The Characteristics Of A Hero : Othello As A Tragic Hero

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 us to feel sympathy for him. If we carefully examine the third scene in the third act, we can see how Othello fits into Aristotle's definition of tragic hero. This passage reveals how much Othello has deteriorated as far as his ability to reason

As a character, Othello is tough, noble, and virtually fearless. He is recognized for his hard work as a soldier but at the same time manages to remain humble. Shakespeare makes him out to be a hero from the start of the play. For example, in Act One, Othello says, “Let him do his spite./ My services which I have done the signiory/ Shall out-tongue his complaints” (1.2.17-19). I think that this quote displays that Othello is confident enough with his value and importance to the city of Venice that he really is fearless of getting in trouble for marrying the one he loves, Desdemona. As the play progresses, Othello’s humility comes to the surface via the words he elects to use in order to explain his marriage to Desdemona. In Act One, Scene

What is a tragic hero and why is Othello considered one? The tragic hero archetype is used in many different pieces of writing and with every character comes a different way of using it. While adding to the tone of the story it also adds to the characters overall personality from the reader's perspective. In Shakespeare's Othello he uses this in his main character. This slowly comes together throughout the play and is presented with many examples. There are examples of Othello's high status, tragic flaws, and his inevitable downfall.

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?”

     A Shakespearean tragic hero starts out as a noble person; a great exceptional being who stands out. A tragic hero has a tragic flaw of an exaggerated trait that leads to their downfall and eventually to death. William Shakespeare often made his main characters tragic heroes in his plays. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the role of the tragic hero is given to the main character: Macbeth. This is because he starts off as a loyal and well liked man in the beginning, but has a tragic flaw of ambition which ultimately leads to his downfall.

"Othello is essentially an noble character, flawed by insecurity and a nature that is naive and unsophisticated". Looking at William Shakespeare's Othello The Moor Of Venice, the central character, Othello is revered as the tragic hero. He is a character of high stature that is destroyed by his surroundings, his own actions, and his fate. His destruction is essentially precipitated by his own actions, as well as by the actions of the characters surrounding him. The tragedy of Othello is not a fault of a single villain, but is rather a consequence of a wide range of feelings, judgments and misjudgments, and attempts for personal justification exhibited by all of the participants. Othello is first shown as a hero of war and a man of

In William Shakespeare’s Othello, Othello is the tragic hero. He is a character of high stature who is destroyed by his surroundings, his own actions, and his fate. His destruction is essentially precipitated by his own actions, as well as by the actions of the characters surrounding him. The tragedy of Othello is not a fault of a single villain, but is rather a consequence of a wide range of feelings, judgments and misjudgments, and attempts for personal justification exhibited by the characters. Othello is first shown as a hero of war and a man of great pride and courage. As the play continues, his character begins to deteriorate and become less noble. Chronologically through the play, Othello’s character

Othello is a hero due to being a hardened and vicious warrior on the battlefield but he is also a tragic hero in this play. A tragic hero by definition is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. For example Othello is the husband of Desdemona whom he murders because he has been misled by the villainous Iago. Allowing himself to be manipulated instead following his heart, he attempts to redeem himself then he realizes he put his trust in the wrong people and it is too late to save his beloved Desdemona who he smothered

Othello is a tragic hero because of his greatnesses and his weaknesses. He is a noble man who possesses all the qualities of a military leader, which he is. He has control over himself and shows courage as well as dignity. Just as Othello is a virtuous man there are some flaws within him, these flaws complete him ff as a tragic hero. Othello is often blinded by trust and can not see a person for who they really are. He trusts the people around him even when they mean to afflict harm upon him. Through this, it can be seen why Othello is one of the most tragic hero out of all the characters from Shakespeare’s many plays.

The extent of which Othello is a tragic hero has been open to much debate; the basis on which he is judged falls to Aristotle’s established view of the crucial elements that distinguish whether a person is truly tragic. According to Aristotle, a tragic protagonist is a nobleman or person from high status, who contributes to his own demise and illustrates a flaw or weakness in judgment. The tragic protagonist must make a fall from a high state of being to a low state or death. The tragic hero’s downfall, said Aristotle, was brought upon by some error of judgement. Aristotle’s theory is not the final word on tragedy, however it can support in pinpointing the pivotal traits in

    Tragedy is an intrinsically human concept; tragic heroes are damned by what they themselves do. Othello is not so much felled by the actions of Iago, but by a quality all people possess-- human frailty. Accordingly, Othello is not a victim of consequences, but an active participant in his downfall. He is not merely a vehicle for the machinations of Iago; he had free agency. Othello's deficiencies are: an insecure grasp of Venetian social values; lack of critical intelligence, self-knowledge, and faith in his wife; and finally, insecurity-- these are the qualities that lead to his own downfall.

A tragic hero is defined as a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat. The hero in these tragedies is often presented as a noble however, flawed character whose demise is often impart to their own decisions, often due to their previously mentioned flaws, error in judgment and imprudent actions. Written in the early 1600’s Shakespeare wrote one arguably one of his greatest and highly controversial plays, the tragedy known as Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Shakespeare in his play introduces us the pays one of his most popular, enigmatic, and dynamic characters the tragic hero Prince Hamlet. Hamlet is presented to us a sensitive, religious, loyal, moral, intellectual, and young

There is no denying that Shakespeare is a definitive playwright. He has presented us with classic works that have set the precedent for drama and the theatre. Among Shakespeare’s more notable plays are his tragedies. In the tragedy his protagonists are often given flaws in their character and hence, are suitably named tragic heroes. The downfall of these protagonists is often a result of their own character flaws and unfortunately, they suffer a doomed and unhappy ending. While the tragic hero is flawed they must also be honorable and worthy of the audience’s understanding and sympathy. On a quest for righteousness the tragic hero often goes through immense suffering which is why the audience can feel bad for him. For the most

In Shakespeare?s play Othello, Othello himself is the tragic hero. He is an individual of high stature who is destroyed by his surroundings, his own actions, and his fate. His destruction is essentially precipitated by his own actions, as well as by the actions of the characters surrounding him. The tragedy of Othello is not a fault of a single person, but is rather the consequence of a wide range of feelings, judgments, misjudgments, and attempts for personal justification revealed by the characters.

William Shakespeare, born in the year 1564, is often considered to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, writer in the English language. His works range from ingenious poems, such as Fear No More, to plays, such as The Tragedy of Othello. In The Tragedy of Othello, Shakespeare details the story of a celebrated military hero who falls victim to the machinations of a conniving villain who goes by the name of Iago. In his play, he portrays Othello like a tragic hero, a type of literary character. A tragic hero has many characteristics, 3 of them being that they must have an error in judgement, they must have a reversal of fortune, and they must recognize that the reversal of fortune was brought about by their own actions. Furthermore, they must also have a fatal flaw, that eventually leads to their downfall. Othello demonstrates all of these characteristics in the play, proving him to be a tragic hero. Othello makes an error in judgement, which leads to his change in fortune, and later realizes that his actions are what caused said change in fortune.