In what ways does Shakespeare present Othello as a typical tragic hero?

Others speak highly of him. In 2.1.30, Montano wishes that he returns from his vessel safely, “As to throw out our eyes for brave Othello”, Cassio praises him, “Thanks you…That so approve the Moor…let the heavens Give him defence against the elements.” That the others appear to think highly of him can only suggest he has heroic qualities.

Othello appears to have an enormous capacity for love and loving others. In 2.1.190 he expresses his happiness at being reunited with Desdemona, “I cannot speak enough of this content; it stops me here, it is too much of joy.” We are encouraged to view Othello’s heroic past as a soldier as intriguing. Othello possesses a mythical and monumental quality. He speaks and acts powerfully in a way that inspires confidence in his character throughout the first two acts in the play. Othello is also considered equal to the others, despite his skin colour.

But Othello is also presented as having some contradictory, not so noble and heroic sides to his character, particularly as the play progresses.

Othello is still an outsider. He seeks to become an equal member of society through marriage, but he being a black man in a white populated world somewhat prevents him from doing so, not because the others are necessarily racist, but just because it makes him different, and always will. He is throughout the play constantly referred to as the Moor, and this was seen as normal in Shakespearian times. As the play progresses into the middle acts 3-4 Othello changes. His growing suspicion has taken seed and his noble qualities are gradually eroded. He accepts Iago’s explanation too easily and he is too trusting: “Now do I see tis true” (3.3.442). Othello becomes a “barely human state”. His use of language changes dramatically. His speech resembles more that of Iago, with brutal, crude animalistic imagery. He shows this particularly in addressing Desdemona: “Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile” (4.1.240) and in his random curses and oaths, “Goats and monkeys!”(240), and “O devil, devil!”(230).

As Othello becomes more and more jealous there is also severely impaired speech on his part. His sentences become shorter and more broken up. There are interruptions to the flow of sentences and this reflects his state of mind. There is repetition of certain words such as his fixation with the handkerchief. This suggests that he is only becoming more and more irrational, obsessive and conflicted. Othello uses antithesis in mentioning heaven and the devils in the same phrases, 4.2.36 and saying things such as the nonsensical “Heaven truly knows…thou art false as hell”.

In looking again at how he falls into the category of the tragic hero, the question is raised of what brings him down and what could cause Othello to gain or to lose sympathy from the audience. If Othello is a true tragic hero, we feel pity because we may feel his misfortune is greater than he deserves. One reason we could feel sympathy for Othello is if he has a tragic flaw, and this is what leads him to his downfall. Othello does possess a flawed character despite his noble qualities. There is evidence to suggest he has a potential for jealousy, and is a poor judge of character. The considered stereotypical features of a black person at the time are present in him, revealed being passionate, overly sensual and irrational in nature. These are the opposites of the noble qualities, such as being cool headed, that he displayed before.

In 5.2 Othello justifies killing Desdemona, seeing himself in the role of avenging justice, “I have done the state some justice”. He could have loved Desdemona too much (335) “Not wisely, but too well” and this caused him to kill her in a perverse way. Another of his fatal flaws is a lack of self knowledge of himself and his ability to assess what his response would be to a certain situation. Sometimes he appears to make claims about himself that are not true. For example he almost always speaks in verse and is a fine rhetorician, despite his protestations to the contrary, with him saying “Rude am I in my speech” (1.3.83). He was obviously a poor judge of Desdemona also if he couldn’t even believe that she would be faithful to him.

Another reason for this hero’s downfall could be also just be Fate and Chance, and inexplicable External Forces. In Shakespeare’s time there was a strong interest surrounding the idea of fortune, and many believed in Pagan myths. The possibility that Othello was not at fault and just a victim of fate could get sympathy towards him from the audience. In his final speech, Othello has a chance to redeem himself, but refers to his actions with Desdemona as being comparable to having “threw a pearl away”. He presents himself as both hero and villain – he insists on his identity of of heroic soldier and not disastrous husband, but he also recognises that he deserves to be tortured and wants to die, “Where a malignant...traduced the state” (350), “No way but this, killing myself” (360) He is preoccupied with himself but focuses sharply on Desdemona, “kissed thee here I killed thee.” Physically stabbing himself shows the audience he is consumed with remorse.  

In conclusion, there is the notion that Othello is a tragic hero by the way Shakespeare presents him, because by ending his life as he realises his mistake, he regains nobility by insulting himself for his shortcomings. This is firmly believed by the critic A.C Bradley, who said Othello “inspires a passion of mingled love and pity” which none of Shakespeare’s other heroes is able to inspire. Othello realising he was wrong only after it is too late also is strong evidence for putting him a typical tragic role, as in, he tried but just was not good enough to prevent the tragedy happening. He is very much punished as Iago cruelly addresses him as a cuckold. He suffers due to his pride, and gains audience sympathy for that. At the end of the century Swinburne argued that Othello must be seen as a truly noble hero, “The noblest man of man’s making.”

Other critics such as F.R Leavis have suggested that Othello’s readiness to believe Iago is a sign that the hero is naïve and lacking in intelligence and that this contributes to the tragedy. He is not only out of his depth in love but is also, because of his background, unable to comprehend the society he has married into; this suggests that Othello is a noble savage. Leavis said that Othello possesses a weak character which is sorely tested by marriage, “the stuff of which he is made begins at once to deteriorate and show itself unfit”. I am inclined to agree with Leavis’s harsher view, because it really is such a huge mistake on Othello’s part to murder his faultless wife that I feel there is almost no excuse, and even if Desdemona was unfaithful a punishment of death is too strong.

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