Othello as a Tragic Hero Essay Example for Free

Othello as a Tragic Hero Essay One of the most obvious focal point of disagreement about Othello is whether Othello was a tragic hero or not according to the classic conception of a tragic hero; whether his characterization, personal attributes make him fall into the domain of Aristotelian concept of tragic hero; Whether or not he possessed a tragic flaw. To Swinburne, Othello was â€Å"the noblest man of man’s making†. (Swinburne)But T. S. Eliot, on the other hand spoke unfavorably of his â€Å"cheering himself up†, (153) and came out with a celebrated critical term â€Å"Bovarysme†. Robert H.  Heilman (1956) comes very close to restating the Eliot position when he says; â€Å"Othello is the least heroic of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes. † (p. 166) The identification of Othello’s hamartia differs from reader to reader and from critic to critic. Some critics are of the view that excessive Egotism and self-confidence of Othello remain the main cause of his tragedy. He harbors unjustified suspicions against Desdemona. He had a trustful nature and he is thorough in his trust of Iago. (Bradley, 1965. p. 213. Jealousy overpowers him and he lacks self-control. It is hardly likely that even a combination of all these would be equal to what Aristotle considered to be a serious hamartia, and he exhibited any of the failing mentioned above. It would hardly be logical to say that the Othello was punished for crime in the yes of the divine. Another view is that the present failings of Othello may be taken to means that he was he was always like that, and his tragedy comes due some inherent or innate unsoundness in his character. However we get no indication of this in the play. The conception of the tragic hero that we gather from Aristotle’s Poetics is that he is a highly esteemed and prosperous man who falls into misfortune because of some serious hamartia i. e. tragic flaw. Aristotle gives the example of Oedipus and Thyestes, which means that according to him, it was Oedipus’ hamartia that was directly responsible for his fall. Although the meaning of hamartia is far from certain, its most frequent applications is in the sense of false moral judgment, or even purely intellectual errors. Among Greeks no sharp distinction between the two existed. It is generally believed that according to Aristotle the hamartia off Oedipus consists in some moral faults and it has been tried to identify various moral faults in Oedipus. Othello also possessed these moral flaw and his tragedy only comes due to these moral flaws, So according to Aristotelian conception, Othello is a tragic hero as he is a larger than life character and has tragic flaws that bring his destruction. Distinguished Professor Butcher has identified four possible range of meaning of Aristotle‘s Hamartia i. . tragic flaw. The foremost of these connotations is an error due to unavoidable ignorance of circumstances whereas an error caused by unawareness of conditions that might have been identified and for that reason to some extent morally blameworthy is another manifestation of the sense in which the term hamartia was used by Aristotle. The third sense is â€Å"A fault or error where the act is conscious and intentional, but not deliberate. Such acts are committed in anger or passion. Where as fourth one is â€Å"A fault of character distinct, on the one hand, from an isolated error, and, on the other, from the vice which has its seat in the depraved will†¦a flaw of character that is not tainted with a vicious purpose. † This essay will try to analyze all these manifestation of tragic flaws present in the character of Othello to manifest that he was a tragic hero. The character of Othello possesses an aura of personality that makes him distinguished as well naive and unrefined as compared with other characters in the play and other Shakespearean protagonists. That is the sole reason that why he fell a prey to Iago’s plot. Iago told Roderigo, â€Å"O, sir, content you. I follow him [Othello] to serve my turn upon him (I, i lines 38-9). Iago explains that only follow Othello to certain extent. A rudimentary supposition is that as the murder of Othello’s wife Desdemona is the result of deceitfulness of Iago, so himself remained a victim to the evil genius of Iago. Othello’s wrath was a product of his impulsiveness, the inherent flaw in his character, but that was utilized and triggered by the machination of Iago. The offense of Iago to conspire the demise of the Moor is worse since it is embedded in a shrewd mind with organized attempt whereas the wrongdoing of Othello was the result of his naivete. He was blindfolded by a thorn in the heart and mind. But his sin can not be justified only on this ground as there were various methods to check the blameworthiness. However, it can be illustrated that Othello permitted himself to be influenced by Iagos proposition of the unfaithfulness of Desdemona. Iago only provides a justification that was needed by Othello. Some critics are of the view that Desdemonas murder is an outcome of Othellos excessive arrogance and his impulsiveness to decision-making. A. C. Bradley ponders over the dispositions and nature of Othello and says in this regard; â€Å"The sources of danger in this character are revealed but too clearly by the story. In the first place, Othellos mind, for all its poetry, is very simple. He is not observant. His nature tends outward. He is quite free from introspection, and is not given to reflection. Emotion excites his imagination, but it confuses and dulls his intellect. On this side he is the very opposite of Hamlet, with whom, however, he shares a great openness and trustfulness of nature. In addition, he has little experience of the corrupt products of civilised life, and is ignorant of European women. † (p. 217) Despite this major flaw, he possessed some distinct personality traits. His has the capacity to build positive and reciprocal relationships and to take a number of steps to persuade. He possesses the capability to tailor an approach to appeal to the needs of a particular audience and an example of this relationship building is his genuine companionship with Iago. But again this trait of Othello is used against him as Iago takes advantage of his trust and design more evil plots against him. Although Othello possesses some evil propensities but he is capable of preventing these base and evil instincts to dominate him. In order to locate the degree and gravity of his sins, his motives fro his evil actions must be taken into consideration. It can be argued that his sins are product of weak mental faculties and some inherent flaws in his character. It was further enhanced by the manipulation of Iago instead of his pride. His action of murdering Desdemona was also not due to deficiency of confidence as he was a strong leader as manifested by his ability to command military and various other states affairs. But his leadership does not mean that he was forfeited against personal fantasies and whims of imagination. Othello’s basic dilemma was that he was in a totally new socio-cultural milieu. He was in a new city with a new bride who was graceful and young. Furthermore, Othello was in deep love with her does not know her well. He was uncertain about Desdemona decision to select him as her husband, and can only comprehend one clarification, She lovd me for the dangers I had passd. (I,iii,167) He is aware of the prevailing environment of prejudice and bias in Venice and without doubt must inquire why Desdemona would against her own norms and values and associate white Venetians by marrying an outsider. All these added suspicion in his minds before Iago begins his conniving plot. Although Desdemona was an epitome of love and care for her, but his preconceived notions cannot enable him to believe in her love unreservedly. His response to his skeptic mind is to put Desdemona on a pedestal, making her an emblem of purity and trustworthiness Tis not to make me jealous/ To say my wife Is fair, feeds well, loves company, Is free of speech, sings, plays, and dances well. / Where virtue Is, these are more virtuous. Nor from mine own weak merits will I draw/ The smallest fear or doubt of her revolt, For she had eyes, and chose me. (3. 3. 180) Othello arrived at the conclusion that Desdemonas consideration and virtue only capacitated her to feel affection for the unlovable an unstable culmination originating from his low self-worth. When Iago cast away this fictitious idealism with his evil designs, he is merely strengthening what Othello considers profoundly to be thoroughly possible i. e. that Desdemona could love another man. Iago is on hand to verify Othellos primary doubts: Ay, theres the point! as (to be bold with you)/ Not to affect many proposed matches/ Of her own clime, complexion, and degree, / Whereto we see in all things nature tends Her will, recoiling to her better judgement,/ May fall to match you with her country forms, / And happily repent. (3. 3. 228) So all these facts, arguments and supported evidence clearly manifest that Othello was a lager than life character and his tragic flaw contributes toward his tragedy. It is both an amalgam of self-infliction and circumstances beyond his control. He is a noble character but when things go wrong and pressures builds up, Othello’s inadequacies are revealed like the cracks in the dam. This makes him a tragic hero according to very conception of Aristotle. A. C. Bradley refutes the point of view that Othello was not noble and has no characteristics of a tragic hero. He is of the view; This character is so noble, Othellos feelings and actions follow so inevitably from it and from the forces brought to bear on it, and his sufferings are so heart-rending, that he stirs, I believe, in most readers a passion of mingled love and pity which they feel for no other hero in Shakespeare, and to which not even Mr Swinburne can do more than justice. Yet there are some critics and not a few readers who cherish a grudge against him. They do not merely think that in the later stages of his temptation he showed a certain obtuseness, and that, to speak pedantically, he acted with unjustifiable precipitance and violence; no one, I suppose, denies that. (p. 221)

Characterization in Hamlet Essay -- GCSE English Literature Coursework

Characterization in Hamlet      Ã‚  Ã‚   Are the characters in Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet round or flat, dynamic or static, consistent or inconsistent, presented mostly through showing or telling? This essay intends to answer these and other questions regarding the characterization in this drama.    Louis B. Wright and Virginia A. LaMar in â€Å"Hamlet: A Man Who Thinks Before He Acts† comment on the propensity of the Bard for well-rounded characters in Hamlet:    Much of the delight of modern readers, of course, comes from the study of the characters of the principal figures in the play, for Shakespeare has presented them in three-dimensional vividness. We feel that they are living beings with problems that are perennially human. If a modern man is not called upon, as Hamlet was, to avenge a murdered father, he nevertheless must face crises in his own life that remind him of Hamlet’s dilemma, and he recognizes in the mental attitudes of the various persons of the play attitudes that are familiar in everyday life. Everybody has encountered an Ophelia, a sweet but uninspiring girl dominated by her father and brother. And everybody has had to put up with a Polonius, full of conceit over his worldly wisdom and ever ready to advise us with an unctuous clichà ©. (62)    Hamlet has over 20 characters with speaking roles; and in occupations from king to grave-digger; and in 20 different scenes; and with a differentiation in speech, actions, etc. between every single individual character. Where else can such great variety in characterization be found? This aspect of the dramatist is emphasized by Robert B. Heilman in â€Å"The Role We Give Shakespeare†:    But the Shakespeare completeness appears graspable and possessable ... ... of Delaware Press, 1992.    Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html    West, Rebecca. â€Å"A Court and World Infected by the Disease of Corruption.† Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from The Court and the Castle. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1957.    Wilkie, Brian and James Hurt. â€Å"Shakespeare.† Literature of the Western World. Ed. Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992.    Wright, Louis B. and Virginia A. LaMar. â€Å"Hamlet: A Man Who Thinks Before He Acts.† Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. Louis B. Wright and Virginia A. LaMar. N. p.: Pocket Books, 1958.

Petroleum Exploration

Petroleum Exploration and Production consists of four major processes of exploration, well-development, production and site abandonment. In this assignment, we had chosen the major process of exploration and production. Petroleum Exploration is conducted to find and detect the site which contains oil or natural gas. Visible surface features such as oil seeps, natural gas seeps, pockmarks provide basic evidence of hydrocarbon generation. However, most exploration depends on highly sophisticated technology to detect and determine the extent of these deposits using exploration geophysics.Areas thought to contain hydrocarbons are initially subjected to a gravity survey, magnetic survey, passive seismic or regional seismic reflection surveys to detect large-scale features of the sub-surface geology. Features of interest are subjected to more detailed seismic surveys which work on the principle of the time it takes for reflected sound waves to travel through matter of varying densities and using the process of depth conversion to create a profile of the substructure.Finally, when a prospect has been identified and evaluated and passes the oil company's selection criteria, an exploration well is drilled in an attempt to conclusively determine the presence or absence of oil or gas. On the other hand, after the process of exploration and well development, the thrid process will be the production of oil. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling.This comes after the studies of structural geology at the reservoir scale, sedimentary basin analysis, reservoir characterization mainly in terms of porosity and permeable structures. It is refined and separated, most easily by boiling point, into a large number of consumer products, from petrol or gasoline and kerosene to asphalt and chemical reagents used to make plastics and pharmaceuticals. Petroleum is used in manufacturing a wide variety of materials, and it is estimated that the world consumes about 88 million bar rels each day.

The Hettigoda Industries Manufactures Business Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2091 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? Hettigoda Industries manufactures Siddhalepa Balm, Oil inhaler, Sumudu Ayurvedic Herbal Oil Toothpaste, Supirivicky Ayurvedic Toothpaste, Ayurvedic Herbal Toilet Soap, Sumudu, Visaka, Kekulu Ayurvedic Baby Soap, Herbal Tonics, Threepala Herbal Dietary Supplement, and Garlic in Bee Honey, Siddhalepa Massage Oils, Ayurvedic Herbal Teas and a host of Ayurvedic Oils This is the first Ayurvedic Manufacturing Company in East Asia to have been awarded the prestigious ISO 9001 Quality Standards Certification The vision of the Company is to strengthen its reputation and success and is seeking every endeavor to fully comply with customer demands with its great efforts concerning the quality of its products Objectives of the companys are, Promote and enhance the Companys image in the market Make full use of the company resources to achieve a competitive advantage Sustain profitability Continue to provide all its employees with the resources necessary to ensure the success of the Company Maintain its reputation for quality products, service and social responsibility Expanding the operations of a Siddhalepa company to another country might have positive influences or negative influences over the business. This could be mainly due to the cultural differences and the behavior and beliefs of the people in both countries. Culture is a complex tool which every individual has to learn to survive in a society. It is the means through which people interact with others in the society. We must remember that every society has a distinct culture that forms the backbone of the society. Every society has a different culture, where people share a specific language, traditions, behaviors, perception beliefs. Culture gives them an identity which makes them unique different from people of other culture. When people of different cultures expand their business operations to another country or society, the culture of that country beca me the dominant culture, and usually they need to absorb the new culture which at the same time strives to protect their own. It is not only a means of communication between people, but also creates a feeling of belonging and togetherness among people in the society. Changing how people act must be reinforced by changing the organization policies and processes which define how people operate. According to Hofstede, there is a no thing as a universal management method or management theory across the globe. Even the world management has different origins and meanings in countries throughout the world. The cultural dimension model of Hofstede is a framework that describes five dimensions of difference, value perspectives between national cultures such as, Individualism Vs Collectivism Power Distance Uncertainty Avoidance Masculinity Vs Feminity Long term Vs Short term This model should make everybody aware that people in other countries may think, feel act v ery differently from others, even when confronted with basic problems of society. Since Siddhalepa Company is planning to expand their business to UK, they need to consider the cultural issues, different social group behavior patterns in UK and change according to that or take relevant decisions. These different social behaviors will definitely have positive or negative influences on business decision making process. By applying Hofstede Model to Siddhalepa company in Sri Lanka and also to UK, it will help to identify the different social group behavior patterns. Sri Lankan culture and the UK culture are two different cultures when looking at the belief system, language, Interactions, religions, relationships, structures etc. Therefore when conducting business in UK, lot of changes need to be done according to the culture of UK. Individualism Vs Collectivism is the extend to which people feel they are supposed to taken care of or to be cared for by themselves, their f amilies or organizations they belong to. In Sri Lanka we can see a collectivism culture where people are sharing the responsibility, respect for members of the group, thinks in terms of WE rather than I, consumption patterns show dependence on others, Employer employee relationship is basically moral like a family link, Management is management of group and not individual, resources should be shared with relatives. But in UK, they have individualism culture which values and promotes individuality. On a macro level we see that the nuclear family is the more predominant form of basic social structure. On a micro level, in the business environment the individual may be more concerned with themselves rather than the team. Also consumption patterns show self supporting life styles, employed persons are expected to act according to their own interest work should be organized in such a way that this self interest employees interest coincide and workers are supposed to act as Ec onomic Persons Hiring promotion decisions are supposed to be based on skills rules only Power Distance is the degree of inequality among people which the population of a country considers as normal. In Sri Lanka this is reasonably high where inequalities among people are expected and desired, and also less powerful people should be dependent, Hierarchy in organization reflects existential inequality between higher and lower levels, more supervisory personal, there is a wide salary range between top and the bottom of the organization, managers rely on supervisors and on rules. Whereas in UK, status and inequalities between people are reasonably low. Macro level this manifests in a number of ways, such as legislation protecting ethnic minorities. On a micro level this is witnessed in the office where the relationship between superiors and subordinates is relatively casual and incorporates little ceremony. Uncertainty Avoidance is the degree to which people in a country p refer structured over unstructured situations. In Sri Lanka this is quiet high since fewer changes of employer, longer service, more difficult work life balance, there is an emotional need for rules even if they will not work, time is money, belief in experts and technical solutions. But in UK, relatively open to take risks and dealing with change. On a macro level this can be seen in the constant revision of laws and government structures. On a micro level, conflict or disagreement in the workplace, even with superiors, is considered healthy Masculinity Vs Feminity is the extent to which a culture is conductive to dominance, assertiveness and acquisition of things versus a culture which is more conductive to people, feelings and the quality of life. In UK, society and culture aims for equality between the sexes, yet a certain amount of gender bias still exists underneath the surface. The issues related to the mascunity and Feminity dimension are central to any religion. Here the rewards are based on equality, resolution of conflicts by compromise and negotiation, people work in order to live, and careers are optional for both genders In Sri Lanka there is lower share of working women in professional jobs, more money is preferred over more leisure time, people live in order to work Long term Vs Short term Values oriented towards the future, like saving and persistence is short term and Values oriented towards the past and present, like respect for tradition and fulfilling social obligations is long term According to Hofstede analysis, people in the USA and UK have low scores for long term orientation. This suggests that you can pretty much expect anything in this culture in terms of creative expression and novel ideas .The model implies that people in the US and UK dont value tradition as much as many others, and are therefore likely to be willing to help you execute the most innovative plans as long as they get to participate fully. This may be surprising to people in the UK, with its associations of tradition. But in Sri Lanka main work values include learning, honesty, adaptiveness, accountability and self discipline, leisure time is not important, focus is on market position, what is good and evil is depends on circumstances. Therefore when expanding the business to another country, there are lot more things to consider as shown above and these things will influence the business when decision making. In fact, when it comes to business, promoting cultural sensitivity will help people work more effectively when interacting with people from other countries, and will participate to make transactions are successful. Also there will be negative things such as poor time management, lack of decision making, poor infrastructure, High attrition, increased resistance, might not understand each other because you have different values. Those differences can hamper the progress of the new expansion. Also there are universal laws to ensure conformity in each culture because of complexities in continually learning the cultures of your clients organization. The other negative factor will be the International communication. This is one of the main concerns, therefore for professional who work internationally, interact daily with other people from different countries within their company or not, need to know the language well in order to communicate and especially when making decisions both party should understand the language. All the levels in communication are affected by cultural dimensions such as verbal (words and language itself),ÂÂ  non verbal (body language, gestures) andÂÂ  etiquetteÂÂ  dos and donts (clothing, gift-giving, dining, customs and protocol). And this is also valid for written communication as explained in William Wardrobes essay Beyond Hofstede: Cultural applications for communication with Latin American Businesses International negotiation is also o ne of the main factors which need to consider. Style of the communication, expectation, goals, issue ranking will change according to the negotiators countries of origin. This should be able to reduce the frustration and conflicts. For example, in a negotiation between Chinese and Canadian, Canadian negotiators may want to reach an agreement and sign a contract, whereas Chinese negotiators may want to spend more time for non business activities,ÂÂ  such as small talks andÂÂ  hospitality with preferences forÂÂ  protocol and form in order to first establish the relationship. When negotiating in Western countries, the objective is to work toward a target of mutual understanding and agreement. Once they done, shake-hands when that agreement is reached, and this is a cultural signal of the end of negotiations and the start of working together. In Middle Eastern countries much negotiation takes place leading into the agreement, signified by shaking hands. However, the deal is not complete in the Middle Eastern culture. In fact, it is a cultural sign that serious negotiations are just beginning International management also will influence on the decision making. Decisions need to be taking based on the countrys customs and values, therefore when working in international companies, managers nee to provide training for their employees in order to make them sensitive for cultural differences. International marketing is also more important as same as communication, negotiation and management. Hofstede model describe this too because it defines national values not only in business context but in general. The branding, advertising strategies, consumer behavior all of them are important when it comes to decision making. As companies try to adapt their products and services to local habits and preferences they have to understand the specificity of their market For example, if you want to market cars in a country where the uncertainty avoidance i s high, you should emphasize on their safety, whereas in other countries you may base your advertisement on the social image they give you. Cell phone marketing is another interesting example of the application of Hofstede model for cultural differences. If you want to advertise cell phones in China, you may show a collective experience whereas in the United States you may show how an individual uses it to save time and money. The variety of application of Hofstede abstract theory is so wide that it has even been translated in the field ofÂÂ  web designingÂÂ  in which you have to adapt to national preferences according to cultures value Therefore there are lots of positive and negative influences when expanding the business to another country or when conducting in the home country. One of the positive factors when conducting the business in another country with the local employee is that, cheap labour. The amount which UK pays for Sri Lankans will be very cheap when you compared to their local employees. Also as discussed earlier, the language, religions, behavior, attitude, belief systems will have negative influence over the decisions that company makes. But there are lots of expertises where you can learn and share the knowledge and these things will have a positive influence over the decision making At the end, it is important to see the cultural differences before expand the business to another country and also consider the positive and negative factors which can affect the business specially when decision making. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Hettigoda Industries Manufactures Business Essay" essay for you Create order