‘Othello’s tragedy is less the tragedy of personal weakness and more the tragedy of an
individual caught in a society he doesn’t understand.’ To what extent do you agree with
this view?
Shakespeare’s Othello constantly questions its audience as to where the responsibility for
Othello’s downfall lies; the tragic norm would suggest that Othello’s hamartia is the inevitable
cause for his downfall, which excludes any outside force as being culpable. However, when
Shakespeare presents his antagonist, Iago, his mastery in manipulation cannot be ignored when it
comes to the ignition of Othello’s extreme jealousy and subsequent demise. Iago takes away that
responsibility and arguably the society that Othello has controversially positioned himself in by
marrying Desdemona, a white woman of a higher class, also contributes to his downfall.
Whether or not Othello’s downfall is due to his misunderstanding of society is debatable,
perhaps it is more that Othello is never truly accepted or acceptable in this society that ultimately
Shakespeare has him fulfil the stereotype ascribed to him, furthering his ostracization. Jealousy
is spoken of frequently, it is known for its damaging effects – Othello is unaware of this, and
perhaps this is where his comprehension of society falls short. Contrastingly, perhaps his being
unaware is merely because jealousy is his hamartia and therefore through his own personal
weakness – is unable to see this is as his flaw and consequently is blinded to its danger.
When considering the tragic norm, it is important that Othello be responsible in his own
downfall, which lends itself to the idea of personal weakness, and perhaps in this Shakespeare
intends to use Othello as an example for his flaw of jealousy. Frequently, Shakespeare has
characters refer to jealousy with trepidation, the play presents a society brutally aware of the
dangerous quality that ‘mocks the meat it feeds on,’ whereas Othello is ignorant to it. Though
Iago’s voice is unreliable, and purposed in its manipulation, his depiction of jealousy seems to
correlate with Emilia – the voice of reason – in that they share a metaphor. Iago uses flattery,
‘beware my lord of jealousy, for it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds
on,’ the ‘monster’ metaphor conveys how one can become consumed by the jealousy they feel.
The specific choice of verb ‘mock’ also works in tandem with verbs used by Iago to describe his
manipulation, ‘eaten up with passion,’ ‘changes with my poison,’ and Emilia’s verbs, ‘abused,’
which demonstrates the extent of Iago’s distortion of Othello’s true self. Perhaps this semantic
field of use and manipulation that echoes similarly to ‘mock the meat,’ could be interpretated as
Iago, not only as enabler of Othello’s jealousy - but the physical embodiment of it. Iago is the
monster, Othello naively suggests this earlier, perhaps merely to heighten the tragedy and
emphasise the growth of naivety throughout, ‘as if there were some monster in thy thought too
hideous to be shown.’ Othello’s simile perpetuates this idea that Iago is the monster, the evil and
deceiving embodiment of Othello’s jealousy, (he does ignite the play’s action due to his own
jealousy.) The fact that jealousy is spoken of with suck knowingness by the characters, and
Othello disregards his initial suggestions to become more ignorant to it, conveys both arguments.
Othello’s personal weakness is jealousy, Iago embodies this side to him to emphasise just how
blind he is to the way in which his jealousy/ or rather its interchangeable counterpart Iago is
‘poisoning’ him. Simultaneously, Shakespeare places this ‘jealous soul’ in a society where even
