Who Is Responsible For Othello's Downfall

A tragedy without meaning ‘Othello' is not, as the very genre of tragedy seeks to imitate action and life, both of which have an inherit meaning. In some ways, Shakespeare's work can be considered didactic as in the case in classical tragedy, the hero's falls arises as fault of a hamartia on his part, a fault which plagues humanity. In fact, throughout the work, Othello is revealed to have many more faults and weaknesses than a man of his stature should posses, providing a reason for his downfall. The work's main protagonist, the scheming Iago, ultimately has his own reasons for his actions; actions which on surface value might appear to be inherently evil and motiveless. A third variable here, the role of the setting, and its part in the tragedy
1 ll. 12-15)

The fact that Othello fails to note the power of the brewing ‘storm' condemns him to his fate. It must be noted that Othello is a soldier, a general, by profession. In war, rules and conventions apply, but once these bonds of control are taken away, he does not know how to react or behave, considering he has lived his life as if he were fighting a battle. Indeed, these ‘bonds of control' are released even further as Othello orders celebration and revelry to mark the destruction of the Turkish fleet. Little does he know that nearby, Iago is using the occasion to plot a destruction of a different kind.

The faults that are found in Othello's character are sufficient to demonstrate that, although he may not be deserving of his eventual fate, there is some justification for what has happened. At the start of the play, Othello is portrayed as the ‘god of war', his wife the ‘goddess of love'. However, during the play it is proved that Othello has too many flaws, and has the basic hamartia of the classic tragic hero. He is not a god, but merely a man, which enables the audience to feel sympathy and pathos towards the lead
Is this the nature
Whom passion could not shake? Whose solid virtue
The shot of accident nor dart of chance
Could neither graze nor pierce? (Oth Act 4 Sc. 1 ll. 255-258)

The fact is that although Othello's passionate emotion helps to fire his imagination; it ultimately leads to blind all reason and rational thinking (take 1:3:128-169 as Othello recounts the stories of his adventurous past in order to win Brabantio's daughter from him).

Ultimately the reason behind all the madness is demonstrated in the last scene of the play. What Othello plans to commit is not a murder, but instead a sacrifice . He does this through love for Desdemona, to save her from herself, and for his own honour. This act helps establish a new Othello, an Othello even nobler and braver than the Othello of Act 1, an Othello that arrests his previous decline.

‘O balmy breath, that dost almost persuade
Justice to break her sword! One more, one more!
Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee
And love thee after. One more, and this the last.' (Oth Act 5 Sc. 2 ll.