...102 5 October 2014 The Blame Game The Downfall of Oedipus and Othello Both Othello and Oedipus are dramatic plays of tragic circumstances. Although written at different times and by different types of writers, each play has some of the same elements. Deceit, violence and self-destruction reign throughout. Each features men of great power reduced to nothing. However, the downfall of Oedipus is the work of the gods; the downfall of Othello is self-inflicted. Little is known of Shakespeare’s early life, but by 1592 he was well-established and successful in his vocation.(Folger, xxiii) By the time Othello was first performed, the author was already one of the most popular playwrights of his day and many of his best plays were already behind him.(Folger, xvi) His career spanned about 20 years. (New Folger, xxvi) Othello was composed between 1601 and 1604, with its first performance being in 1604. (Folger, x) The play was very popular and records indicate it remained popular through the seventeenth century. The source of the play was a short story from the Hecatommitchi, a collection of short stories by an Italian named Giovanni Battista Giraldi, published in 1565. (Folger, xi) The specific story is from a section of the collection titled “The Unfaithfulness of Husbands and Wives.”(Folger,xi) The main type of imagery used in Othello is that of animals in action, preying on one another. (Shakespeare’s Imagery, 335) In the play, Othello is newly married to Desdemona. Although...
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...Othello - An Aristotelian Tragedy When distinguishing the characteristics of an Aristotelian tragedy, Aristotle writes that there are certain qualities that define Othello as a tragic hero. These qualities include; 1. Must come from nobility, the protagonist must fall from power and from happiness. 2. Hamartia which is the tragic hero is fallible, and his downfall is the result. Whatever the characters' fatal weakness is that brings him to a bad end. 3.Peropeteia which is a reversal of fortune, or a sudden change of circumstances that affect the protagonist. 4. Anagnorisis which is the point in the plot which the protagonist recognizes his or some others characters true identity or discovers the true nature of his own situation. 5. Catharsis which in literature means something different. Drama can evoke powerful emotions and people who watch it and are moved leave the theater clean and refreshed and refreshed in the emotional experience. (Kennedy, p 707-08) William Shakespeare's Othello meet all five of Aristotle's criteria for being a tragic hero. Nobility can be defined as having "nobleness of mind, character, or spirit exalted moral excellence." (dictionary.com) Othello demonstrates his nobility in a number of different ways. For one when the swords are drawn, Othello tells both sides "Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them. Good signior, you shall command with years than with your weapons." (Othello Act 1 Scene 2 pg 4) Here Othello is avoiding any potential...
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...Clearly, Othello is guilty of misplaced trust--he believes a man whom he didn't feel was fit for the lieutenancy over his wife, and as you note, many factors contribute to the tragedy of the play. Ultimately, though, Othello is responsible for his own actions and is therefore at fault. While Othello does exercise poor judgment in whom to believe (especially for an experienced military leader), he deserves less blame for his downfall. He is a product of a prejudiced society, a society which uses him for his military prowess and exotic culture but then stereotypes him as animalistic, lustful, jealous, and violent. Iago knows that Othello is insecure in his relationship with Desdemona because of the difference in their race, age, and social class, and he uses that insecurity against the general. Thus, someone could validly argue that had it not been for stereotyping, Othello might not have fallen as he did. other factors contribute to his downfall as well. One of these is man's inability to view women without suspicion and jealousy. It is the idea of ownership that prevails in the way men view women. We see this idea Throughout the play. Desdemona is referred to as a treasure or a jewel, Cassio praises her as the "riches of the ship." Even though Othello loves Desdemona dearly, this tendency of men to want to control and the fear of losing runs deep within him. "We can call these delicate creatures ours, but not their appetites," Othello rages. It is easier for a man to trust...
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...Nobody controls his own life, Ender. The best you can do is choose to fill the roles given [to] you by good people, by people who love you." So basically, this quote is about following the guidance and advice of your friends, and to do so you basically have to have faith in them. But what happens when the "good people ... who love you" are actually guiding you in the wrong direction, trying to ruin your life. I'm sure for me, and everyone here we've known someone like this. They've created drama and they've torn friendships apart. Just like in our lives and in the case of the play, Othello, Othello didn't have a good person who was looking out for his best interests. Instead, he had one of his closest friends that he trusted, manipulate him. This deception could happen to anyone which is why I firmly believe that Iago is completely responsible for the tragedy of Othello. 1. Firstly, Iago deliberately orchestrated a plan in order to ruin Othello's life. He planned certain events throughout the play to make Desdemona's affair with Cassio believable. * For example, Iago carried out a plan to make Cassio lose his job. He was jealous that Cassio was promoted as lieutenant. He got Cassio drunk. He then got Roderigo to start a fight with Cassio. Then, Montano the governor of Cyprus, ended up getting stabbed by Cassio. Othello then came out and Cassio lost his job. Iago caused this situation to happen so Cassio would lose his rank and make Othello lose trust in Cassio...
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...Being human could simply mean that we as a collective race are imperfect. The idea of human imperfection is not easily explained by science, philosophy or religion. They can all sometimes be too complex to understand. Science exemplifies the human race as a species, philosophy praises human race as thinkers and religion looks at the human race as sinners and how we all must be perfect to please God. Even society tells us we must be perfect in the eyes of the world. We as a human race all possess the trait of imperfection thus making us all the common men among one another in society. The concept of the imperfection of the common man is addressed in many different pieces of literature. In William Shakespeare’s play, Othello, Shakespeare created his characters to depict the...
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...perceive others centralizes the plot of ‘Othello’. Iago is canny enough to be able to persuade people to do his will without necessarily vocalising what he wills them to do? He certainly pre-empts their actions, such as when he tells Cassio to ask Desdemona for help he knows she will grant it and “perform it / To the last article”. This is important as the more Desdemona pursues Cassio’s suit, the more evidence he can present to Othello and the larger the rift he can drive between them. It is not just Othello who plays into Iago’s hands; Desdemona, Cassio and Emilia all fall victim to his scheming plans. The way Desdemona pursues Cassio’s cause at the most unfortunate times and the sheer amount of time she spends with him or talking about him in Act 3, Scene 3, encouraged by Iago, merely places her under more and more scrutiny from and Othello. Also, how Cassio slinks about in front of Othello out of embarrassment makes him appear guilty and secretive. Emilia’s fault was to have hidden Iago’s deceptive and cruel nature. All these things show how Othello was played by Iago. I think this takes some of the blame a way from Othello’s actions. Iago’s ability to know peoples virtues and exploit them, coupled with his innate ability to twist or spin an event however it benefits him most is very powerful. For example, at the beginning of a scene Cassio is talking with Desdemona and Emilia but leaves as soon as Othello and Iago come near due to his admirable sense of propriety. When Iago...
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...Othello Is Responsible for His Own demise. Othello is a play written by William Shakespeare. Othello is the character the play is named after and is therefore the main character. The play describes how Othello is lead to believe that his wife has been unfaithful to him. This treacherous act is the work of the villain, Iago. However, as we are about to study, his demise is might be his own doing. Othello by William Shakespeare. In the play, the main character is portrayed as too trusting and too naïve. The play is one of Shakespeare’s most tragic stories. Othello holds a very respectable position among his peers. He is a military commander who lives in a mansion and has people working under him such as Cassio. This puts him in the perfect position for a great demise, one with an impact. He turns down Iago’s request to be the lieutenant and gives it to Young Cassio instead. Although this in itself is not wrong, it sets Iago’s hateful mind in motion to plot for the perfect revenge. Iago feeds him with lies about his wife and convinces him that she is unfaithful to him. He goes a step further to state Cassio as her partner in her act of unfaithfulness. Othello’s character is an irony of his position as a general; he does not see to find facts but instead lets emotions that are manipulated out of him to get the better of him. Even though the role of Iago in the tragedy cannot be argued with, it is the character of Othello that makes him an easy target. His naivety and lack of...
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...How is the concept of the outsider represented in Othello? An outsider is someone that is not fully accepted by society. They tend to be shunned and excluded, deemed different and a threat. Outsiders don’t conform to society’s values and beliefs and the concept of this is represented in Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’. In this tragedy, the Outsider alienates themselves by going against sixteenth century attitudes about sex, gender, and race. Shakespeare comments on how a society excludes and mistreats someone different from the paradigm that defines the Venetian society. The tragic figure, Desdemona, is an example of this concept and her actions, and the actions of people around her ultimately doom her. Desdemona is portrayed as a beautiful, young, Venetian woman. She is first set as an outsider when she chooses to marry an old, black man, Othello over young, wealthy, white Venetians. Interracial marriage was highly uncommon and looked down upon. This is clearly shown when Iago makes racial comments about Othello, “Even now, now, very now an old black ram is tupping your white ewe”. Iago’s use of black and white imagery degrades Othello and gives the impression that he has defiled the pure ‘white ewe’, Desdemona. Iago clearly doesn’t approve and sees the union of black and white as a bestial one. Shakespeare uses repetition (now, now, very now) to emphasise the particular idea that what is happening is shocking. Shakespeare is deliberately startling and troubling the audience, using...
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...one should consider first the social context to which they belong, i.e. the Elizabethan society, as well as the theme and the plot in which they appear. Despite the power of Elisabeth I, women during this time had very little authority, autonomy, or recognition. Women gained their status based on the position of either their father or their husband. Even more restricting than economic rights were the social and political rights of women. They were expected to be silent observers, submissive to their husbands. Women who attempted to assert their views were seen as a threat to social order. This is significant in that the maintenance of social order was an extremely important aspect of Elizabethan society. Shakespeare is highly sensitive to his target audience in every step of the writing process. He actively plays upon the beliefs and fears of the Elizabethans. With characters such as Goneril and Cleopatra, Shakespeare demonstrates the devastating effects of female rebellion against social order. Shakespeare invokes sympathy in the audience by creating characters of extreme feminine virtue such as Cordelia, Miranda. However, Shakespeare often creates ambiguous emotions in the audience by introducing an element of intelligence and boldness in the case of Isabella and Desdemona. Despite the relative insignificance of women in Elisabethan social order, Shakespeare uses them in many significant ways. He seems to be extremely sensitive to the importance of women in society even though...
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...Othello as a Tragic Hero William Shakespeare's famous tragedy Othello, the Moor of is arguably one of the finest, if not the finest, tragedies in the literary history of Western civilization. This paper discusses Othello as a tragic hero and compares him to Aristotle's concept of what a tragic hero actually is. First, we need to understand the characteristics of a so-called tragic hero as defined by the Greek critic, Aristotle. He indicates that a tragic hero must have these characteristics: (1) Be a nobleman, prince, or person of high estate; (2) Have a tragic flaw, and a weakness in judgment; and (3) Fall from high to low estate. Using Aristotle’s criteria, we can easily classify Othello, the Moor, as a tragic hero. At the time, it was common practice for the Italian city-states to have a foreigner, with proven military capabilities, serving as the head of their Army. Othello, an African Moor of noble birth, is just such a character and held the highest ranking military position as Governor-General of Cyprus. The city of Cyprus was a city-state in the great state of Venice. His title alone, Governor-General, exudes an air of nobility, confidence, and strength. It defines someone who is held in tremendously high esteem by the people of Venice. During Act 1, Scene 3, the Duke and a few Senators are discussing issues around a table when Othello enters the room. It's clear that Othello is held in high esteem when, as he enters, one of the senators states “Here comes Barbantio...
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...11/02/2015 Research Paper Othello Othello is a famous tragedy written by William Shakespeare as a Tragic Hero. The Moor is arguably one of the finest, if not the finest, tragedies in the literary history of the Western Civilization. In this paper I will discuss Othello as a tragic hero and compare his to Aristotle’s concept of what a tragic hero is actually is. The characteristic of a tragic hero is defined by the Greek critic, is determined by three characteristics. According to Aristotle a tragic hero must be 1) Be a nobleman, prince, or person of high estate; 2) Have a tragic flaw, and a weakness of in judgment; and 3) Fall from high to low estate Using the criteria’s above which was established by Aristotle, we can effortlessly classify Othello, the Moor, as a tragic hero. At the time, it was common for the practice for the Italian city-sates that have a foreigner, with proven military capabilities, serving as the head of their army. Othello, an African Moor of noble birth, is just such a character and held the highest-ranking position in the military as a Governor –General of Cyprus. The city of Cyprus was a city-state in the Venice. Othello’s title alone, Governor-General, emanates an air of nobility, confidence, and strength. It defines someone who is held in remarkably high esteem by the people of Venice. During Act 1, Scene 3, the Duke and a few Senators are discussing issues around a table when Othello enters the room. It is clear that Othello is held in high esteem...
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...hamartia. Hamartia may be interpreted as either a flaw in character or an error in judgement. Oedipus, the tragic character in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, certainly makes several such mistakes; however, the pervasive pattern of his judgemental errors seems to indicate a basic character flaw that precipitates them. Oedipus’ character flaw is ego. This is made evident in the opening lines of the prologue when he states "Here I am myself--you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus." (ll. 7-9) His conceit is the root cause of a number of related problems. Among these are recklessness, disrespect, and stubbornness. Oedipus displays an attitude of recklessness and disrespect throughout the play. When he makes his proclamation and no one confesses to the murder of Laius, Oedipus loses patience immediately and rushes into his curse. Later, he displays a short temper to Tiresias: "You, you scum of the earth . . . out with it, once and for all!," (ll. 381, 383) and "Enough! Such filth from him? Insufferable--what, still alive? Get out--faster, back where you came from--vanish!" (ll. 490-492) If an unwillingness to listen may be considered stubbornness, certainly Oedipus would take advice from no one who would tell him to drop the matter of his identity, among them Tiresias, the shepherd, and even Jocasta. Even after Oedipus thinks he has received a reprieve from the fate he fears when he hears that Polybus is dead, he does not have the sense to keep still. "So! Jocasta...
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...at Delphi that he will kill his father and marry his mother. By leaving the city of Corinth and heading to Thebes, Oedipus thinks that he can outsmart the will that the gods have for him. However, the audience knows that one cannot run away from an oracle. The oracle will come true no matter what is done. Therefore, the hamartia of Oedipus is his belief that he can evade his oracle. Oedipus' anagnorisis, recognition, later comes when he is told that it was he who killed the former King Lauis and that he is, in fact, now married to his own mother. The city of Thebes had been searching for King Lauis' murderer in order to drive him out of Thebes to save the city from the plague. With this anagnorisis Oedipus is finally led to his peripeteia, or downfall. First of all, Oedipus is put to shame in front of his entire city because of his incestuous act of marrying his mother. But, more importantly, he realizes that he had not successfully avoided the oracle. In order to try to save himself he blinds himself. If he is not able to see the truth with his own eyes, he should not be able to enjoy the gift of sight. http://personal.monm.edu/ysample/aristotle.htm Oedipus follows ten of the points of Lord Raglan's Hero Pattern: Sophocles' Oedipus can be classified as a great tragic hero, both by looking at Aristotle's ideas of an Ideal Tragic Hero and by looking at The Hero Pattern given by Lord Raglan in The Hero: A study in Tradition, Myth and Dreams. His father is a king. Although...
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...important enough to ask God to grant him this wisdom rather than health, wealth or prosperity. The granted wisdom would ultimately lead to his downfall from God’s grace. Solomon, born to David at the height of his reign, never knew simplicity, David had erred once in fidelity, resulting in marriage to Solomon’s mother; Solomon erred many times over by marrying hundreds of pagan wives. Any service Solomon did perform for his people was more self-centered than other-centered. Living a lifestyle so far outside of God’s protective ideals resulted in a growing love for self, rather than for God. Solomon differed greatly from David, even early on, in his seeming lack of the passionate love for God that David possessed. His choices did nothing to kindle a growing love for the God he honored (Foster, 2005, 492). This paper will discuss how Solomon’s request for wisdom is an example of dramatic irony on the part of the Kings historian. This will be accomplished by defining what dramatic irony is and then examining Solomon’s character and the early years of his reign as king of Israel. The wisdom that he requested led to choices that he made in his personal and professional life that ultimately derailed the leadership qualities in his monarchy and his relationship with God. The lifestyle choices that Solomon made, led to his apostasy later in his life. DRAMATIC IRONY Many forms of irony are identified throughout literature, drama and cinema. Dramatic irony is inherent in speeches...
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...Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Bloom's Classic Critical Views alfred, lord Tennyson Benjamin Franklin The Brontës Charles Dickens edgar allan poe Geoffrey Chaucer George eliot George Gordon, lord Byron henry David Thoreau herman melville Jane austen John Donne and the metaphysical poets John milton Jonathan Swift mark Twain mary Shelley Nathaniel hawthorne Oscar Wilde percy Shelley ralph Waldo emerson robert Browning Samuel Taylor Coleridge Stephen Crane Walt Whitman William Blake William Shakespeare William Wordsworth Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Edited and with an Introduction by Sterling professor of the humanities Yale University harold Bloom Bloom’s Classic Critical Views: William Shakespeare Copyright © 2010 Infobase Publishing Introduction © 2010 by Harold Bloom All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information contact: Bloom’s Literary Criticism An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data William Shakespeare / edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom : Neil Heims, volume editor. p. cm. — (Bloom’s classic critical views) Includes bibliographical references...
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