Othello could also be considered a tragic hero because he sees himself as a virtues person. Othello shows this when he says, “my parts my title my perfect soul shall manifest me rightly.” This shows that Othello is worthy enough to marry Desdemona because his virtue is too great to deny therefore, showing he is a respected character in the play because Othello gets away with marrying Desdemona possibly because of his “perfect soul” making him a good tragic hero. A.C. Bradley highlights that Othello is a faultless character and is one of the greatest tragic heroes of all time. I believe that Bradley’s view on Othello is an extreme opinion, as although Othello is viewed as a virtually flawless character, he was flawless in the eyes of the Venetian society. His race would have been an obvious flaw that isolates him from the rest of Venice. It is clear his race is a problem when Iago refers to him as “thick lips” this shows that Othello’s race causes disrespect which effects his status as a tragic hero.
However, it is put forward by Leavis that Othello is too stupid to be considered a tragic hero, because Othello believes all the lies Iago told him. I agree with this statement to some extent as Othello automatically believes everything he is told. On the other hand, Iago is a very sly and cunning character. Iago cleverly plants a seed in Othello’s mind and leaves him to accuse Desdemona. Iago does this by telling Othello small things about Desdemona that flourish into bigger things. Such as when Iago says to Othello “she did deceive her father” this reminds Othello that Desdemona Is very capable of lying and betraying people. Therefore, she is capable of having an affair with Cassio. This shows how clever and believable Iago is when devising this plan to split them up, as in the end this plan works as they both end up dead.
The audience may also view Othello as an unruly character in some parts of the play. One of these scenes is when Othello starts to accuse Desdemona of cheating. When Othello asks for the handkerchief he shows his aggressive side.
“The handkerchief” he repeatedly asks to Desdemona to bring the handkerchief and refuses to reason with her thus, reducing him to animal like standards. As a result of this Othello loses his status as a tragic hero.
A second reason that undermines Leavis point is that Othello said “I’ll see before I doubt” Othello wants proof of Desdemona’s affair or he claims he will never believe Iago. Although, Othello did doubt her faith, he never did anything until he had proof from the handkerchief. Even though this is false proof it was enough proof for Othello to come to a conclusion about Desdemona’s affair. This shows that Othello is not that thoughtless to kill himself and his wife just on Iago’s false words. As a result this makes Othello a good tragic hero.
Othello’s hubris also makes him a tragic hero; Othello believes that by killing Desdemona and himself he will save his pride. He reassures himself that what he is doing is right by saying, “yet she must die, else she’l betray more men.” This implies that he needs to kill Desdemona to save his pride and other men’s pride. In the Elizabethan era, adultery would have been seen as a great embarrassment and men should take action if there women cheat on them. This just makes Othello try to justify what he did even more Othello says “it is the cause it is the cause” to continually make him think what he is doing is the right thing.
There are also moments when the audience experience catharsis because of actions that are being performed by Othello. This, I believe is the main quality a hero should have to be considered “tragic.” A part in the play that is cathartic is when Othello is about to kill himself after having his epiphany. His epiphany comes when Emilia tells him that she stole the handkerchief for her husband, “that handkerchief thou speak’st I found by fortune and did give my husband” the epiphany Othello has shows he is a tragic hero as this is one of the things Aristotle said a tragic hero should have. This epiphany is then followed with many cathartic moments one of these is “here is my journeys end” this shows that Othello is going to commit suicide. The word “journey” also makes it tragic because Othello’s life journey is one he worked very hard for and now this is all going to end for due to his jealousy and hubris making him a good hero as he is taking a significant fall from grace.
Othello also compares Desdemona to a rose, “when I have plucked thy rose” this line shows that Othello does not hate Desdemona as he is comparing her to a rose. However, Shakespeare uses this metaphor to show how delicate and short lived Desdemona’s life is going to be because of Othello’s hubris. This is also a very cathartic moment in the play.
Shakespeare uses marriage as a basis of tragedy in other plays such as ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ Just as in Othello it is the parents who don’t agree with their marriage. This forms problems in the marriage of Othello and Desdemona as the only thing that people view as unnatural about their marriage is Othello’s race. This is shown when Brabantio says “for nature to preposterously to err” the word “err” shows that Brabantio thinks that Desdemona should stay away from Othello. Whilst the word “preposterously” shows that people think their marriage is unnatural. This is one of the reasons why Othello is not considered a tragic hero as all though people respect him as a person they do not respect his marriage. In addition to this his marriage makes him less of a tragic hero because people initially told him to stay away from Desdemona.
I believe Othello is a tragic hero he was a passionate man who was miss lead by a clever sly and man. Iago never needed to take physical action to produce a tragic ending; his words were his actions that caused the tragic outcome in the play. Although the characters in the play sometimes disrespect him it was only his race they didn’t respect, not him personally as they respected his “warlike” personality as he was sometimes referred to. Therefore, Othello is a good overall tragic hero as race was the only factor that caused his lower status in the Venetian society.
Bibliography
Bradley, A.C. shakespearn Tradgedy (Macmillan 1904)
Shakespear W Othello (oxford schools
York Notes Advance (york university press)
