Othello Is a Tragedy
Othello, a famous play that was written by William Shakespeare, is one of the most famous tragedy dramas in the world. Othello is a story about the jealousy of men, which will lead to horror death in the end. As we know, there are two genres in drama, the first one is tragedy, and the second one is comedy. To know about why Othello is tragedy, I will explain : first, the different between tragedy and comedy (Those two genres are obviously different); second, types of tragedy; third, the most important one, the tragic hero or protagonist himself, Othello, in reacting to something, making decisions, and conflicts that he has, and the antagonist, Iago, who makes all the problems and conflicts in the play. Thus, we can see that Othello is a play that has the tragedy genre, not comedy.
Tragedy and comedy are different because the main characters’ way of thinking is also different. In tragedy, the main character –tragic hero, has a very clear ethos (ideology) but lack of dianoia (knowledge). On the other hand, in comedy, the main character –comic hero, does not have both ethos and dianoia. Those main characters’ way of thinking will lead to the decisions that the characters have to choose in the drama. In tragedy, the tragic hero will choose the wrong decision because he does not have enough knowledge. With that wrong decision, the tragic hero will not be able to achieve his ideology. In the end, the tragic hero will only suffer a great-great loss. In comedy, the comic hero will not suffer. Because he does not have either ideology and knowledge. With those reasons, the comic hero will not make the wrong decision. Even though he did, he would not care, for he didn’t have any goals. The comic hero will always carry on no matter what, “follow the stream.” To put it simply, tragedy dramas will always have bad ending. Usually the beginning of the play everything is just fine, but then as the story goes it will go bad. Comedy dramas, on the other hand, will always have happy ending.
The tragedy itself was divided into three. The first one is Senecan Tragedy. Senecan tragedy has five structures with choruses. Sometimes it also shows silly and dumb actions. It also shows violence through both language and actions. The plot and dialogue are complex. The second one is Revenge Tragedy. As the name itself mentioned, the tragic hero seeks revenge for the actions of the antagonist. To make an act of revenge, the protagonist will have to debate, murder, and sometimes suffer mental issues. This genre usually has a high-ranking tragic hero. This second type is not very different from the first one, Senecan Tragedy. So, Revenge Tragedy sometimes also has dumb shows or even “acting in the acting.” The third one is Domestic Tragedy. This type involves the ranking of some classes or races. Usually, the tragic hero is in the middle-ranking who gained power and importance. That will make the fall even lower, because it reminds us, the audience, that he is actually low-ranking.
In Othello, we found out that Othello is actually a moor (a black person from Africa). In that era, the moor was seen as a low ranking class. Interestingly, he was chosen to be a general. Rather than choosing a white or local person, the duke chooses Othello, a moor, to become one. It states that Othello is a Domestic Tragedy play. A moor (a low class) gained power and importance (becoming the general). In Othello, all of the problems, and sufferings came from this unfairness. We will see that the problems and sufferings came from the white person that jealous of the moor, Othello.
The tragic hero (or protagonist) in this play is Othello, the moor. As I mentioned before, he came from the low ranking class, but he gains power because he is a general. Because of this unfairness, one of Othello’s friend gets jealous. With his jealousness, he wants to get rid of Othello using his cunningness and plans. His friend’s name is Iago, the antagonist of the play. In this play we can see that the tragic hero (protagonist), Othello, who does not have the dianoia or knowledge will fall to Iago’s plan. Othello will make a lot of mistakes in making decisions just because he does not smart enough to understand the plan of Iago. Othello sometimes just relying on his emotions. Moreover he trusts his instinct to trust Iago without knowing his true intention of killing him. All of Iago’s plans are working. From the very first beginning, Iago makes Desdemona’s father know that his daughter will marry the moor, and the worst one is the lies to Othello that Desdemona is cheating with Cassio. Once again, because Othello does not have the knowledge, he makes the wrong decision that makes Desdemona even sadder, just because he is jealous of Desdemona and Cassio. Iago uses all of the sources around him. From people, like Emilia, Cassio, Desdemona, Bianca, and also the things that are in there, for example, the handkerchief. Iago knows the moment very well, and he uses that chance to make his plan even better.
In the end, Othello is definitely a tragedy. We can see that by looking at the tragic hero. Here, Othello makes many wrong decisions that lead him to disasters, and death (we can see that if the ending is bad, that will be one of the reasons that it is a tragedy). The disasters happen because he does not have knowledge, instead he trusts his emotions and instincts to trust the wrong person. This play is a Domestic tragedy because all the problems come from Iago gets jealous over the moor.
