Othello Essay

In Othello, the intellectual choices serve most of the tragic vision of the story. The "Moor" made intellectual choices throughout the story, but tragically, Iago, the witted and the wicked, used Othello as a puppet for the drama that he created. Similarly to Oedipus, Othello made every intellectual choice as a hero, but as a tragic hero, his doom could not be avoided. The audience realizes that Othello was doomed when Iago authored his evil scheme. Another element of tragedy, the fall of the good, also contributed to the tragic vision of the story. The innocent characters expanded the tragic vision of the play but also caused themselves to fall as the victims of tragedy.

Iago plotted his evil schemes to destroy Othello's life, as if he had planned to shoot an arrow in Othello's thigh, disabling him from walking his path of happiness. Othello had a good life as a respected leader and a romantic warrior. Othello and Desdemona madly loved each other, and Desdemona even preferred Othello over her father. "I am hitherto your daughter: but here's my husband,/And so much duty as my mother show'd/To you, preferring you before her father,/So much I challenge that I may profess/Due to the Moor my lord" (Act I Scene III). But out of all the joy of life, came the villain. Because Iago believed that Othello had slept with his wife, although not the only reason, Iago decided to take revenge on Othello. "And it is thought abroad, that 'twixt my sheets/He has done my office" (Act I Scene III). Iago then created Othello as an instrument of the suffering of the others. Othello's friends and loved ones suffered through him despite the fact that Iago was ultimately, the one causing the pain.

Desdemona suffers the most through the evil actions. Desdemona was a sweet, loyal, and innocent wife who had been faithful to Othello throughout the play. These elements created the tragedy of her death. Iago beguiled Othello into thinking that Desdemona was unfaithful. As a passionate lover that Othello was, he could not handle such character from Desdemona. Because of Iago's evil soul and cunning nature, he created the death of the innocent, which was something he did not even want from Desdemona. She did not deserve to die. Indeed, when Desdemona said "I have not deserved this" (Act IV Scene I) after Othello struck her and called her a "Devil!," Shakespeare intended to mean more than the mere physical pain and the hatred Othello had toward her. The quote foreshadowed her death. Since Iago tricked Othello into convincing himself of the infidelity of Desdemona, Desdemona became inevitable as a victim of the tragic vision.

Minor but important characters such as Roderigo and Emilia also deepen the tragic vision of the story. All Roderigo wanted was Desdemona, but as an idiot that he was, he cooperated with the wrong man. He cooperated with the villain who did not care about anyone but himself. As a result, Iago turned against Roderigo and stabbed him to death. Like Roderigo, Emilia had only one objective. She only cared to please her husband, not knowing the evilly selfish nature of Iago and the terrible fate the handkerchief could bring. "And give't Iago: what he will do with it/Heaven knows, not I;/I nothing but to please his fantasy" (Act III Scene III). The handkerchief served as a catalyst to the downfall of Othello and Desdemona. Roderigo and Emilia's life ended tragically because they did not know that the person they trusted so much could end up as their murderer.

In Othello, the characters' innocent choices that fed to the evilness of Iago created the tragic vision in the story. All the uncorrupted characters, Othello, Desdemona, Roderigo, and Emilia fell into the devilish hands of Iago. They all trusted the "honest" Iago, until they realized near their death that he was in fact, a wicked person. Like all tragedies, the ending of Othello was not a happy one. Shakespeare killed Iago in order to show that no one felt happy in the end; the lamentable ending served as the last tragic vision of the story.