Othello

In Shakespeare’s play, Othello, every character is noble in their own way. Either their loyalty or their love shows how each character is the perfect candidate for a good fate. But ironically and tragically, it also shows how each character is the candidate for a terrible fate. The tragedy that the irony defines, for each character, is then beautifully woven together into the overarching Tragic vision. The Tragic Vision manifests itself through the irony of the good characteristics of the characters becoming their eventual downfall.
Society regards loyalty as one of the most important characteristics someone can exemplify. Loyalty is represented in several ways in Othello: husband-wife loyalty, master-servant loyalty, and friend-friend loyalty. Through all these types of loyalty, Othello is connected to the characters of the play. For example, Michael Cassio not only is loyal to Othello as a servant, but also as a friend; “Othello- …[Cassio] went between us very oft” (Othello Act 3 scene 1). While this loyalty made Cassio the noble character he is, it also partially led him to be struck down by the “divine lightning.” The irony of the one trait that makes one a noble person also being the trait that singles one out as a casualty, is the distinguishing factor between a tragedy and just a sad incident.
Desdemona’s loyalty to Othello is derived from her love of the moor. Her love glues her to Othello. Even in the face of death, Desdemona’s love of Othello only grows; “Desdemona- Nobody; I myself. Farewell/ Commend me to my kind lord: O, farewell” (Othello Act 5 Scene 2). Love, arguably the most powerful feeling, also drove Emilia to do the right thing, which ironically and tragically killed her. “Emilia- that handkerchief thou speak’st of/ I found by fortune and did give my husband” (Othello Act 5 Scene 2).
Both of the women’s loves and the loyalty Cassio felt for Othello and Desdemona were their noble traits and their downfalls and thus gave the situation tragedy, but the tragic vision is the accumulation of the tragedies all tied together in a web. Just as Iago foreshadowed, “Iago- out of her goodness make the net/ That shall enmesh them all” (Othello Act 2 Scene 3), the best of people ensnares them in the trap of tragedy.