Shakespear's Tragic Hero Othello

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorHigh School, 11th grade October 2001

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A story about a tragic weak hero comes to mind when reading Shakespeare'sOthello. Our hero Othello has many faults in his character which make him the tragic hero he is. Just a few of this many faults that I will outline are his gullibility also his lack of a grasp on reality another is that he loses himself and becomes much like the villain in the story and the last is his weak will to keep his virtues.

Othello's character seems quiet gullible in that he takes everything said at face value and he jumps to conclusions too easily. He does not question the essence behind what is being told to him. "His gullibility makes manifest his lack of rationality, of psychological insight and of mere common sense, and that it is a necessary product of his undeveloped mind."� ("Shakespeare for students"�), it seems he trusts anything someone says, like a child innocently believing what he is told.

He is also gullible in the sense that he refers to Iago as, "My friend, thy husband; honest, honest Iago."� (Shakespeare's, Othello p.249 act5. sc.2 line 189). He hasn't questioned what Iago has told him and he is trusting to believe him but doesn't see that Iago is not really looking out for him. He was too easily tricked into believing that Desdemona, his love, his wife is unfaithful and he takes no real action to confirm if these accusations are true or not. That is a flaw in his character and it is one of the many flaws that makes him a weak hero or a tragic hero.

Another flaw we can observe is his inability to grasp reality. "The basic element that permits Othello's destiny to evolve the way it does is his...