Hamlet and Othello: Driven by Emotion

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the essential flaws in the characters of Hamlet and Othello and discusses the ways that these flaws leads to the tragic actions of the plays and the characters' downfalls. It examines the ways in which the characters' flaws are similar, in that their flaws are emotional, where both characters do not have full control of their emotions and that this allows them to be governed by their emotions.

From the Paper:

"Othello's fatal flaw is also related to his inability to deal with his emotions. The difference is that Othello's emotions are jealousy associated with his wife, not shame associated with his mother. Bradley describes this by saying that "Othello's nature is all of one piece... Love, if he loves, must be to him the heaven where either he must leave or bear no life. If such a passion as jealousy seizes him, it will swell into a well-night incontrollable flood" (Bradley 188). This shows how Othello goes to the extremes, especially relating to his emotions. Bradley also says that "He is quite free from introspection, and is not given to reflection."

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