Othello’s Tragedy

Marlene Romo Professor Williams slope 1B 4 December, 2011 Othellos Tragic Fall According to Aristotle, a disaster must include the prevail overfall of the tragic hero brought upon by his tragic flaw, in other words his weakness or flaw. It must in any case be comprised of the heros peripetia, where when he once had it all, it is now all lost. after the peripetia, the anagnorises follows this is where the hero attributes his downfall to his weakness or flaw. The hero must be noble both in birth as well as in stature and according to Aristotle in the break of the sour the reference must follow out purgation by encountering knowings of pity and fear. plain though Shakespeares Othello does include most of the requirements of an Aristotelian Tragedy it lacks a few elements, such as a hamartia and an anagnorises as well as catharsis. Othellos downfall is non brought upon himself instead Iagos manipulation is the cause, therefore the play does not fulfill Aristotles standards of a Tragedy. Although the hearing fails to experience catharsis at the end of the play, Othello does help the hearing come to the realisation that inhumane and manipulative mass such as Iago exist in immediatelys society.While those who consider Othello to be a cataclysm might conclude that Othellos hamartia is cosmos naive, others may attribute Desdemonas shoemakers last to Iagos manipulation of Othello. The circumstance that Iago was fitted to manipulate not lonesome(prenominal) Othello but Roderigo, Cassio, genus Emilia and even Desdemona proves that he is extremely persuasive and frankincense Iago can be held accountable for Desdemonas stopping point. Since it is Iago who influences Othello into killing Desdemona that means Othello does not have a hamartia but instead confirms that Iago is very manipulative.Iago late but skillfully begins to implant doubt into Othello, for representative when they pull in Cassio travel out of Desdemonas room Iago Ha I ilk not tha t. Othello What dost thou say? Iago Nothing, my lord or ifI know not what. Othello Was not that Cassio parted from my married woman Iago Cassio, my lord No, sure, I cannot think it, That he would steal away so guilty-like, Seeing you coming. Othello I do deal twas he. (III. third. 35-42) Iago makes Othello believe Desdemona is being unfaithful to him with Cassio, because he is constantly suggesting this.After some date Othello begins to believe every word Iago tells him and eventually ends up doubting his wifes fidelity which results in her death. Desdemona dies and Othello finds himself losing everything but it is not due to hamartia it is due to Iagos cruel manipulation of the mind. Othello listens to everything Iago says to him and believes it to be true for example when Iago says to Othello scarcely he that filches from me my good name and makes me poor indeed. Robs me of that which not enriches him (III. iii 72-74) Here one can be a witness to Iagos master manipulation.Iago is saying Othello, Cassio is robbing you of your reputation and that is immoral not unless because he wants you to lose your respect and is only doing this to hurt you, but because he get out not receive any personal gain and til now is ease determined to go through with it . Iago does this throughout most of the play, he instills ideas into Othellos mind and does it with the intention of hurting him, therefore Othello does not have a tragic flaw that causes his downfall but instead Iago is the one who brings Othello down with his manipulation.Since Othello does not have a hamartia anagnorises does not take place. Othellos downfall is attributed to Iagos manipulation not to Othellos flaw. Even though it is Othello who suffocates Desdemona to death, this would never have happened if it werent for Iagos manipulation. Othello cannot help but feel partially responsible for the death of Desdemona but he is aware of Iagos cruel influence on him. When Othello has killed Desdemona and Emilia explains to him the way Iago got a cast off of the handkerchief Othello says Are there no stones in heaven But what serves for the thunder? Precious villain (V. ii. 241-242). Here Othello is finally able to see Iago as the villain that he is, and he asks heaven why it volition not strike him dead. Othello never feels fully responsible for Desdemonas death, he knows he is partially to blame but he also recognizes Iago as a villain so therefore anagnorises does not take place. Othello is not the only one who views Iago as a villain after Emilias confession so does Lodovico and the rest.After Iago is brought to the room as a prisoner Lodovico says to Othello O thou Othello, that was once so good, Falln in the practice of a cursed slave (V, ii, 300-301). Lodovico is aware that Othellos drastic change was brought upon by Iagos evil manipulation and attributes Desdemonas death to him. Everyone in the room realizes that Iago was not the honest( V. ii. 161) person they believed h im to be, not only did they now realize he was a villain but they also became aware of all the people he manipulated, such as Othello, Roderigo, Cassio, Desdemona, and Emilia.Despite the fact that catharsis does not take place, the auditory sense does experience fear toward the end of the play. The interview experiences fear because they become aware of the existence of men like that of Iago, in society. Dramatic irony is what allows the audience to witness Iagos venomous plans. Iago is pure evil and unlike the characters in the play the audience is aware of this throughout the play. As the play progresses the audience gradually becomes to a greater extent and more aware of Iagos cruelty.The audience cannot help but come to the realization that men like Iago do exist in the real world. Marvin Rosenberg, Shakespearean scholar and a UC Berkeley professor points this out in his essay, when speaking of Iago he says he evokes our fear, because we know that wicked men do exist (Rosenbe rg157). Rosenberg states that the audience fears to encounter people like Iago because he seemed so trustworthy and yet he was able to manipulate everyone he wanted to and was almost able to get away with murder.Rosenberg argues in his essay titled In demur of Iago that Shakespeares purpose in writing this play was to enlighten the audience in the ways of thinking of a mischievous man. Rosenberg believes that Shakespeare wanted the audience to know how an evil mans twisted emotions work (Rosenberg 157). Even though the audience fails to experience catharsis, good comes from the play because now the audience has been exposed to the evil of man and can go about invigoration life without being too naive. Shakespeares Othello is not a calamity under Aristotles standards.First of all Othello does not have a hamartia. Secondly, it is because he does not have a hamartia that he does not experience anagnorises. And lastly the audience does not experience catharsis. Othello cannot be cons idered a tragedy under Aristotles conditions but despite this, the play if effective when it comes to gap the eyes of the audience to the existence of people like Iago. After being exposed to the play the audience is now more capable of distinguishing an echt person from a dishonest one.Once the audience becomes aware of the malicious acts of Iago they go out question the motives of others and this will help them separate the truly honest people from those who are strategically manipulative. Works Cited Crowther, John, ed. No Fear Othello. SparkNotes. com. SparkNotes LLC. 2005. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. Rosenberg, Marvin. In Defense of Iago. Shakespeare Quarterly 6. 2 (1955) 145-158. Jstor. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. Shakespeare, William Othello,the Moor of Venice. LiteratureAn grounding to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing. Eds. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 6th Compact e. New York Longman, 2010. 912-1012. Print.