An Unholy Mess

“Even now my blood boils at the recollection of this injustice. But it is true that I am a wretch. I have murdered the lovely and the helpless; I have strangled the innocent as they slept and grasped to death his throat who never injured me or any other living thing…You hate me, but your abhorrence cannot equal that with which I regard myself.”

-p 210

While mulling over the denouement of Shelley’s Frankenstein, I was finding it incredibly difficult to place sympathy with either Victor or his creation. Both are flawed in nature and morality; neither one is truly heroic. Victor is primarily driven by his senses of ambition and pride. He selfishly risks all those dear to him in favor of accomplishing his goals first. In the end, it is this obsession with ambition and pride which leads to the demises of his loved ones and, ultimately, of himself. The monster, on the other hand, seems to be benevolent at first. However, he becomes hardened by rejection and self-loathing. While this would initially evoke sympathy, his murderous acts of revenge turn off any possible sympathy that could have been devoted to him. In the end, the audience can only look on, shaking their heads as both beings blindly succumb to their tragic flaws in a vicious cycle of destruction that only ends in their mutual demises.

Common Vice (p. 1461, Question 5)

As the truth comes out concerning the events of the past couple of days, Othello becomes distraught and ashamed. He stabs and kills himself, but before doing so, Othello reestablishes a bit of his greatness through his final speech to Lodovico. In this speech, Othello honorably tells Lodovico to "speak of me as I am, nothing extenuate,/ Nor set down aught in malice" (V.ii.341-342). Instead of trying to cast blame for his deed upon Iago, as he very well could, he admits his guilt, yet points out that he was in truth a good and loving person who simply made foolish decisions and was stupidly influenced (V.ii.343-347). It is this extreme guilt and admission of his faults that brings some honor back to Othello. His acts of murder and revenge are inexcusable, yet he reminds the audience that he was as good a man as he could be, albeit a flawed one. This summary of his flawed humanity strikes a chord with the audience, who can relate to Othello's vices, as they too are viced. In revealing that Othello is no different from any of us, Shakespeare portrays Othello as an example of a great man who fell a long way down.

Today Feels Like a Black-Flag Day (p. 1119, Question 2)

Shakespeare's Othello is most definitely a tragedy. Othello's tragic flaw is his gullibility and excessive trust in Iago. This unfortunate misplacement of trust and confidence ultimately leads to his death. As with all Shakespearean tragedies, Othello dies as a result of his own doing.

This classification of Othello as a tragedy immediately tips off the audience concerning the play's darker tone, often more complex style of storytelling, and basic set of themes involving mankind's vices and their consequences. The audience knows from the beginning what to look for while viewing the action: the flaws of the main character, their gradual succumbing to those flaws, and the characters whom cause these flaws to grow within the hero. In Shakespeare's time at the Globe Theatre, a flag of a certain color was hung each day to indicate whether the play being performed that day would be a tragedy (black flag), a comedy (white), or a history (red). Because of this, the audience would always know what to look for. This allowed them to become more involved with the play's plot, as they are able to discern more easily the vital facets of the story.

Heroes and Villains

Right now, I am currently attempting to decide exactly who the main character of Othello truly is. Obviously, Othello is a prime candidate. Besides the fact that the play is named after him, Othello is the target of all of Iago's plans. It also appears that it will be Othello's flaw of "a free and open nature/That thinks men honest that but seem to be so" that causes trouble (I.iii.379-380). This has already occurred in his trust that Iago's "honesty and love doth mince this matter" of Cassio's actions and, because of this misplaced trust in Iago, he strips Cassio of his rank on the spot (II.iii.226-228). This flaw indicates that Othello will likely be the tragic hero.

Yet at the same time, it appears that Iago is the driving force of the action. Nearly everything that has occurred thus far in the play's action, from Brabantio's discover of his daughter's marriage to Cassio's dismissal and decision to appeal to Desdemona, has been a direct result of Iago's suggestion and manipulation. While it appears that Iago is Othello's antagonist, in a way, Iago thus far has actually been a more important character than Othello. It appears that this play might actually focus not on a hero's downfall, but on the man who created that downfall.