Tragedy is an intriguing genre of drama that made its official debut in around 500 BC in Athens. According to an article from Grand Valley State University, the origin of Tragedy can be traced back to groups of men singing s choral lyric to honor the Greek god Dionysus. Throughout history many famous authors were made great because of their skillful ability to captivate audiences with the story of a tragedy. Aristotle helped to outline and define what both a tragedy and a true tragic hero should look like. However, the lines that define what is and what is not a tragedy can still get blurry sometimes. In the instance of William Shakespeare’s story Othello, the Moor of Venice it is easy to mistake the main character, Othello, as a tragic hero.
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Aristotle emphasized that there were certain things to look for when identifying a tragic hero. Shakespeare’s Othello’s identity as a tragic hero is questionable even with the first requirement set by Aristotle. One of the first requirements set by Aristotle is that a tragic hero must be from noble descent. Othello, however, was not from noble blood. He was crass, and worked his way up to being a commander. In a way Othello was noble due to his status as commander, however he was not born noble, raised noble, and maintained blunt and crass mannerisms. From the start Othello walks a thin line of being able to hold the identity of a tragic hero. However, he does maintain some characteristics that are certainly tragic hero …show more content…
Othello, however, seemed to be quite oblivious most of the time. Rather than having an increase awareness, he had an increased unawareness as he allowed himself to be wrapped around the devious plan of Iago. At first Iago planted seeds of suspicion, which then grew into completely wrong assumptions. Othello was so oblivious that he even killed his pleading and denying wife. The realization that he was set up came sudden. He had no idea anything was wrong. Later Othello admits his misunderstanding by saying that he, "threw a pearl away / Richer than all his tribe" (5.2.343-44). Even though he seemed to realize he misunderstood, he did not take responsibility for his
Aristotle emphasized that there were certain things to look for when identifying a tragic hero. Shakespeare’s Othello’s identity as a tragic hero is questionable even with the first requirement set by Aristotle. One of the first requirements set by Aristotle is that a tragic hero must be from noble descent. Othello, however, was not from noble blood. He was crass, and worked his way up to being a commander. In a way Othello was noble due to his status as commander, however he was not born noble, raised noble, and maintained blunt and crass mannerisms. From the start Othello walks a thin line of being able to hold the identity of a tragic hero. However, he does maintain some characteristics that are certainly tragic hero …show more content…
Othello, however, seemed to be quite oblivious most of the time. Rather than having an increase awareness, he had an increased unawareness as he allowed himself to be wrapped around the devious plan of Iago. At first Iago planted seeds of suspicion, which then grew into completely wrong assumptions. Othello was so oblivious that he even killed his pleading and denying wife. The realization that he was set up came sudden. He had no idea anything was wrong. Later Othello admits his misunderstanding by saying that he, "threw a pearl away / Richer than all his tribe" (5.2.343-44). Even though he seemed to realize he misunderstood, he did not take responsibility for his