ABSTRACT
Though the emotional complexity and vibrancy of the play gives room for varied rasas, Othello is cast in the tragic mould and karuṇa (sorrow) is the pradhāna (main) rasa, all other rasas directly or indirectly complementing it. This is in keeping with the Indian tradition of identifying the play’s pradhāna rasa with the aesthetic emotion chiefly evoked by the hero. Though Othello rather inadvertently becomes the agent of the two consequential deaths, he is not a wilful or hard-hearted murderer. From the beginning of the play, the hero is depicted as noble and valiant, temperate and dignified – an uttamaprakriti. Caught inescapably in the net of Iago’s cunning, he becomes a victim figure, helplessly following Iago who holds him in bondage. In spite of his fatal jealousy Othello is not seen as an adhamaprakriti – an unprincipled, beastly murderer – but as a valiant lover forced by pressing moral concerns to murder his wife whom he loves much and promises to love even after her death. There is a volte-face in the emotions generated after the temptation of Othello. Śṛṅgāra and vīra give way to jugupsa, bībhatsa, bhayānaka, raudra and finally śānta. Bībhatsa and raudra are opposed to śṛṅgāra. Karuṇa is present throughout and is the pradhāna rasa, though it is at moments overpowered by other emotions.
