Tragic Heroes: The Great Gatsby And Othello

The characters of both literature and real-life moral codes are often motivated by a desire to be right. The villains, on the other hand, are motivated by greed and end up showing evil in society. Ambition is characterized as the desire to do something good or bad. As a consequence, while villains are motivated by selfishness and greed, heroines are motivated by righteousness, devotion, and self-empowerment, among other moral codes. However, the degree to which heroes are motivated by a desire to do good sometimes leads to disaster, exacerbated by issues of hatred and alienation. Classical stories feature heroines who meet a tragic end. For instance, the tales of Othello, and the great Gatsby demonstrate heroes with the ambition to do rightness end up tragical (Lindberg). This essay, therefore, will compare the two heroes and the extent of their ambitions to do good and the tragic ends leading to hate and alienation. The ambition to do righteous by heroes leads to the development of hatred and helplessness leading to the heroines paying with their lives.
Tragic Flaw
The two heroes from the tales of Gatsby and Othello poses various characters that make them heroes. For instance, Othello is an African more who leads a Venetian army against the Ottoman Empire in defense of the Venetian colony of Cyprus (Engle). Gatsby, on the other hand, turns hero after enrolling to the world war one and later becoming a wealthy businessman in the American dream rhetoric.
Like many tragic heroes both Othello and Gatsby cause their fall. Othello, for instance, is wrong to trust Iago who on the other hand is out to destroy him. Once Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio, he is filled with jealousy that led to his fall. Gatsby, on the other hand, mocks the American dream search of love. He gets into self-destruction mode to please daisy and dos not see the dust that was floating in the wake of his dream.
Indeed, Othello loved Desdemona; however, his love for her was turned to jealousy when he is lied to that she was having an affair with his nemesis. Hence loving not wisely but too well. Gatsby is not initially presented as a hero; his wealth is illegally earned, and he is not a hero in the eyes of the society. His title is thus an irony to ridicule his dream of greatness (Olson).
Outside Sources
Iago’s motive to ruin Othello stems from the fact that Othello passed him unfairly in a promotion and made Cassio a lieutenant. From his statement on {1.3.381-82} (Olson), Iago knows that the moor is straightforward and honest and also thinks everyman is honest. Hence, he will be easy to manipulate. From the tale of the great Gatsby, the author states that a foul smell floated in his wake and its what preyed him. From the story, Gatsby’s dream for the American dream is motivated by his love for daisy; however, it’s apparent that he could not keep daisy’s heart to himself as she also loved tom as she enjoyed his wallet. It is a bitter truth that is seen after Gatsby tragic death.
Othello is a moor from north Africa; his race is regarded lowly in the Venetian society. This makes Othello have a low self-esteem about himself and could be manipulated. When Iago tells him, that Cassio is having an affair with his love, he gets jealousy leading to his tragic fall (Olson). Gatsby on the other is poor at the start of a dream, when he gets wealthy, he has a high social standing and could not differentiate between true love and material wealth. He ends up suffering tragic end due to his love for Daisy who does not love equally love him back.
Imagery, Symbols, And Motifs
In the play, Othello Shakespeare uses various forms of imagery. For instance, the use of the black color is used to represent night or evil, while white color is used to represent purity or goodness. The imagery is used to juxtapose Othello and Brabantio’s daughter. They were not a good match according to society. On the other hand, Othello creates a monster imagery after he is told of Desdemona’s alleged infidelity.
From Gatsby’s tale, the color green is used throughout the story as a symbol to represent the lust for money. Both authors of the stories of Othello and Gatsby use the symbols of darkness and light to describe evil and good (Lindberg). For instance, Iago in the tale of Othello plans his evil plans at night, i.e., getting Cassio drunk, and rousing Brabantio.
In conclusion, tragic heroes have often pushed a motivation that eventually leads to their fall. From the stories of Othello and Gatsby, both characters are driven by the motives of love but end up tragically. The phrase can thus express Their purposes to do good, “they loved not wisely but too well.”

Works Cited
Engle, Adrienne L. Jay Gatsby: Epitome of the American Dream? 2015.
Lindberg, Lovisa. “The American Dream as a Means of Social Criticism in The Great Gatsby.” (2015).
Olson, Rebecca. “Too Gentle”: Jealousy and Class in Othello.” Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies 15.1 (2015): 3-25.