Tragic Flaw of Othello
Othello, the protagonist of the
tragedy, is a tragic figure because he is a man of great character and some
virtues but brings about his own doom due to a tragic flaw. He is great as a
military leader, as a man of stern morality, and he even has the gentleness of
behavior and the powers of speech and understanding.
But,
as a typical tragic character, Othello has the terrible fault (hamartia) in
that he is disturbingly gullible, madly jealous, and irrationally quick in his
wrong judgments and actions.
As
a tragic character, Othello's 'error of judgment' lies in his faulty
understanding of innocent people like his wife as guilty, and his pigheaded
trust of villains like Iago. He is a complex character. His sexual jealousy,
which rouses in us terrible hatred, would be something ordinary and tolerable
if it was reasonable. But his jealousy is based on his disgustingly gullible
nature. Othello is noble, but turns out to be a disgusting rogue, killing his
innocent wife and trying to justify his horrible crime at the end. As he
transforms, his weaknesses flourish and the nobility of a great soldier
vanishes. In short, his fall is tragic and even shocking. The only thing that
prevents him from being regarded a bad and hateful man is that he does
understand and regret his mistake at the end. His suicide also atones for his
sin and arouses in us some sympathy.
The change in Othello from
the romantic and successful man into the pathetic schizoid (a psychological
patient, who thinks of himself as two or more people) and a miserable and
lonely outcast is remarkable. His realization of this is the tragedy of
Othello, the Moorish captain of Venice. He has been a soldier of the supreme
qualities. He is of a royal blood and aristocracy. The black moor is not a
mismatch 'to the fair, innocent Desdemona. But Othello is too fragile for love
precisely because he is too strong in what he ought to fight back. Jealously
rules him and he spoils everything. He is corruptible. His new life as a
husband fires passion without tolerance. And when faith was shaken, he rushes
headlong in jealousy without the head to make a second thought. He is quick
instead of being fit in judgment. His new life which is utterly dependent on
faith collapses because he bores holes where he finds little cracks in the
illusion. He is in fact uxorious (loving a wife too much). But his wife is
merrily, carelessly, innocently and even foolishly a maiden. He wanted what he
couldn't be.
It is shocking how Othello
never doubts the doubtful, why he doesn't give a thought to Desdemona's
innocence, and Iago's pretensions. He is imaginative when he should be keenly
searching the truth. He sees vulgar visions of his wife in bed with Cassio
instead of opening his real eyes. It is too late when he realizes what he has
done. His "honest" Iago has made him blind and he knows he is now, a
damned fool remembering "he that was Othello". The awakened,
broken-hearted Othello rouses more anger than pity and fear at the end.
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