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Tragic Hero Tragedies frequently focus on a tragic hero that has a flaw that ultimately leads to his downfall. That flaw is commonly referred to as a tragic flaw that is inborn to the person and can reflect his background. In Aristotle's Poetics, he discusses the theory of tragedy and what criterion is essential in an ideal tragedy. According to Aristotle, the tragic flaw is the most important part of the hero and the events that occur in the work is a reflection of that flaw. A tragic flaw is essential in a true tragedy. In my opinion, Othello would perfectly match all the requirements of a classic tragic hero.
Therefore, I have decided to describe Othello and to explain why he was a tragic hero. In William Shakespeare's Othello, Othello is a vivid example of a classical tragic hero. The main reasons of his downfall were his jealousy and lack of caution. According to the classic description, classic hero should have quite good qualities but should also exhibit flaws. Othello was noble and had a high rank, which made him of a higher stature than anyone else. He was actually respected for his nobility and background.
He had good leadership qualities that he had learned in the army and by being a leader in Venice. He came from the lad of barbarians. Therefore, Othello's background was not perfect, which eventually had negatively affected his attitudes. Naturally, he was an innocent person.
Othello's innocence and lack of improvement is revealed throughout the book. The bad thing was that people who surrounded Othello also new about his attitude. Othello's baseness had put him to risk of being undermined by other people. He believed more to appearances than to reality, especially when he was told about affair between his wife and Cassio, which eventually made him to feel jealousy.
The clear example of Othello's gullibility could be that he would believe in anything he saw. This means that things that appeared to him eventually fooled Othello. His words only expose his feelings, but not mind. Eventually, the tragic flaw would cause Othello's feelings to take incorrect decisions upon his judgments. All this makes him a typical Aristotelian tragic hero.
Othello accepted and believed in the insinuations and lies. His gullibility and tragic flaw was the main reason for downfall. He became overtaken by all the jealousy that accumulated in his mind and he could not think of nothing else, but about the hate and love to Desdemona. When Othello lost his love to his wife, his life became miserable and finally turned to chaos. Iago's plan worked out perfectly and made possible for Iago to control Othello. Iago perfectly recognized all flaws of Othello and used them for his own interest.
Eventually Othello was turned into a fool by Iago. Shakespeare described Othello as a loving and sincere person. However, Othello was naive and his false suspicions were driving him into anger and rage. Othello had decided to kill Desdemona and lieutenant. When he completed his plan, the dying Desdemona revealed her true love and faith to him.
However, Othello believed Iago, but not his wife, again due to his background. When Emilia confronted Othello, he actually admitted of killing his wife, stressing out that she was cheating on him. Emily persuaded Othello that it was not true. Nevertheless, still Othello continued to believe Iago thinking that Iago was honest person and even praised him for honesty.
Othello knew nothing about the affair between his wife and Cassio. His gullibility led him to be overtaken with false appearances. Othello did not even made a single effort to find out the truth. He simply believed Iago. Othello's mistake was to find the truth and his downfall became realized eventually when he had killed himself. Othello's flaw was being gullible.
His background made him naive and weak-minded person. Othello's stature and downfall explain why he was a tragic hero. Othello's anger inspired him to take a decision to resolve all the chaos simply by putting the end to affair he believed was taking place. The structure of his character and the consequences make Othello to be the bright example of Aristotelian tragic hero.
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