2017 ‘Othelloʼs tragedy is less the tragedy of
personal weakness and more the tragedy of an
individual caught in a society he doesnʼt
understand.ʼ
Tragedy stemming from Othello not being able to accept himself because society does
not accept him - Othelloʼs hamartia being society.
Othelloʼs hamartia being his jealousy.
Obsession with idolatry love in the handkerchief being his hamartia
Relationships which were equal in Shakespearian Tragedies are set up for failure. Othelloʼs
hamartia being love and inability to differentiate love and war.
In Aristotleʼs Poetics, Aristotle stated that the tragic hero should not undergo a misfortune due
to “tragic villainy” but by a “error of judgement” intrinsic to their character. This can be seen as
in Othello the tragic hero, Othello, is both tragically flawed but his personal weakness is
exemplified by the society he is in which ‘othersʼ him and allows the tragic hero Iago to “pour
pestilence into his ear” ultimately awakening the “green-eyed monster” within him. Therefore, in
this essay I will discuss to what extent Othelloʼs tragedy is less due to his own personal
weakness but more because of the society he is in.
Immediately as we are introduced to Othello in Act I Scene II, he creates a conflict of
interpretation in the audiences mind. His character appears to be far away from the “lascivious
Moor” who was “making the beast with two backs” described to us in Act I Scene I by Iago and
Roderigo, as instead he presents a character with a colourful complexity who appears to
balance being the powerful military general while also having a calming and controlling
presence. All previous allusions to the devil and sorcery are replaced with heaven and pure
imagery as Othello delivers timelessly poetical and ornamental lines such as “lift up your swords
for the dew will rust them” and “for my pains she gave me a world of sighs”. As Brabantio and
his men appear in Act I Scene II the scene becomes not dissimilar to that of the soldiers arriving
to take Jesus away from the Garden of Gethsemane placing Othelloʼs character in this similar
divine light.
During the court scene in Act, I Scene III, even after Brabantio pleads to racial and socio-
economic stereotypes to force the Venetian elite to agree with him on the matter of his
daughters illegitimate marriage, it becomes clear that the Venetian higher class prefer Othello
to Brabantio (a white-upper class Venetian man) representing how Othello has transcended
racial stereotypes. In Shakespeareʼs comedy ‘The Merchant of Veniceʼ a black man is presented
as evil and is commonly linked to the devil however Othello instead resembles more of John
Leoʼs depictions of black men in a ‘Historie of Africaʼ which described immense confidence,
personal weakness and more the tragedy of an
individual caught in a society he doesnʼt
understand.ʼ
Tragedy stemming from Othello not being able to accept himself because society does
not accept him - Othelloʼs hamartia being society.
Othelloʼs hamartia being his jealousy.
Obsession with idolatry love in the handkerchief being his hamartia
Relationships which were equal in Shakespearian Tragedies are set up for failure. Othelloʼs
hamartia being love and inability to differentiate love and war.
In Aristotleʼs Poetics, Aristotle stated that the tragic hero should not undergo a misfortune due
to “tragic villainy” but by a “error of judgement” intrinsic to their character. This can be seen as
in Othello the tragic hero, Othello, is both tragically flawed but his personal weakness is
exemplified by the society he is in which ‘othersʼ him and allows the tragic hero Iago to “pour
pestilence into his ear” ultimately awakening the “green-eyed monster” within him. Therefore, in
this essay I will discuss to what extent Othelloʼs tragedy is less due to his own personal
weakness but more because of the society he is in.
Immediately as we are introduced to Othello in Act I Scene II, he creates a conflict of
interpretation in the audiences mind. His character appears to be far away from the “lascivious
Moor” who was “making the beast with two backs” described to us in Act I Scene I by Iago and
Roderigo, as instead he presents a character with a colourful complexity who appears to
balance being the powerful military general while also having a calming and controlling
presence. All previous allusions to the devil and sorcery are replaced with heaven and pure
imagery as Othello delivers timelessly poetical and ornamental lines such as “lift up your swords
for the dew will rust them” and “for my pains she gave me a world of sighs”. As Brabantio and
his men appear in Act I Scene II the scene becomes not dissimilar to that of the soldiers arriving
to take Jesus away from the Garden of Gethsemane placing Othelloʼs character in this similar
divine light.
During the court scene in Act, I Scene III, even after Brabantio pleads to racial and socio-
economic stereotypes to force the Venetian elite to agree with him on the matter of his
daughters illegitimate marriage, it becomes clear that the Venetian higher class prefer Othello
to Brabantio (a white-upper class Venetian man) representing how Othello has transcended
racial stereotypes. In Shakespeareʼs comedy ‘The Merchant of Veniceʼ a black man is presented
as evil and is commonly linked to the devil however Othello instead resembles more of John
Leoʼs depictions of black men in a ‘Historie of Africaʼ which described immense confidence,
