Discuss Othello as a Shakespearean tragedy.

Aristotle initially noted six elements of tragedy, and Othello has them all. The first element is that the tragedy be a form of dramatic work; Othello fits this prerequsite, as it is a play. The second element is one of position, which Othello holds as the leader of the Italian army. Thirdly, a tragedy requires some form of prophecy, something that is evident in Othello's gift to Desdemona (the handkerchief).

"She told me her, while she kept it 't would make her amiable and subdue my father entirely to her love, but if she lost it or made a gift of it, my father's eye should hold her loathed and his spirits should hunt after new fancies (56)."

Othello's fatal flaw is jealousy....... and it is fatal. He then experiences the required downfall, and like all of Shakespeare's tragedies, the play ends in death.