Shakespeare's Othello as Aristotelian Tragedy: An Analysis

Aristotle's Definition of Tragedy

Aristotle defines tragedy as the imitation of an action that is serious and possesses a certain dramatic and complete magnitude. In his own words, tragedy is:

"A form of drama exciting the emotions of pity and fear. Its action should be single and complete, presenting a reversal of fortune, involving persons renowned and of superior attainments, and it should be written in poetry embellished with every kind of artistic expression." (Poetics, Part IX)

Aristotle saw tragedy as a simulation of an event that aroused pity and fear in the individual and, by doing so, served as a form of catharsis through which the individual could identify with the plot and feel a certain purging or relief (VI.2).

It is this sense of purging that most distinguishes tragedy from comedy or the epic, in that tragedy alone possesses the emotions of fear and pity and therefore has the power to rid the reader or audience of corresponding tension (Gellrich, 1988).

The Role of Peripety and Plot Structure

Aristotle presents the classical tragedy of Oedipus as an example of the technique of the peripety — a particular defining moment within the plot:

"A peripety is the change of the kind described from one state of things within the plot to its opposite… as it is for instance in Oedipus; here the opposite state of things is produced by the Messenger, who, coming to gladden Oedipus and to remove his fears as to his mother, reveals the secret of his birth." (XI.1–3)

All seemed stable and predictable in Oedipus, and then, in one abrupt moment, there is a change of scene and the hero's world is turned on its head. An event catapults the hero from happiness to fear, or from ignorance to knowledge, or from happiness to calamity. In skillfully wrought tragedies, these tumultuous reversals are performed through the technique of peripety. On one side lies the pre-tragic peace; the peripety shatters that peace, and from that point forward the story moves to a rapid and deliberate close, with one unfortunate mishap following another to its unhappy end. Sometimes, as in the case of Oedipus, the hero is unaware of the imminent tragedy until the very end. At other times, both he and at least one other character are fully aware of the approaching danger and helpless to prevent it (XI.1–5).

Tragedies consist of six parts: plot, character, diction, thought, spectacle, and melody (VI.2). Tragedy is higher than drama in that it shows rather than tells — hence its capacity for arousing catharsis — and it therefore transcends history, which is simply an anecdotal retelling of events. History deals with the particular; tragedy deals with the universal. Tragedy particularly arouses fear because it operates on a cause-and-effect pattern: the hero does something, even if unintentionally, and a certain event is therefore bound to occur. History, by contrast, may be a saga of accidental or coincidental occurrences. It is precisely because tragedy is rooted in the fundamental order of the universe that we are frightened by its message (Part IX).

Not only is the character important for the audience's identification with the tragedy, but the plot is equally potent. The plot must be taut — precisely as Oedipus was — because, to achieve its effect, it must imitate life, and life is taut, consisting of breathless action. The plot must also have several further characteristics. First, it must be compact, with a beginning, middle, and end: the introduction starts the cause-and-effect ripple; the middle serves as a bridge between the beginning and the succeeding events; and the resolution is caused by all that has come before. Aristotle terms this cause-and-effect chain leading up to the final moment "unraveling." Second, the plot must be taut and self-contained, possessing structural unity with all events closely tied together, leaving the audience on the edge of their seats. There must be no incidental occurrences; rather, all events should deliberately cohere in one tight sequence. The plot should be neither too brief nor too long. Finally, it is preferable that the plot be complex rather than simple, turning abruptly on a single peripety that heralds the tragedy.

Conclusion

Aristotle, in the Poetics, presents certain conditions that must be met for a work to be defined as a tragedy. Key conditions hinge primarily on elements of plot and secondarily on elements of character. Shakespeare's Othello appears to fulfill most of these conditions, with the notable exception that its plot is more complex and circuitous than the unified, taut whole that Aristotle's conditions demand. Nonetheless, Othello's downfall hinges on a peripety moment. We identify with him because his cause-and-effect action was prompted by error, and this makes him as human as any of us — we perceive the same results as potentially befalling ourselves. While a tragedy in the modern sense, Othello very nearly succeeds in being a tragedy in the Aristotelian sense as well.

References

Aristotle. (1970). Poetics. University of Michigan Press.

Gellrich, M. (1988). Tragedy and theory: The problem of conflict since Aristotle. Princeton University Press.

Shakespeare, W. (2008). The Norton Shakespeare. W. W. Norton.

Shakespeare, W. (1988). Othello. Bantam.