Othello, a tragedy by William Shakespeare - Research Paper Example

?Othello In real life and in fictional settings, individuals or readers would normally want happy endings, as happy finishing touch will always create a great sense of joy. At the same time in fictional works, the counter thought is, tragic ending would only create a stronger imprint on the mind of the readers. The argument is tragic endings could make the readers of the fictional work hold on to that work for an extended period of time, as they could think why the tragic ending need to happen and could make them visualize what could have happened if there is a happy ending instead of tragic ending. Importantly, tragic ending could be used by the authors as a tool to validate certain actions of the character or characters. That is, due to certain misdeeds of the characters, logically tragic ending has to happen. Many writers including the well-known William Shakespeare has used this tragic ending. Shakespeare ends the play Othello in a tragic way due to certain key events that happen in Act V. With the main protagonist Othello exhibiting certain faulty characteristics and due to negative machinations of Iago in Act V, the play ends in a tragic manner. Othello, a tragedy by William Shakespeare focuses on theme of suspicion, love and treachery. Othello, a black general is detested by Iago for he has promoted Cassio, a man younger to him, to a position that was desired by Iago. Another reason for his detestation was that he believed in the rumours that suggested that Othello had an affair with his wife, Emilia. Iago is desperate to avenge Othello and his villainy side comes to the fore in the final act. “Evil has nowhere else been portrayed with such mastery as in the evil character of Iago.” (Bradley 169). He uses Cassio to make Othello believe that his wife, Desdemona was having an affair with Cassio. Iago succeeds in his endeavour when Othello blinded by suspicion kills his wife. However, he is repentant when he comes to know the whole truth and commits suicide out of the guilt of killing his innocent wife. Othello is deceived by Iago and is doomed by his own destiny. Othello is the general in the Venetian Army. Despite coming from a minority group, Othello because of physical structure and importantly mental courage, both of which are clearly exhibited in his character, became a feted warrior. He rose through the ranks of the Venetian army, through sheer bravery and success in tough battles. Thus, Othello or The Moor, Venetians call him so, is a strong character both physically and mentally. He is a confident and proud individual who control every move in his favour. From the beginning of the play, till the major part of the play, Othello being the hero exhibits a lot of positive characteristics and strengths. From being a courageous warrior, with a lot of leadership potential to a polite man who wins his love through his nobility, Othello’s character provide him many favourable things. However, towards the end of the play, particularly in Act V, Othello starts to exhibit certain negative characteristics. He exhibits it through his negative deeds, which are aptly tapped by Iago, and that only lead him to his downfall as well as the resultant tragedy. That is, Othello’s character has certain weaknesses which make him unsophisticated and importantly quite deceivable. Even though, he is strong character, it appears to be only physical strong-ness or strength, as he has a lot of insecurities in his mind. These insecurities or weaknesses in his character were only used by Iago, to his advantage. Iago was able to judge the naivety of Othello in the initial stages of the play and was quick to deceive him in the final stages, without raising any suspicion. He express this weaknesses of Othello to Roderigo by explaining to him, how he follows Othello only to a certain point and then makes Othello follow him, " O, sir, content you. I follow him to serve my turn upon him. "(I, i, 41-42). With such a weakness in his character and the resultant actions, Othello becomes a pawn in the hands of Iago, and Iago for his part exploits him to the hilt by ingraining in him many negative things including suspicious thoughts against his wife, Desdemona, which only leads to the resultant tragedy. “Iago is compared to the devil because of Iago’s unusual resentment towards Othello and his plot to destroy not only Othello but also his wife and everything Othello values” (Al-Amin). Othello kills his wife, Desdemona believing Iago and thus commits one of the gravest deeds. His vengeance against Desdemona can be understood from the lines, he utters as he enters his bedchamber. He cries with great vehemence, “Strumpet, I come. / Forth of my heart those charms, thine eyes, are blotted. / Thy bed, lust-stained, shall with lust’s blood be spotted” (V. i. 37). He says to himself that he should kill Desdemona so gruesomely that their bed shall be spotted with the “lust’s blood” denoting Desdemona. Othello becomes the victim of false appearances, when he doubts Cassio, after Cassio had a private conversation with his wife, Desdemona. Actually, Desdemona and Cassio conversed about how to get Cassio’s job, which got lost due to Iago’s machinations. It was the same Iago’s deluding words which only pushes a weak Othello to forget the reality and instead believe in the false assumptions that his wife Desdemona and Cassio are having an illegal affair. Therefore, Othello without finding what really transpired in the meeting between Desdemona and Cassio starts to suspect his wife, deceived by Iago’s words and by Cassio’s fast stride. This is clear weaknesses in Othello’s character, as he lets his insecurity filled emotional mind takes over, instead of using his analytical mind. Thus, tragically Othello is the destroyer of his own life, as he does not had the mental capability to see the truth behind Iago’s evil intentions and thus does nothing to stop the next course of action. “Othello is caught between the old ideals and the new professionalism; his adherence to a chivalric code of honor defines his sense of "occupation" and makes him more vulnerable to the wiles of Iago.” (Vaughan 5). That is, if he was sharp enough and his character had analytical skills to understand the truth behind the false pretence created by Iago, he would not have committed the gravest deed of killing Desdemona and importantly could have not met such a tragic death himself. Othello’s murder of his wife is not the working of fate but the weakness in Othello’s character, which was criminally used by Iago. Othello comprehends his blunder deeds when Emilia exposes Iago and his malevolence. Othello is so overwhelmed by his guilt that he kills himself with his dagger. Here again, the character of Othello borders on negativity, as he is able to overcome his guilt and thus commits the ultimate deed, the deed of taking one’s own life. In addition to tragically losing his life, Othello also squandered away his hard built reputation and image, thus damaging his character totally. “When you shall these unlucky deeds relate, / Speak of me as I am” (V. ii. 340). After his death, Lodovico despises him for acting like a common slave. Thus, from a man who was respected by all including the Duke, Othello because of his weaknesses in his character and also due to the machinations of Iago, commits a lot of wrong deeds and becomes one of the derided characters. Works Cited Bradley, Andrew Cecil. Shakespearean Tragedy. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press, 1974. Shakespeare, William. Othello. London: Oxford University Press, 2006. Al-Amin, Zakia. “Othello: The Tragedy of Human Nature.” Georgia Perimeter College, 5 May 1999. 26 Feb 2013. Vaughan, Virginia Mason. Othello: A Contextual History. London: Cambridge University Press. 1996. Read More