Based on Acts 1 & 2, what sub-genre of tragedy does ‘Othello’ fit into?

Interesting question huh? Well, *rubs hands together*, let's do it!

So, I’ll start with Domestic tragedy, something that doesn’t seem like an applicable sub-genre to Othello or Shakespeare in general. As you can probably tell from the word ‘domestic’, this sub-genre is typical of lower or middle-class individuals. This doesn’t apply to Othello as they are of high-class and there are situations which involve more than just that relationship, for example war. However, the tragedy of this play revolves around their marriage, so, while not being a domestic tragedy, once could say that this play has domestic traits.

Classical tragedy, on the other hand, applies to almost all of the tragedies by Shakespeare, and Othello is no exception. Typical classic traits include a tragic hero, who is superior to the audience in morals and is upper class, any similarities here? He also has a tragic flaw which causes a tragedy and complete reversal from a state of happiness to one of despair. Obviously Othello ticks every box here and it is very clear that Othello is a Classical tragedy.

However, there are other forms of tragedy to consider here, take for instance ‘Renaissance Tragedy’. It was prominent during William Shakespeare’s time, and he was known for this type of tragedy as well. They had a morbid ending, usually involving the death of the lead character, which was brought about by badly made choices on the part of the protagonist. This screams ‘Othello!’ at the top of its little voice, and it’s clear that many of its typical attributes fit into Othello.

A ‘revenge tragedy’ is similar form and is also most noticeable in Shakespeare’s time and work. Take ‘Hamlet’ for instance, an aim of revenge is what causes the play to happen. In this sub-genre it is normal to see secret murders, ghosts, a period of plotting, a descent into madness, a period of violence near the end of the play, and a lot of deaths, particularly the avenger. This looked, at first, like there was no connection to Othello, but upon further analysis we can see the way they are applicable here. There is plotting, madness and plenty of destructive violence leading to Othello’s death. However, Hamlet, a typical revenge tragedy is quite different to this play. Overall, it is most likely that this play has traits of this genre, but that it does not play a major part in this story.

Melodrama is a way in which a writer will exaggerate plots or characters to appeal to audiences to create emotion, often through creating archetypes, or embodying evil or other themes into a character. This genre generally applies to quite old films and less to plays; however we can see some crossovers here. Othello represents a lack of trust and acting too quickly in a relationship, while Iago is the characterisation of evil and not considering the consequences of one’s actions.