Othello: The Tragic Hero In William Shakespeare’s Othello‚ Othello is the tragic hero. He is a character of high stature who is destroyed by his surroundings‚ his own actions‚ and his fate. His destruction is essentially precipitated by his own actions‚ as well as by the actions of the characters surrounding him. The tragedy of Othello is not a fault of a single villain‚ but is rather a consequence of a wide range of feelings‚ judgments and misjudgments‚ and attempts for personal justification
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Honor Being one of the central themes in Othello and Hamlet‚ honor is used in very strange ways by Shakespeare. He has a way of showing how his characters can be very honorable or have a lack there of. He displays how honor is interwoven with personal integrity and how acts of attempting to keep a reputation can be confused with the acts of personal integrity. Lastly‚ he also displays how honor relates to the foresight seen by his characters. Honor can be connected to almost any actions made by
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swiftly and utterly undone; that he could sink not only from bliss to despair but from the heights of human excellence to the very baseness of our animal instincts. We are first introduced to Othello from the thoughts of Iago and Roderigo. These comments in the opening scene have a mostly racist nature and Othello is described as barbaric and a Negro – he is referred to as “the thick lips” in the opening act. He is also full of “his own pride and purposes” (Iago – Act 1‚ scene 1‚ line 12) Racist innuendoes
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Othello‚ a tragedy of faith by William Shakespeare was written in 1603. Othello was first performed by the King’s Men at the court of King James I on November 1‚ 1604. Othello is set against the backdrop of the wars between Venice and Turkey that raged in the latter part of the sixteenth century. The play is loosely based on a novella titled Capitano Moro by Cinthio. The play is driven by the themes of inherent racism‚ jealously‚ love and presumed betrayal. The only thing which Shakespeare has not
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The famous Shakespearean tragedy Othello is open to many thoughts and ideas about life in the Elizabethan era as well as modern day life with adaptations such as Othello by Andrew Davies. The most apparent notion that occurs in both versions of the drama is racism‚ which largely drives the plot of the Davies production. However‚ sexual politics also comes out to play in the texts as it sees the assignation of particular gender roles as well as the way that love is portrayed. Love is also the reason
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tragic hero is “a man who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change to misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but because of some mistake” (Aristotle‚ 38). In Shakespeare’s play‚ both Othello and Desdemona fit well within these guidelines. Othello is a well-revered general who is called to defend Venice and Cyprus‚ and Desdemona is an honest and good-natured young woman. Both of them display the potential characteristics required of a tragic hero or heroine‚ with
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Racism in Othello is able to be studied because of the contextual time period‚ and how human response changes in different contexts. Racism is one of the more broad viewing points in Othello‚ there is alot of points and techniques that can be observed in this theme. Iago has excused himself of his illdoings towards othello becuase of othello’s racial status. "I hate the moor and it is thought abroad that he twixt my sheets" Iago uses the word moor‚ tp directly reveal that he is expressing his discontent
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innuendo referring to Othello as the muslim soldier and Desdemona the Venetian was established. Not a mean of showing his patriotism to Venice and service he had contributed‚ Othello articulated this since he was convinced that he‚ who had killed a Venetian‚ deserved the same end as the “turbaned Turk”(5‚2.349)‚ and hinted the tragedy at the end of the play when he stabbed himself. By referring to the Muslim soldier as a “circumcised dog” and making animal reference‚ Othello showed his disdain and
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of trust‚ loyalty and honesty. In the play Othello‚ Shakespeare demonstrates these qualities through many of his characters to portray their deep friendship. However as the play progresses these friends turn into foes as many problems occur in their friendships and lead to many tragic events. The negative qualities that tore these friendships apart are distrust‚ selfishness and jealousy that led many of the characters to their tragedies. In the play Othello‚ Shakespeare demonstrates that there are
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The play Othello by William Shakespeare explores the powerful impact racism can have on the minds of its victims and how it can shift their perspectives of themselves. This connection to racism in the play is revealed through repeating patterns‚ that allows the audience to understand the devastating tragedy caused as a result of this racism. Othello is moulded by society to believe that he is different as a result of both the purposeful and unconscious use of the word “Moor” which is a word used
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