Iago, who is known as the Machiavellian villain perpetuates the tragedy by bringing forward a hamartia or a fatal flaw from Othello. As soon as the play begins, Shakespeare used dramatic irony to illustrate Othello’s view of Iago as an honest and trustworthy man through his repeated description of “honest Iago” and “a man of exceeding honesty” to the audience. Of course that is not the case, the audience views Iago to be “Janus-faced” and deceptive through his constant declaration of “I am not what I am” and how he “hates the moor”. This juxtaposition is created so that the audience can empathise with Othello. I know I can definitely empathise with him.
Even though Lear is not a man of intellectual brilliance he is a “great soul,” with the capacity for feeling deeply the sorrow of rejection and abandonment by his own. The character of Lear in “King Lear” was known as a tragic hero, because the play meets all the requirements of a tragedy based on Aristotle’s Poetics via A.C. Bradley’s, the Shakespearean tragic Hero. Aristotle suggests that a hero of a tragedy must evoke from the audience a sense of pity or fear, saying, the change of fortune presented must not be the spectacle of a virtuous man brought from prosperity to adversity. King Lear has many common qualities, which appear to be essential to the tragic effect. According to Aristotle’s criteria of a tragic hero, King Lear shows characteristics of a tragic hero by having pre-eminence, tragic flaw and gaining of interest.
Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher claims that a good tragic play must arouse pity from the audience, suggests that the best way to accomplish satisfying a crowd is through the use of dramatic irony. In the plays Oedipus Tyrannous by the Greek playwright Sophocles and Seneca’s Oedipus, we are able to indicate the presence of dramatic irony as it helps develop meaning in the text. Dramatic irony is revealed in a way that allows the reader to be more exposed to the play. Within this setting, we notice the aftermath of the story is conveyed to the reader, whereas the hero is blindly stumbling deeper towards his future of agony. In Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus and Seneca’s Oedipus, dramatic irony is used to demonstrate and emphasize a character's disloyalty, ignorance, and blindness.
An exploration of the presentation of the tragic hero in Dr Faustus using Othello As a comparative piece A tragic hero is defined as a literary character that makes an error of judgement or has a fatal flaw. Greek philosopher Aristotle once claimed that ‘a man cannot become a hero until he sees the roots of his own downfall’. In the play ‘Dr Faustus’ written by Christopher Marlowe, the lead character displays these characteristics in his quest to satisfy his craving of Godly knowledge. Encountering great power and evil along the way it is in the indecisiveness and subsequent determination of Faustus that one can see his devastating downfall. This recurring theme of the battle between good and evil is not dissimilar to that seen in Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’, although this Elizabethan drama highlights the deceptive evil that is common in human nature, even under the persona of those considered allies.
From these thing, it is made clear that Lear is not only rash and insecure but also thoughtless and stupid. Based on these pieces of textual evidence, I think it is clear that King Lear is motivated by his self-concern, and nothing more. Shakespeare causes us to think this through both his words and his actions throughout Act
The anthology noted that “ literary tragedy presents courageous individuals who confront powerful forces within or outside themselves with a dignity that reveals the breadth and depth of human spirit in the face of failure, defeat, and even death.” There are two tragic heroes that comes to mind, they’re Oedipus and Othello. There are two similiarties that Oedipus and Othello shared is that they are viewed as men in charge and their passionate love for their family. Their one difference Is the fate they go on to face. The first similarity that both Oedipus and Othello shared as tragic heroes is they’re viewed as two men in charge. In Oedipus’ tragedy, he happens to be the King of Thebas.
Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles is one of the most famous tragedies ever written. The play centers on Oedipus the King of Thebes, who is cursed with an unfortunate prophecy. Though Oedipus is doomed by fate, his own qualities lead to his eventual ruin. Oedipus is in fact a tragic hero, because he embodies every aspect of the definition itself, the first part of the definition states the character/protagonist must be of noble birth and possess noble and moralistic character, the second portion of the definition explains the character is not perfect; he or she contains a harmartia or tragic flaw, and the third component of the definition states the character must recognize their role in their own demise and in turn experience great self realization. The character Oedipus accommodates the first aspect of the definition of a tragic hero.
This text owns all its uniqueness from the way Sophocles perfectly but subtly dips into the condition of human nature. ‘Oedipus Rex’ is an amalgam of both the limitations of human condition where it is more easy for us readers to recognize ourselves through our own flaws which are chiefly psychological apprehensions, fear of the unknown, an over confident nature and an acute degree of invincibility; and also the strength of human spirit define through courage, and the ability to see beyond. The text portrays a man who seems to have the world at his feet whereby his main trump seems to be his intellectual prowess but even then he fails to perceive the impending doom that targets him. However the strength of human greatness also pervades the text through the intervention of the prophetic seer and Creon who represent human reason and the ability to see even if the sight is plagued by darkness. Sophocles has subliminally paints human with a high degree of fallibility but has also highlighted the aptitude of human spirit.
In Iago’s soliloquy, Shakespeare masterfully uses language so to encourage the audience to both respect and resent him simultaneously. Although Iago is malevolent and deceitful, his ability to fool others around him leads to a level of respect and admiration in an audience. The language Shakespeare employs in Iago is practical and direct, contrasting to Othello’s heroic and epic speech patterns. This is especially shown through Iago’s use of base and simplistic imagery presented when describing Roderigo as “poor trash of Venice”, causing Iago to appear more relatable than Othello. Through Shakespeare’s use of animal imagery when Iago articulates that he will make Othello “egregiously an ass”, the audience is forced to begrudgingly admire Iago for his astuteness and his ability to warp a situation to his own advantage.
But in order to understand the elements that make Macbeth, it is important to analyse the concepts of tragedy. The classical definition of tragedy comes from Aristotle, who states that tragedy is a representation of reality through a complete story. It does not rely in narrative, but in dramatic form and it raises the emotions of fear and pity, promoting a catharsis of them (ARISTOTLE; ACKRILL, 1987, p. 543-544). Additionally, he talks about the tragic hero, a great man who experiences change through misfortune. Aristotle’s theory is suitable to the plays available to him at his time, but it is not enough to embrace all “types of serious plots ending in a catastrophe” that