tragic hero must feel excessive pain and he must undergo excessive suffering, he also wrote that not everyone can be a tragic hero. A person of great stature can be a tragic hero not anyone else and these guidelines were followed by almost all the great writers, this goes to show a lot about Aristotle and his achievements. William Shakespeare also incorporated Aristotle’s guidelines in his tragedies. Hamlet is a classic example of the same, Hamlet suffers all along in the tragedy, he was the tragic hero because he was a person with great stature, the Prince of Denmark. Aristotle also wrote about tragic flaws and how the same affected the tragic hero. This paper will shed light upon Othello and how the tragic hero suffers excessively in the tragedy. Othello is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare is a household name and he has become a household name because of his exquisite work in literature. Othello is a masterpiece written by Shakespeare and this paper will shed more light upon this tragedy. Othello- The Tragic Hero The role of jealousy is crucial in Othello, human beings have all been gifted with very powerful emotions and jealousy is one really strong emotion which can have a lasting impact in a relationship, it can completely destroy a beautiful relationship and the same happens in Othello. The seed of jealousy once planted can have serious ramifications on a relationship. The most important thing is that jealousy does not remain jealousy in Othello, it very soon turns into anger and the same has serious impact on the lives of the characters in the tragedy. Everything revolves around the tragic hero and in this game the tragic hero is none other than Othello, his jealous and extremely possessive nature causes trouble beyond imagination in the tragedy. How Jealousy takes a toll on the Characters Every tragic hero suffers from a tragic flaw and the very same tragic flaw leads to the downfall of the tragic hero, it causes excessive suffering and pain beyond imagination. The tragic hero or the protagonist in this tragedy Othello suffers from the tragic flaw of jealously in the tragedy. Other characters are well aware that he is a very jealous man and they exploit his weakness to the fullest. Iago is the mastermind in the tragedy who tries to dethrone Othello; he exploits the jealous nature of Othello to turn his people against him. He creates several misunderstandings to put Othello in a fix and he succeeds in doing so on numerous occasions. Othello is very extremely possessive of his wife Desdemona and he often says “My Desdemona” in the tragedy. These words clearly show his obsession for his wife and the same obsession causes a lot of trouble in the tragedy. He firmly believes that he has won her; she was more like a trophy to him than a wife. Possessiveness is also a very big sign of jealously. This again goes to show the jealous nature of Othello, a major reason for his downfall was his jealous nature and there are no two ways about it. He is also an extremist and his behavior is also violent in the tragedy at times. He loses his head when the handkerchief goes missing; his impulsive nature leads to his destructions. He is of swaying nature; he thinks that his wife has been unfaithful to him which again goes to show how he can easily be influenced by other people who he considers his well-wishers. His jealous nature comes to the forefront after the intervention of Iago, before his intervention there are no evidences of his jealous nature. Iago is a very sagacious man in the tragedy, he is astute and extremely manipulative. Other Important Characters in the Tragedy The other characters also get affected because of the tragic hero, it is more like a trikle down effect which trickles down and affects each and every character in the tragedy. Iago, Emilia, Bianca, Roderigo and Othello get affected by this powerful emotion of jealously in the tragedy. They do things which one hardly expects them to do, their persona gets changed after this feeling grips them. The characters find a resolution which differs and they deal with their problem in a different way. They adopt different methods when it comes to dealing with this powerful emotion. Iago is a character who develops jealously for the very first time in the tragedy, as discussed earlier, the jealously quickly transforms into anger and then into revenge against those who he thinks have done wrong. Iago, from the very beginning of the tragedy expresses his jealously towards two main characters namely Cassio and Othello. Cassio becomes the lieutenant in the tragedy and the same makes Iago jealous of him. Iago firmly believed that he was more deserving than Cassio and he should have been made the lieutenant instead of Cassio. Iago was furious with Othello for two reasons; the first one was because Othello promoted Cassio as the lieutenant and the other being his intimate relationship with Emilia. “It is thought abroad that 'twixt my sheets / He has done my office.” (Othello, Page 369-370) Iago is a very insecure character in the tragedy; he decides to take revenge against Othello and Cassio. He said he will only be satisfied after getting his due revenge. “Till I am evend with him, wife for wife, /Or failing so, yet that I put the Moor / At least into a jealousy so strong / That judgment cannot cure.” (Othello, Page 299-302) Conclusion Shakespeare has written many tragedies but Othello stands out from the rest, it is a very well written and thought out Tragedy. Everything is crafted to perfection and this makes this tragedy very special and different from the other tragedies. The role of tragedy is perhaps the most important in this particular tragedy. Othello is a great tragedy; the traits of several important characters have already been discussed in the paper. Iago, Emilia, Bianca, Roderigo and Othello are the most important characters in the tragedy and they share a common thing which is jealously, we have also seen the ramifications of this powerful feeling. It is needless to say that jealously plays a major part in ruining the happy lives of the characters in the tragedy. No conflict would have occurred in the tragedy had there been no jealously, Iago wanted to become the lieutenant and he tried every possible way to fulfill his dream, his manipulative nature caused havoc, it also caused a lot of bloodshed in the tragedy. Emilia was jealous of Desdemona, she wanted to marry Othello either by hook or by crook, she did everything that one could ever imagine to fulfill her dream, this again caused a lot of misunderstanding in the tragedy. To conclude it is very fair to say that the tragedy became a true tragedy only because jealously played a huge part in the lives of the main characters. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. Four Tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. Bantam Books, 1988. The Handkerchief (2011). Spark Notes. Web. N.P, Retrieved from: Read More