Othello admits his limited experience in personal and feminine affairs early on in the play: 'For since these arms of mine had seven years' pith,/Till now some nine moons wasted, they have used / Their dearest action in the tented field' (I.3). Othello distrusts women, and has great insecurities that his race and age may make him less than desirable to Desdemona, even though she denies this. Given this greatness of action and mind, why does Othello behave so foolishly and why is he so easily hoodwinked by Iago? Othello's tendency to believe Iago, an older and career military officer, more than the words of the innocent young Desdemona may thus be attributed to the fact that Othello is a military man who has known little of civilian life and who has used his military position to overcome the racism and difficult circumstances he has faced throughout his life. 'Othello.essentially large and grand, towering above his fellows, holding a volume of force which in repose ensures pre-eminence without an effort, and in commotion reminds us rather of the fury of the elements than of the tumult of common human passion' (Bradley 176). His greatness is so overpowering that the leaders of Venice joke that they would be wooed by his stories, even if they are initially predisposed to believe Desdemona's father. The ability to overcome racism means that Othello's psychological uniqueness is stressed, and his greatness which sets him apart from others and makes him desirable in a way that transcends race. They are stories of being sold into slavery as well as of fantastic sights, travels, and battles. The legacy of racism he has overcome is also evident in Othello's stories, with which he wooed Desdemona. If Othello were white, and an equally great soldier, it is likely that Brabatino would be delighted to have his daughter marry Othello. Despite the fact he invited him into his home when he was merely a soldier, Brabatino cannot see Othello fully as a human being worthy of marrying his daughter. Soon afterwards, when confronting Othello because of his elopement with Desdemona, Brabatino does not merely say Desdemona should not want to marry a black man and therefore Othello bewitched her - he uses the language of fear, not believing the girl could marry and 'fall in love with what she fear'd to look on!' (I.3). This shows the racism that Othello has had to overcome his entire life and makes 'the Moor' (as he is called) hypersensitive to insults. 'Even now, now, very now, an old black ram/Is topping your white ewe' (I.1). The racism that has affected Othello's psyche is evident in Othello's society early on, when Iago raises Desdemona's father, Brabatino, to rally support against Othello's marriage surreptitiously. But because of Othello's gullibility because of his hypersensitivity to race and class (and age), due to his background, and his tendency as a career military officer to believe a fellow soldier like Iago more than his own wife, he is undone and kills the person who loves him most, perhaps the only woman who ever loved him. To compound the tragedy, Othello's beloved 'pearl' Desdemona gives up her family for the love of Othello, casting away the prejudice in which she has been reared. However, although Othello has been able to steel his soul to racism, he is unable to see beyond the fraud perpetrated by Iago upon his psyche. Othello suffers the slings and arrows of prejudice, despite Othello's great service to Venice. Paper NOW! ⬇️ TOPIC: Essay on Othello as a Tragic Hero AssignmentOthello is a great military hero who has distinguished himself in battle. It is of an extraordinary man whose tragically great nature is both the making of him, and his undoing. In this, William Shakespeare's 'Othello' is a perfect tragedy. The elevated language and tone the playwright uses to treat a compelling subject provokes profound emotions in the hearts of viewers. Tragedy commands the viewer's attention because of its seriousness and the serious actions spawned as a consequence of what transpires. 'Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play in the form of action, not of narrative through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions' (I.IV). Perplex'd in the extreme of one whose hand,Īccording to the Greek philosopher Aristotle in his 'Poetics,' a great tragedy provokes both pity and terror in the hearts of the viewer. Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought Of one that loved not wisely but too well Nor set down aught in malice: then must you speak Othello: The Aristotelian tragedy of the Moor of Venice

Othello as a tragic hero