The tragedy in both Othello and Macbeth is found not so much in the scattering of bodies that cover the stage at the end of each play, but rather in the degeneration of the plays' respective protagonists. The men championed by Shakespeare at the beginning of the plays as "valiant" (I.iii.48, Othello) and "noble" (I.ii.67, Macbeth) emerge at the end as "the blackest devil" (V.ii .130, Othello) and a "tyrant" (V.viii.27, Macbeth). Shakespeare traces the deterioration of these characters by presenting us with a number of different causes for the actions that ultimately lead to the protagonists' downfall. Although both Othello and Macbeth have innate negative qualities that undoubtedly contribute to the erosion of their stability and moral character, these traits do not appear to be fully expressed before a series of malign forces act on the characters. These traits appear in the forms of other characters and are the consequence of fatal misunderstandings and coincidences that arise from deceptive appearances. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay However, Shakespeare was in control of his texts at all times, and to suggest that the vicissitudes in these works are mere coincidences denies this control. In fact, the playwright indicates that all the actions - the characters and the disastrous confusion - are controlled by a sort of malevolent divine force. This force seems to designate the outcome of events before they happen and thus allows the characters to reach this destination primarily through their chosen actions, but also with some supernatural aid. There are therefore different "levels" of responsibility in these comedies: while the protagonist may have inherently dangerous instincts that allow him to behave in a certain way, a trigger in the form of other earthly influences is needed to push him to that extreme. measures. Furthermore, the implication is that Fate sets in motion and watches over the entire plot of each play, intervening where necessary to transform simple destruction into full-blown tragedy. Shakespeare indicates a series of aspects of the protagonists' personalities which, if exploited, contribute to their demise. In both plays, the playwright examines distorted notions of manhood and shows how these notions have acted as a destructive force on the characters. In Macbeth, Shakespeare links the themes of masculinity and cruelty together from the first act, where Lady Macbeth suggests that her femininity prevents her from engaging in violence, scorning her feminine qualities and urging the "spirits" to "not sexualize her" (Iv40 -1). . He invites these "murderous ministers" (48) to "Come to my woman's breast, / And take my milk for gall" (47-8), filling with bitterness an image traditionally associated with the care of children, and in doing so revealing that her own desire for evil has completely consumed her. This intense passage incites an almost inhuman passion in Lady Macbeth, yet it is the effect on Macbeth of this supposed relationship between masculinity and violence that drives the rest of the world. plot. Lady Macbeth's appeal to the spirits resonates distinctly with her fear that Macbeth lacks the willpower to kill Duncan, using the same symbolism of femininity: "Yet I fear thy nature, / Is too full of the milk of human kindness » (16-7). Later, she goads her husband by implicating his manhood in his failure to kill the king - "When you dared to do it, then you were a man" (I.vii.49) - and the his sexual provocation aggravates his warning as he compares that of Macbeth from the inability to perform the murderous act to the inability to perform the sexual act (35 ff.).in the face of such passionate retribution, Macbeth's feeble argument "Should we fail?" (59) he only struggles in his inability to resist his wife's sexual manipulation, and from this point on it is evident that Macbeth is slowly being overcome by evil (in the next scene he hallucinates guilt and kills Duncan) . It is interesting to note, however, that the woman's willpower and evil essence eclipse that of the man; even though Lady Macbeth is trying to reject the traditional connotations of femininity, this only makes her appear even more evil. However, it is possible to see that this conceptual association between virility and violence partly energizes Macbeth's actions: in Act III, scene i, he uses the same rhetorical tactics to persuade the murderers: "Now, if you have a station in the dossier, / I am not the worst grade of manhood, I say” (101-2). In Othello, Shakespeare presents similar notions of masculinity's ability to fuel jealousy, indicating that Othello expresses his manhood through military prowess, but that this tendency is incompatible with love. His speech in Act I, scene iii about his military heroism is so descriptive and elaborate that it is clear that Othello enjoys telling stories of his valor and success in war. However, in Act II, the Turks are drowned – "News, boys! our wars are over" (20) – and with this eradication of military opposition, the play quickly loses its political focus and becomes a domestic drama . It is evident that Othello himself is unable to function outside of military capabilities, and while he once survived demonstrating his manhood in public, it seems more difficult for him to do so in a private setting. The positive aspects of his personality, the ones he used before as captain, are exploited and perverted by Iago, who channels them towards jealousy and revenge. For example, Othello's single-mindedness boils down to a tendency to quickly jump to conclusions based only on circumstantial "evidence." He rashly declares "She's gone" (III.iii.267) before Iago has even produced the "proof" of the handkerchief, and so we see how "to be once in doubt / is [once] to be resolved" ( 180 ); though judicious as a soldier, Othello is foolish as a lover. Furthermore, his clear concentration on a task turns into a narrowness of opinion that drives him to reject Emilia's worthy proof in Act IV, scene ii; rejects evidence as dishonest because it does not align with his preconceived opinions. Furthermore, Othello's recognition of his justified high status and reputation turns into unhealthy self-obsession and paranoia, leading to developments in Act III, scene iv, which transpire even without Iago's assistance . As he sets the riot in motion by planting the handkerchief, the stichomytic shouting match of lines 75-98 is provoked by Othello's obsessive fixation on the gift he has given to Desdemona. His forced triple repetition of "The handkerchief!" indicates once again that Othello still regards Desdemona as a military problem to be solved - losing an important object in the army can be considered sedition - and not as his new wife. His confusion between his role as a soldier and that of a husband is also evident in Act III, scene iii, when he turns his anger and grief at Desdemona's supposed infidelity into an extended military metaphor. His farewell declarations to "The drum that stirs the spirits, the fife that pierces the ears, / The royal standard" concern both his military life and Desdemona, and the passion of military vocabulary combines with anaphora to emphasize the his confusion between his dual roles as soldier and lover. However, Othello is clearly different fromLeontes in The Winter's Tale; his jealousy is so deeply rooted and devastating that he doesn't need anyone else's prompting to provoke a violent, unprovoked reaction. When comparing the causes of action in Othello and Macbeth, it is perhaps fair to say that Iago and Macbeth are the most similar, as they are the characters most obsessed with power. Macbeth's "vaulting ambition" (I.vii.27) immediately comes into effect when the Weird Sisters deliver their prophecy, and Shakespeare follows Macbeth's descent into tragedy from that point on. Banquo says that his friend is "kidnapped" (I.iii.142) and that his trance state is evident in his speech: My thought, whose murder is but fantastic, so shakes my only state of functioning man Is suffocated I suppose, and nothing isBut what is not. (I.iii.139-142) It seems that these "horrible imaginings" (138) are already beginning to consume his person, and with the ever-increasing death count that follows due to Macbeth's determination to allow no to come between him and the crown; it's easy to see how his "ambition" leads to tragedy. However, Macbeth's obsessive desire to become king is different from Iago's desire for power and his subsequent evil actions. Naturally, Iago has a number of small grievances against Othello and Cassio: he desires revenge for Othello's decision to make Cassio his lieutenant, and, since Cassio was probably promoted on the basis of class, Iago resents those characters who take him around. like an ensign of a lower class: let me not try your patience, good Iago, let me stretch my good manners; it is my upbringing that gives me this bold display of courtesy. (Cassio, II.i.97-9)However, even the money with which Roderigo is bribing him and his suspicions that Othello has slept with Emilia (II.i.95) are not at all the main motivations behind the malevolence and Iago's hunger. for power. Iago's degenerate worldview, which considers men as dissolute animals, leads him to believe that everything that contradicts this concept must be conquered and suppressed. This is evident in his frequent use of vulgar and animalistic vocabulary: They were as excellent as goats, as spicy as monkeys, as salty as wolves in pride, and as gross fools as drunken ignorance. (III.iii.403-5) This crude description is demonstrative of Iago's inability to perceive the beauty of man or love, and the consequent inability to tolerate anything that seems to rise above depravity. His opinion that love is "merely a lust of the blood and a permission of the will" and further instructions to Roderigo to "Come, be a man!" (I.iii.334-5) combines his cynicism with a rather twisted view of manhood that forbids him from falling in love. “He has a daily beauty in his life / That makes me ugly” Iago says of Cassio (Vi19-20), further emphasizing his cynicism and hatred of beauty, from which his plan to destroy Othello arises. images, his description of Othello and Desdemona as "the beast with two backs" (Ii115), reveals another of Iago's perverse obsessions: not only does he totally despise love, but he seems fixated on sex and desires power even over life Othello's private sexual life. Displaying an unhealthy attention to sexual detail in his carefully observed speech (e.g. "in such terms as bride and groom / Putting them to bed") (II.iii.180-1), Iago also constantly interrupts Othello's marital efforts. There is also a suggestion of a homosexual attraction to Othello: more than once, Iago tells Othello that he loves him (e.g. III.iii.116), and it seems possible that such an attraction could arouse resentment on Desdemona's part , and a desire to havepower over their happiness too. Like Iago's manipulation, Macbeth's violence transcends his ambition. As Lady Macbeth becomes less powerful in her ambition and ability to influence him, as soon as she commits Duncan's murder, Macbeth becomes guilty of an evil that is beyond anything he previously possessed. His torment of "not being able to say 'Amen,' / When they said 'God bless us'" (II.ii.26-7) symbolizes his subsequent damnation, which sets in and becomes a habit. In Act iii, scene ii, he indicates his impossible position: "I am in the blood / I have entered so far that, if I should wade no more, / To return would be as tedious as to go further" (III.iv.135 -7). This is subsequently supported by his redundant and ruthless murder of Macduff's wife and son, the effect being Macbeth's eventual inability to find any meaning invites. When the news arrives that his wife is dead, he responds with nothing but dull indifference: “She should die at once” (Vv17). This strangely muted response quickly turns into absolutely nihilistic desperation. In “To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, / creeps into this mean rhythm from day to day” (19), Macbeth's strong triple repetition emphasizes his desperation. However, "It is a story / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Meaning nothing" (26-8) not only indicates Macbeth's view of the meaninglessness of life, but also reveals his desire to justify in in some way the crimes he committed. you know they were so terribly useless. Deception is a sustained cause of action in both plays. Duncan's fateful mistake in thinking "There is no art / Finding a mental construction in the face" (I.iv.11-2) is made even more ironic by the frequent references to false impressions. Lady Macbeth chastises Macbeth for doing exactly this: "Thy face, my lord, is like a book, where men / may read strange things" (Iv61-2). His command to "be like the innocent flower, / but be the serpent under it" (64-5) draws on the image of Satan, the deceiver, in Genesis, highlighting to the audience the way in which deception will a factor that contributes to the trajectory of terror. The frequent allusions to darkness metaphorically covering the truth contribute to this idea. Macbeth says “Stars, hide your fires, / Let not the light see my black and deep longings” (I.iv.50-1), which is soon reiterated by Lady Macbeth. “Come, thick night, / And wrap yourself in hell's darkest smoke” (Iv50-1) not only adds to the sinister atmosphere of the mystery, but is particularly interesting because Lady Macbeth goes on to announce, “sharp knife see not the it hurts" (52). From this we deduce that she also wants to protect herself from the truth of her actions. Macbeth says: "The eye winks at the hand; and yet it is that / What the eye fears, when it is finished, to see" (53-4): this seems to be an allusion to Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, in which he calls for unity in the early Church, a institution characterized by the fact that each member (each part of the body) is open to each of the others: "And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you". they are also significant in that the "hand" is the executor of the action, the perpetrator of the murder, while the "eye" shows Macbeth's desire to be deceived about the reality of his actions as the denial of reality by part of Macbeth pushes him towards his imminent ruin, so the deception in Othello spells the protagonist's downfall. Iago's duplicity is hidden in all the other characters, and the multiple ironic references (such as "honest Iago" (II). .iii.335), "You advise me well" (II.iii.325) and "I have never known a more kind and honest Florentine" (III.i.40))highlights his clever dishonesty. However, the less obvious but arguably more interesting illusion that traps Othello is that of the place itself. Cyprus, although still under Venetian law, was located outside Venice itself, and was therefore a territory outside the immediate control of the state. In the first act of Othello, the cast is sent to Cyprus as a matter of state, but it is possible to argue that by sending the main cast to the island, Shakespeare is parodying the pastoral ideal. This concept is often found in his plays when a troupe is placed in a (usually) forest scene devoid of social norms. There, they must undergo some sort of education in order to return to the urban sphere by the end of the work. However, in Othello, when the Turkish threat is quelled, the island begins to lose its Venetian ties and political significance, and with celebratory revelry and drunken brawls it soon becomes clear that the island it initially resembled, e.g. , in Illyria, is anything but benign. The plot of Othello is also a parody of some of Shakespeare's plays, as it is full of misinterpretations. However, while in the plays the deception and confusion fade away towards the end of the play (which usually ends with the wedding), in this case the play ends with the death of Othello and Desdemona, their marriage just consummated. Cyprus is therefore a trap: it seems like a place of new beginnings, separate from the troubles with Brabantio, but in reality it is not entirely disconnected from Venice. When Lodovico arrives and highlights the change that has occurred in Othello, this comes to mind. Othello seems to act as if Cyprus is the pastoral setting free of social rules that we so often see in Shakespeare's comedies, but Othello's characters soon begin to summon and imprison anyone who passes through them; the facade is deceptive. However, it is probably the presence of a divine force, such as Fate, that predetermines at least the outcome of events in these plays. This is quite evident in Macbeth, and a little less so in Othello. This classical idea of ​​the "principle, power, or agency by which, according to certain systems of philosophical and popular belief, all events, or some events in particular, are unalterably predetermined from eternity" is clearly evident in Macbeth, and the question of the true identity of the witches haunts the entire work. Shakespeare suggests that they might be sinister, independent figures, harnessing supernatural forces for their cruel desires, or perhaps agents of fate itself. They bear a striking resemblance to the Ancient Greek and Norse "Destinies", and the etymological origin of "weïrd" is the Anglo-Saxon "wyrd", meaning "destiny". Certainly, the inscrutability of the witches, beyond the limits of human understanding, not only adds an atmosphere of dark mystery to the play, but, more importantly, indicates a kind of divine justice or order being exercised upon Macbeth and the his world. Macduff was unaware of the witches' prophecies, but his part came true nonetheless; in fact, it almost seems as if the prophecies were actually designed to wreak so much havoc on Macbeth that he himself would make them come true. Macbeth's reckless complacency due to his belief in his own invincibility is what accomplishes the witches' malevolent plan: it is his stupidity that contributes to his downfall. In contrast, in Othello, the indications of a divine presence are much less evident. The irony of Othello's cry just before killing Desdemona of "ye chaste stars, / Is that cause" (V.ii.2-3) is highlighted by the bedroom setting of the final scene, as Othello and Desdemona spent most of them act in an attempt to leave the stage to consummate their marriage. However, despitereferences to "destiny", it does not appear that the individual events of Othello are set in stone from the beginning of the play. Instead, the playwright's implication is that while the conclusion may or may not have been predetermined, the characters act primarily under their own control, or are controlled by others. There are, however, a number of biblical references in Othello that suggest the inevitability of a tragic outcome. At the beginning of the play, Othello is implicitly compared to Christ when the officers come to take him with burning torches, just as was done to Christ (described in John 18:3). Furthermore, Othello echoes Christ when he silently stops the battle. , telling them to "Keep your light sabers up" (I.ii.59). Later, Shakespeare directly refers to the moment in which Jesus asks Simon Peter three times if he loves him to atone for the three times he denied him. Peter responds, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Othello asks Iago “If you love me, / Show me your mind,” to which Iago replies, “My lord, you know I love you” (III.iii.115-7). By alluding to the moment of Christ's arrest, and then referring to the period following the Resurrection, Shakespeare compares the two figures ironically. The Old Testamentthe prophets' prediction of the coming of Christ and his sacrifice draws the audience's attention to the fate that Othello will share; but while Christ came to bring redemption and salvation, Othello's suicide poignantly and ironically catapults him into the darkest tragedy. However, a paradigm shift occurs when Desdemona begins to emerge as a Christ-like character: her untiring love for Othello (despite his abuse of her) clearly mirrors Christ's love for the Church: My love approves so much, that even his stubbornness, stops, frowns... Have grace and favor [in them] (IV.iii.19-20) This comparison with Christ, combined with Desdemona's request that if he dies , Emilia may use her wedding sheets as a shroud, both of which foreshadow her impending death. At the end of the play, Othello was compared to the "devil", as well as to Judas, the betrayer of Christ: in the First Folio he declares himself a "Jew". It is as if his destiny is finally fulfilled when he uses the vocabulary of the Apocalypse in his plea for eternal damnation: Whip me, ye devils, from the possession of this heavenly sight! Bow me to the winds! roast me in sulfur! Wash me in steep abysses of liquid fire! (V.ii.277-81) The spiritual allusion in Othello is much more than just clever intertextuality of the characters' comparisons. It tracks the divine state of Othello and Desdemona in particular, with the implications of a spiritual force being exerted on them. The audience is certainly reminded of Faust, who was tempted by Mephistopheles but secured his fate, and screamed hysterically as the devils dragged him to hell. Ultimately, there are a number of causal factors behind the tragedies of Othello and Macbeth, and therefore different levels of culpability. The characters act simultaneously of their own free will, under the control of others (Iago and Lady Macbeth), and under the control of divine forces, or Fate. Shakespeare indicates that, in the absence of any of these factors, the conclusions of each tale could have been very different. What seems obvious to the audience is obscured by the characters, and so tragedy creeps up on both Othello and Macbeth so gradually and subtly that it consumes them before they even realize its presence. Shakespeare indicates a series of aspects of the protagonists' personalities which, if exploited, contribute to their disappearance. In both plays, the playwright examines distorted notions of manhood and shows how these notions haveacted as a destructive force on the characters. In Macbeth, Shakespeare links the themes of masculinity and cruelty together from the first act, where Lady Macbeth suggests that her femininity prevents her from engaging in violence, scorning her feminine qualities and urging the "spirits" to "not sexualize her" (Iv40 -1). . He invites these "murderous ministers" (48) to "Come to my woman's breast, / And take my milk for gall" (47-8), filling with bitterness an image traditionally associated with the care of children, and in doing so revealing that her own desire for evil has totally consumed her. This intense passage incites an almost inhuman passion in Lady Macbeth, yet it is the effect on Macbeth of this supposed relationship between masculinity and violence that drives the rest of the plot. Lady Macbeth's appeal to the spirits resonates distinctly with her fear that Macbeth may not have the willpower to kill Duncan, using the same symbolism of femininity: "Yet I fear thy nature, / Is too full of the milk of human kindness " (16-7). Later, she goads her husband by implicating his manhood in his failure to kill the king—"When you dared to do it, then you were a man" (I.vii.49)—and her sexual provocation compounds her admonition as she compares that of Macbeth from the inability to carry out the murderous act to the inability to carry out the sexual act (35 ff.). In the face of such passionate retribution, Macbeth's feeble argument "Should we fail?" (59) only his inability to resist his wife's sexual manipulation is discussed, and from this moment on it is clear that Macbeth is slowly being overcome by evil (in the next scene he hallucinates out of guilt and kills Duncan). notice that the woman's willpower and evil essence eclipse that of the man; even though Lady Macbeth is trying to reject the traditional connotations of femininity, this only makes her appear even more evil. However, it is possible to see that this conceptual association between virility and violence partly energizes Macbeth's actions: in Act III, scene i, he uses the same rhetorical tactics to persuade the murderers: "Now, if you have a station in the dossier, / I am not the worst grade of manhood, I say” (101-2). In Othello, Shakespeare presents similar notions of masculinity's ability to fuel jealousy, indicating that Othello expresses his manhood through military prowess, but that this tendency is incompatible with love. His speech in Act I, scene iii about his military heroism is so descriptive and elaborate that it is clear that Othello enjoys telling stories of his valor and success in war. However, in Act II, the Turks are drowned – "News, boys! our wars are over" (20) – and with this eradication of military opposition, the play quickly loses its political focus and becomes a domestic drama . It is evident that Othello himself is unable to function outside of military capabilities, and while he once survived demonstrating his manhood in public, it seems more difficult for him to do so in a private setting. The positive aspects of his personality, the ones he used before as captain, are exploited and perverted by Iago, who channels them towards jealousy and revenge. For example, Othello's single-mindedness boils down to a tendency to quickly jump to conclusions based only on circumstantial "evidence." He rashly declares "She's gone" (III.iii.267) before Iago has even produced the "proof" of the handkerchief, and so we see how "to be once in doubt / is [once] to be resolved" ( 180 ); though judicious as a soldier, Othello is foolish as a lover. Furthermore, his clear concentration on a task turns into a narrowness of opinion that pushes him to reject the worthy test ofEmilia in Act IV, scene ii; rejects evidence as dishonest because it does not align with his preconceived opinions. Furthermore, Othello's recognition of his justified high status and reputation turns into unhealthy self-obsession and paranoia, leading to the developments in Act III, scene iv, which occur without even Iago's assistance. As he sets the riot in motion by planting the handkerchief, the stichomytic shouting match of lines 75-98 is provoked by Othello's obsessive fixation on the gift he has given to Desdemona. His forced triple repetition of "The handkerchief!" indicates once again that Othello still regards Desdemona as a military problem to be solved - losing an important object in the army can be considered sedition - and not as his new wife. His confusion between his role as a military man and that of a husband is also evident in Act III, Scene III, when he turns his anger and grief at Desdemona's supposed infidelity into an extended military metaphor. His farewell declarations to "The drum that stirs the spirits, the fife that pierces the ears, / The royal standard" concern both his military life and Desdemona, and the passion of military vocabulary combines with anaphora to emphasize the his confusion between his dual roles as soldier and lover. However, Othello is clearly different from Leontes in The Winter's Tale; his jealousy is so deeply rooted and devastating that he doesn't need anyone else's prompting to provoke a violent, unprovoked reaction. When comparing the causes of action in Othello and Macbeth, it is perhaps fair to say that Iago and Macbeth are the most similar, as they are the characters most obsessed with power. Macbeth's "twisting ambition" (I.vii.27) immediately comes into effect when the Weird Sisters utter their prophecy, and Shakespeare follows Macbeth's descent into tragedy from that point on. Banquo says that his friend is " kidnapped" (I.iii.142) and that his state of trance is evident in his speech: My thought, whose murder is nothing but fantastic, so shakes my only state of man that the function is stifled in the conjectures, and nothing is but that which is not (I.iii.139-.142) It seems that these "horrific imaginings" (138) are already beginning to consume his person, and with the ever-increasing death count that follows because of Macbeth's determination to not allow anyone to come between him and the crown it is easy to do so; see how his "ambition" leads to his tragedy. However, Macbeth's obsessive desire to become king is different from the desire to Iago's power and his resulting evil actions Of course, Iago has a number of small grievances against Othello and Cassio: he wants revenge for Othello's decision to make Cassio his lieutenant, and, since Cassio was probably promoted based on the class, Iago resents those characters who mock him as a lower-class standard bearer: Let me not disturb your patience, good Iago, that I extend my good manners; it is my upbringing that gives me this bold display of courtesy. (Cassio, II.i.97-9)However, even the money with which Roderigo is bribing him and his suspicions that Othello has slept with Emilia (II.i.95) are not at all the main motivations behind the malevolence and Iago's hunger. for power. Iago's degenerate worldview, which considers men as dissolute animals, leads him to believe that everything that contradicts this concept must be conquered and suppressed. This is evident in his frequent use of vulgar and animalistic vocabulary: They were as excellent as goats, as spicy as monkeys, as salty as wolves in pride, and as gross fools as drunken ignorance. (III.iii.403-5) This rough description is,.