Othello, Paradise Lost, and Oroonoko focus on the figure of the war hero but do not focus upon the war hero at war. What does this suggest about...

The plots of all three of these works depart significantly from the military action themes of most traditional epics. Unlike the Iliad or Beowulf, we do not encounter in these works a series of battles in which a hero fights against increasingly powerful enemies to earn honor and glory. Instead, all of these works exist within very different narrative traditions.

Othello: Othello is a traditional war hero, a Moorish general in service to the city of Venice, who during the story is deployed to Cyprus to organize its defense against the Ottoman Empire. The play is, in fact, set during a war and Othello is actively participating in the war. The main difference between the play and earlier epics is that the war serves as a backdrop to the the main action of the play, which is a story of love and betrayal. The actual action of the war takes place offstage. Othello claims that his background as a warrior makes him unsuited to civilian life, saying:

Rude am I in my speech,

And little bless'd with the soft phrase of peace: ...

And little of this great world can I speak,

More than pertains to feats of broil and battle ...

We can argue that Othello's honest, passionate nature, resembling that of many traditional epic heroes, makes him unsuited not only to romance but also to dealing with the subtle nuances of social life, making him vulnerable to Iago's machinations.

Paradise Lost: This retelling of the Biblical story of the fall of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from Paradise does not really have typical heroic elements. Generically, it is closer to wisdom or gnomic literature, such as Hesiod's Theogony, telling the story of how humanity came to its current fallen state. There really is no traditional war hero in this story. God is divine, not a human hero. Lucifer led an angelic rebellion and has fallen from grace, but he is the villain of the story, not the hero. One could argue that he responds to his defeat in direct battle by pursuing his rebellion by subterfuge (corrupting Adam and Eve in the form of a serpent). Adam and Eve are more victims than heroes. Another figure one might consider a sort of unconventional hero is the Son who battles against evil not by directly fighting it but by sacrificing himself. Christ's sacrifice was the template for a the uniquely Christian tradition of martyrdom as an ultimate form of Christian heroism. Thus one could say that the Christian is heroic outside war by sacrificing him or her self for the greater good.

Oroonoko: Prince Oroonoko is a case of a hero retaining a traditional heroic ethos and manner of action even when deprived of his heroic position and accoutremonts. Even though his initial role seems to be a romantic one, once he is enslaved, his natural heroism resurfaces and he organizes and leads a slave rebellion. In this rebellion, he acts as a traditional hero, showing physical endurance, leadership ability, and great bravery. Although the rebellion is not a war per se, the message of the story seems to be that a noble warrior retains his noble heroic character even outside the traditional situation of the heroic tale.