Tragic Hero In Othello And The Last Samurai

A tragic hero is typically known as someone who has heroic qualities, but bears a major flaw which either leads to their death or an ultimate punishment. Shakespeare’s play, Othello and Edward Zwick’s film, The Last Samurai both have characters that portray all of the elements of a tragic hero. Although Othello and Nathan Algren both demonstrate that they are flawed and noble, it is clear that Othello is a better example of a tragic hero because of how he is affected by the war, his perception of honor, and his fate due to the things he has done and the things that are inflicted upon him. Although Othello and Nathan Algren are both affected by the battles they have fought, they are affected in different ways. Othello uses his war stories to his advantage, not on purpose, of course, but his telling of them ultimately led to Desdemona falling in love with him. Since he is a Moor and has been at war for most of his life, he does not have very much social skills and war is what he talks about best. Othello tells us that Desdemona fell in love with him because of his bravery. “To th' very moment that he bade me tell it, wherein I spoke of most disastrous chances, of moving accidents by flood and field, of hair-breadth ’scapes i' th' imminent deadly breach, of being taken by the insolent foe and sold to slavery, of my …show more content…
At the beginning of the play, Iago tells Othello about all of the bad things Roderigo was saying about him and Othello replies, “My services which I have done the signiory shall out-tongue his complaints. 'Tis yet to know—which, when I know that boasting is an honor, I shall promulgate. I fetch my life and being from men of royal siege, and my demerits may speak unbonneted to as proud a fortune as this that I have reached” (Shakespeare 1.2. 11). He wants Iago to know that he knows that it is not honorable to boast of it, but he is sure that he has natural honor as a descendant