Othello

A detailed Summary of Othello


Ever since it's definition by Aristotle as early as 250 B.C., the medium of tragedy is prominent throughout the course of classical literature and can be seen as a traditional hallmark of many great works produced over the centuries. Simply defined, tragedy always entails the death of the protagonist. As a common standard in tragedy, the protagonist, or "tragic hero" is of high standing who is faced with some opposing force whether internal or external. "Tragedy is the imitation of an action; and an action implies personal agents, who necessarily possess certain distinctive qualities both of character and thought; for it is by these that we qualify actions themselves, and these- thought and character- are the two natural causes from which actions spring, and on actions, again all success or failure depends...."


This excerpt from Aristotle's Poetics illustrates an aspect of tragedy upon which many works, including Shakespeare's Othello and Sophocles Oedipus are based.

The plays of Oedipus the King and Othello both compare when it comes to their tragic endings. They both are seen as "tragedies" because of their tragic events and endings. In Oedipus the King, there are many events that happen during the play that are tragedies. Such events like the first event, happens in the beginning of the play. That event is the plague that has struck the city of Thebes. "The breath on incense rises form the city with a soun of prayer and lamentation." (Sophocles 1384). Oedipus is describing what the play has done to his city and its people. Even before this tragedy there was a previous one that had occurred before but was ignored a

Some common words found in the essay are:
, Oedipus King, King Laius, Oedipus Spartan, Oedipus Othello, King Othello, Aristotle's Poetics, Sophocles Oedipus, oedipus king, tragic events, tragedy oedipus,

Approximate Word count = 549
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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