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1. OTHELLO AS A TRAGIC HERO IN SHAKESPEARE’S OTHELLO: THE MOOR OF VENICE

               “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” is the most famous of quotes from the tragic play Othello, The Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare. Othello is termed as a tragedy that follows the Aristotelian definition of tragedy as “the imitation of an action that is serious and also as having magnitude, complete in itself.^[1]” Restating Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero; has to be a person who inhabits a distinguished residence, a prince, or nobleman, who carries a harrowing weakness besides possessing subjective skills, and plunges from a dignitary position to a low one. By this principle, Othello qualifies to be a tragic hero as he is admired and honoured in the start of the play, but through the course of the play, Othello faces his demise and undoing when he kills his wife on suspicion of adultery and unfaithfulness. Using Aristotle’s definition of tragedy, Shakespeare employs anagnorisis, hamartia, and catharsis as characteristics of tragic dramas interwoven with themes of jealousy, prejudice, manipulation, and revenge to show Othello as a tragic hero.

               Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare follows the life of Othello, a high-ranking general in the Venetian military. Although from African heritage, Othello is well respected by Venetians and the soldiers under his command. The play introduces the audience to Iago, the play’s antagonist who hates Othello due to his success and respect that the people have given to him freely. Iago’s hatred fuels him to devising ways of plotting against Othello. His ultimate plot involves Iago poisoning Othello’s feeble mind by spreading rumours of Desdemona, Othello’s wife, committing acts of adultery. Knowing Othello’s weakness, Iago goes on to create scenarios that do not warrant Othello's investigation into the matter instead trusts Iago blindly. Taken over with rage and anger, Othello stabs Desdemona to death. Emilia, Iago's wife, comes to Desdemona's defence a little too late confirming her husband's scheming against Othello^[2]. The play ends with Othello’s realization of his mistakes and hastily takes his own life.

               As a Moor, Othello fits the characteristics of a tragic hero depicted by Aristotle. An individual matches the description of a tragic hero by inhabiting a distinguished residence, a prince, or nobleman, who carries a harrowing weakness^[3]. The play follows Othello, a Moor with roots from Africa promoted to a high- ranking position in the Venetian military as the Cyprian Governor-General. He possesses the qualities of nobility in his governance, as well as confidence, strength, honour and admiration from the Venetian citizens. These traits are illustrated clearly from the extraordinary conduct of respect he gets from the senators when he walks into a room. A member of the seated senators proclaims, “... here comes the Barantio and the Valiant Moor^[4]. The weight of this proclamation asserts the respect adorned to Othello by other leaders, therefore, concluding him as a tragic hero. Besides, Othello also demonstrates his confidence in his reactions. For example, Barantio accuses Othello of practising witchcraft, Othello does not shy away from the accusation, instead, and he asserts himself by showing proof of his heroism as a defender of Venice. Although from African descent, Othello commands confidence, respect and virtue from senators and leaders born and bred in Greece.  Montano, a Cyprian governor,  learns of a storm brewing in the seas as he is informed that Othello is on his way in the eye of the storm. When Othello’s ship arrives on the shores, Montona praises Othello of his bravery attributing to his relentless ways of achieving results even when the odds are against him.

   Othello's praise is not demanded but comes naturally from his soldiers and people who call him "Captain^[5].” The term Captain is a position for a commander of soldiers. Through the play, Othello is portrayed to have a proper understanding and knowledge of skills as he started his military ascension only at a tender age of seven. His ascension to the ranks of a general over the years has left him acquiring skills, techniques and knowledge suited for the capable leader of troops into any battle. Developed attributes such as courage, intuition, and self – discipline are additional traits that accord him the respect he is showered. Othello enjoys a variety of honours and privileges during his leadership, but this is just a foreshadowing to his demise blinded by his weakness of outbursts of rage and violence. Othello enjoys power and prestige in the start of the play, but the people later turn on him leading to his demise after Othello murders his wife, turning his adoration into hatred.

   Secondly, Othello fits the Aristotelian definition of a tragic hero by showing his hamartia. Hamartia, by definition, is a general weakness that leads to the undoing of a hero in a literature piece. The results of Othello's downfall stem from pitfalls in his character on his decision-making that winds him up in failure. As a central theme of the play, Othello's jealousy takes centre stage as a character flaw in conjunction with distrust driven by lies from Iago that his wife, Desdemona, is unfaithful to him, commuting acts of adultery. Othello's jealousy overwhelms him that he cannot comprehend a situation that his wife could fall for another man. Resultantly, Othello's is vexed to the point of extreme anger that leads him to acts of violence, including killing his wife^[6]. Instead of Othello investigating the rumours of Desdemona’s infidelity, he succumbs to the lies and manipulative tactics of his enemy Iago. Iago aware of Othello’s impulsive character exploits this to his advantage of seeking Othello’s downfall as Iago states, "The Moor is of a free and open nature… And will as tenderly be led by the nose / As asses are...”^[7]The supporting analysis of Othello's impulsiveness and jealousy help in addressing the claim that Othello is a tragic hero. According to Aristotle, Othello's tragic flaws – hamartia – lead to his inevitable self-destruction.

   Although one might argue that Othello’s hamartia leads to his inevitable downfall, a Shakespearean audience might also believe that the existence of purgation encapsulates the audience as each death in the play is justified. Othello, The Moor of Venice is categorized as a tragic play seeing as how almost all main characters in the play end up dead, but a question may arise in the audience, was it justified for all main characters to die? I believe that an audience may be inclined towards a justified thought. In Othello’s case, a reader of the play may agree that it is justified to have all main characters die because of their indiscretions. Aristotle argues that a play, however short it is must invoke an audience to have split feelings of fear, despair, and hope, or anger and reprieve in the course of the play^[8]. One may empathize with Othello that he had a good marriage life until conflict came into play. The audience is intrigued with fear at the sight that Othello murders his wife, blameless of all accusations, and turns the knife on him, killing himself to^[9]. Shakespeare sets out to show the frailty, hopelessness, and missteps of individuals, therefore, acknowledging Othello as a tragedy.

   Thirdly, according to the Aristotelian definition, a play can only be a tragedy if it shows the element of anagnorisis. Anagnorisis is the juncture in a story or plays when the protagonist makes a significant revelation^[10]. At the play's end, the audience can attest to the use of anagnorisis, where Othello uncovers that Iago has all through the play plotted for his destruction through manipulation and lies of Desdemona's duplicity. Although he makes this discovery, it is already too late as Othello as already stabbed his wife to death and cannot bring her back to life. Coming to Desdemona's defence, Emilia, Iago's wife, attest of her innocence by stating, “Moor she was chaste…”^[11]. Othello’s impulsiveness gets the better of him on acknowledging his wrongs responding by taking the knife and committing suicide^[12]. Othello’s last act ends the play in a sombre darkened mood.

   Anagnorisis plays a significant part in unveiling the traits of the play's character. The play's main character, Othello, finally gets to find out the truth of his wife's loyalty to their marriage, but it is too late. Shakespeare captures the viewers' interest in expounding on the play as a tragedy by going a step further when Othello acknowledges the severity of his crimes. Knowing that he was wrong all along and that he cannot bring back Desdemona, Othello commits suicide. Othello's impulsiveness is his undoing right to the very end. Had Othello investigated the source of the rumours about his wife's treachery, he would have found out of Iago's ill intentions towards him. Instead, Othello acted on an impulse that negated his outburst and irrationality, leading to his death by his hands. Although the audience knows of Desdemona’s innocence, Othello is not, therefore, anagnorisis is shown in his discovery of his heinous crime. Ultimately, Shakespeare’s intention of the play to be a tragedy is met in this realization.

   Catharsis is employed in the Shakespearean play through the audience’s interaction. Catharsis is an involving emotional tangle that a playwright like William Shakespeare involves in Othello by making the audience have feelings of pity and fear for the hero after his demise. Othello's demise, although self-inflicted evokes emotions that show a sympathetic audience that can relate with his betrayal by Iago^[13]. Iago’s intentions though known by the audience are unclear to Othello and when he realizes of his impulsiveness has led to him murdering the wife, the audience can do nothing but pity his decision. Fear strikes the heart of the audience when they watch Othello's anger take over him to the point that he murders his wife without any sense of evidence, instead just relying on rumours fuelled by a jealous and revenge-seeking villain, Iago. Shakespeare's interaction with the audience to evoke such emotions confidently classifies Othello, The Moor of Venice as a tragedy.

   In conclusion, Aristotle’s definition of tragedy classifies Othello as a tragic hero as Shakespeare includes anagnorisis, hamartia, and catharsis in the play.  Shakespeare directly shows the use of each of the three attributes in the play highlighting the destruction of Othello from a high-ranking general to man plagued with jealousy, impulsive thoughts, anger outbursts, and irritability who eventually takes his life. Thereby, the three elements serve as explanation of Othello as a tragic hero. Interweaving the themes of jealousy, prejudice, manipulation, and revenge Shakespeare about Aristotle's definition of tragedy elaborates the play as a tragedy. Othello, the main character of the play fits all qualities of being a tragic hero. The play teaches individuals to employ patience, a level- headed mind, and investigation to help gather all facts before making a decision when dealing with sensitive situations.  At the end of the play, Othello makes a devastating realization that his wife was innocent all along, while Iago’s lies and manipulation were fuelled by his thirst to bring Othello down. Had Othello investigated into these allegations, he would have brought out the character traits that the Venetian citizens adored about him; courage, selflessness, self-control, confidence and respect. Instead, the play ends with the Venetian citizens turning all these positive traits about him into hatred terming him as frail, cowardly, and easily influenced. Indeed, Othello, the Moor of Venice culminates as a tragic drama.

    

   [1] Susan L. Feagin, “Tragedy,” Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2019, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780415249126-m042-1.

   [2] Khanindra Dutta, “Aristotle’s Concept of Tragic Hero in His Poetics |Characteristics of a Tragic Hero,” khanindradutta’s Blog, November 7, 2017, https://khanindradutta.wordpress.com/2017/11/07/aristotles-concept-of-tragic-hero-in-his-poetics-or-characteristics-of-a-tragic-hero/.

   [3] MISD, “Characteristics of the Tragic Hero,” December 9, 2015, http://schools.misd.org/upload/page/0626/Characteristics%20of%20the%20Tragic%20Hero.pdf.

   [4] William Shakespeare, “Othello: Entire Play,” Mit.edu, 2018, http://shakespeare.mit.edu/othello/full.html.

   [5] Ibid.

   [6] Storyboard That, “The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice,” Storyboard That (Storyboard That, August 3, 2017), https://www.storyboardthat.com/shakespeare-plays/othello.

   [7] Ibid

   [8] Ibid.

   [9] Anette Cooper, “The Significance of Othello’s Dying Words.,” Medium, May 14, 2020, https://medium.com/@anette.douglas/the-significance-of-othellos-dying-words-b9046fabb2c3.

   [10] Ibid

    

   [11] Ibid

   [12] Ibid.

   [13] Ibid.

    

    

Answer

Assessing Risk and Reward

The Nissan Motor Company is one of the leading automobile makers in the world. The Japanese carmaker has primarily enjoyed a successful run, allowing it to enter various regional and international markets such as the United States. However, the changing business environment was not favorable to the company in 2019. Notably, the cooperation recorded losses amounting to 7.8%. The experience pushed the management into making tough decisions, requiring almost all of its North American workforce to go for unpaid leaves.

In late 2019, the company announced that the decline in sales necessitated a two-day unpaid leave for the North American workers. The stated days for the vacation were January 2 and 3^rd    (Chicago Tribune, 2019).  Notably, this move was a crucial decision for the company because of its conflicting impacts. Whereas on the positive side, it could help the firm minimize expenses, it threatened to affect the public perception of the company regarding employee welfare.

The rewards for the decision involved cutting expenses by not paying the workers on leave, which eventually would translate into reduced expenses. Another reward was that the decision could allow the company to optimize performance by evaluating employee performances then developing new milestones. However, on the low side, the company risked affecting its public image and brand name, especially in the North American market. As per Chakravorti (2010), the way an organization treats its employees influences the firm's public perception. Thus, Nissan risked eliciting a negative public perception. With a distorted public image, the company could fail to revive its declining sales.

I would have advised the management of Nissan to utilize the Predictive Analytic perspective in determining the right decision to take. Ideally, the approach tries to predict what might happen in the future if particular decisions or actions are undertaken at the moment (Traymbak & Aggarwal, 2019). Looking at the situation at Nissan, the company needed to develop a goal such as increasing sales. After that, they would have made decisions aimed at realizing the set goal. In this regard, the predicted outcome could give the management an overview of whether more risks existed or significant rewards could be realized.

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