The Abnormal and the Unusual in OthelloIn how many Shakespearean tragedies is there a noble hero who falls into an epileptic fit - as we find in Othello? Let's consider some of the more anomalous events in the play. In Act 4 the evil Iago drives Othello mad about the missing handkerchief. The general's resulting illogical and senseless delirium is the prelude to an epileptic attack or a state of ecstasy: Lie with her? lie about her? – We tell lies when they deny them. – Lie with her! Zounds, that's disgusting. – Handkerchief – confessions – handkerchief! – Confess and be hanged for your trouble – first be hanged and then confess! I tremble. [. . .] (4.1)Cassius enters immediately after the general has fallen into an epileptic trance. Iago explains to him: IAGO. My lord has fallen prey to epilepsy. This is his second attack; he had one yesterday.CASSIO. Rub it on your temples.IAGO. No, leave it alone. Lethargy must have its peaceful course. Otherwise, he foams at the mouth, and gradually breaks out into wild madness. Look, it's moving. You retreat a little. He will recover immediately. (4.1) The protagonist's epilepsy is unusual and physically abnormal. But the most serious anomalies in the play are psychological. Iago is generally recognized as the only character who possesses and operates according to an abnormal psychology. But Lily B. Campbell in Shakespeare's Tragic Heroes tells of the moment when the hero himself approached "madness": Othello himself cries: You have put me on the wheel. I swear it's better to be very insulted than to know a little. And then we find him torturing himself with the thought of Cassio's kisses on Desdemona's lips, and he reiterates the idea of ​​property in his speech of being robbed. From this moment on Othello has become a slave to passion. As he bids farewell to the quiet mind, to contentment, to war and his occupation, as he asks Iago to prove his love for a whore, as he threatens Iago and at the same time begs for proof, he is ultimately brought almost to the brink of the abyss . of madness [. . .] . (165)Fortunately the protagonist finds his balance, and when he kills, it is for the noble reason of cleansing the world of "bullshit".