As we see Othello’s jealousy going into overdrive, I think this is when his stature begins to diminish. It’s his perception of Iago being “Honest Iago” that sends him into a jealous frenzy. He trusts Iago with all his heart, he loved Desdemona with all his heart but yet he trusts Iago over her despite her protests. However it is his love for her also that is causing this chaos.
Shakespeare portrays a darker side to Othello as he talks about killing Desdemona, in some ways he is talking and even thinking like Iago. Although he does re-think his actions, one word from Iago influences him again. At this point we don’t particularly see him as a tragic hero as his way of thinking seems far to corrupt. Unlike Iago, passion is over-ruling reason. This is tragic in the Elizabethan Chain of Being, which refers to the fact that reason should always over-rule passion.
However, Shakespeare is always reminding the audience that Othello’s way of thinking is always being manipulated. We should see him as a tragic hero due to his attributes and the fact that he almost always speaks in blank verse.
His lack of control draws us away from his tragic stature. He is sympathetic. But it is self-sympathy that he contains. He only sees the world how he has seen it in the past. Perhaps he is getting experiences of love and war confused. When his anger about love arises, he talks in the style of war as he refers to “Big war” and “plumed troops”. This speech has a poetic rhythm to it that backs up Bradley’s suggestion that Othello is a “great poet”. Again this is showing his passion. His passion is however so great that it leads to his “waked wraeth”. He has no control over his emotions; his anger draws us away from his stature as a hero. However, as commented by Leavis, Othello is “self-dramatizing”. The fact that he dramatizes himself emphasizes his tragic stature. He dramatizes the “story of” his “life” and even in his final speeches he dramatically talks of his position and love. I think he is drawing attention to himself as tragic but noble.
When about to kill Desdemona he says that he must “put out the light then put out the light”. This has close reference to Macbeth after the death of Lady Macbeth, as the first light represents the candle, which in Elizabethan times represented life, and the second light represents Desdemona’s life. He talks about it being a “just cause” as he tries to justify his actions. Even up until the last minute he doubts his actions. This shows him as sympathetic as he shows slight warmth to Desdemona, as he can’t forget his first perception of her being “unchaste” and “Excellent”. But it also shows his tragedy as he is so confused by his love for her and the crime he thinks she has committed. His love for her is shown in an ironic way with choice of how to murder her. By smothering her as not to spoil her beauty. By self-dramatizing, Othello is emphasizing his tragic stature.
I think Shakespeare wants us to keep reminding ourselves that Othello is a tragic hero, however, he was too trusting and so inexperienced in love that he could not handle his jealousy. Elizabethan acceptance of racism at that time added to his insecurities which all added to his downfall.
If the death of Desdemona diminished his tragic stature in anyway, it is reinstated again in the last scene when he questions Iago as to why he has done what he’s done. It is also shown by the fact that he cannot live without Desdemona.
“For in my sense, tis happiness to die”. Again, self-dramatizing as is his final speech when he talks of his service and love. As stated by Holloway, the ending speech is “genre convention” of the hero in most Elizabethan drama. Emphasizing that Othello is the tragic hero of this play.
I agree that in some ways, Othello’s lack of perception shows his sympathy, but for Desdemona it does not last long. His naivety has got the better of him, as he does not realize that he is heavily under the influence of Iago. For a short while, it would appear for some audiences that his tragic stature diminishes when we see Othello’s wrath, but it is soon reinstated when Shakespeare reminds us of Iago’s influence and Othello’s own self-dramatizing.
By V.G