because jealousy invades all of us at one time or another and for Othello, he chose to act upon it much like those who act in our society today.*BODY 2*Both Oedipus as well as Othello afflict themselves and their wives. When Oedipus learns the truth about himself, about the overly dissipated acts of coupling with his mother and killing his father, his wife Jocasta slays herself in embarrassment. Her death is thus an indirect result of Oedipus wrongdoings. He then blinds himself in order to inflict self-punishment. Othello on the other hand mistakenly accuses his wife Desdemona of adultery with Cassio and hence throttles her to death. When he later realizes that his accusation was improperly based, he is overcome with guilt, and hence stabs himself to death. Thus, Oedipus performs moral destruction of himself where as Othello destroys himself by death.*BODY 3*The horrors of Oedipus and Othello, although similar in certain ways, are different in others. Oedipus ends up uncovering a genuine horror; while Othello ends up realizing that the horror that exists is only in his mind. Oedipus horrors were made true by his own self; whereas Othellos unreal horror was conceived and promulgated by his trusted general Iago. The horrors of both are also more or less a result of their choice in wedlock. Oedipus marries Jocasta fallaciously assuming that she would not be his mother thereby creating setting himself up for suffering once the truth reveals. Othello marries Desdemona, who is of a race different from his, and this is partially the reason why Iago chooses to make him suffer.*CONCLUSION*In conclusion, when comparing and contrasting the protagonists Oedipus and Othello, the roundness of their characters, the indirect or direct retribution that they incur upon themselves and their respective wives, and their horrors illustrate the similarities and the differences among them. Whats most important is that both characters duly depict the importanc...
