Othello as a Tragedy of Character
Othello as “A Tragedy of Character”
“Tragedy of Othello/ The Moor of Venice” is a typical of classical tragedy and is regarded as the greatest work of William Shakespeare by many critics. While writing his play in 1604, Shakespeare adapted the story from Italian author Cynthio’s novella called Hecatammithi which was written in 1565. In order to bring a comment on play’s being “a tragedy of character” it’s necessary to emphasize on these points: general characteristics of classical tragedy, “Tragedy of Othello” as a unique form of classical tragedy, the complex relationships between the main characters such as Othello, Iago, Desdemona, and Emilia.
Aristotle-one of the great figures of ancient times’ art and philosophy- stated that the classical tragedy is “the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself.” The general characteristics of the classical tragedy can be put in this way:
1. Language of the play is verse or poetry.
2. The tragic hero, the protagonist comes from the upper-class of the society. This kind of choice stems from the belief in that these rich, noble and important people were able to affect the destinies of the lower classes and the idea of “big people suffering from big tragedy” arose much fear, shock and interest in the audience.
3. The protagonist experiences an internal division.
4. The protagonist’s fortune turns into a catastrophe from happiness.
5. The protagonist has a “recognition speech” after the climax.
6. The protagonist suffers very much at the end of the play.
“Tragedy of Othello” is a unique one among other forms of Shakespeare’s tragedies; most important reason for this is that it’s primarily a domestic tragedy about love and jealousy with some political overtones such as the war between the Venetians and the Turks, Muslims vs. Christians, however other tragedies of Shakespeare such as Hamlet is a primarily revenge or political tragedy. Its style is non-realistic, it’s written in
“Tragedy of Othello/ The Moor of Venice” is a typical of classical tragedy and is regarded as the greatest work of William Shakespeare by many critics. While writing his play in 1604, Shakespeare adapted the story from Italian author Cynthio’s novella called Hecatammithi which was written in 1565. In order to bring a comment on play’s being “a tragedy of character” it’s necessary to emphasize on these points: general characteristics of classical tragedy, “Tragedy of Othello” as a unique form of classical tragedy, the complex relationships between the main characters such as Othello, Iago, Desdemona, and Emilia.
Aristotle-one of the great figures of ancient times’ art and philosophy- stated that the classical tragedy is “the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself.” The general characteristics of the classical tragedy can be put in this way:
1. Language of the play is verse or poetry.
2. The tragic hero, the protagonist comes from the upper-class of the society. This kind of choice stems from the belief in that these rich, noble and important people were able to affect the destinies of the lower classes and the idea of “big people suffering from big tragedy” arose much fear, shock and interest in the audience.
3. The protagonist experiences an internal division.
4. The protagonist’s fortune turns into a catastrophe from happiness.
5. The protagonist has a “recognition speech” after the climax.
6. The protagonist suffers very much at the end of the play.
“Tragedy of Othello” is a unique one among other forms of Shakespeare’s tragedies; most important reason for this is that it’s primarily a domestic tragedy about love and jealousy with some political overtones such as the war between the Venetians and the Turks, Muslims vs. Christians, however other tragedies of Shakespeare such as Hamlet is a primarily revenge or political tragedy. Its style is non-realistic, it’s written in