‘A man’s personality is his fate. ‘ To what magnitude is Othello’s own figure the cause of his downfall? In accordance to Aristotle’s Poetics, a classical tragic hero must be renowned and prosperous, excellent in some particular way, so that the reversal of fortunes or downfall, stirs up feelings within the audience of a better intensity. Such disastrous results are often induced by the oversight of the tragic hero due to their tragic drawback or hamartia, which is typically linked to hubris or extreme pride.
In Shakespeare’s Othello, like a General with the Venetian military services, Othello meets these standards, as his mistake is usually to trust ‘honest Iago’ and convince himself that payback upon Desdemona will cause honour and success. Actually as with many tragic heroes, it is this decision leading to his destruction. Nevertheless , it is important to consider if Othello’s damage was the unavoidable result of the defects in the character or perhaps whether there have been other causes, outside of his control, which usually led him to his doom.
Whether it is solely Othello’s hamartia that leads to his downfall, it must be linked to the change in his notion of Desdemona. In Work 1, when ever warned simply by Brabantio that Desdemona may also deceive Othello, Othello retorts passionately: ‘My life upon her trust! ‘ The exclamation below demonstrates the dedication and trust that Othello seems towards his new wife, but by simply Act several, Othello has already been beginning to hesitation her: ‘By the world, / I think my wife by honest, and I think she is not’ (3. 3. 389).
Shakespeare’s usage of cosmic symbolism when Othello swears illustrates the value of Othello’s resentment at his individual hesitation, while his judgement is usually energetic, as in Aleppo, (5. installment payments on your 361) if he knew quickly to ‘smote him thus’, as he was certain of his enemy, but in this case, doubt has impaired his vision and he is not sure who to trust: his new better half or ‘honest Iago’. Othello’s peripeteia takes place when he decides to trust Iago, yet , the audience will be surprised only at that decision, as it is unclear what has changed his perception of Desdemona so that he criticizes her because ‘that cunning whore of Venice’ (4.. 88). Several critics are of the opinion that it is envy that has clouded his reasoning thus, and argue that this kind of must be his hamartia. Nevertheless , it is equally possible that Shakespeare has given Othello the ‘fitness of character’ that Aristotle explained was a crucial feature of any tragic hero, as his true hamartia may be his value with the honour-shame tradition which been with us among Western european Elizabethan a warrior, and is from the hubris prevalent in tragic heroes.
It can be argued the shame caused by the idea of his wife’s unfaithfulness brings about his drop, which Shakespeare expresses through animalistic images: ‘I experienced rather certainly be a toad/ And live after the fumes of a dungeon/ Than retain a corner inside the thing I love/ Intended for others’ uses’. Therefore , Desdemona’s murder turns into an action of sacrificial love: ‘A murder which I thought a sacrifice’ (5. 2 . 64) as he seems that ‘else she’ll betray more men. Perhaps it really is for this reason that, in his fatality scene, Othello says: ‘For naught I had in hate, but bushed honour’ (5. 2 . 301) and telephone calls himself ‘An honourable murderer’. Either way, likely flaws such as suggest that Othello’s downfall was his personal doing as such traits may have influenced him to trust Iago and killing Desdemona, actions which in his anagnorisis generated extreme suffering, and induced him to commit suicide. Alternatively, Othello’s impulsive and passionate character could also have got contributed to his downfall, as this may have been completely his hamartia.
This would suit the necessary ‘consistency’ outlined simply by Aristotle, because the same passion and instantaneous response are available in his reaction to Brabantio in scene one particular as in the later displays, in his instant reaction to Iago’s suggestive claims. At first Othello responds steadly: ‘Why dost thou inquire? ‘But a lot more evasive Iago is of this sort of questions, a lot more it riles Othello and Shakespeare uses cosmic symbolism when Othello swears including ‘By bliss, I’ll find out thy thoughts’ to demonstrate the worth that Othello assigns to Iago’s viewpoints.
When Iago eventually shows that Desdemona is usually dishonest, Othello trusts Iago to ‘Give [him] the ocular proof’ (3. several. 361), and some critics may well argue that this rash decision to trust Iago is usually proof that Othello can be impulsive, triggering him to generate foolish decisions. It is that is why that this individual accepts Iago’s story of Cassio’s desire as the ‘ocular proof’ even though Iago admits ”Tis a wise doubt, even though it always be but a dream’, Othello immediately responds: ‘I’ll tear her all to bits! ‘ (3. 3. 433).
Shakespeare after that uses darker and malignant imagery showing Othello’s excited rage with phrases just like ‘Arise dark-colored vengeance’ and ‘tyrannous hate! ‘ This sort of imagery would have been significant to an Elizabethan audience, because they considered the shade white to symbolise chastity and many advantages, whereas dark-colored had strong connotations with the devil, bad and uncleanness, thus featuring the wickedness in Othello’s disposition. Therefore , this can be applied as proof that Othello was only convinced simply by
Iago’s unlikely suggestions as they was led by love and instinct, being ‘Perplexed in the extreme’ by craze, instinctively having faith in Iago. The motif of blood that Shakespeare involves supports this: ‘O, bloodstream, blood, bloodstream! ‘ (3. 3. 452) as it offers connotations of violence, consequently foreshadowing the violence with the final work, in which the motif is repeated by Desdemona: ‘Some weakling passion shakes your very frame’ displaying the connection between Othello’s hamartia and Desdemona’s murder.
On the other hand, it can be asserted that Othello’s downfall has not been his own doing. In Act 3 scene several, Shakespeare initial suggests that Othello truly doubts Desdemona if he says, ‘And yet how nature erring from itself-‘ (3. 3. 229) because he thinks that being white, Desdemona would choose a white man just like Cassio to himself. This kind of racial various insecurities are highlighted in Othello’s character through the play, and may even be the reason behind the pains that this individual takes make an impression people through his talk and encounters.
However this line signifies that Othello’s hesitation in Desdemona were the result of racial various insecurities, and although they could be novel to him, the bias that been with us against ‘Moors’ in the Elizabethan era, and in the play suggest or else. Queen Elizabeth complained in 1601 from the “great numbers of Negars and Blackamoors that happen to be crept into this realm, ” you a feeling as well expressed in the play once Othello is condemned since an ‘old black ram’ (1. 1 . 89) and a ‘Barbary horse’ (1. 1 . 111). Such animalistic metaphors stress the low thoughts and opinions that Elizabethans had of ‘Blackamoors’, which might have been the root of Othello’s downfall.
Likewise, the unconventionality of Othello’s marriage to Desdemona rebelled against Elizabethan ideology, being ‘contrary to nature’ since critic Karen Newman input it, which presented an hurdle in itself. Their very own marriage shattered the natural order creating chaos and consequently, as in many tragedies, this kind of chaotic power had to be damaged for so that it will be restored. Such values may be proof that the couple’s ruin was inevitable, regarding an Elizabethan audience, they symbolised the unnatural, chaotic force which must be overthrown.
Alternatively, it is equally which although Othello had many flaws, it was Iago whom acted as a catalyst simply by exposing them, thus creating Othello’s problem. Shakespeare usually alludes for this through continual motifs which in turn show Iago’s power of data corruption, the initially these staying poison. For example , when plotting, Iago identifies poison when he says: ‘I’ll pour pestilence into his ear’ (2. 3. 346), and then in the final picture, Lodovico summarises the 3 dépouille as ‘poisons sight’, therefore demonstrating the link between Iago’s manipulation as well as the plight of Othello and others around him.
Shakespeare forms upon this kind of manipulation throughout the motif of turning, as Iago vows to ‘turn her virtue into pitch’ (2. several. 350), in a similar manner that Othello turns ‘Turk’ through the metaphor in his final speech, ‘an turbaned Turk, traduced the state, And smote him thus’ (5. 2 . 349-52), and is evidence of Iago’s accomplishment in turning Othello coming from a General into an opponent of ‘the state’. Similarly, the grayscale white symbolism of ‘virtue’ and ‘pitch’ is repeated by Othello himself when referring to Desdemona’s reputation: ‘begrimed and black/As mine personal face. Yet , ‘begrimed’ means that both characters are discolored, but as Desdemona is faithful, and Othello’s inherited ethnicity determines his skin colour, the simile could relate with Iago’s manipulation, and the darkness that this individual has brought upon the few. This is mirrored by the change of Othello’s language: formerly grand verse depicting his former success becomes menacing and darker, with earthy imagery of goats, apes, toads, and poisonous snakes, and diabolic metaphors pertaining to Desdemona such as ‘fair devil’, which liken his terminology to that of Iago.
These changes happen to be evidence of the vital part of Iago in Othello’s downfall, recommending that Othello’s flaws, though numerous, might not exactly have been fatal. It is for this reason that the term ‘Perplexed inside the extreme’ in Othello’s last soliloquy, may take on a double meaning, since although Othello’s passionate feelings of envy, rage, and shame clouded his thinking, Iago’s capability to manipulate, which will Shakespeare provides emphasised through his usage of repeated explications and imagery, could have been the other essential factor.
It had been this combination that influenced Othello to make the fatal and wrongly diagnosed decision that Iago’s suspicions were accurate and assume that his honour would be obtained if he took vindicte upon Desdemona. Iago was only effective because of Othello’s hidden defects, but equally Othello’s flaws were deeply buried within just him, permitting him to become General of the Venetian armed service, proving that they can were not fatal, but turned on by skilful manipulators like Iago. 1584 words Bibliography ¢1 = http://www. suite101. om/content/elizabeth-i-motives-for-expulsion-of-blackamoors-from-london-a248507 ¢A. C. Bradley (1904) Shakespearian Tragedy, Ny: Palgrave Macmillan ¢Beard , Kent (2008) AQA AS English Literary works B, Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes ¢Marian Cox (2003) AS/ A-Level College student Text Information, Othello, Shakespeare Oxfordshire: Phillip Allan Changes ¢http://www2. cnr. edu/home/bmcmanus/poetics. html ¢http://www. britaininprint. net/shakespeare/study_tools/race. html code ¢William Shakespeare (2003) Othello Edited by simply Norman Sanders Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
