Over Oedipus and Othello, Essay Example

Free Will v. Destiny in Oedipus Rex and Othello, the Moor of Venice

In many dramatic plays, the protagonist of the play often falls victim to tragic circumstances that lead him, or her, to commit and experience personal and professional losses. While there are times during which tragedy can be avoided, there are other times in which the protagonist cannot circumvent tragedy and must give in to her destiny, whether willingly or unwillingly. In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus’s actions and future have been predetermined by fate and regardless of the measures he takes to avoid his destiny, he cannot prevent that which was prophesized before he was born. On the other hand, in Othello, the Moor of Venice, Othello’s actions and behaviors are influenced by jealousy and poor judgment. Through a comparison of the heroes, it can be surmised that Oedipus’s downfall was a result of divine intervention, whereas Othello’s downfall was self-inflicted.

Othello and Oedipus can be considered to be tragic heroes in their respective dramas. According to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, a tragic hero is “a person who is neither perfect in virtue and justice, nor one who falls into misfortune through vice and depravity, but rather, one who succumbs through some miscalculation” (Brown). Many times, the tragic heroes fall is caused by tragic flaws, while other times divine or supernatural powers interfere in the heroes’ life and contribute to his or her downfall. In Oedipus’s case, his tragic flaws are a combination of a tragic flaw and divine interference. In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus kills his biological father, Laius, in self-defense after Laius provokes and assaults him. Throughout the course of the play, Oedipus’s ignorance and stubbornness impede him from seeing the truth about what has occurred and when he finally realizes what has happened, he is overcome with guilt and proceeds to blind himself and flee/be banished from Thebes. On the contrary, Othello cannot overcome his intense feelings of jealousy towards his wife, Desdemona. Moreover, while Oedipus is influenced by divine powers, Othello preposterously puts his trust in Iago, who perpetually and selfishly tries to gain power without considering the effects that his actions have on others. Othello is blinded by his trust in Iago and does not recognize that Iago has manipulated him until it is too late. While Oedipus murdered his father because it had been prophesized, Othello ends up killing his wife in a fit of jealous rage and seals his own fate.

In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus is consumed with trying to figure out why Thebes appears to be inflicted with a seemingly endless plague. In the play, Oedipus tries to find the root cause of the plague and employs various methods, including sending Creon to consult with Tiresias, a soothsayer, to see if he can shed some light on the cause of the plague. The plague that has overtaken Thebes has caused sickness, barrenness, and infertility among its citizens and livestock, and has also obliterated the city’s agriculture (Sophocles). Paradoxically, the city can rid itself of the plague if and when the murderer of the previous king, Laius, is brought to justice and is either executed or exiled. This confliction is further heightened because Oedipus does not know the role that he played in Laius’s death, nor his true background, and he is therefore unaware of how his ascension to the Theban throne was a catalyst for the plague.

Like in many Greek tragedies, divine interference plays a major role in Oedipus’s actions. However, the reasons as to why Oedipus was targeted for such tragedy must be identified in order to better understand why Oedipus is an innocent figure in the events that transpire. For example, divine interference in the play is prompted by a slight that Laius committed many years prior while he was at Peloponnesus. According to Greek mythos, prior to becoming King of Thebes, Laius was hired to tutor Chrysippus; Chrysippus was the bastard son of King Pelops and Axioche, a nymph. One day, while Chrysippus was en route to the Nemean Games, Laius abducted and raped him. Due to this offense on King Pelops’s hospitality and Chrysippus’s rape, Laius and his descendents were punished by the gods (Gantz 489). In many cases, the gods will not directly interfere with an individual’s life, but rather, will prophesize events that will occur in the future and help them to rectify the wrongs that they have caused. Interestingly, the gods intentionally keep information from Oedipus and Laius when doling out their prophecies and give each man only a partial hint at their futures. Paradoxically, the actions that Laius and Oedipus take in order to prevent their respective prophetic fragments from coming true are the catalysts that set their futures into motion. For example, Laius is told “it was his fate that he should die a victim/at the hands of his own,” whereas Oedipus is told he was “fated to lay with [his] mother/and to show to daylight an accursed breed/which men will not endure, and [he] was doomed to be murderer of the father that begot” him (Sophocles). Because each man was only given a partial prophecy, they attempted to circumvent these events to disastrous endings. Laius’s attempt to kill his child led to Oedipus being adopted by King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth. Likewise, when Oedipus heard that was going to kill his father, he fled Corinth and encountered his biological father out on the road. The strange coincidence of these events helps to demonstrate that the gods’ prophecies cannot be avoided and regardless of the actions that an individual takes, there is a limit to what they accomplish using their free will.

Unlike his counterpart, Oedipus, Othello’s future has not been determined by the gods and remains unwritten and unknown. As in Oedipus Rex, Othello, the Moor of Venice is the tragic story of Othello and how he falls victim to Iago’s manipulation because he is too blind to see the truth that surrounds him. Iago is preoccupied with attaining as much power as possible and will sacrifice anybody that gets in his way, including his “friend” Othello. Iago’s quest for power takes over him when he is passed over for promotion and Michael Cassio is thereby appointed to the posted of lieutenant. Iago then turns to Brabantio, a Venetian senator and Desdemona’s father, divulging that Othello and Desdemona had married; Iago hoped that this would enrage Brabantio and cause him to punish Othello. It is also during this time that Iago finds that Othello’s weakness is his wife and takes the opportunity to exploit Othello’s love and jealousy to disastrous ends.

Othello’s self-inflicted fall can be seen through his relationship with his wife, Desdemona. When Othello is apprehended after murdering her, he wants others to hear of how he was “one that loved not wisely, but too well” (Shakespeare 5.2.394). Othello also identifies his faults by admitting that he was “one not easily jealous; but being wrought/Perplex’d in the extreme” (Shakespeare 5.2.395-396). This demonstrates that Othello was influenced by external forces, which were not supernatural as was in Oedipus’s case, but rather could have been avoided.

Furthermore, Othello’s confession reveals how much he really loved his wife. In the play, Othello demonstrates that he does not like having Desdemona out of his sight and constantly parades her around as though she was a highly-prized object. Othello attempts to keep Desdemona at his side at all times and even takes her with him onto the battlefield when he is sent to fight the Turks. Othello’s possessive nature is easily manipulated by Iago; Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona has been cheating on him and has been involved in a relationship with another. Othello’s view of Desdemona is evidently changed and can be seen in the way that he treats her after Iago’s surreptitious suggestion. For example, when Desdemona tries to nurse Othello’s headache with her handkerchief he states, “Your napkin is too little: Let is alone;” this catches Desdemona off guard and causes her to drop the handkerchief (Shakespeare 3.3.88). Later on, Othello demands that she show him the handkerchief and tells her that it has been enchanted to guarantee faithfulness; she is unable to produce the handkerchief having lost it on the previous occasion. Othello’s jealousy, paranoia, and marital insecurities, in addition to Iago’s manipulation, lead him to think that Desdemona is being unfaithful. As the play progresses, Othello’s behavior becomes more and more erratic and explosive; for example he unpredictably slaps his wife for no reason while he is talking to Lodovico.

In spite of how Othello treats her, Desdemona does not stand up to her husband nor does she defend herself against his baseless accusations. After Othello slaps her, she retorts “I have not deserved this” and does nothing more (Shakespeare 4.1.252). Othello does not give Desdemona the opportunity to defend herself, but rather relies on Iago, who is actively trying to destroy him. Because of this, Desdemona is left without marital or moral support and can be blamed for her own death, even admitting with her last breath that it was “I myself” that contributed to her death (Shakespeare 5.2.124). Throughout the course of the play, Othello’s abuse and jealousy of his wife could have been avoided. If Othello had only relied on himself and communicated with Desdemona, then it is possible that she would have been able to explain that she was not unfaithful and he would not have been driven to kill her.

Regardless of Oedipus’s efforts to avoid his destiny, he was unable to change his future and was doomed before he was even born. On the other hand, Othello did not act to change his fate even when his future was yet unwritten. The conflicts that arise in Oedipus Rex and Othello, the Moor of Venice explore the extent to which free will can be used and how one’s fate is unavoidable only if it has been predetermined by divine forces. Oedipus was unable to escape his destiny and had to suffer the consequences of his father’s slight, yet did everything that he could to try and change his future. Othello played into Iago’s diabolical scheme and though he had free will, he did not recognize the options that were set before him and relied too much on hearsay and emotion.

Works Cited

Brown, Larry.“Aristotle on Greek Tragedy.” Web. 27 April 2012.

Gantz, Timothy. Early Greek Myth. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. Print.

Shakespeare, William. Othello, the Moor of Venice. Web. 27 April 2012

Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. Trans. Paul Roche. New York: Dover Publications, 1991. Print.