Christopher Rovira
ENG102.7430
Professor Colleran
February 6, 2009
The Critical Examination of Tragic Heroes
Throughout our history, many genres have survived the test of time. One of the
most well known and popular genre is the tragedy. A tragedy tells a story of the downfall
of a basically good person through some fatal error or misjudgment, producing suffering
and insight on the part of the protagonist and arousing pity and fear on the part of the
audience. One of the main authorities on tragedy is ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle.
His piece of literature, Poetics, is highly regarded as one of the main sources used to
define what makes a tragedy. In each tragedy, there must be a tragic hero to carry out the
plot of the story. In addition, the protagonist must conform to specific guidelines
according to Aristotle to be considered a tragic hero. According to Aristotle, the hero of a
tragedy must “not be shown passing from good fortune to misfortune; again, vicious
people must not be shown passing from misfortune to good fortune; nor again should an
utterly evil man fall from good fortune into misfortune. So we are left with the man
between these extremes: that is to say, the kind of man who neither is distinguished for
excellence and virtue, nor comes to grief on account of baseness and vice, but on account
of some error; a man of great reputation and prosperity, like Oedipus and Thyestes and
conspicuous people of such families as theirs.” (L.J. Potts 981-2) However, there are
many adverse views on his definition of a tragic hero. The question is whether or not
those guidelines must adhere to all tragedies to be successful. Othello, the protagonist in
Othello is much like Oedipus, from Oedipus the King. Both Oedipus and Othello fulfill
all of the prerequisites of a tragic hero: men between the extremes, they have a tragic
flaw, they commit a fatal error, and are men of great reputation and prosperity. All these
contribute to the fact that Oedipus the King and Othello as tragedies are successful in
arousing fear and pity from the audience. Therefore, Oedipus and Othello exemplify
Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero.
Oedipus the King takes place in Ancient Greece in the city of Thebes. The
protagonist of the story is Oedipus. It is made clear at the beginning of the play that
Oedipus is a man of high stature that is able to grab the audience’s attention. Oedipus
proclaims, “I Oedipus whom all men call the Great.” (Sophocles 8) Oedipus is shown to
be a man of great reputation, as he claims himself to be a hero among men. A plague has
stricken the city of Thebes, and as its king, he has piled the task upon himself to rid the
city of the outbreak. To rid the city of this infection, Oedipus must find the murderer of
the previous king, Laius. When speaking to the people of Thebes while searching for the
slayer of Laius, Oedipus declares, “Upon the murderer I invoke this curse – whether he is
one man and all unknown, or one of many – may he wear out his life in misery to
miserable doom!” (Sophocles 245) Here it becomes evident of Oedipus’ hamartia, or
tragic flaw. Oedipus’ hamartia is his short temper, as he is quick to shout consequences
aimed at the killer without knowing many facts. His short temper also leads him to the
error that sets his fate in motion. Hamartia is a key element in having a tragic hero.
On his continued search for the murderer, the blind prophet Teiresias is brought to
him to reveal the truth. Once in the presence of Oedipus, Teiresias refuses to provide him
information on the murderer, revealing that he will not bring to the light of day his
troubles, or rather, Oedipus’ troubles. (Sophocles 326) This leads Oedipus to become
enraged, and he begins to shout insults at the blind seer. Teiresias becomes angry at these
insults, and sends Oedipus spiraling towards his demise by revealing his fate. Teiresias
states that Oedipus “shall be proved father and brother both to his own children in his
house; to her that gave him birth, a son and husband both; a fellow sower in his father’s
bed with that same father that he murdered.” (Sophocles 458) These events lead him to
the anagnorisis, which is when Oedipus realizes that he was the murderer of Laius and
the husband and son of his mother. The peripeteia occurs soon after, due to the
humiliation of sleeping with his own mother, the Chorus witnesses him taking Jocasta’s
brooches and dashing them on his own eyeballs, shrieking out that he will never be able
to see the crime he committed or had done upon him. (Sophocles 1268) This reversal of
fortune produces a feeling of fear and pity on the audience. All these instances show that
Oedipus is indeed a tragic hero.
Othello takes place in the late sixteenth century, during the wars between Venice
and Turkey. Othello, like Oedipus, is high ranked in society. This is revealed when
Othello mentions, “’Tis yet to know – Which, when I know that boasting is an honor, I
shall promulgate – I fetch my life and being from men of royal siege; and my demerits
may speak unbonneted to as proud a fortune as this that I have reach’d.” (Shakespeare
I.II.20) He is telling Iago that he comes from a family as rich and well-known as
Desdemona’s family is. Unlike Oedipus however, Othello is shown to have a few fatal
flaws in his character. The character that brings Othello’s flaws to light is Iago. Iago is a
wily character, who uses deceitful tactics to ruin Othello’s life by trying to destroy his
and Desdemona’s marriage. Iago remarks, “Though I do hate him as I do hell-pains, yet
for necessity of present life, I must show out a flag and sign of love, which is indeed but
sign.” (Shakespeare I.I.164) Iago is shown presenting love and loyalty to Othello but
underneath that guise he really dislikes him. Othello is completely fooled by Iago,
claiming several times that Iago is a man of honesty and would not betray him. The
article “Othello as a Tragic Play” states that Othello “displays his naivety, which could be
perceived as a fatal flaw, as he insists on calling Iago ‘honest’ persistently throughout the
play.” (1) Being naïve is one of Othello’s tragic flaws. Another one of his flaws is
mistrust, as constantly throughout the play Othello believes Iago’s words over
Desdemona’s. These flaws help contribute to Othello being a tragic hero.
As Faith Nostbakken emphasizes, Iago uses careful manipulation of words to
poison Othello’s mind, turning his love for Desdemona into irrational suspicion and
horrified jealousy and believing that she was sleeping with Cassio. (3) This is shown
once the peripeteia is revealed. His reversal of fortune begins when Iago proclaims
“Indeed!” (Shakespeare III.III.112) and Othello responds “Indeed? ay, indeed. Discern’st
thou aught in that? Is he not honest?” (Shakespeare III.III.114) This shows the change in
his mindset , going from trusting Desdemona to being wary of her. Othello is easily
persuaded by Iago, and ponders “By heaven, he echoes me, as if there were some monster
in his thought too hideous to be shown. (Shakespeare III.III.121) This is where he starts
to descend into darkness. Eventually he becomes so jealous that he kills his Desdemona.
As Joan Lord Hall points out, “he makes a fatal error…trusting Iago instead of his wife
and killing Desdemona after Iago works him into a frenzy of jealousy; he recognizes the
enormity of what he has done. (81) Emilia tells Othello that, “Moor, she was chaste; she
loved thee, cruel Moor; so come my soul to bliss, as I speak true.” (V.II.290) This is
where the anagnorisis takes place, as Othello comes to the conclusion that he has been
wronged. Shortly after, he kills himself in remorse. All these facts contribute to Othello
being a tragedy, therefore making Othello a tragic hero.
In conclusion, it has been shown that both Oedipus and Othello exemplify
Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero. Oedipus showed he was a man of high stature by
proclaiming himself “Oedipus the Great.” Othello stated that he was of royal blood, also
satisfying the requirement of high status. Oedipus’ tragic flaw was his short temper,
which led him to his downfall, as did Othello’s flaws of naivety and mistrust. Both plays
went through a peripeteia and an anagnorisis, as both saw a reversal of fortune and a
realization of their mistakes. All these elements of tragedy give the audience a feeling of
pity and remorse for both Oedipus and Othello, thus reinforcing Aristotle’s definition of a
tragic hero.
Works Cited
Aristotle. “Critics on Sophocles.” Poetics. Trans. L.J. Potts
“Othello as a Tragic Play.” 123HelpMe.com. 04 Feb 2009.
<http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=144628>.
Hall, Joan Lord. Othello: A Guide to the Play. Westport: Greenwood, 1999
Nostbakken, Faith. Understanding Othello. Westport: Greenwood, 2000
Shakespeare, William. Othello. Clayton: Prestwick House Inc., 2005