Othello Tragic Hero Essay

The genre of tragedy originates from Greece and was created sometime before the fifth century. In Greece, actors would embody greater than life heroes of popular myths and folklore (Poole). The philosopher, Aristotle, said in his Poetics that tragedy is a form of imitations of “events terrible and pitiful.”. Aristotle believed that a tragic person should be a good person at core and that others feel compelled to care about him. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero should make make errors and judgment and his perception of reality is distorted. He also believed that a tragic hero should “elicit both pity and fear from the audience” (Characteristics of a Shakespearean Tragic Hero). In his Poetics, Aristotle also wrote that a tragic hero should be “...a man who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error or frailty. He must be one who is highly renowned and prosperous – a personage like Oedipus, Thyestes, or other illustrious men of such families”. Many writers were influenced by Aristotle's depiction of a tragic hero, one notable writer was William Shakespeare. In Shakespeare’s Othello, the titular character embodies the tragic hero. Othello complies to
Othello's tragic flaw is that he succumbs to jealousy and manipulations. Although Othello is a very important person in Venice, he is viewed as an outsider because he is a black man from North Africa. His insecurities make it easier for Iago to manipulate him and spread the seeds of doubt about Desdemona’s love for him. Even though Iago never shows in any real proof, his insecurities and gullibility make Othello believe that Desdemona is having an affair. He comes to believe that he is not worthy of her, “She’s gone, I am abused, and my relief/ Must be to loathe her. Oh, curse of marriage/ That we can call these delicate creatures ours /And not their appetites!”