Essay on Characters in Othello: Colors and Shapes

And to sum up this whole idea,Othello was a great representation of a Historical-Cultural figure starting with the way he’s treated, to his responses to it, ending with the way he compromise with the different situations that comes his

In Shakespeare's Othello, color imagery consistently appears throughout the text. The colors, specifically black, white, and red, create symbolic and metaphoric meanings which contribute to larger themes such as racial prejudice, good versus evil, sexuality, and murder. The colors evoke images in the characters' minds, particularly Othello's. These images, along with their corresponding idea or theme, influence the actions of the characters, culminating in the murder of Desdemona by Othello.

Othello is a black army general in the service of the Venetian government. Iago is Othello’s standard bearer. I think that Iago is the greater villain. Right from the beginning, because of his vicious and offensive language, we are made aware that Iago is a negative and evil character. Iago says about Othello:

Some of the best visuals in Parker's movie adaptation of Othello were not in the script, the black and white chess pieces, water, wedding, sea burial, the dagger, and the glimpses of Cassio and Desdemona together. The chess pieces seem to symbolise Iago's plan to destroy Othello and Desdemona and also the sea burial later in the movie. Oliver used a lot of fire and water images throughout the movie, water seemed to represent ill fate, water foreshadows death or something bad. Desdemona was in the bath the night she was killed and Othello even washed is hands and face before he killed Desdemona. The fire and light in Oliver's movie seemed to represent safety and warmth, When Othello is about to kill Desdemona he blows out the candle. The candle represents Desdemona and how her time to live is coming to an end. Oliver plays with light through the background, Scenes which involve Desdemona are bright and lit up until her death and scenes which involve Iago are dark and lack brightness.Othello's clothes were indicators to his own personal change in the beginning he would wear white and clothes different to the others but towards the end the clothes he was wearing were black. These colours reflect the moor's mood at different times of the play.

Throughout history there has been a general understanding that appearances can be deceiving. A person may go through life without anyone understanding the true reality of their character. William Shakespeare, one of the greatest writers of all time, understood the relationship between appearance and reality and often gave characters two sides to their personality.

In the play Othello, jealousy is shown to be very evident through the actions of the characters. Jealousy is an emotion that everyone shares, and it is ultimately responsible for the tragic ending of the play. Everyone feels jealous at certain times of their lives, and this feeling can cause people to do irrational things. This human emotion also shows people to be weak in the sense that they are never happy with what they have. Shakespeare shows through Othello, Iago, Roderigo, and Brabantio that jealousy is the most corrupt and destructive emotion.

Alabaster’s beauty gives you an idea about his feelings of bodily inferiority to her. Alabaster is a naturally beautiful stone, used by ancient Egyptians and Chinese to make statues and vases. This word choice explains to the reader his feelings of inadequacy to Desdemona. At another time, he describes her as “fair as Dian’s visage”(3.3.389), Dian most likely being the god of healing in Celtic mythology. This gives the impression of a healthy glow surrounding her. Othello on the other hand is never said to be ugly, on the contrary, he is described as “far more fair than black”(1.3.291). However he must have felt some sensitivity about his physical appearance as it was mentioned to him constantly. Othello then goes on to describe her honor as “begrimed and black as mine own face”(3.3.390). Othello superimposes her clean and young white face with his own grimy old black face, making him seem a disgusting person. Othello’s choice of this simile shows his supposed racial inferiority. The fact that Othello believed Desdemona to be unfaithful with Cassio further proves his insecurity. Cassio is a clean white man with golden hair. Cassio is all of the beauty that Othello cannot be, and is therefore able to provide something that

In Shakespeare's tragedy, Othello, Iago is uncharacteristically honest when he says "I am not what I am". However, he is not the only character whose appearance differs from the reality. Nonetheless, he is possibly the only person who intends this duplicity. Unfortunately everyone is under the impression that Iago is "honest and just". Once alone, Iago reveals "when devils will the blackest sins put on, they do suggest at first with heavenly shows as I do now". Iago is two-faced in his relationships, even in the language he uses. After referring to Othello as a "black ram", he then tells him "my lord, you know I love you". Iago has no shame in appealing to heaven and godly images in

serve god if the devil bid you” and he also says “the moor is now

A noticeable theme throughout Othello is that looks are not always what they appear to be. We see this right from the start and all the way to the end. The characters take what they hear and interpret and mold it so that what they see automatically fits into the mental mold they have already created, therefore confirming their suspicions. Iago makes use of a deadly weapon, his words, to mislead characters into misinterpreting what they see. The characters in Othello are unable to recognize the hidden meaning of words often missing the deeper meaning and accepting them at face value. This is evident in several passages, such as Cassio’s fight with Montano and when Iago and Cassio speak about Bianca. Othello believes everything to be true or false, black or white, and real or fake. According to Iago, “The Moor is of free and open nature that thinks men honest that but seem to be so; and will as tenderly be led by th’ nose.” (Othello 2.1.391-393) Just the very nature of Othello’s character makes him vulnerable to Iago’s poison. The combination of interpreting words at their surface meaning and believing what they hear leads to copious amounts of jealous.

    Othello’s speech to Brabantio and the Duke in Act 1, Scene 3 is of major importance in describing Othello’s personality. This long speech, found in lines 149 to 196, shows Othello for the first time as a person with depth and less as a soldier. This speech is important to the book as a whole because it is a testimony to the strength of the love between Othello and Desdemona, which will later play a major role in the plot. It is also one of the first times that we see Othello trying to influence his audience with his words. The speech given by Othello is intended to convince Brabantio that Desdemona is with him willfully, and not by “spells and medicines bought of montebanks” (line 74).

In Othello by William Shakespeare, the villainous Iago devises a plot with the hopes that Othello and his wife, Desdemona, will be separated so that he can take Othello’s position as head of the Venetian Military. Iago’s scheme consists of him convincing Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him with his lieutenant, Cassio. Iago has told no one else about his ploy so while everyone else’s actions remain true, he manipulates their every move for his benefit. While their actions may not lead to results that they expected, exploring the reasoning behind everyone’s actions, can give insight to their values since the actions were based on what they believed was the best thing to do. To the characters of Othello, honor is more important than

   The Shakespearean tragedy Othello contains a number of themes; their relative importance and priority is debated by literary critics. In this essay let us examine the various themes and determine which are dominant and which subordinate.

Iago is not the typical villain in any story or play. The role he plays is unique and complex, far from what one might expect from a villain. Iago is not only very smart, but he is also an expert judge character. This gives him a great advantage in the play. For example, he knows Roderigo is in love with Desdemona and figures that he would do anything to have her as his own.

Othello is one of the greatest plays due to its variety of character and themes. The immorality seen in Iago, the gullibility in Othello, and the desperation of Desdemona make the story. The theme of social status plays a huge role in the story. In addition, the theme of appearance versus reality also plays a huge role in how each tragedy happens. In the critical essay “Othello” it discusses the idea that the characters are cast as outsiders due to false interpretation of what is happening or what is being said. On the other hand, the piece “Othello Character Analysis” emphasizes how characterization reflects the greatness of the piece.