Thursday, October 6, 2011
Othello as a Tragic "Hero"
For the play to be a tragedy, Othello must be a tragic hero.Yet, looking back over the play, I don't know if he deserve such a title. In my mind, a hero must gain the sympathy of the reader and fight evil. Othello does neither. The only two views I see of Othello are the overly confident general from the first act and the crazy paranoid husband from the end. Also, he never seems to be heroic. He never makes any attempt to fight Iago on anything. Can such a jealous, manipulable man be called a tragic "hero"?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Though we see Othello with such strong emotions throughout the play, we also hear of his good deeds. He has been a servant of the state, protecting the characters from the Turks etc. His final words describe him as one who "One who loved not wisely, but too well." Othello may have been destroyed by his emotions, but he was a good man, and a hero for his country. Everything he did was passionate, therefore making his downfall histrionic. Is passion for his country and his wife refuting Othello's title as "tragic hero?"
ReplyDeleteThanks for your response, Leia. I think the our class's focus on Iago and Iago's point of view has skewed our view of Othello's nobility. Greg, and all evil students, as you do your critical reading, see what you can find on Othello as hero, please.
ReplyDelete