Conventions of Othello
Shakespeare has been a part of the American Society for many years. Compared to other Authors, he has a different style of writing but within his own writings, they are all very much alike. He has written many plays including Othello and Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare was a man who wrote plays that followed the same literary conventions. These conventions included tragic hero, fallacy, irony, and also suspense.
A tragic hero is a male figure who is high in society and one who always has a tragic flaw. Most of them are rich and intelligent men. In the story of Othello, Othello is the tragic hero. He was a character of nobility. He was a high in class and had high standards. He was also the focal point of society.
…show more content…
Suspense in the story is something that makes us worry, or become questionable. There are two different types of suspense; Intellectual and emotional. At the end of Othello, the suspense level is high. The audience wants to know what is going to happen next and who it is going to happen to. Most people want to know if Iago’s plan will follow through. After all the tricks and schemes, someone, at least Othello, should recognize that Iago is being a manipulator and a liar. With that being said, while Iago was being manipulative he convinced Othello that Desdemona cheated on him and as a result he wanted her dead.
In Romeo and Juliet you don’t know what to expect next. The audience wonders will Juliet marry someone else since she cannot be married to Romeo. The audience also wonders will Romeo really kill himself because he thinks that Juliet is dead.
Many people today don’t realize how many literary conventions Shakespeare has included in his plays. He has included fallacy, tragic hero, irony and also suspense. Becoming familiar with these conventions will help one understand the play more. Mostly all of Shakespeare’s plays included the same literary devices. His plays left you begging to know more and how everything will turn out.
Work cited:
Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. Gerald F. Else. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1967. Dorsch, T. R., trans. and ed. Aristotle Horace
By definition tragic heroes can be considered one who is held up high by society for the good deeds they bring, but is then slowly or quickly taken away from that grace and placed in a world far below what they were originally. An example of this is the excerpt and the tragedy of Oedipus the king. The play shows that the faults humanity can fall through when put into a very stressful situation. Oedipus is a tragic hero because he wants to improve the lives of his citizens, he has a major human flaw of being impulsive and easily irritable, Oedipus takes more punishment than what the play told, his life and fate was not fully under his control, and he makes a vast realization with an equal amount of change.
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.
A tragic hero is a person who has qualities of a hero such as intelligence and strength but makes choices that lead to their self-destruction. The tragic hero is usually from a noble family or high position. Oedipus from The Sophocles is a tragic hero because he possesses tragic flaws such as hubris, hamartia, and too much curiosity. Marcus Brutus, a Roman politician, also serves to be a tragic hero since he is too naive, honest, and sometimes impulsive. Both Oedipus and Brutus have certain characteristics that determine them to be a tragic hero.
Iago is an interesting individual and a mystery, because he conceals his secret jealousy and hatred towards Othello, while setting in motion his dubious plot of lies and deceit. Through this Othello begins to believe that Desdemona is unfaithful and murders her. When Othello finds out
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
According to Aristotle, “A tragic hero is a character who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice and depravity, but by some error or frailty…” The classic tragic hero has some type of tragic character flaw which creates an inner struggle, leads to his making a serious error in judgment, and leads to his eventual downfall and death.
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 tragic hero, Othello, is a Moorish general in the Venetian army that has just married the Venetian nobleman’s daughter, Desdemona. Although Othello was not born into nobility (upper class), his marriage to Desdemona brings him to a noble stature in Venice society. Othello is much older than his wife and of different descent and race, but he willingly stood before Desdemona’s father and fought for their love and right to marriage, he states, “How I did thrive in this fair lady’s love, / And she is mine” (1.3.127-28). This qualifies him to meet the first Aristotelian component for being the plays tragic hero. The first distinguishing feature Aristotle identifies in regards to the tragic hero is that he is the protagonist in high
According to Aristotle, “A tragic hero is a character who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice and depravity, but by some error or frailty…” The classic tragic hero has some type of tragic character flaw which creates an inner struggle, leads to his making a serious error in judgment, and leads to his eventual downfall and death.
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
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
Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero is someone of great importance or royalty. The hero must go through something terrible such as a relative’s death. We must feel what this character is feeling throughout the story. Aristotle also said that a tragic hero scan be defeated by a tragic flaw, such as hubris or human pride. In Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone, both Creon and Antigone are tragic heroes.
A tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle, is a man who is great but also terribly flawed, who experiences misfortunes while still remaining admirable to the audience at the end of the play. One of Aristotle’s favorite works, Oedipus the King, a play by Sophocles, is a play that above all others, defines the meaning of what a true tragic hero really is. In the play, Oedipus the King, the story unfolds after Oedipus unintentionally kills his own father and goes on to marry his mother. The events of the play are tragic, but it is the way that Oedipus handles the tragedies that make him a tragic hero.
A Tragic Hero is a common figure in many of Shakespeare’s works. A Tragic Hero is usually a figure of royalty, fame or greatness. This person is predominately good, but falls from prominence due to personality flaws that eventually lead to self-destruction.
What is a tragic hero? According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is a literary, noble character who makes a judgment mistake that eventually leads to his/her downfall. In the book Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is our tragic hero. His leadership and eventual nobility, big reversal as a character, and his tragic flaws that lead to his downfall, are classic examples why Okonkwo is a tragic hero.