Othello's Tragic Flaws

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Many people have flaws and most of the time they come from a good place. In Shakespeare’s Othello, each character has their own unique tragic flaw, which is responsible for their unavoidable ruination. Iago, who is the main antagonist of the play is largely responsible for most of the calamities because he takes advantage of each characters tragic flaw. Othello experiences this first hand because his tragic flaw is being too trusting. Due to Othello’s trust for Iago, he is easily manipulated and would never expect Iago to be a dangerous person. Though mitigation factors existed, Othello and many other characters are to blame for their own misfortunes. It is very apparent early on in the play that Othello is completely blind to what is actually happening to him. While he thinks Iago is trying to help him, he is actually slowly being convinced that his …show more content…
In summation, both Othello and Cassio are to blame for their mishaps and because of their tragic flaws, they fell into Iago’s trap. Othello’s gullible nature led him to believe everything that his seemingly trustworthy friend Iago said. His noble, but dangerous flaw left him in the dark as to what was actually going on around him. A very similar fate was sealed for Cassio, who was constantly apprehensive about his reputation. His defect caused him to do anything and everything to restore the reputation he lost. Cassio was the perfect puppet for Iago to use to aid him in his devious plan. Many feel as though Cassio’s tragic flaw was not to blame for his downfall, but after extensive research and evaluation it is clear that Cassio’s strive for a better standing is the basis for his undoing. The challenge from the author is for us to try to understand and accept every part of a person, including their flaws and imperfections, but most of all to be aware of the dangers of our own

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