The play Othello, much like many of the other works of William Shakespeare's, is a tragedy. However, Othello is a rather unusual tragedy because it does not follow the rules that generally qualify a play to be called a tragedy. Othello, the tragic hero of the story, exhibits two of the primary characteristics of a tragedy: having a tragic flaw and being brought down by a series of events that end in disaster. Although this is true, according W.H. Auden, "In most tragedies, the fall of the hero from glory to misery and death is the work wither of the gods, or of his own freely chosen acts, or...a mixture of both." In Othello, Othello is actually brought to his demise by another human being, Iago. Because of this, says Auden, "we feel pity for him but no respect; our aesthetic respect is reserved for Iago...