Comparing Othello and Oedipus: Pride Leads to a Fall - Essay Example

Comparing Othello and Oedipus: Pride Leads to a Fall The concept of honor has served as a guiding principle for men for countless generations. The interesting thing about this code of honor is that it seems to have been relatively similar across a number of cultures. The common features typically center on the idea of full loyalty among men at arms and complete adherence to one’s word. Whether looking deep into antiquity or just into the age of commercialism, one can find examples of men who continue to drive themselves to destruction rather than compromise on these codes of loyalty or admit to any degree that perhaps their word should not be bond. The character of Oedipus, for example, is driven by his word to discover the murderer of King Laius regardless of the cost. Upon discovery of the murderer, Oedipus promises a highly severe punishment beyond anything anyone has considered before despite the warnings of the court seer. Shakespeare’s Othello also tells the story of a high-ranking warrior who fails to recognize the truth before he determines the appropriate action. In both Sophocles’ Oedipus and Shakespeare’s Othello, the main characters of the plays are driven to see their self-destructive tasks to the end as they become too prideful to carefully consider their words before they become obligated to uphold them and make poor choices regarding where to place their loyalties. The action in Oedipus the King begins as Oedipus is asked to do something about the plague that has hit the city. He adopts the power of the gods as he ridicules them for attempting superstitious means of driving away plague: “What means this reek of incense everywhere, / From others, and am hither come, myself, / I Oedipus, your world-renowned king” (4-8). In this statement he suggests he is their ruler, father and god and has the power to do all. Throughout the play, Oedipus’ personality clearly reflects a continued pride and a determination to force things to go his way. Although he had received the prediction that he was doomed to kill his father and marry his mother, he attempted to avoid this fate by taking drastic action. He goes to visit the Sphinx, kills a band of travelers along the way and, because of his success with the Sphinx is made the new king of Thebes by marrying the old king’s widow. However, he hastily promises “Well, I will start afresh and once again / Make dark things clear” (139-140) in solving the mystery of what happened to the old king. When the blind prophet Teresias, a highly respected counselor, finally hints that Oedipus was the murderer of King Laius, Oedipus fails to believe him in time and instead promises dire consequences for the murderer that must then come true. It is easy to see the irony that if Oedipus had not been so determined to escape and prevent the prophecy as it had been foretold, he would have not fulfilled it by accident. This is foreshadowed by Creon who tells Oedipus, “You are obstinate— / obviously unhappy to concede, / and when you lose your temper, you go too far. / But men like that find it most difficult / to tolerate themselves” (814-819). In this one short statement, he sums up the entire tragedy. He illustrates Oedipus’ stubbornness and pride in being unwilling to concede his own complicity in events he has not yet heard the details of. As a result of his own impatience and driving desire to bring honor and further pride to his name, Oedipus becomes excessive in his proclamations regarding motives and punishments to be handed down. Finally, as Creon indicates, once the truth is known by Oedipus himself, it doesn’t matter what Jocasta might do to try to hide the facts from the world, that it is known by them is already more than can be born. Like Oedipus, Othello is also driven by pride to see his actions through to the end, but he is driven more by misplaced loyalty rather than hasty words. Although Othello seems relatively stable in his behavior, he checks many of his responses against the judgment of his good and trusty friend Cassio. However, when Othello finds Cassio involved in a drunken brawl with gentlemen, he immediately perceives a lack of honor in his friend. “Cassio, I love thee; But never more be officer of mine” (II, ii, 239-240). Othello can no longer respect Cassio because of his common action of brawling in the streets. Because of Cassio’s breach, Othello begins to doubt his own ability to make good judgments of character. Iago capitalizes on Othello’s doubt and suspicion, as well as Othello’s own love for others, to Othello’s destruction. Once Othello decides to love and trust Iago, he finds it impossible to doubt him. Although Desdemona continues to try to reason with him, Iago has convinced Othello to conclude that only Iago is loyal enough to deserve Othello’s love. Iago causes Othello to doubt his wife through statements such as, “Sir, she can turn, and turn, and yet go on / And turn again; and she can weep, sir, weep; / And she’s obedient; as you say, obedient, / Very obedient – Proceed you in your tears. – / Concerning this, sir – O well-painted passion!” (IV, i, 246-49). Like many high-ranking warriors, Othello’s great mistake lies in believing that because he has given his love and trust to Iago, Iago must necessarily return the sentiment. It is only at the end of the play that Othello finally realizes he has lost his earlier noble nature as a result of Iago’s manipulations. In both of these plays, the main characters can be seen to be driven largely by feelings of pride which are themselves driven by a strong devotion to the ancient code of honor. Oedipus felt tremendous pride in his accomplishment of both avoiding fate and outsmarting the Sphinx which led him to confidently declare he had the ability and the duty to severely punish crimes. Although he was warned not to push the issue too hard, Oedipus’ pride forced him to continue his pronouncements until there was no backing out of them when he discovered his own complicity in the murder. Thus, pride drives him to make statements that the code of honor won’t allow him to retract. Othello is also driven by pride as he confidently determines who to give his love to based on their adherence to his internal image of the honorable man. When he feels Iago is being straight-forward with him, Othello determines Iago is honorable as compared to Desdemona and Cassius who are working behind his back and are thus dishonorable. Although both characters are trapped by the same personality trait of pride based on the values of a code of honor, the way in which they are trapped is different. Oedipus feels his word is law, but when he inadvertently unleashes it against his advisor’s counsel, he finds out he is himself the villain he’s seeking. Thus he is trapped by words. Othello feels his loyalties, placed based upon honorable behavior, will never lead him astray but becomes trapped by the expected actions of the betrayed husband within the code of honor he follows so unquestioningly. Through both of these authors, the lesson conveyed is that pride and honor adhered to without compromise or contemplation can trap you into a fall. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. “Othello.” The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Alfred Harbage (Ed.). New York: Penguin Books, 1969. Sophocles. Antigone, Oedipus the King, Electra. Oxford World’s Classics. Ed. Edith Hall. Oxford University Press, 1998. Read More