Shakespeare's play, “Othello, the Moor of Venice,” is a powerful example of a tragedy and it’s main character, Othello, is an excellent illustration of what Aristotle constitutes as a tragic hero. The play imitates life through basic human emotions such as jealousy and rage. In addition, Othello is far from being a perfect character - another quality that meets Aristotle's requirements. Othello also matches Aristotle's ideas of tragic hero because our Othello realizes the error of his ways, causing
A tragedy is typically explained as a type of drama that displays pain and suffering, and where the main character, the protagonist, experiences a life changing event that alters his fortune from good too bad. William Shakespeare’s play, Othello, the Moor of Venice is classified as an Aristotelian classical tragedy based on the guidelines Aristotle sets when examining a tragedy. Othello is a general in the Venetian army, and the husband of Desdemona, and well respected by society. The play describes
In Othello, the Moor of Venice, the titular character, Othello, is the protagonist and subject to scrutiny as to whether or not he is a tragic hero in the conventional Aristotelian definition of the term. Aristotle believed a tragedy served to exercise "the mature citizen's moral sensibilities" (Ferrari, 1999, p. 181). There are several different components of Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero, which essentially serve as a set of criteria to determine whether or not Othello truly is a tragic
Othello (The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice) is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603. Shakespeare based the play on a story “of the Unfaithfulness of Husbands and Wives.” The story revolves around its two central characters: Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army and Iago, his unfaithful ensign. This play has withstood the test of time, and because of its lasting themes of racism, love, jealousy, betrayal, revenge and repentance, it is still
Essay: Othello by William Shakespeare Was Othello a victim of circumstances or his own flaws? by Alijaeh Go 9B4 First performed in the court of King James I on November 1 1604, The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice was written by William Shakespeare between 1601 and 1604. The basic premise of the play is the protagonist’s (Othello’s) marriage with the daughter of the senator, Desdemona: Their marriage, unfortunately, is sabotaged by the envious Iago, insinuating to Othello of his wife’s
A tragedy is one of the most captivating forms of drama as it truly grasps the attention of its audience. It unleashes hidden emotions and allows the viewers to escape their own realities. In Aristotle’s, Poetics, he analyzes the theory of a tragedy and explains that the essential criteria of an ideal tragedy consists of the plot, character, thought, diction, spectacle, and song (Aristotle, 169). According to Aristotle, tragedies also often focus on a tragic hero who possesses a flaw which ultimately
contradict these particular readings. In Othello, there are likewise also many different readings, for example, Feminist, Postcolonial and Aristotelian. It is possible to suggest two readings which perhaps may link to audiences psychologically and ideologically more successfully - the Aristotelian and Feminist reading,
Othello has been described as one of William Shakespeare’s most popular plays because the play focuses on its themes of good and evil, military, politics, love and marriage, religion, racial prejudice, gender conflict, and sexuality; but the controversy and debate surrounding Othello is “Why is Othello a qualification for a tragedy?” Most readers are aware of the many famous deaths or acts of death within the Shakespearean plays. And when the main characters die in Shakespeare’s plays, indeed
wrote a play called, “Othello.” The first time Othello was performed was in November of 1604. Written during the great tragic period, Shakespeare’s “Othello” takes place on a small Island called Cyprus. “Shakespeare’s plays are often noted for their excellent portrayals of tragic heroes. Tragedy is a very difficult concept to define. Shakespeare’s tragedy depicts the operation of tragic flaw in hero’s character.” (Devi, 2014). Aristotle clearly defines a tragedy as “an imitation of an action
While Othello, the Moor of Venice is a heart wrenching tragedy, it is not quite an Aristotelian Tragedy as defined by Aristotle due to the fact the character Othello lacks a few of the elements to be considered a “tragic hero”. (Still working on hook, sentence structure and better thesis) Aristotle's Philosophy Aristotelian is referring to the Greek philosopher Aristotle or his philosophy (Webster Online Dictionary). According to Dunn (2006), Aristotle was born in 384 B.C.E. in Stagira. After