Othello Tragic Hero Analysis

Tragedy has always been regarded a great genre portraying puzzle of human existence; demonstrating from diverse angles that both greatness and humility come from within, proclaiming free will and touching upon the delicate matters such as fate. There is no doubt that Othello was a Shakespearean tragedy . is a play written by Shakespeare, or a play written in the style and manner of Shakespeare by a different writer. Shakespearean tragedy has its own specific features, which characterize it from other tragedies. Some elements of a Shakespearean tragedy are a tragic hero: chief character cursed by fate and possessed of a tragic flaw, struggle between good and evil, this struggle can take place as part of the plot or exist within the main character.

Two opposing views of the hero, Othello, and villain, Iago, have dominated criticism of Othello this century. On the one hand, A. C. Bradley presented positive analyses of Othello, whom he saw as blameless and not the primary responsibility for the tragedy. According to Bradley, Othello was ‘the most romantic figure among Shakespeare’s heroes … [he] does not belong to our world’. Bradley’s Othello is a man of mystery, exoticism and intense feeling, trustful, open, passionate but self-controlled, ‘so noble … [he] inspires a passion of mingled love and pity’ which none of Shakespeare’s other heroes is able to inspire. Bradley also argued that the newness of his marriage makes his jealousy credible. Bradley believed that Othello never falls completely and suggested that at the end of the play we feel ‘admiration and love’ for the hero because we exult in the power of ‘love and man’s unconquerable mind. On the other hand, one of the most influential critics rejected Bradley’s views of the hero. F. R. Leavis (‘Diabolic Intellect and the Noble Hero’,1952) argued that the tragic protagonist was responsible for his own downfall: Iago’s role is ‘subordinate and merely ancillary’.Leavis claims that Othello has a propensity to jealousy and has a weak character. Othello emerges as extremely stupid in Leavis’s reading. So far as Iago is concerned, Leavis sees that he displays ‘a not uncommon kind of grudging malice’ and has enough of a grievance to explain his motivation. The

“To what extent is Iago responsible for the downfall of other characters in Othello?” .The Shakespearean character ensign, Iago, is the trusted friend and advisor of his army superior Othello, who plots the downfall of several characters within the play. Iago was the character most responsible for the tragic events in the play, Othello. He is the driving force that moves the play, pushing Othello and everyone else towards the tragic ending. From the beginning to the end of the play, Iago arranges the entire vile plan that gives rise to Othello 's destruction and demise, beginning with the exclusion of Cassio, Othello trusted lieutenant. After that, Iago being convincing Othello that Cassio and Desdemona are having a relationship, a claim supported by his famous handkerchief trick. Finally, Othello kills his wife and once he discovers his error, Othello suicides. So, Iago caused the tragic series of events, he can be seen as the primary reason for Othello downfall. In fact, the play not only focuses on Othello 's tragic end but also the way Iago causes it through his elaborate deception. Finally, Shakespeare intends to display Iago in this way to show how were people 's thoughts and beliefs at that time and how their society views outsiders, like Othello. Also, by creating the character of Iago, Shakespeare built the tragedy. If Shakespeare 's focus was only on the good characters, then there would be