The building blocks of a tragic hero

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.

By the middle of the play Othello’s mood and demeanor seem to shift from being peaceful and patient to very anxious, paranoid, and gullible. For example when Othello is talking to Iago and Iago suggests that maybe his wife is not being faithful to him, it becomes Othello’s obsession to get down to the bottom of it and catch her. “I have been talking with your suitor here, a man that languishes in your displeasure / Who is’t you mean / Why, your lieutenant, Cassio. Good my lord” (III.iii.41-43). In this dialog between Othello and Iago, with just two sentences Iago causes Othello to lose trust in his wife and believe she is being unfaithful to him which grows stronger and stronger each scene of the play. Because Iago is extremely cunning and manipulative, he is able to control almost anyone he chooses and he is in control of Othello’s emotions because he knows the things Othello fears. Iago is pretending to be Othello’s friend but secretively is going behind his back and bringing him down. Iago convinces Othello that Cassio is having an affair with Desdemona. “I humbly do beseech

Othello’s trust for Iago enables Iago to completely discredit Othello as the good guy of the play when Iago manipulates him into thinking Desdemona was unfaithful to him with Cassio. Even though Othello must know in his heart that Desdemona would not betray him, he is so caught up by Iago's efforts and has fallen for his manipulative lies, that all rational thoughts abandons Othello and he ultimately ends up murdering his wife since to Othello betrayal was immoral. At the end of play, even Othello can hardly believe what he has done because he thinks of himself as, "One not easily jealous, but, being wrought, perplexed in the extreme..." meaning that he has acted out of character and only in the interests of honor. Iago’s betrayal to those such as Othello and Desdemona, ultimately successfully destroyed everyone, himself included.

Othello is not hurt because of a failing love, but because of how it makes him look and hurts his pride. This is when things get ugly. Othello puts more trust in Iago than in his own wife. This is due, in part, to Iago's manipulative skills, but mostly to Othello's lack of communication skills, especially with his wife. But Desdemona does not do anything to mediate the situation and lets the condition escalate, and her self-blaming attitude only perpetuates Othello's misgiven notion that she has been falsely accused . After Othello strikes her in front of the whole dinner party, and orders her around like a peasant,

Othello’s love for Desdemona was so deep he could not bear the thought of another being with her; “If she be false, O! Then heaven mocks itself. I’ll not believe’t.” Iago uses the characters of Cassio and the obsessive Roderigo as his weapons in his cunning plan. Iago drives the idea into Othello’s mind that Desdemona has been unfaithful, inciting him into a state of jealousy. “Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul, but I do love thee; and when I love thee not, chaos is come again.” Othello growing insecurities about his wife’s faithfulness only adds to his psychological suffering which in turn acts as a catalyst towards the suffering of other characters involved in the play.Iago tells these lies with the intention of driving Othello insane as well as establish his dominance and influence the situations of those characters close to Othello. Evidence of this comes in one of Iago’s soliloquies from act two, scene one; “That Cassio loves her, I do well Believe’t: That she loves him, ‘tis apt and of great credit.” This section shows that he is trying to convince himself that his own manipulative lies are true and is trying to reassure his motives by justifying his own actions. By convincing Othello

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 possible theme for Oedipus the King by Sophocles is that one’s blindness can hide the inevitability that is his destiny. Oedipus is in this situation. He struggles to escape his fate: killing his father and marrying his mother and believes he is successful. Sophocles believes that the gpds control one’s destiny and the inevitability that a person will do what is destined despite there hero’s intentions.Oedipus represent the standards of a true tragic hero: he is well known, basically good, his punishment is out of proportion compared to his crime, the audience at some point feels sorrow and pity for him, and Oedipus has a tragic flaw. During the whole story Oedipus thinks that he may be able to change his fate a live life how he wants but he falls to that which is his destiny.For these reason Oedipus is truly an example of a tragic hero and is unable to avoid his tragic fate.

Othello, not knowing that Cassio was in fact speaking with Desdemona in hopes of being reinstated as Lieutenant, mistakenly believes that the two are having an affair and that Desdemona has lost her chastity. Iago skillfully capitalizes on the situation by developing his attack further: "She did deceive her father, marrying you" (3.3.220). Othello begins to see Iago's reasoning: if she could deceive her father, she could just as easily deceive her new husband. Once Othello's bliss has been decimated, Iago concentrates on weakening Othello's perception of himself; Iago very carefully and very tactfully chooses words and metaphors that subconsciously pit Othello against the Venetians. Othello begins to perceive himself as an outsider in his own country, "a malignant and turbaned Turk" (5.2.365). A fruitful marriage with a Venetian woman becomes out of the question in Othello's mind. Iago's successful manipulation takes a self-confidant man and reduces him to one at ends with himself and with the woman he loved.

After Othello decides to trust Iago, he begins attacking Desdemona with filthy words. A distinctive shift occurs that if Othello were a gentle and honest man, he would never show his disrespect to a woman at least not saying them in one's back. Iago's fake evidence encourages him to abuse Desdemona physically. Othello slaps Desdemona in front of her cousin and other nobilities. Finally, Othello releases his inner beast, which implies he is not a polite and an educated man.

As Othello trusts the words of his ancient Iago, he becomes vulnerable to manipulation and abuse. His ancient uses Othello’s trust to drive him mad with jealousy, resulting in Othello’s downfall. Othello, after losing all power he once had, recognizes that he is the one to blame for his downfall and commits suicide. Okonkwo, on the other hand, is driven by his masculinity into impulsive decisions. As his life begins to unravel at his hands, Okonkwo commits suicide without realizing that he is the cause of his downfall. Both Okonkwo and Othello display characteristics of Aristotle’s tragic hero, conveying the theme that insecurity will bring upon disaster, while having their own themes resulting from their differences. Okonkwo’s tragic flaw and downfall without any recognition conveys the theme that one’s insecurity will lead to their demise regardless of their intent. Othello’s characterization as a tragic hero conveys the theme one’s trust can be manipulated into jealousy that can destroy any

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.

In Shakespeare’s play, Othello, a man who is named Othello, has been through instances of slavery, discrimination, and prejudice conquers all ends. He falls in love, becomes a general for the Venetian forces, and leads a successful mission to Cyprus where all his men survived safely ashore. When everything seemed to be panning out, a “friend” of Othello, Iago, deceives him effortlessly to believe his newly-wed, Desdemona, is cheating on him with the lieutenant, Cassio. Being in complete rage and despair over the love of his wife’s adultery, he planned thoroughly for revenge upon Cassio and Desdemona. In the end, Iago’s lie comes to light after Desdemona was murdered with Othello’s own hands. With guilt and remorse washing over Othello, he eventually

Similarly, Shakespeare’s illustrates Othello’s inability to regulate his emotions. Othello is consumed by his jealousy when Iago approaches him with the suggestion that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. Before Othello kills himself, he attempts to justify what he did by describing himself as, “one that lov’d not wisely but too well” (5.2.393). In his swan song, he argues that be was driven to kill Desdemona because of his myopic vision after Iago’s accusations against his wife. He only saw the fact that she possibly cheated on him, not regarding the chance that she did not. Othello had gotten carried away after hearing the erroneous charges made against Desdemona. He believes that because he loved so deeply for her, he did not make a wise choice. His

Choices that people make can be seen in an evil or good nature way just like every day people even Shakespeare knew this and wanted to add this theme to his plays. In Shakespeare play The Tardy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, Othello was our hero. Every hero has flaws that lead to their undoing. Othello’s poor decisions making was caused by his flaws. His tragic flaws are that he makes poor judgment, irrational decisions, and he insecurity. These reasons are his downfall.