Oedipus and Othello

Both Oedipus and Othello were virtuous and brave men that became the victims of two tragic downfalls. Oedipus and Othello are both tragic character. In the play Oedipus the king, Oedipus killed his father and married his mother and have children. However Othello ends up distrusting his wife, so he killed his wife. These two persons have similarities and differences in several characteristics that they are round characters, the vengeance that they experience upon themselves and upon their individual wives whether straight or circuitously, and their tragic.

Both Oedipus and Othello are round characters. A round character is completely developed so that the person who read will have a good picture of their appearances and behavior. Oedipus is a character whose fortune cannot be escaped because whatever path he took, seems to take him to get more trouble than what he can deal with anyone before. Therefore, even if his character is well-rounded, he is not realistic. Unlike Oedipus, he would marry a woman who is his mother so he does not need to ask some question about her past marriages or her children.

However, there could be some kind of conflict vision in their characters, and there may be question could have risen about the first child that was executed. On the other hand, Othello is a well-rounded character and is a realistic. Othello is a person who is jealous and mistrust that he thinks his wife is cheating on him and sleeping with another man. Othello was in love and he had this feeling that once in a while he thinks that his feeling is fed by the person whom that most trust can lied to them.

Until Othello finally kills his wife, Iago constantly know about Othello’s thought that is wounded and distrust grows for his wife. Oedipus is a round character, but cannot be understood due to the ridiculous conditions of his marriage. Othello’s round character can be more understandable, because jealousy occupies all of us at one time. Othello chose to act upon it abundant like those who act in our community today. So far, both Oedipus and Othello worry themselves and their wives. When Oedipus knows the truth about himself that he married his mother and also killing his father.

Oedipus’s wife Jocasta kills herself because of embarrassment that she married her son. Oedipus blinds himself in order to impose punishment for him. On the other hand, Othello wrongly blames his wife Desdemona of disloyalty with Cassio and henceforth throttles her to death. Later, Othello realizes that his allegation was wrongly founded; he is overwhelmed with guilt, and stabs himself to death. Therefore, Oedipus does moral obliteration of himself while Othello abolishes himself by death. Lastly, Othello and Oedipus are both tragic hero and their disaster comes from their marriages.

Othello is a slave who achieved many goods through the military. Oedipus was born into the upper class and is also a prince and a king. Othello and Oedipus both suffered great loss and shame because of pride. Oedipus’s pride is gone after he killed his father and married his mother. After doing such bad things, Oedipus began to lose all his pride and dignity, such as losing his wife and his kingdom. For Othello, his pride’s also turned to shame because he listens to others more than his wife. So Othello killed his innocent wife and loosed his pride and precious things that belong to him.

Othello also loosed his life and he stabs himself to death and said, “I took by the throat the circumcised dog. And smote him thus. ” (V ii 351-352. ) In conclusion, Oedipus and Othello are the two tragic downfalls that can be compared and contrasted. Othello and Oedipus are both a heroic characters in the plays and went through a lot of suffering in their life. Both of them are round characters, the vengeance that they experience upon themselves and upon their individual wives whether straight or circuitously, and their tragic.

It was too late for them to turn back n have their pride back because they had lost everything what they got. They deserved to lose everything because of what they did. Othello shouldn’t listen to others and should of listen to his lovely life more, but he decided to listen to others and killed his innocent wife. For Oedipus, killing his father just to married his mother is a very disgusting and disgraceful things that can ever happened. These two characters learned their lesson that pride is something that can destroy their life.