Use evidence from Sophocles’ Oedipus, from Shakespeare’s Othello, Moor of Venice, and from secondary sources to explain why you agree or disagree with this statement: “The downfall of Oedipus is the work of the gods; the downfall of Othello is self-inflicted.”
Thesis Statement
This paper is not in complete agreement with the statement “The downfall of Oedipus is the work of the gods; the downfall of Othello is self-inflicted.” Their fate can be better portrayed with the following statement: “both Oedipus and Othello undoubtedly succumbed to vagaries of human life or even to the human condition.” Perhaps the reason behind this paper’s inability to proclaim Oedipus’ downfall as the work of gods stems from the fact that this is an age of rationality and pragmatism and such reasoning seems superfluous today. However, it is an undeniable fact, one which is accepted by most people—whether believers, atheists, or agnostics—that fate does play a significant role in people’s lives. Years after the world became familiar with Oedipus and Othello’s stories, Russian writer Dostoyevsky reminded us the power of fate in his famed book Crime and Punishment (1994). He showed that fate can even compel a person of the gentlest disposition to commit a crime as hideous as murder. The human need to escape such a fate is then depressingly professed in the book as follows: “Or renounce life altogether! Accept fate obediently as it is, once and for all, and stifle everything in myself, renouncing any right to act, to live, to love” (1994). Even today, we hear people retell incidents and stories about the quirks of fate: “I would have been killed had I not missed the bus that crashed today” or “I would have been stuck in the same monotonous life if I had not been fired from that job.” Human reflections and understandings of these kinds are not very different from the lessons propounded by the plays Oedipus Rex and Othello. Nevertheless, one cannot deny that contemplations and deliberations can change the path of fate, and every human being has the ability to contemplate and deliberate.
Outline
The reason for the partiality shown to Oedipus’ case is the fact that human beings often lack the vision to see the potency of warnings around them. This has been observed in many instances. The recent plight of the economy of the United States after its involvement in several wars is stark example of the fact (Teslik, 2011). The warnings were omnipresent, but the leaders of the country were unable to see them (Teslik, 2011). In the conclusion then, it can be said that both Othello and Oedipus were responsible for their own downfall, Othello more than Oedipus. However, the fact that fate plays a large role is deciding human life and its condition must be noted.
While, both the play leads were capable of making decisions that could have halted their sad ends, the fact remains that certain situation that were not in their control occurred. As human beings we must understand that it is such circumstances that make the human life transient, and as long as human beings exist, such conditions shall prevail. The era or period can have no control over such matters. Finally, this paper would like to provide its opinion on the judging the actions of Oedipus and Othello in Dostoyevsky’s words: “What if man is not really a scoundrel, man in general, I mean, the whole race of mankind—then all the rest is prejudice, simply artificial terrors and there are no barriers and it's all as it should be” (1994).
Draft
It seems as if Othello took his position in life with excessive pride. Why else would a man in complete possession of his mind blindly believe the idea implanted in his mind that the woman whom he loved and trusted so dearly has committed infidelity—and that too with as feeble a proof as a mere handkerchief? His lack of faith is in spite of the fact that she has always proved trustworthy and that their trust and love was so strong that they secretly got engaged in spite of all societal threats. One can argue that the times were different then, that women were known to be promiscuous and easily led. Perhaps even, symbolism in love and the matters of the heart were considered of much more importance that they are today. Nevertheless, as much as Othello’s lesson seems applicable in today’s context, the fact that love and trust between a man and a woman were essential tenets of existence is applicable for those times. Therefore, while it can be said that Iago was to blame for Othello’s sad end, it cannot be forgotten that Othello was far more responsible for letting his ego and insecurity get the better of him. It can even be questioned if he was driven insane by the blind jealousy that took hold of him. His end defines his stance in the entire play. While he is confident of his actions, however depressing the decision behind the action, in the end, he ends his life by being driven to depression over his actions. Thus, in this case, while it is possible that fate played a large part because of the jealousies of people concerned, the sad lateness of Emilia’s testament, and even the lack of communication between Othello and Desdemona, he was equally responsible for his misery and that of others around him.
Next, the paper considers Oedipus’ case. The play, Oedipus has been called as the “definitive tragedy,” where the authoritative niceties in Sophocles’ portrayal of characters and his storytelling technique provide a degree of sincerity to the incredible quirks of fate (Hall, 1994). This case has to be looked in a completely different light from that of Othello’s. Unlike in the period and place where Othello was written, Oedipus was created in an era when theater was a religious as well as civic association (A Critical Casebook: Sophocles, 1900). The presence of gods and divinity in Greek history, mythologies and hence, plays and stories is colossal (Hack, 1970). The gods thus stand for every other human emotion and trait. Moreover, when we consider Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, we must come into terms with the following fact:
If we give ourselves up to a full sympathy with the hero, there is no question that the Oedipus Rex fulfils the function of a tragedy, and arouses fear and pity in the highest degree. But the modern reader, coming to the classic drama not entirely for the purpose of enjoyment, will not always surrender himself to the emotional effect. He (She) is apt to worry about Greek ‘fatalism’ and the justice of the downfall of Oedipus, and, finding no satisfactory solution for these intellectual difficulties, loses half the pleasure that the drama was intended to produce. (Barstow, 1912)
Thus, in understanding Oedipus’s story and for the purpose of answering the question posed here, this paper attempts to view the case as a story of consequences and morality. The term “gods” in the question is viewed as synonymous with the term “fate,” and the paper concurs with the fact that fate played a larger part in Oedipus’ story. While the inclination to believe that fate’s presence in Oedipus’s end is more than in Othello’s, personal ownership over circumstances is viewed with equal importance as in Othello’s story. Patricide and incest are viewed with great distaste by the human society even today. However, Oedipus was unaware of his actions. He was propelled by the human anxiety to find a position in the society when he became an adult. The blame for his downfall can be on many factors here: for example, disrespect to the female gender—as marrying the queen because she cannot hold office without a male counterpart is a biased outlook and unreasonableness of people—as the people do not consider that Oedipus does not commit the crimes knowingly. It has to be considered that Oedipus never heeded the warning of the oracle, the warning that he relates to Jocasta later in the play: “that I was fated to lie with my mother, and show to daylight an accursed breed which men would not endure, and I was doomed to be murderer of the father that begot me” (Sophocles, 2006). While in today’s date criticizing the enormity of not weighing the impact of such a warning might seem somewhat inane, the difference in the eras must be remembered. Thus, the warning here is equivalent to a warning ignored by a person regarding the malfunctioning of the brakes in a vehicle on which he or she is about to embark on a journey. Thus, Oedipus was responsible for his downfall to a certain extent as well.
Bibliography
Barstow, Marjorie (Oct. 5, 1912). “Oedipus Rex as the Ideal Tragic Hero of Aristotle.” The Classical Weekly. 6(1). pp. 2.
Dostoyevsky, F. (1994). In C. Garnett (Ed.), Crime and Punishment. New York: Modern Library.
Hack, K. R. (1970). God in Greek Philosophy to the Time of Socrates. Chennai: Ayer Publishing.
Hall, E. (1994). “Introduction.” Sophocles: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Electra. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Shakespeare, W. (1818). In E. Kean (Ed.), Othello: A tragedy. London: T. Rodwell.
Sophocles. (2006). In R. D. Dawe (Ed.), Oedipus Rex. Boston: Cambridge University Press.
A Critical Casebook: Sophocles. (1900). New York: Ablongman.
Teslik, L.H. (March 11, 2008). Iraq, Afghanistan, and the U.S. Economy in Council in Foreign Relations. Retrieved on December 14, 2011 http://www.cfr.org/afghanistan/iraq-afghanistan-us-economy/p15404#p4.
