An Analysis of a Tragic Hero in Othello and Macbeth

There are many techniques to define a tragic hero. Aristotle breached upon numerous of these characteristics for the duration of his philosophical years. A number of definitions were provided at the top of this question, several of which can be attributed to both Othello and Macbeth : Shakespearean plays. These characters have been each prime examples of tragic heroes, which differs drastically from standard every day heroes. The distinct main distinction between the two is that tragic characters have some sort of supernatural fate causing destruction. At times in the kind of their own personal default.

Macbeth is really relatable to these concepts. In the criterion, Aristotle claimed: “Tragic doom is each public (the State) and private (a family members tragedy as well) and usually sexual transgressions are involved in some way. “Personally, I really feel this is most relatable to Macbeth. In this play, Macbeth killed Duncan in the very starting. It was a loss both to the state and household due to the fact the citizens lost their King. However, it was also a loss to the family members simply because they lost Duncan. Shakespeare was extremely consistent with these qualities employing Aristotle’s tips.

Aristotle also claimed that: “But the hero struggles mightily against this fate and this cosmic conflict wins our admiration”. Othello had not only 1 flaw, but several. One particular being that he was too trusting of Iago. The other being his love Desdemona way as well significantly. He enables this love to consume him and modify who he is. He became very jealous and Iago is the fault of this. He sees this deep love and tries to tell Othello that she is cheating on him. Which is what brought on him to turn into so jealous and turn into a unfair leader. These faults triggered the destruction of Othello and his reign alike. Aristotle’s criteria fit very well into each Shakespearean functions.

A number of prejudice ideas are woven into Othello. Amongst these, a reoccurring these would surely be racism. As we all know, the major character Othello is black and living in a quite racist period in history. There are numerous instances when his race determined his fate and how other people viewed him as effectively. Although he was considered a tragic hero, Othello did not receive the high social recognition as Aristotle claimed was identified to tragic heroes.

Othello also married Desdemona, a white lady. This caused many troubles in his neighborhood and with Iago as properly. He became quite jealous and became the antagonist in this play, causing Othello a lot of difficulties. One particular of the clear displays of racism in this play would be when Brabantio confronts Othello about the marriage. He came to Othello claiming that Desdemona was forced against her will to marry him. Despite the fact that it is not outright stated, we can realize that this is due to his race. But later on, in the discussion he claimed that Othello had absolutely nothing to supply a white lady and he’d rather see her unmarried than with him.

In my opinion these concepts are central to the theme of the play. With no these racist conflicts, Othello’s story would be entirely distinct. The hero had to be of color to fully explain the complexities of his life and his struggles. It also shows the intensity of the very good nature and morality of the hero Othello. Despite the fact that these racist implications would have occurred with or without Othello becoming black, Shakespeare utilizes this to explain that outside looks have absolutely nothing to do with the person inside. Othello was driven to do incredibly undesirable things simply because of white person’s influence.