Othello

Defines the concept of heroism in literature and shows that the character, Othello, from William Shakespeare’s play, Othello is a classic tragic hero.

Heroism, victory and leadership are, indeed, unique but not unrelated literary concepts. They have been long defined originally within the ancient Greek and Roman works of mythology and epic. Ultimately, that which defines heroism in the literary context is a journey that takes the hero away from society, transforms him while on the journey and a triumphant return to impart new knowledge upon the community. Victory is clearly defined as an achieved domination of one party by the other – but true victory is much harder to define and more commonly achieved by isolating a set of parameters necessary to be met before victory can be achieved – often that victory comes at a cost to all parties because it is never really clean. Othello, this paper concludes is indeed a classic tragic hero.