The legendary William Shakespeare, who articulated this play to be remarkable from start to finish, wrote Othello, the Moor of Venice. By Aristotle’s definition of tragedy “an imitation of an action of high importance, complete and of some amplitude: in language enhanced by distinct and varying beauties…by means of pity and fear effecting its purgation of these emotions” (qtd. in Kennedy & Gioia 885) Othello, the Moor of Venice is exactly that. Aristotle also defines the character Othello as comprising the three main factors to be considered a tragic hero. First is a hamartia, or a tragic flaw in the main character that leads to the demise; second, catharsis or an emotional release of the audience’s sensations derived from the actors, so they …show more content…
It engages the audience in psychological force that captivates their emotions. Shakespeare does not mind that his audience feels they can put together the evidence for themselves, which will only draw them into the plot even further. For instance, Othello’s handkerchief, is the most probable piece of evidence used through out the play. Its significance to Othello’s feeling can be seen when Desdemona attempts to cure Othello’s headache by binding his brow. (III, iv, 47 s.d.) The handkerchief holds passion and repetition of emotions throughout the play. Othello’s feeling for the handkerchief possesses genealogy traits to his childhood memories of his father and mother marrying (III,iv,59-70) and the memory of passing it on to his bride Desdemona. As the plot thickens this handkerchief plays into how materialistic possessions can contribute to our inner thoughts. Shakespeare uses emotions repeatedly to captive his audience, anxiety and shame heighten the play. To prevent the audience from checking out psychologically he uses Iago as the villain to toy with Othello thoughts, leaving the feeling of what he will do or say next. A certain level of self-pity or shame is bestowed while we feel sorry for Othello. He has worked countlessly to make it where he is in life, to his position in the kingdom, and is mentally forced into a manipulative and deceptive practice by