Tragedy in Othello

Topic: Tragedy in Othello

Date: December 5, 2014

Tragedy in Othello

Many outstanding works of art are found in English literature. Although great works have been created in all centuries, stories and play from the 16th century are probably the most appealing. Shakespeare is one of the biggest writers that contribute to elegance of the English literature. Among all his works, Othello, the Moore of Venice, is a masterpiece. Othello is regarded as a tragic work since it complies with Aristotle’s three principles of a tragedy, Statues, Flaw and Catastrophe.

The downfall of the protagonist, Othello, a legendary personality in the Italian community evidences the theme of tragedy in the play. Othello serves as a military general and due to his senior position, most people in the Italian community and even the government respect him (Bhattacharyya 249).This is what Aristotle’s principle of tragedy tells about position and statues. Iago is an enemy who works to ensure Othello‘s downfall. Because of his jealous and angry personality, Iago constructs Othello’s downfall. He feels that Othello disappointed him because Othello promoted Cassio to serve as a lieutenant instead of him. Roderigo hates Othello too, since Othello is in a relationship with Desdemona, who is now Othello’s wife. Brabantio also hates Othello because Othello married his daughter without his consent. Regardless of Othello’s confident leadership, Brabantio’s, Roderigo’s, and Iago’s conviction about Othello’s ethnicity ruins him. Othello is from North Africa; he is a Moor. Due to his race, Italians; therefore, often criticise Othello’s personality. Othello is a powerful person in the country, although his black-skinned race exposes him to some form of apparent racism (Woodman 46). . Othello’s racial identity is undesirable; as a result, he lacks confidence in himself, which enables Iago to convince him that Desdemona, his wife, is unfaithful to him. Most male characters in the play believe that all...