Discussion of Othello's Character Essay

It is widely believed that Othello is one of the greatest tragic heroes ever committed to writing, due to his passion and noble nature. However it is argued that due to his gullibility he is not a great tragic hero particularly in the sense of Aristotles definition of a tragic hero. That being said Othello does share many of the traits which are described within Aristotles definition however it can be argued that his character does not achieve the status of a great tragic hero.

During the 16th and early 17th centuries in which Othello was written, Britain, according to sources at the time was not the secular society which it is today. Though it can be said that there were peoples from Africans, Arabians and Jewish communities living within Britain these people were often persecuted and treated as second class citizens or even as slaves. Because of this and considering the audience of the time for which this play was written, it can be seen that the choice of Othello who is a Moor is unusual. The question often asked of Othello is that whether he is to be considered to be Black or as an Arab, at the time according to E. A. J Honigmann a Moor meant to Elizabethan people to be a black person or negro. This is also evident in Iagos lines in which he describes Othello as an Old black Ram indicating Othello as a person of African descent. Additionally Roderigos description as the thicklips provides us with further evidence of Othellos ethnicity. For these reasons it can be argued that in Shakespeares choice of placing him central to the story he is seeking to distance the hero from the audience.

Additionally it can be said that attitudes at the times towards inter racial marriages were attached with a great amount of stigma. This is evident in Brabantios reaction upon learning of Othellos and Desdemona marriage he is angry and unbelieving that his daughter would marry a man such as Othello because of his background and ethnicity, this is shown in his speech to Othello in which he says Whether a maid so tender fair and happy, so opposite to marriage that she shunned the wealthy curled darlings of our nation, would ever have tincur a general mock, run from her gaurdage to the sooty bosom of a thing such as thou? Meaning why would his daughter whom was beautiful, virtuous and of a noble family, choose a Moor not even from the state of Venice to become her husband. The use of sooty bosom also leads the readers to believe that Othello is of a darker ethnicity. At the time of writing it can be said that many fathers would have been just as outraged if not more at the actions of their daughters, and would be shocked at the idea of an inter racial marriage. For these reasons Othello is distanced from the audience and readers therefore providing a lack of depth to his character due to the stigma and prejudices attached to his racial background.

However it can be argued that the way in which Othello answers Brabantio in front of the senators in act 1 scene 3, gives an insight into Othello and indicates a depth in the character which is rarely seen in the play. In this passage Othello provides a speech which is one of his longest in the play in which he reasons with quite eloquently how he won Desdemonas heart and hand in marriage. The use of iambic pentameter in this passage is significant in that the flow of the passage stumbles when Othello says True; true I have married her and yet is almost perfect iambic pentameter 2 lines on when he says Hath this extent no more. Rude am I in my speech and little blest with the soft phrase of peace and onwards for another 6 lines. These lines are interesting as Othello stumbles over the word truth and yet when talking about his lack of oratory skills provides an almost perfect passage of iambic pentameter. This passage shows there may be more depth to Othello than he actually shows and provides more dimensions to him than just being a Moor.