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Othello As A Tragic Hero

Othello can be considered a tragic hero according to Aristotle's six elements of tragedy: 1) Othello has a high position as the leader of the Italian army; 2) his flaw is jealousy which Iago manipulates; 3) there is a prophecy of Desdemona's death through a song; 4) Othello recognizes his mistake after killing Desdemona; 5) the catastrophe is Othello killing Desdemona; 6) Othello then kills himself in reversal of fortune.

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661 views2 pages

Othello As A Tragic Hero

Othello can be considered a tragic hero according to Aristotle's six elements of tragedy: 1) Othello has a high position as the leader of the Italian army; 2) his flaw is jealousy which Iago manipulates; 3) there is a prophecy of Desdemona's death through a song; 4) Othello recognizes his mistake after killing Desdemona; 5) the catastrophe is Othello killing Desdemona; 6) Othello then kills himself in reversal of fortune.

Uploaded by

Amir Shani
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Othello as a Tragic Hero

In Shakespeare's Othello, Othello can be considered a tragic hero because he follows Aristotle's six

elements of a tragedy. Based on Aristotle's six elements of a tragedy, position, flaw, prophecy, recognition,

catastrophe, and reversal, the character of Othello from Shakespeare's Othello can be considered a tragic hero.

The first element of tragedy is position, or status, that the hero is in. In Othello, Othello is the leader of the

Italian army and is very important to the people of Italy.

"Valiant Othello, we must straight employ you against the general enemy Ottoman.

The second element of tragedy is prophecy, which can be seen when Desdemona tells the story of Barbara,

Desdemona's mother's maid, who sang a song of "willow". "An old thing 't was, but it express'd her fortune, and

she died singing it: that song to-night will not go from my mind ." This quote is an example of prophecy

because it's foreshadowing that Desdemona will die because she won't let the song go from her mind.

The third element of a tragedy is flaw. Flaw can be either hubris or anger. "By heaven, that should be my

handkerchief !" This quote shows the jealousy that Othello has over the fact that Desdemona is being unfaithful

to him.

The fourth element of a tragedy is recognition, which can be seen when Emilia hears Othello mentions the

handkerchief, after he killed Desdemona. " with that recognizance and pledge of love which I first gave her; I

saw it in his hand: It was a handkerchief, an antique token my father gave my mother ." Once Othello says this,

Emilia knows that Iago is the person who set up Desdemona and Othello isn't the one to blame. 

The fifth element of a tragedy is catastrophe, which can be seen when Othello dies. "I kiss'd thee ere I kill'd

thee: no way but this, killing myself, to die upon a kiss .

The sixth element of a tragedy is reversal which can be seen when Desdemona kills herself. 

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