Student Essay on The "True Tragedy" of "Othello"

The "Tragedy of Othello," written by William Shakespeare, fulfills all of the requirements needed to satisfy Aristotle's idea of a true tragedy. The tragedy has a virtuous, noble protagonist in Othello whose one flaw will ultimately lead to his downfall; the audience has an emotional catharsis of pity and terror as the events of the play unfold; and Shakespeare brilliantly embellished the language and presented the tragedy as an action with a realistic plot.

The Tragedy of Othello

There are several essential elements that must be presented in a Shakespearean play in order to classify the piece as a true tragedy. Most importantly the tragedy must have a virtuous, noble protagonist who possesses a flaw, not a character defect, which will ultimately lead to his downfall or death. Another important detail is that the audience will have an emotional catharsis of pity and terror as the events of the play unfold. The work must also embellish language, and the tragedy will be presented as an action with a realistic plot. Shakespeare's Othello brilliantly encompasses all of these essential elements and introduces the world to perhaps the greatest tragic hero of all time, Othello, the Moor of Venice.

The protagonist's fall from grace due to his.....