¶ … searching for an example that follows Aristotle's principles for creating the perfect tragedy, we need look no further than William Shakespeare's play, Othello. According to Aristotle, a tragedy must possess certain characteristics. These include a plot that is easily remembered and structured to arouse pity and fear within the audience. Additionally, Aristotle writes, "Such an effect is best produced when the events come on us by surprise; and the effect is heightened when, at the same time, they follows as cause and effect" (Aristotle VIIII). A great deal of importance is also placed on the action of the plot. According to Aristotle, "A Complex action is one in which the change is accompanied by such Reversal, or by Recognition, or by both" (Aristotle X). These events must "turn upon surprises" (Aristotle XI) in order to fulfill the requirements of a tragedy. Suffering is also essential for a tragic hero to emerge.
In addition to a powerful plot, the character of the play must meet certain requirements to be considered a tragic hero. Aristotle believed that this type of character should exist between two extremes. In other words, he is not completely good or evil, yet his "misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error or frailty" (Aristotle XIII). This is commonly referred to as the characters "tragic flaw."
The character must also be associated with valor, nobility, and greatness. Additionally, the character must be true to life and consistent (Aristotle XV), even if this results in being consistently inconsistent. (Aristotle XV) With these definitions in mind, this paper will explore how Othello measure up to Aristotle's definition.
Shakespeare's Othello meets all of these requirements. When we are introduced to Othello, we become aware that he is a man of greatness and nobility. For example, he commands Brabanzio and his men to "Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them/Good signor, you shall command more with years/Than with your weapons" (Shakespeare I.ii.59-61). He addresses the enemy with his authority. In addition, Iago admits to Brabantio that "Another of his fathom they have none/To lead their business" (I.i.153-4). We also know that Othello is a great warrior from his great tales. For instance, he says:
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. (21-4).
Furthermore, we hear more of the warrior's tales of victory when Othello is telling the Duke of how Desdemona fell in love with him. Othello tells him, "She loved me for the dangers I had passed,/And I loved her, that she did pity them" (I.iii.166-7).
Desdemona reinforces how she fell in love with Othello by telling her father:
My heart's subdued
Even to the very quality of my lord saw Othello's visage in my mind
And to his honors and his valiant part
Did I my soul and fortunes consecrate. (I.iii.247-51)
Paul Cantor, critic for the Southwest Review, supports with this idea, commenting that "Othello has the dignity and self-possession of Aristotle's great-soured man. Secure in his heroic virtue, he is unshakable, fully in control of himself and of any situation" (Cantor).
However, Othello is not perfect. Shakespeare uses Iago to point out Othello's tragic flaw, which Iago reveals when he tells Roderigo:
The Moor is of a free and open nature,
That thinks men honest that but seem to be so,
And will as tenderly be led by th' nose
As asses are. (Shakespeare I.iii.393-6)
Additionally, Iago also tells Roderigo that Othello "Is of a constant, loving, noble nature,/And, I dare think, he'll prove to Desdemona/A most dear husband" (II.i.280-3). In reaction to Othello's character, A.C. Bradley states, "Othello's mind, for all its poetry, is very simple. He is not observant. His nature tends outward. He is quite free from introspection, and is not given to reflection. Emotion excites his imagination, but it confuses and dulls his intellect... he has little experience of the corrupt products of civilised life, and is ignorant of European women" (Bradley). Our first impression of Othello is a positive one. This fact will help us to feel pity for Othello later in the play.
Bradley also notes that Othello's nature was "indisposed to jealousy, and yet was such that he was unusually open to deception, and, if once wrought to passion, likely to act with little reflection, with no delay, and in the most decisive manner conceivable" (Bradley). Cantor agrees, adding another significant aspect to Othello's demise. He claims that Othello's self-image...
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