Examples Of Hubris In Othello

The ability of passion to bring destruction upon the lives of the unsuspecting is illustrated in Shakespeare’s Othello with the use of both manipulation and deceit. The curse of fierce passion fell namely on Othello as he transitioned from a respected general to an unstable murderer. His downfall is demonstrated through his increasing self-doubt, lack of ability to articulate, and violence. In the start of the play, he is an accomplished general and happy newlywed, and has yet to be significantly held back due to his being a Moor and outsider in Venetian society. As passion overtakes him, however, Othello truly ingrains the idea that he is less than, and those around him begin to blame his actions on the nature of his ethnicity. He has completely lost his identity to his desires and is unable to think rationally. Shakespeare juxtaposes this version of Othello with his initial composed self in Venice to demonstrate the damage of ignorance to logic and heighten the sense of tragedy. The effects of an overwhelming passion involving love, jealousy, and revenge are shown through Othello’s degradation and loss of stability.

In Greek mythology, hubris means to have excessive self confidence or pride. In The Odyssey, we often see Odysseus getting into trouble because of his hubris. There are many examples where this flaw is exhibited. These include when Odysseus defeats the cyclops Polyphemus, when he and his crew sail past the sirens, and when he got the bag of winds from Aeolus. Hubris leads him to disregard the Gods, and make unwise decisions because his pride blinds him of his ability to see the consequences in making those choices. Odysseus’ hubris also makes his trip home harder and longer than it had to be.

The tragedy of Othello, written by William Shakespeare, presents the main character Othello, as a respectable, honorable, and dignified man, but because of his insecurities and good nature, he is easily taken advantage of and manipulated by his peers and alleged friends. The dynamic of Othello’s character significantly changes throughout the play. The contrast is most pronounced from the beginning of the play to its conclusion, switching from being calm and peaceful to acts of uncontrolled venomous rage. Othello’s motivation in the play appears to be his love and concern for his wife Desdemona, which ironically, ends up being his downfall in the end.

Everyone has flaws. Someone may get a little too angry and saw something they do not mean. Maybe someone's pride stops them from asking for help when they need it. Either way, no one is perfect; hubris always finds a way to ruin peoples lives. Sophocles’s two plays Oedipus the King, and Antigone are prime examples of how hubris can lead to ones ultimate downfall, which can be seen through the characters Antigone, Oedipus, and Creon.

Having background information is very important when reading about anything, so here is some information about the topic of this paper. “The Odyssey” is an epic poem told by Homer, a poet from ancient Greece. Homer was blind so “The Odyssey” was most likely written by someone else after he told the poem. “The Odyssey” was originally written in Greek, due to this many parts of the poem may have been lost in translation. It is possible that some parts of the story may have changed or been lost, however the general point of the story likely remains. The hero of “The Odyssey” is Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, whose fatal flaw is hubris. Hubris is excessive pride. This paper is about how Odysseus is affected by hubris. How hubris affects his actions,

Othello’s race and regression of speech (from calmness to rudeness), Iago’s victims (Othello, Desdemona, Cassio, Roderigo, etc.) being unravelled with manipulation and slyness, Desdemona’s struggling voice and false blame, etc., all participate in the damage the “power of language” causes. Therefore, by exploring the three language devices – “words as power”, “words as character” and “words as conversation” – it is possible to conclude that the language devices are used significantly in the play, “Othello”, because the human behaviour of the characters (Othello, Iago, Desdemona, etc.) is either positively or negatively influenced, and their characteristics and destinies are

Shakespeare is known for his use of recurring themes throughout his work, including love, death and betrayal. These themes are present in his work of Othello. However, the most fundamental issue is jealousy. The lives of the characthers in Othello are ruined by jealousy from the beginning to the end of the play. The telling of the story is carried out by passion, jealousy, and death. Shakespeare’s Othello reveals devastating tragic inevitability, stunning psychological depth, and compelling poetic depth; the fragility and mysterious power of love, as well as demons of doubt, and how suspicion can be triggered by manipulative villain (Barthelemy 12).

Once a seed of suspicion or doubt is planted in a person’s mind, the noxious effect of jealousy is soon to ensue. Jealousy and suspicion are Othello’s flaws hubris throughout the play and foreshadow to the audience his imminent downfall. He believes what Iago tells him so strongly that he compromises his close relationship with his best friend and his love for his wife. Iago manipulates Othello through the use of extortion, literary techniques, and his keen judge of character. His syntax and diction are so simple yet so powerful because he uses the correct rhetorical questions and addresses Othello with respectful terms such as “my lord.” He allows Othello do most of the talking

As one can surmise from the tumultuous situations he is forced into over the following years at sea, Odysseus endured great hardships all due to his hubris. His crew was decimated and he was forced to live without his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, for far longer than he ever expected. However, like Gilgamesh, Odysseus is ultimately not ruined by his hubris. Instead, Homer decides to end his tale by finally allowing him to arrive home with “More [gifts] than he ever would have taken out of Troy / Had he come home safely with his share of the loot” (13.142-143), suggesting good fortune in the end for Odysseus. Although he indeed finds trouble at home as his wife has many suitors competing to win her hand in marriage and hoping to kill

However, by the formal introduction of the rumoured moor in Act 1 Scene 2 and his monologue in Scene 3, our previous doubts of Othello’s character diminish. The magnificence of Othello shines through through his behaviour and rhetoric, becoming a juxtaposing image of a ‘Valiant Othello’ both the Duke and senators speak of. “Rude am i in my speech” proves Othello’s confidence and elegance in his language. The use of the rhythmic Iambic Pentameter within his monologue suggests a well thought out and educated response from Othello, Shakespeare decides to gift his character with eloquent and virtuous speech in order to highlight his composure as a hero and admirable character. His measured language is a sign of his confidence, self-discipline and virtue, thus agreeing to his admirability of being the tragic hero.

Throughout the epic poem The Odyssey, Odysseus has been characterized as an epic hero. A characteristic of odysseus that makes him an epic hero is that he has hubris. An example of him having hubris is when after the men escape and blind the cyclops polyphemus odysseus states “If ever a mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye Laertes son whose home's on ithaca”(409-412). Odysseus is bragging about how he blinded polyphemus and wanted him to tell anyone who asked about his eye that it was he who did it. The theme hospitality plays a big role throughout the epic poem. The reason that Odysseus had to blind the cyclops is that he killed some of the crew

    Othello’s speech to Brabantio and the Duke in Act 1, Scene 3 is of major importance in describing Othello’s personality. This long speech, found in lines 149 to 196, shows Othello for the first time as a person with depth and less as a soldier. This speech is important to the book as a whole because it is a testimony to the strength of the love between Othello and Desdemona, which will later play a major role in the plot. It is also one of the first times that we see Othello trying to influence his audience with his words. The speech given by Othello is intended to convince Brabantio that Desdemona is with him willfully, and not by “spells and medicines bought of montebanks” (line 74).

The setting for Othello's final moments onstage is critical to how it is perceived by Othello, the other players onstage, and the audience. It lends credence to the nobility of the situation, and adds to Othello's misguided self-perception. The experience, in itself, is

   The Shakespearean tragedy Othello contains a number of themes; their relative importance and priority is debated by literary critics. In this essay let us examine the various themes and determine which are dominant and which subordinate.

Othello is one of the greatest plays due to its variety of character and themes. The immorality seen in Iago, the gullibility in Othello, and the desperation of Desdemona make the story. The theme of social status plays a huge role in the story. In addition, the theme of appearance versus reality also plays a huge role in how each tragedy happens. In the critical essay “Othello” it discusses the idea that the characters are cast as outsiders due to false interpretation of what is happening or what is being said. On the other hand, the piece “Othello Character Analysis” emphasizes how characterization reflects the greatness of the piece.