Jacob Ranney

Period 3A

A Comparison of Macbeth and Othello

Consider a murder: John kills his boss . He claims there are voices inside his head,

who told him that if his boss were to somehow disappear, John would be able to take

his position as head of the very successful company. So he and his wife invite his

boss over for dinner and he kills him there.

Now, consider another murder: James kills his newlywed wife . His friend is jealous

of their love and tells James his wife has been unfaithful . James, in a blind fit of rage,

strangles his wife in the very bed she allegedly soiled . Once he finds out his friend

was lying, James kills him too.

In a court of law, who would be prosecuted? John, if he says the voices made him

do it, could probably plead insanity and get off with some therapy; James, however,

would not be so lucky. Because he had absolute control over his actions, he would

probably be the one to go to prison.

These types of situations can be found in many ancient Greek tragedies . For example:

Oedipus was destined to kill his father . Medea killed her children because her

husband cheated on her. These situations can also be found in some of William

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Shakespeares plays, many of which follow Aristotles guidelines of what makes a

tragedy. Of course, the two examples most reflect Macbeth and Othello. If the two

were to be compared to ancient Greek tragedies, one would draw a greater similarity

than the other. Othello is a better representation of a Greek tragedy than Macbeth

because while Macbeths decisions were controlled by fate, Othello was in complete

control of his actions.

Aristotle defines tragedy to be serious. Serious can mean a number of things, from

infidelity to murder. Both of these plays are in fact serious . In Macbeth, the titular

character is described to have killed Macdonwald in a very gruesome fashion: he

unseamed him from the nave to th' chops, and fixed his head upon our battlements .

He also kills King Duncan and his guards in order to become the king himself .

Macbeth also orders the death of Banquo and Fleance, where only the former is

killed. He also orders the death of Macduffs wife and children . Macbeths wife,

creatively named Lady Macbeth, kills herself from the guilt of knowing what her

husband has done. Finally, Macduff beheads Macbeth to avenge the death of his

family.

Othello also has a few serious moments. There are many instances of racism, which,

while maybe not such a pressing issue back in Shakespeares time, are somewhat

relevant today. Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him with

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Cassio. Cassio kills Roderigo and is severely wounded . Othello kills Desdemona and

Iago kills Emilia once she reveals his plan . Finally, stabs Iago and kills himself

because of the immense guilt he is feeling.

Aristotle also defines tragedy as being complete in itself; it must have a beginning,

middle, and an end. Both plays have these. Macbeths beginning consists of Macbeth

being introduced through the story of the death of Macdonwald . Also in the

beginning, the Witches tell Macbeth that he will be king and Banquo will be the

patriarch of a long line of kings. In Othellos beginning, Iago and Roderigo alert

Desdemonas father that Othello has eloped with her. When they all meet at the Duke

of Venices office, he sends Othello and his crew to Cyprus to defend it from invading

Turks.

Macbeths middle consists of Macbeth killing Duncan, as well as having Banquo

murdered. He then receives from the three Apparitions a message that Macduff is to

be feared, that Macbeth would not be killed by anyone born of woman, and he would

be safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Castle. In Othellos middle, Cassio is

fired from his job and tries to get it back . Iago tells Othello that Cassio is actually

sleeping with Desdemona, which is supported by the handkerchief Othello gave her

showing up with Cassio.

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Macbeths end involves Macduff leading an army to storm Dunsinane Castle, where

he kills Macbeth to get revenge for his familys death and he becomes king . Othellos

end involves Othello killing Desdemona, only for him to find out Iago had been lying

to him the whole time. Othello then kills himself and Iago is taken away to be

presumably put to death.

Aristotles final requirement is for all of the incidents to be connected in some way.

This sounds complicated but it really just means that all the events have to lead to the

next. In Macbeth, the Witches tell Macbeth that he will become king . This causes him

to gain a thirst for power and he kills Duncan . While he is king, he has whoever

might stand in his way killed. This recklessness leads to him being killed by Macduff.

In Othello, Iago loses a promotion to Cassio. This makes him very jealous, so he

creates a big lie about Desdemona cheating on Othello with Cassio . When Othello

hears about it, he kills Desdemona, only to realize that Iago was lying, and he kills

himself.

Aristotle also says that all tragedies must have a tragic hero . This tragic hero must be

noble of high reputation; however, as noble as this character might be, they must have

a downfall at the end of the story. Macbeth starts his story as a Scottish general and

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the thane of Glamis. As he progresses through the story, he becomes the thane of

Cawdor, and later is crowned the king of Scotland . He is known to be a great warrior,

as stories of him splitting traitors in half like a stick of butter travel all across

Scotland. He becomes too powerful, and due to poor foresight, Macbeth is killed by

Macduff.

Othello is also a noble character . He starts as the general of the army of Venice . He is

trusted enough to be shipped to Cyprus to defend from the Turks. He has a lot of

experience in the military, and as a result has many stories of his adventures. These

stories and the hardships he had faced are what caused Desdemona to fall in love with

him. At the end of Othello, Othello kills his wife and has left behind the identity of

the beloved general he once was.

This tragic hero must also recognize his mistake and witness the consequences of this

mistake. Macbeth, blinded by his ambition, takes the Apparitions messages in a

different meaning than intended and is thus defeated by Macduff . He realizes that he

was wrong about the messages when Macduff tells him that he was from his

mothers womb untimely ripped and that he was not technically of woman-born .

One could argue that Macbeth never actually witnesses the consequences of his

mistake because he dies shortly after. Then again, another could assume that the

consequence of his mistake was in fact his death.

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Othellos mistake is that he is convinced into killing Desdemona by Iago . When he

finds out from Emilia that Iago had made up the whole infidelity story, Othello

realizes that he just killed his wife for no reason . He is then almost arrested before

stabbing himself with a knife he had hidden. When he is surrounded, he has

witnessed the consequences of his mistake.

The final characteristic of a tragic hero is a tragic flaw . This may stem from poor

judgment, weakness in character, or just plain coincidence. In both Macbeth and

Othello, the tragic heros tragic flaw stems from weakness in character . Macbeth is

too ambitious. He believes that his vaulting ambition causes him to do the things

that he does. He gets too caught up in being king that he takes the messages of the

three Apparitions in the wrong way and gets killed because of it.

Othello is too trusting, but who would blame him? After all, Iago is known as

Honest Iago, which is incredibly ironic considering he is probably the most

manipulative character in all of Shakespearean literature. Since he is honest,

Othello believes nearly everything that comes out of Iagos mouth . This ultimately

leads to the death of Desdemona, one of the many victims of Iagos string of lies.

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The question is: which of these stories is a better representation of ancient Greek

tragedy?

Macbeths downfall was completely out of his control, but Othello had full control of

his actions. Both characters were manipulated to commit heinous crimes, but

Macbeths Witches represent fate; therefore, Macbeth was manipulated by fate .

Othello was manipulated by Iago, a simple human being. Othello could have very

well said, Sorry Iago. I know Desdemona cheating on me with Cassio is pretty bad,

but I think murder might be taking it a bit too far . Instead of that, he strangled her

and majorly messed his life up, and he was in complete control . This is why Othello

is a better representation of ancient Greek tragedy according to Aristotle than

Macbeth.