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Othello by Shakespeare
Othello, by Shakespeare is a catastrophe of the downfall of a private individual.
Shakespeare takes readers through the tales of different characters and understanding the source
of their different activities. Othello provides a platform for readers to analyze human life both in
the abstract and in particular, in reference to their lives. The play is about passion and reason,
with depiction of intense feelings such as envy, love, lust, hate, and jealousy. Set in Cyprus, the
opening act is in Venice, giving the illustration of the authoritarian administration headed by
Venetian senators. In Venice, the literature brings on Iago who is the plays villain, and Roderigo,
interested in having a romantic relationship with Desdemona. Desdemona is recently married to
Othello; a marriage Iago despises hence encouraging Roderigo in his pursuit (Kolin, p. 96).
Othello is the military commander of the area, and has power over the rest of the team. The key
characters employed in the play include Othello, Roderigo, Iago, Cassio, and Desdemona. The
interaction of the different characters brings forth the platform for the downfall of Othello, which
is also the start of the many deaths witnessed in the play. Through the character, readers
understand the tragedies.
Over the years, there have been key literature of tragedy. One notable author of tragedy
texts is Shakespeare, with one of the key tragedies being Othello. The approach of writing
attracted scholarly attention, including one Aristotle. Aristotle aimed to provide a working
definition of what constitutes a tragic hero. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is a fictitious

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character who makes a verdict mistake that unavoidably leads to his or her own obliteration
(Gellrich and Michelle, p. 75). The defining aspect of Aristotles definition is an individual
witnessing the root of his own downfall. Providing further explanation of the definition, Aristotle
highlights particular individualities of a catastrophic hero. These include the weakness or mistake
of judgment on the part of the character, unwarranted egotism, a setback of affluence brought
about because of the heros fault in decision, and the unearthing or recognition that the problem
was brought about by the heros own engagements (Vasconcellos, p. 232).
In the play, Othello the character secretly weds the fair Desdemona, who was previously
married to Roderigo. The marriage creates tension and bad blood between Othello and Roderigo,
which is one of the reasons for the downfall of Othello. Despite Othello and Desdemona being
married, they have differences including age and origin which leads to Othellos jealousy. The
two lovebirds are head over heels in love but Othello has doubts about the wife. In the end of the
play, Othellos jealousy over Iagos deception over powers him leading to the collapse of his
entire world (Vasconcellos p. 229). From the Aristotle definition, it is evident that Othello fits as
a tragic hero. The author provides a flow of events on the character which proves that Othello is
a tragic hero. There is key progression from a military hero to tragic hero. Othello is a
respectable military man, commanding honor from different aspects of the society, the
government and the community members. In the course of his life, Othello marries Desdemona
with the fathers permission. In addition, based on experience on the job, Othello promotes
Cassio which angers his close ally Lago. These are the events which cultivate the down fall of
Othello, just as described by Aristotle.
Othello leads a normal life, contributing to the development of the society. The tragic
hero co-exists with the other members of the society in a cordial way, without eliciting feelings

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of being superior. Othello is a Moor from North Africa, making him the only African in his now
new Italian community. However, Othello fits into the new community without facing any
inferiority complexes and other community members end up embracing him. The different
origin possessed by Othello is the first aspect of analysis from the rest of the community
members. The author depicts Othello as a good leader in the military and a courageous man
(Bradley, p. 190). Aristotle asserts that the characters fate must be bigger than warranted. Tragic
heroes start off as normal human beings, with neither a spectacular or worse morals. The aspects
allows people to create a relation and identify with the tragic hero. Providing a neutral platform
allows the audience to have pity for the character, hence striking a poise in the heros character.
Ultimately, as Aristotle explains, the heart-rending hero dies a catastrophic death, having fallen
from pronounced heights and having made an irrevocable mistake. In conclusion, the hero must
fearlessly accept their death with decency (Gellrich and Michelle, p. 189). These are the traits
required by Aristotle of a tragic hero. The arising hatred from Roderigos, Iagos, and Brabantios
come from the decisions made by Othello (Kolin, p. 172). From the play, Othello is the head of
the team working against the Turkish invasion. The image created of the character is one which
allows the audience to develop pity and understanding for Othello. Despite his renowned status
in the community, Othello makes a mistake in judgment against his wife, Desdemona.
Othello marries Desdemona, which is the source of his jealousy. During the time of the
play, the Italian community did not embrace interracial marriages. Therefore, the secret marriage
between Othello and Desdemona faces objection from the brides father and the community in
general. Desdemonas father does not approve the union because Othello is of a different origin.
More so, Othello is way older than Desdemona, something the community does not appreciate.
Some of the community members consider the Moor man as not being suitable to marry from the

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Italian community. The two partners are in love with each other, and not even race will break up
the marriage. However, the negativity towards the marriage breeds jealousy in Othello. In this
regard, a tragic hero needs to have a flaw, which is jealousy on the characters part. Jealousy
makes Othello to doubt the wife and assumes she is being unfaithful. Jealousy ends up
destroying his relationship through killing his wife, Desdemona. By the end of the play, several
characters are no more, including Othello. In order for one to stand out as a tragic hero because
he witnesses and experiences his own downfall. The first is the end of his marriage, the death of
his wife and then his own dishonorable death (Kolin, p. 114). Aristotle adds that a tragic hero
should suffer, be doomed from the onset, be noble in nature, discover his fate by his own actions,
comprehend his doom, and his tale should arouse fear and empathy. Most importantly, the tragic
hero must be physically or spiritually wounded by his experiences, be intelligent, have a
weakness mostly pride, and face challenging situations which call for decision making (Belfiore,
p. 127). On realizing the prank set for him, Othello regrets his actions and takes his own life. The
tragic hero is wounded from his experiences and understands the pain caused to other people in
the community.
Othellos downfall and death is majorly his own fault. The character chooses to believe
the unsubstantiated information about the wife from his colleague who has ulterior motives. In
an ideal situation, Othello should have confirmed the adultery stories with the wife before taking
any serious steps of revenge. Othello is blinded by jealousy and the need to revenge, hence
making an error in judgment. Iago is disappointed about the promotion given to someone by
Othello hence seeks revenge. Oblivious of all these, Othello falls prey to the trap and believes his
junior on the adultery rumors leveled against the wife. Although Othello receives punishment for
his misjudgment, he does not deserve losing his wife and that of his friends (Vasconcellos, p.

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220). The knowledge obtained from the incident is gain of self-knowledge which is pertinent to
other people in the community.
The real tragedy of the play is the multiple deaths of key characters including that of the
tragic hero, Othello. In other tragedies written by Shakespeare, the tragedy tends to be one sided
and at times not death. For the other tragedies by the same author, the tragedies usually mean the
destruction of their empires or hierarchy. In the Othello, the tragedy is not only that of the tragic
hero but also of other characters in the play (Bradley, p. 110). Enthused by Iagos endless
intimations, Othello soars into a volcanic fury and massacres Desdemona by suffocating her in
her bed. There is a series of events which lead to the death of Emilia, Roderigo, and finally,
Othello. Despite the damage already created, Othello still denies that he could be jealous. Tragic
heroes are always in denial of their flaws which blinds them to any form of remedy. Iago takes
advantage of the situation and exploits Othellos individual, collective and ethnic timidities.
The setting of the play is in the modern times which allows audiences to relate to the
events and people. The overall message of the play is that tragedy can befall private people.
Tragedies do not only affect people with dynasties or powers in the community but greatly
affects the noble people of the society. Othello is a noble military man who errors in judgment
leading to fatal actions. From the unfolding events, Othello is a tragic hero as defined by
Aristotle.

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Works Cited
Bradley, Andrew Cecil. Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear,
Macbeth. Library of Alexandria, 2013. https://books.google.co.ke/books?
id=PlEqVDxmbjsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Shakespearean+Tragedy:
+Lectures+on+Hamlet,+Othello,+King+Lear,
+Macbeth.&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Shakespearean%20Tragedy%3A
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Vasconcellos, Maria Lcia Barbosa de. "Othello: a representative tragedy of the Renaissance."
Estudos Germnicos 5.1 (2015): 213-223.
http://www.periodicos.letras.ufmg.br/index.php/germanicos/article/viewFile/7606/6582
Nevo, Ruth. Tragic Form in Shakespeare. Princeton University Press, 2015.
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Shakespeare, William, and Sidney Lee. Othello (The Unabridged Play) + The Classic
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Belfiore, Elizabeth S. Tragic pleasures: Aristotle on plot and emotion. Princeton university press,
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Kolin, Philip C., ed. Othello: new critical essays. Routledge, 2013.
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