In Shakespeare's Othello, Othello can be considered a tragic hero because he follows Aristotle's six elements of a tragedy. Based on Aristotle's six elements of a tragedy, position, flaw, prophecy, recognition, catastrophe, and reversal, the character of Othello from Shakespeare's Othello can be considered a tragic hero.
The first element of tragedy is position, or status, that the hero is in. In Othello, Othello is the leader of the Italian army and is very important to the people of Italy. "Valiant Othello, we must straight employ you against the general enemy Ottoman." This quote shows how important Othello is to the army and to the war. When Othello is chosen to lead the army overseas, he also makes Brabantio mad by marrying his daughter, Desdemona, without his permission.
"And, noble signior, if virtue no delighted beauty lack, your son- in-law is far more far than black (17)."
This quote shows that Othello is so respected that the Duke of Venice can see through the color of Othello's skin and gives him praise.
The second element of tragedy is prophecy, which can be seen when Othello is telling Desdemona the story about when he received the handkerchief.
"She told me her, while she kept it’t would make her amiable and subdue my father entirely to her love, but if she lost it or made a gift of it, my father's eye should hold her loathed and his spirits should hunt after new fancies (56)."
This quote lets the reader know that the handkerchief is not only important to Othello and Desdemona but it is also important to the play because it's the reason why Othello gets jealous. This prophecy leads to the downfall of the tragic hero. Another incident where prophecy occurred in the play was when Desdemona tells the story of Barbara, Desdemona's mother's maid, who sang a song of "willow". "An old thing 't was, but it express'd her fortune, and she died singing it: that song to-night will not go from my mind (75)." This quote is an example of prophecy because it's foreshadowing that Desdemona will die because she won't let the song go from her mind.
The third element of a tragedy is flaw. Flaw can be either hubris or anger. "By heaven, that should be my handkerchief (64)!" This quote shows the jealousy that Othello has over the fact that Desdemona is being unfaithful to him. In Oedipus the king anger can be seen when Tiresias tells Oedipus that he is the evil that haunts the town. "Good riddance too! You're nothing but a nuisance here, and one I can do without." This is an example of how powerful anger can be because of the anger that Othello feels, he can't even stand to look at the woman that he loves. Once Othello finds out that Desdemona is being unfaithful to him, he approaches her looking for an explanation. "O devil, devil! If that the earth could teem with woman's tears, each drop she falls would prove a crocodile. Out of my sight (67)!" This quote shows how Othello's jealousy has turned into rage, a form of anger.
The fourth element of a tragedy is recognition, which can be seen when Emilia hears Othello mentions the handkerchief, after he killed Desdemona. " with that recognizance and pledge of love which I first gave her; I saw it in his hand: It was a handkerchief, an antique token my father gave my mother (87)." Once Othello says this, Emilia knows that Iago is the person who set up Desdemona and Othello isn't the one to blame. Recognition can also be seen in Oedipus the King after the shepherd tells the story of the baby. "For if you are the one he says you are, make no mistake: you are a doom-born man (Sophocles 67)." At this point in the play, Oedipus knows that he is the one who is causing the problems in Thebes because the Tiresias was right.
The fifth element of a tragedy is catastrophe, which can be seen when Othello dies. "I kiss'd thee ere I kill'd thee: no way but this, killing myself, to die upon a kiss (91)." This is the last thing that Othello says before he dies which is the catastrophe in the play. Oedipus' catastrophe happens when Jocasta kills herself after she finds out that the prophet of Oedipus was true. "He frees the noose and lays the wretched woman down, then rips from off her dress the golden brooches she was wearing (Sophocles 70)." This quote shows the severity of the fact that Jocasta kills herself because it leads right into reversal.
The sixth element of a tragedy is reversal which can be seen when Desdemona kills herself. "Whip me, ye devils, from the possession of this heavenly sight! Blow me about in the winds! Roast me in sulphur! Wash me down in steep-down gulfs of fire! O Desdemona! Desdemona! Dead! Oh! Oh! Oh (88)!" This quote shows the pain that Othello felt when everything turned bad. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus went through the same kind of pain when he went through reversal. "Aah! A nightmare mist has fallen adamantine black on me-abomination closing. Cry, cry, oh cry again (Sophocles 72)!" Oedipus and Othello are in so much pain and suffering that they both inflict sever wounds upon themselves. When Othello finds out that Desdemona was being faithful to him, he asks for forgiveness. "I do believe it, and I ask your pardon. Will you, I pray, demi-devil why he hath thus enslaved my soul and body (90)? This quote shows that Othello is in so much pain that he feels enslaved in his own body.
Othello can be seen as a tragic hero because he follows all of Aristotle's six elements of tragic hero. These are the same six elements that define Oedipus as a tragic hero. The six elements of a tragedy can be seen throughout the plays Othello and Oedipus the King. That is why Othello is seen as a tragic hero through the eyes of the reader.
Othello's Hamartia
A Shakespearean tragedy is one that encompasses many different elements. Shakespeare presents all of these elements spectacularly in Othello. For a tragedy to occur there are five conditions. The protagonist, Othello in this case, must experience a death or a total loss of ranking in society. The audience must also be captured by the actors and feel some sort of connection to them. This is known as catharsis. In Shakespearean tragedies the protagonist always has a character defect or a tragic flaw. This tragic flaw along with pride will cause the protagonist to make an error in judgement leading him to his downfall and eventual death. These two elements are called hubris and hamartia. The unities of time, space, and action must also be followed. This means that the play must take place in a very short period of time, occur in one general area, and follow one main character throughout the play. Shakespeare orates for us a tragic occurrence in the life of a man who once had it all, throws it all away in a fit of jealous rage.
The downfall of the central character is the main concept of the tragedy. Without the main character s downfall there is no reason for the reader to feel pity, therefore, no tragedy. The downfall of the protagonist in Shakespearean tragedies always originates from their tragic flaw. Othello’s tragic flaw is his jealousy, which Iago constantly reminds him about. This is first brought about in act III, scene 3 when Iago asks Othello if he has seen a handkerchief spotted with strawberries. At this point Othello is jealous at Cassio for having won the heart of Desdemona and earned the handkerchief. Upon hearing this Othello flies into a mad fit by saying: O, that the slave had forty thousand lives! (III, 3, 439). By his jealousy Othello makes himself very prone to many attacks on him by Iago.
Catharsis is the part of the play that moves the audience and attempts to put them in the actor’s shoes. Shakespeare does this by attacking the issue of love. It is a very touchy and emotional subject. Anyone who has ever fallen in love can relate to Othello and Desdemona. They are viewed as the perfect newly-weds who have each other as compliments. Desdemona shows us this by protesting to the Duke and her father that she saw Othello’s visage in his mind, “And to his honor and his valiant parts Did I my soul and fortunes consecrate”. The love between her and Othello is one of great passion and breaking barriers. They were many years apart, came from different races, and were different colors of skin, something that was unheard of in their time. Obstacles such as these, even in our day, are very difficult to overcome. When reading or watching Othello one cannot help but to feel envy for the love they have. In this tragedy, catharsis presents something the audience cannot avoid.
Hubris and Hamartia are two components of a Shakespearean tragedy that are very much intertwined because of their basis on pride. Hubris is when the protagonist is consumed with pride and believes that fate can be beaten. Evidence of Othello’s pride is based on the thought; No one messes around with Othello! This becomes his eventual downfall. The reader remembers in act III, scene 3 when Iago had planted false evidence of Desdemona s unfaithfulness; Othello reacted in a very calm way, mostly in disbelief. In act IV, scene 1 when Iago brings more evidence of Desdemona s infidelity Othello reacts in a very different and violent way. Let her rot, and perish, and be damned tonight; for she shall not live (IV, 1, 183-184). This statement stems from Othello’s pride in being a man of high standing who will not be cheated on. Hamartia also comes into play where Othello believes that fate can be beaten by killing Desdemona. Even if Othello had escaped death here he would have been removed of his high military status and thrown in jail. Othello was truly a man consumed with pride and wrongly believed that he could defy fate and come out on top by killing what he loved most.
Othello could be considered not to be a tragedy because of its violation of the unities of time, space, and action. The unities of time, space, and action state that the story must take place in one city, occur in a short period of time more than 24 hours, and must follow one central character throughout the entire play. Othello does not occur in one city through the entire story. Othello went to war in Cyprus and spent most of his time living in Venice. Although there is very little time spent in Cyprus Othello, the story, does not work along the same lines as Hamlet. In Hamlet almost the entire story took place between the castle walls. As for the unity of action we see something quite different here. The play we studied is titled Othello; therefore, the reader assumes that Othello is the central character. If the book were not named this, it would be quite possible that many readers would believe the title could be Iago and not Othello. Although, Iago is not the good guy but he is in the play just as much or even more than Othello. At the beginning of the play Iago is present and Othello is absent. This is how it is many scenes are in the play.
To conclude, we can say that Othello is Shakespeare’s most perfect tragedy because it encompasses all of the elements of a tragedy so wonderfully. The love shared between Othello and Desdemona at the beginning of the play is so much more spectacular than that of Claudius and Gertrude in Hamlet or Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. The guilt and wrong felt by Othello after he realizes his errors in judgement are incomparable to the drama in Shakespeare s other tragedies. Any audience viewing Othello for the first time would be captured by the characters because of their relation to the audience. Any experienced Shakespeare reader would have no problem giving Othello the title of most perfect tragedy because it covers all of the elements of a tragedy so wonderfully.
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