Essay One

Note that this essay question is trying to get us to explore the conventions of a ‘tragic hero,’ and provide our own judgement about whether or not we believe that Othello fulfils the requirements of a tragic hero in a convincing way. Considering the nature of this question, within the purpose of the play, if we were to disagree, there must be incredible evidence to question Shakespeare’s integrity as an effective playwright, and his ability to convince us, as an audience, that Othello is unconvincing and elicits no emotion or conviction at all. Sometimes there will be a fairly obvious ‘safe’ perspective for a prompt, but other times it will be very open-ended and up to you to choose a stance.