The Fall of a Hero: Othellos Tragic Flaw

According to the tradition of tragedy as stated by Aristotle in his Poetics, the tragic hero must not be an entirely good man, or one who is completely evil, but, rather, a man who on the whole is good but contributes to his own destruction by some moral weakness (the "fatal flaw"). Othello is initially portrayed as a consummate military leader whose thoughts are governed by logic and reason. However, Othello has a tragic flaw- he has a tendency to take everything he sees and everything he is told at face value without questioning the circumstances. Iagos realization of this imperfection and his incessant deception and lies cause Othellos wisdom and judgment to be overthrown by anger and jealousy. It is solely Iagos exploitation of Othellos otherwise absent defect that leads to the tragic outcome of the play and that causes Othello to be driven by jealousy to the point that it consumes his entire existence. Othello is a general in the army of Venice. He is a Moor, a dark-skinned man of African descent, and has risen through the ranks of the Venetian army through hard work and success in battle. Othello is a cultural and racial outsider in the predominantly White population of Italy, but despite this his skill as a soldier and leader is
nevertheless valuable and necessary to the state. He knows that he has no remedy for Othello's misjudgment (1.1.35) but he can do three things to put his hatred into effect. First, he can disguise his intentions. Then, he can draw upon the capital he has accumulated in his name as "honest" Iago. Finally, he can begin a series of civil disturbances in Venice which, though not bringing the desired civil discord, warm him up for his really devious actions in Acts II and III. Iago's first decision is to continue to serve Othello but "I follow him to serve my turn on him (1.1.42)." In other words, Iago will now live and serve for his own benefit and not to feather the nest of Othello The character most frequently calling Iago "honest," is Othello himself. When Othello is talking to the Duke about entrusting his commission to Cyprus to someone, Othello says, "So please your Grace, my ancient;/ A man he is of honesty and trust (1.3.283-284)." A few lines later he sandwiches this term between other terms fraught with large meaning in the play, "My life upon her (Desdemona's) faith! Honest Iago, My Desdemona must I leave to thee (1.3.294295)."

When setting up shop in Cyprus in Act II, Cassio tells Othello that Iago is in charge of guarding the city, and Othello responds, "Iago is most honest (2.3.6)." Even as late as the last scene of the play, before Othello's faith in Iago comes crashing down in his "World Trade Center" emotional collapse, Othello repeatedly calls Iago "honest (5.2.148,15 If there is anything Iago hates, Othello opines, he "hates the slime/ that sticks on filthy deeds (5.2.149)." However, Iago has been hating Othello since Act I (1.3.386), but Othello is still in his dream world regarding Iago right up to the last few hundred lines of the play. He calls him not simply "honest" Iago, but "My friend, thy husband, honest, honest Iago (5.2.154)." And it is not only Othello who comes to this conclusion about Iago. After Cassio has been discredited through his drunkenness on duty and fight with the previous Governor of Cyprus Montano, Iago comes along side him to comfort him and propose a scheme by which he might re-enter Othello's good graces [unbeknownst to Cassio, the scheme would lead to the undoing of Othello]. Cassio thanks him for the advice, to which Iago responds, "I protest, in the sincerity of love and honest kindness," to which Cassio responds a few lines below, "Good night, honest Iago (2.3.327-335)." Iago then withdraws and congratulates himself for the "free" and "honest" advice he gave to Cassio. Indeed, his advice has a chance of restoring Cassio, but his "honesty" will help bring down both Desdemona and Othello. Iago has nothing but contempt for these men--he wants to "whip me such honest knaves (1.1.49)." The veneer of honesty is necessary for Iago to pull off his tricks, but to make the principle of honesty one's mode of operation is to be a fool and to be open to exploitation A second question, also unresolved here, is why Othello kept relying on Iago's "honesty" even when it began to lead him to a terrible intellectual tangle and, eventually, to the murder of his wife? What is it in Iago and Desdemona that led Othello to credit the former's account over the latter's? In response to the popular American proverb, "honesty is the best policy," Iago would have vigorously assented--if what you mean by honest is the appearance of honesty. After deciding that dissimulation is his method, and while drawing on his capital of honesty, Iago then tries to create civic anarchy in Venice. He will not be successful at it, and so he takes his anarchic show to Cyprus beginning in Act II and will thrive much more there. He tries three things in Act I to destabilize the society. First, he suggests to Roderigo that he wake Brabantio, Desdemona's father, in the middle of the night to announce her elopement with Othello. The language Shakespeare uses, however, is anything but gentle. Roderigo is to call "with like timorous [terrifying] accent and dire yell/ As when, by night and negligence, the fire/ Is spied in populous cities (1.1.75-77)." In other words, rouse the household with the same urgency and terror as a fire alarm in a medieval city where wooden houses are tightly packed and lean against

each other. Surely Iago wants to start a civic conflagration. While Brabantio is rousing his family to action, Iago slips away for his second provocative act. He meets up with Othello and tries to goad him on to violence. Using incendiary language and probably prodding Othello in the ribs [following Professor Weller's suggestion--"Nine or ten times/ I had though t' have yerk'd him here under the ribs"--1.2.4-5], Iago tries to destabilize Othello's mind. Yet, this too is unsuccessful, as Othello responds with words that defuse the situation: "Let him [Brabantio] do his spite (1.2.17)." Third, when Brabantio's hastily assembled militia confronts Othello outside of the Sagittary Inn with the words, "Down with him, thief (1.2.57)," Iago quickly says to Roderigo, with whom he had engineered the entire scene, "You, Roderigo! come, sir, I am for you (1.2.58)." In other words, Iago wants to give the impression of fighting with Roderigo in hopes of stirring up a further violent confrontation. But Othello also defuses this with a one sentence authoritative response, "Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them (1.2.59)." When these attempts at provoking civic discord fail, Iago will be thrown back on his intellectual creativity as he weaves a complex but ultimately successful plot to bring down Othello.

Iago witnesses this behavior of Othello. He has seen that Brabantio's threats and his own pokes to Othello do not rile the great man. Now he sees that something does get him enraged. It will be the withholding of information in an area under Othello's authority. And, Iago is brilliant. He will store this incredibly important datum in his memory bank, and bring it out to torment Othello into near lunacy in 3.3. Now Iago will not only have Cassio in his debt, but he has just learned how to catch Othello in his net. A little riot well worth it! After Othello finally realizes that Iago has victimized him, betrayed him, he can only call him "villain Venice We receive our first impression of Venice from the lips of the Senator, Brabantio. He has been wakened from sleep by Roderigo and Iago, who communicate to him news that his house is being robbed: i.e., that his daughter has been "stolen" by Othello. Before they can deliver their message, however, Brabantio interrupts their fervid cries: "What tells't thou me of robbing? This is Venice; /My house is not a grange (1.1.105-106)." The line should be said with a sense of calm superiority, even haughtiness, that comes from the confidence that one is living in

modern times, in a safe and secure modern city. In the country (the grange), there might be robbers at night, but not in Venice. The proud life of the West's most advanced city will not be disturbed by anything so low as night bandits.