Study Shakespeare’s Othello as a central text and read Marlowe’s Dr Faustus in order to compare critically the development of the tragic hero.
Both plays fit the audience’s expectations of a tragic play; this coincides with the “tragic hero” theory that both William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe create in both Othello and Dr Faustus’s play. In this powerful tragedy innocence is broken and trust is exploded as every relationship is drawn into a tangled web of jealousness.
Shakespeare’s tragic heroes always had at least one main flaw, which contributed to their downfall. In Othello’s case it was jealousy; when he was told Desdemona was having an affair. Other themes the play deals with includes hatred, racism, betrayal and discrimination. Although Othello is the main protagonist in the play, however, in many ways Iago seems to be the dominant character.
In Act 1 Scene 1 we do not see that evil side to Iago however, that quickly comes to light by the end of Act 1. Iago is presented in complete contrast to Othello, and is the antagonist of the play. Othello is a respected high-ranking general whereas; Iago is a lower ranking to Othello and referred to as “the villain of villains”. I see Iago as an intriguing character as he can be extremely unpredictable. At the beginning of the play, it is Iago and Roderigo who we are first aware of, not Othello. The audience is made aware of Iago’s hatred of Othello because Othello promoted Cassio instead of him.
Just as the conversation in the Dukes chamber around the table in Act 1 Scene 3 is getting intense one of the Senators says "Here comes Brabantio and the valiant Moor". This shows that they all think of Othello as a "Moor" and do not think very highly of him this links to one of my themes – racism. It was unusual to see a black person in a white society and that is shown by numerous name calling to Othello such as “The Moor”.
The Protagonist, Othello is a complicated character because his love...