Othello - Explore the Relevance of Rank and Race in Shakespeare’s Representation of a Tragic Hero. Essay Example
OTHELLO.
Explore the relevance of rank and race in Shakespeare’s representation of a tragic hero.
The fall of Othello is caused by many collective contributing factors; the most important, I believe, being rank and race and how the other characters in the play, such as Iago, can exploit these factors to influence Othello’s downfall. I do not believe rank and race are valid themes of the play, yet the true themes of jealousy and love cannot be reasonably interpreted without considering the presentation of race and rank. The play seems to be based around the Aristotelian classical model of tragedy, and Shakespeare incorporates the hubris and harmartia in the character of Othello to further enhance the effect of Iago’s attempts to ruin him. Othello is a worthy figure of a tragic protagonist. The attributes he possesses suggest that we should view him as a hero, as he is descendant of a line of royalty and is an impressive military superior in the Venetian army. This role was very important in the Elizabethan times, Venice was a powerful, respected place and as this government was threatened by the Turks, Othello was seen as worthy enough to protect that. Othello is proud of his status, and his reputation is a crucial aspect of the hero’s perception of himself. As an Aristotelian tragic hero, Othello requires a hubris, a flaw in his personality. It is generally agreed that Othello’s hubris is his arrogance and self confidence, as this suggests that he believes that bad things will not happen to him, which is apparent in these lines;
‘My parts, my title, and my perfect soul Shall manifest me rightly.’ (A1, S2, L31). ‘My services which I have done the signiory Shall out-tongue his complaints’ (A1, S2, L18). According to the Aristotelian model of tragedy, this pride would lead to an error of judgment or mistake, the harmartia. His confidence may invoke the idea that his right hand man, Iago, would be consistently loyal to him; therefore
Explore the relevance of rank and race in Shakespeare’s representation of a tragic hero.
The fall of Othello is caused by many collective contributing factors; the most important, I believe, being rank and race and how the other characters in the play, such as Iago, can exploit these factors to influence Othello’s downfall. I do not believe rank and race are valid themes of the play, yet the true themes of jealousy and love cannot be reasonably interpreted without considering the presentation of race and rank. The play seems to be based around the Aristotelian classical model of tragedy, and Shakespeare incorporates the hubris and harmartia in the character of Othello to further enhance the effect of Iago’s attempts to ruin him. Othello is a worthy figure of a tragic protagonist. The attributes he possesses suggest that we should view him as a hero, as he is descendant of a line of royalty and is an impressive military superior in the Venetian army. This role was very important in the Elizabethan times, Venice was a powerful, respected place and as this government was threatened by the Turks, Othello was seen as worthy enough to protect that. Othello is proud of his status, and his reputation is a crucial aspect of the hero’s perception of himself. As an Aristotelian tragic hero, Othello requires a hubris, a flaw in his personality. It is generally agreed that Othello’s hubris is his arrogance and self confidence, as this suggests that he believes that bad things will not happen to him, which is apparent in these lines;
‘My parts, my title, and my perfect soul Shall manifest me rightly.’ (A1, S2, L31). ‘My services which I have done the signiory Shall out-tongue his complaints’ (A1, S2, L18). According to the Aristotelian model of tragedy, this pride would lead to an error of judgment or mistake, the harmartia. His confidence may invoke the idea that his right hand man, Iago, would be consistently loyal to him; therefore