Comparing Othello And Hamlet

William Shakespeare once wrote, “To be or not to be, that is the question,” and, “It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock.” These two quotations were carefully crafted, by the literary genius himself, to entertain not only the Elizabethan era, but for all the years to follow. Which will forever be known as classics, William Shakespeare composes two plays, Hamlet and Othello, that involves deception and tragic flaws that lead to tragic deaths while containing two protagonists that share very different qualities. Evidence of deception is apparent from the beginning in both of Shakespeare’s works. In Act I Scene V, the Ghost tells to Hamlet, “But know, thou noble youth, The serpent that did sting thy father’s life Now wears his crown.” This

In both Hamlet and Othello, these tragic flaws lead to the devastating deaths of the protagonists. Hamlet’s flaw is his inability to act on his actions because his mind always busily contemplates the consequences. His flaw starts to become evident in his first soliloquy and progresses as the play goes on. He states, “To be or not to be: that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of trouble And by opposing end them.” This initially shows that he is torn back and forth from his thoughts. It also becomes largely obvious after every decision he makes. After it was confirmed that Claudius was the murderer, Hamlet still hesitates to kill him and avenge his father. He goes back and forth in his head, over-thinking the situation, leading him to take no action at all. If he wasn’t so indecisive, the ending of the play could have panned out much differently, sparing multiple lives. Furthermore, Othello’s tragic flaw is his ability and commitment to trust people with such ease. Because Othello denied Iago the position of being his right-hand man, Iago is infuriated and is devoted to ruining his life by manipulating those around him, specifically Cassio and Desdemona. Because of the trust Othello has in Iago, Othello is convinced to believe that Cassio and Desdemona are betraying him by