Who Is Responsible For The Tragedy In Othello

Who or what is responsible for the tragedy in Othello? In Shakespeare’s Othello almost every character ranging from Brabantio to Emilia is somewhat responsible for the tragedy, emotions are also at play in the tragedy. Essentially the main person or later referred to as a “devil” is Iago, the fiendish manipulator pulling the strings. Throughout the play Iago jumps at any attempt to sabotage Othello and Desdemona’s relationship and quite literally anyone who gets in his way including his own wife Emilia, whom he later stabs in a final act of cowardice and Michael Cassio who holds the rank of lieutenant, which is essentially what Iago wants. Iago starts derailing Othello at the very beginning of the play by going to Brabanzio and trying to stir him and turn him against Othello, this is shown by his many animal epithets such as “Even now, very now an old black ram is tupping your white ewe.”- Act 1 scene 1 lines 88-89. He
Once Cassio is demoted he seeks help from Desdemona under the advice of “honest” Iago, which leads feeds Othello’s jealousy all the more. Desdemona herself should’ve seen that Othello was already upset and shouldn’t have pleaded Cassio’s case so much. Perhaps if she was a little more assertive as well, denying the accusations with more force and backing herself up she mightn’t of have such a tragic ending. Brabantio also plays a rather large part as he sows the very first seed of doubt in Othello’s mind about Desdemona by saying “Look to her, Moor, Have a quick eye to see: She has deceiv’d her father, may do thee.” Act 1 scene 3 lines 292-293. It was this very first seed that allowed Iago’s manipulation to course through so