In what ways does Othello's position as an outsider fuelled by his insecurities bring about his downfall?

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English - Othello

In what ways does Othello’s position as an outsider fuelled by his insecurities bring about his downfall?

Shakespeare was on of the greatest writer of all time he wrote many plays and among them there are his timeless tragedies. Some of the most popular are ‘Romeo and Juliet’, a typical love tragedy, ’Macbeth’ and the famous ‘Othello’.

Tragedy is one of the oldest genres in literature. It started off in Greek times and one of the earliest writers was Aristotle.  Shakespeare was influenced by Greek and Roman thought and ideas, which he used in his own revenge tragedies.

Shakespearean tragedies are all set around the hero. The hero normally has a fatal flaw that causes the downfall of the hero. These ideas are clearly shown in the revenge tragedy ‘Othello’. In the play, Othello is a typical revenge hero. Othello is a cultural and racial outsider he is a moor, which is a natural of Northern Africa. This featured separates him from the other characters. He is a well-respected man who is a loyal officer and has repeatedly proved himself in a battle, but people still do not accept him as one of them. This fuels Othello’s insecurities and the way people treat and talk to him build on the many insecurities he already has.      

Throughout the play there are many references to Othello’s race and social background. In scene one the audience are introduced to Othello through Iago and Brabantio conversing about him. The audience are informed that he is marrying the King’s daughter (Desdemona) behind the King’s back. This is highlighted by a quote from Act one Scene one “A black ram is tupping your white +ewe”. The audience’s first impressions of Othello are that he is sly and untrustworthy. The imagery used by Iago “black ram” and “white yew” signifies the differences between Desdemona and Othello, Othello is black and Desdemona is white. Not simply this but other ideas are connoted by these images to the audience. Black symbolising hate and evil while white symbolising purity, good and angelic. This opposite effect between them gives a negative effect on the audience about Othello. Witchcraft is spoken of “He thought t’was witchcraft” by Iago and Rodrigo as there is no other reason for a pure and angelic character to love such a hideous beast. The ideas of witchcraft being mentioned shows that people are thinking that Othello has put a spell on Desdemona for her to love him.

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Othello isn’t seen as attractive or conventionally good looking. His colour makes him unappealing and frightening implied by the imagery used by people in the play when speaking about Othello. When referring to Othello. “The Moor” and “Thick lips” are used as references to Othello’s colour in many scenes. The imagery of animals or beasts is used a lot, “Black ram” and “barbary horse”. This is bringing Othello to an animalistic level with the imagery of wild un tamed animals or beasts. This is used to insult Othello’s colour and his racial background. By saying he is of a ...

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