How Far Would You Classify Othello as a Tragic Hero?

Aristotle said there are four principles of tragedy a character possesses which are: peripateia, hamartia, anagnorisis and catharsis. However, a tragic hero in Shakespeare's plays is usually a character who is of noble stature that has one tragic flaw that the audience should feel pity and fear for before their final downfall. In the beginning of the play, Othello appears as a great and respectable man but throughout the play, pride, his major flaw, slowly takes over when Iago convinces him that his wife, Desdemona, is cheating on him. Othello prides himself on his reputation so when his Ancient, Iago, begins to plot against him, Othello is blind to the truth as he only thinks about his prestige. William Shakespeare presents the character of Othello as the tragic hero throughout the play as his fatal flaw leads to his demise.

In Act One, Othello is represented as an honourable man; however, he later becomes afflicted with hubris and leads his own life towards disaster. ‘For naught did I in hate, but all in honour (Act 5, scene 2, page 130).' This suggests Othello murdered his wife not in hatred but for honour as the news of Desdemona cheating on him could potentially ruin his reputation. On the other hand, he believed the honourable option was to kill Desdemona to protect his pride even though Desdemona repeatedly declared she was innocent. Two critics, with conflicting views about Othello, became involved in many arguments about Othello being a tragic hero. The first, A.C. Bradley said, ‘By far the most romantic figure among Shakespeare heroes… he does not belong to our world, and he seems to enter it we know not whence – almost as if from wonderland' (A.C Shakespearean Tragedy (Palgrave Macmillan). He refers to Othello as a heroic and romantic character who loves Desdemona too much and brings his downfall because of his love for her. However, F.R Leavis disagreed and said, ‘Othello yields with extraordinary promptness to suggestion, with such promptness as to make it plain that the mind that undoes is not Iago's but his own' Both critics have contrasting opinions as Othello listens to the suggestions of Iago instead of trusting his love with Desdemona; this causes him to become a tragic character because of his misled choices; he becomes manipulated resulting in the destruction of his life. At the end of the play, Othello realises that his pride blinded him from the truth and forced him to destroy his relationship with Desdemona. ‘Of one whose hand, like the base Indian, threw a pearl away richer than all his tribe' (Act 5, scene 2, page 132). This implies Othello has comprehended that he murdered his loved innocent wife. The term ‘like the base Indian' compares Othello to the Indians who were unaware of the value of the precious objects in their domains. However, it also shows his foolishness as he only accepts what he has done after he committed the crime and lost everything. Othello