Comparing Iago And Othello As Tragic Hero

A tragic hero is a person who has qualities of a hero such as intelligence and strength but makes choices that lead to their self-destruction. The tragic hero is usually from a noble family or high position. Oedipus from The Sophocles is a tragic hero because he possesses tragic flaws such as hubris, hamartia, and too much curiosity. Marcus Brutus, a Roman politician, also serves to be a tragic hero since he is too naive, honest, and sometimes impulsive. Both Oedipus and Brutus have certain characteristics that determine them to be a tragic hero.

says,” Make the Moor thank me, love me and reward me,” (Act 2, sc 1,

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer" is a quote that very well describes how two-face Iago really is. In William Shakespeare's play, Othello, Iago's hatred toward the Moor, Othello, leads him to devise a plan against him. As a result, Othello goes from truly loving his wife to hating her with a passion. Othello's hatred and anger proves fatal for Desdemona, Emilia, Roderigo, and Othello, himself. Iago effectively manipulates Othello, Roderigo, and Cassio by; presenting himself as an honest individual to Othello, lying to Roderigo about getting him married to Desdemona and helping Cassio with his problem to obtain the lieutenant position from him.

A tragic hero is a person of high rank, who accepts his or her downfall with dignity. A tragic hero also has to have four qualities to be considered a tragic hero. One, the person must be high born(royalty/high class). Two, he or she must have experienced a tragic flaw. Three, their tragic flaw causes them to have a downfall. Lastly, he or she must have an catharsis; realizes too late the error of his or her choices.

A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgement error that inevitably leads to his destruction. Typically not an ordinary man, but is a man with outstanding quality and greatness about himself. His own destruction is is for a greater cause or principle. John Proctor is the perfect example of a tragic hero; his downfall was self inflicted because he thought keeping his name is more important than staying alive.

Iago is a fictional character in Shakespeare 's Othello. Being the play 's main antagonist, Iago is also the 'Ancient ' of General Othello as well as the husband of Emilia, the handmaiden of Othello 's wife Desdemona. Throughout the play, Iago schemes and plants fake evidence of Desdemona’s “affair” with Cassio, Othello’s righthand man. The question on my mind is, why would Othello do all of this?

A definition of a “tragic hero” is, “a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, suffering,or defeat.“tragic hero”

He gloats about the easy in which he can manipulate Roderigo (the fool) into giving him money. Directly after this, you hear of Iago’s feelings towards Othello (the Moor). You learn of Iago’s suspicion about his wife having an affair with Othello. This gains pity from the audience, because you feel that Iago is a man deeply distraught over the idea of his wife cheating on him. Iago then begins to contemplate how he would seek vengeance on Othello and gain his title. Iago plans to use Othello’s trust and opinion of him to his advantage. He speaks about how he will use Cassio as his pawn to lure Othello into believing his wife, Desdemona is being unloyal to him. Iago discloses that Othello’s character is naive and will be easy to manipulate. As his closing statement he states that, with a little help from the devil, his monstrous plan will be a success.

As the villain in Shakespeare's play Othello, Iago has two main actions. They are to plot and to deceive. Iago wishes to plot and to deceive because he is jealous of Othello and hates him. Iago's reasons for why he hates Othello is because he believes that Othello made love to his wife, and Iago is mad that Cassio was chosen to be Lieutenant instead of himself. From this hate comes the main conflict of the play.

Shakespeare portrays Othello as the general without faults, perfect. Yet, he slowly reveals the weaknesses of Othello’s love for Desdemona. For this love he will forsake anything. Iago is quick to pick on this and starts working towards destroying Othello through his only shortcoming.

355,] By playing on his hopes, Iago is able to conjure money and jewels from Roderigo, making himself a profit, while using Roderigo to further his other plans. He also thinks stealthy on his feet and is able to improvise whenever something unexpected occurs. When Cassio takes hold of Desdemona's hand before the arrival of the Moor Othello, Iago says, "With as little a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio." [II, i, 163] This language demonstrates the evil inside Iago’s goals of retrieving absolute power. He actually even says of himself, "I am an honest man...." [II, iii, 245] Iago slowly corrupts the character’s thoughts, creating ideas in their minds without implicating himself. His "medicine works! Thus credulous fools are caught...." [II, i, 44] "And what's he then that says I play the villain, when this advice is free I give, and honest," [II, iii, 299] says Iago. In turn, people rarely stop to consider the fact that old Iago could be deceiving and manipulating them; yet they are convinced that he is "Honest Iago." From these quotes from “Othello” it is proven that the dialogue used between Iago and the others is manipulative causing an evil outcome.

The tragedy of Othello is not just a story of jealousy but rather a clash of two worlds. In Shakespearean plays we many times see the protagonist fall due to deceit, human flaws, and corruption of their society. We specifically see the hero fall in Shakespeare's Othello as a man trying to be himself with a corrupt friendship in Iago. Othello is seen to be the noble moor of Venice. He is respected by society for his many actions of nobility and bravery. Iago on the other hand is the villain plotting around Othello and others in his society he lives in. The noble moor of Venice Othello is shown to be very brave and courageous of all of the city and the army he leads. Their inconsistent characteristics is what separate the two from each

Then, there is the matter of Othello’s wife, Emilia. One would think that being so close to Iago, she would know something of his deceitful nature. However, she is continuously hoodwinked by her husband. She seems to know nothing of his supposed rage toward Othello at being overlooked for the promotion to lieutenant. She also believes him when he pretends to be upset over Cassio’s demotion from lieutenancy. She says thus to Desdemona, “I warrant it grieves my husband/ As if the cause were his.” (III.iii.3-4). Later, she finds her lady’s

The dictionary defines a Tragic Hero as a 'great or virtuous character in a drama who is destined for downfall, suffering and defeat.

Tragic hero could be said to be someone that has had a tragic flaw that leads to the hero's death and also helps the reader to sympathize with the character. Oedipus is a classic example of a tragic hero who had many flaws on the surface, such as the lack of self-knowledge, curiosity and pride, and the wisdom gained at the end.