Othello is a domestic play in the sense that its subject is one of family or domestic issues. The issues are limited to the scope of a family and personal assistants of the hero: marital relation and happiness, sexual jealousy and personal revenge, intrigue and conspiracy, friendship and betrayal.
The central theme of Othello's relationship with his wife, his sexual jealousy and the consequence of his fatal weakness of gullibility doesn't go beyond the limit of his family life. Othello is a domestic tragedy in the sense that it deals with domestic issues of a couple's married life, the husband's jealousy and the wife's ignorance which lead to their disaster.Othello, the Moor of Venice has been regarded as a domestic tragedy by some critics because it shows how the domestic life of Othello andDesdemona isruined by the machinations(কুমন্ত্রণা) of a villain.
Iago through his machinations and crafty means makes Othello jealous of Cassio and suspicious of Desdemona. He begins to doubt his innocent wife of having immoral relation with Cassio. He suffers terrible mental tortures, and spurred on by Iago, ultimately destroys first Desdemona and then himself. Thus it has a close resemblance with the plot of a domestic tragedy, though it is a drama of contemporary life, having for its background a historical event of recent occurrence.
But Othello is not a private individual. He is descended from a royal family. He is a soldier and a military general of great ability and renown. He is considered indispensable for the defense of Cyprus and is appointed as the Governor of Cyprus by the Duke of Venice. Thus he is a man of importance occupying a conspicuous place in the life and affairs of the state of Venice. He can in no way be regarded as a private individual—like the hero of a domestic tragedy.
By virtue of his exceptional abilities, Othello is head and shoulders above the common run of mankind. Noble and daring, he had a romantic career and travelled widely over distant lands. By telling his tales of travels he is able to win over the heart Of Desdemona, a girl of exceptional beauty and grace. He can command and inspire confidence by his honesty and frankness. When such an individual falls, his fall produces the pity and terror proper to the bile tragedy.
In a domestic tragedy, the action of the drama moves on a common everyday level. There is neither remoteness nor any suggestion of serious, fatal forces working against human beings. But the action of Othello does not take place in familiar England; we are transported to romantic Venice and from there to the remote unknown Cyprus. We feel that there is some hidden forces, malignant and hostile, Iago, the embodiment of evil, appears with all his evil designs which fill us with foreboding. The impression of Destiny working against the hero driving him to an inevitable doom is further strengthened by preponderance of the Chance element.
To sum up, Othello is not a domestic tragedy but in it the commonplace has been lifted up, and transformed to the level of a heroic tragedy. A trifle thing like the handkerchief, has been used to bring about the catastrophe, and arouse the emotion of pity and fear. So it is a pure tragedy, truly cathartic in its effect.
The central theme of Othello's relationship with his wife, his sexual jealousy and the consequence of his fatal weakness of gullibility doesn't go beyond the limit of his family life. Othello is a domestic tragedy in the sense that it deals with domestic issues of a couple's married life, the husband's jealousy and the wife's ignorance which lead to their disaster.Othello, the Moor of Venice has been regarded as a domestic tragedy by some critics because it shows how the domestic life of Othello andDesdemona isruined by the machinations(কুমন্ত্রণা) of a villain.
Iago through his machinations and crafty means makes Othello jealous of Cassio and suspicious of Desdemona. He begins to doubt his innocent wife of having immoral relation with Cassio. He suffers terrible mental tortures, and spurred on by Iago, ultimately destroys first Desdemona and then himself. Thus it has a close resemblance with the plot of a domestic tragedy, though it is a drama of contemporary life, having for its background a historical event of recent occurrence.
But Othello is not a private individual. He is descended from a royal family. He is a soldier and a military general of great ability and renown. He is considered indispensable for the defense of Cyprus and is appointed as the Governor of Cyprus by the Duke of Venice. Thus he is a man of importance occupying a conspicuous place in the life and affairs of the state of Venice. He can in no way be regarded as a private individual—like the hero of a domestic tragedy.
By virtue of his exceptional abilities, Othello is head and shoulders above the common run of mankind. Noble and daring, he had a romantic career and travelled widely over distant lands. By telling his tales of travels he is able to win over the heart Of Desdemona, a girl of exceptional beauty and grace. He can command and inspire confidence by his honesty and frankness. When such an individual falls, his fall produces the pity and terror proper to the bile tragedy.
In a domestic tragedy, the action of the drama moves on a common everyday level. There is neither remoteness nor any suggestion of serious, fatal forces working against human beings. But the action of Othello does not take place in familiar England; we are transported to romantic Venice and from there to the remote unknown Cyprus. We feel that there is some hidden forces, malignant and hostile, Iago, the embodiment of evil, appears with all his evil designs which fill us with foreboding. The impression of Destiny working against the hero driving him to an inevitable doom is further strengthened by preponderance of the Chance element.
To sum up, Othello is not a domestic tragedy but in it the commonplace has been lifted up, and transformed to the level of a heroic tragedy. A trifle thing like the handkerchief, has been used to bring about the catastrophe, and arouse the emotion of pity and fear. So it is a pure tragedy, truly cathartic in its effect.
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