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Essay On The Tragedy Of Othello

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Shakespeare's play “Othello, the Moor of Venice” is a good illustration of Aristotle’s tragedy. The play has all of the different qualities to be considered as Aristotelian tragedy. Othello, the tragic hero imitates the basic human emotions such as jealousy and pride which becomes his flaw. The flaw creates the climax and leads to ultimate downfall of a tragic hero. The tragic hero realizes his flaw evoking the readers to feel sympathy for him. The play takes the readers through the logical sequence of the plot. Readers can see the transformation of tragic hero from a man of courage and dignity to insecure, capable of being fooled and loses sight of everything.

The play opens in the city of Venice, where the audience witness Senator Brabantio's …show more content…

Othello” is not an “original” play invented by Shakespeare. It is perhaps taken from collection of stories by Giraldi Cinthio, an Italian writer (Kernan, 1986). It is translated by means of language with significant changes and made attractive for its own purpose. Shakespeare made significant changes in the character of Iago and presented Othello as a tragic hero, worthy of tragedy. “Othello” is created to win the readers’ sympathy. Instead of facing punishment, he is made to end his own life so as to bring catharsis on the …show more content…

The Othello is a single complex plot divided into five acts. The plot revolves around the revenge of Iago, the antagonist and jealousy of Othello, the protagonist. The situation develops in one direction of happiness and then suddenly reverses into another direction of disaster. The plot becomes complex when Othello transforms from nobleman to monster through the exploitation of his tragic flaw. The plot moves from exposition to complication, challenge, conflict, climax and finally to resolution keeping the tragic hero consistent. The moment of recognition that arises from incidents occurs in Act V when Emilia reveals that Iago is a liar and when Othello realizes that he has wrongly killed his trustful wife. Othello discovers that his wife is not a whore but a caring and respectful woman. He regrets and realized that he has reached the end of his journey which leads to reversal in his fortune by killing himself. He says “Whip me ye devils, from the possession of this heavenly sight!”

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