Despite the obvious differences in Oroonoko and Othello, Othello being a play written in 1603 by William Shakespeare and Oroonoko being a novel written in 1688 by Aphra Behn, the main characters are both black men living in white societies. Throughout their journeys, Othello and Oroonoko experience tragedies that result in the ending of their lives. Although their deaths are far from similar, in both the reasoning and the action, the implications are comparable. Both men were pushed to the point of no return by the influence of the people who surrounded them. Oroonoko and Othello’s violent deaths, although vastly different, represent the degradation of their respectful societies moral views and values sue to the series of events that lead up …show more content…
He has it out for Othello and does not stop until his actions lead to the multiple deaths at the end of the play. The reader knows that Iago makes Othello believe that his wife, Desdemona, is cheating on him with Cassio; however, none of this is true. The manipulation of Othello’s perception on different situations forces the thought of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness into Othello’s mind, where it poisoned any thought of her, and eventually those poisoned thoughts drives Othello to kill Desdemona. However, Emilia, Desdemona’s maiden, Iago’s wife, and the only witness to Iago’s plot, unveils the truth of the situation to Othello; “he [Iago] lies to th’ heart… and your [Iago’s] reports have set the murder on [(referring to Desdemona’s murder)]” (Shakespeare 5.2.152-183). Othello was so shocked that “My friend… honest Iago” (Shakespeare 5.2.150) made him kill his wife, and as a result reveal the savage that was hidden from …show more content…
After doing good business with the English ship captain for so long, a system of trust was developed between the two, or so Oroonoko thought. The captain then proceeded to kidnap Oroonoko and lie about his reasoning behind his actions. The deal was that the captain would set “…[Oroonoko] ashore in the next land they should touch at” (Behn 35) and gave him his word. This did not happen, instead he was sold into slavery and the captain’s word, which rested on the Christian religion, became meaningless. The manipulation of Oroonoko by the white man (the colonizers) continued throughout Behn’s novel. After the rebellion failed, Oroonoko’s life was in jeopardy, yet he still did not back down even when “all imaginable respect shall be paid to you [Oroonoko], and yourself, your wife, and child…shall depart free out of our [colonizer’s] land… live by surrendering yourself” (Behn 62-63). Once he saw the white man go against his word, his trust in all white men was eliminated. Oroonoko was right to disregard anything that the colonizers said to him at that moment because he was sentenced to death and he would have never been set free like he hoped. Out of fear that his child would be born into slavery, and that once he was gone, his wife be treated unjustly, Oroonoko did the only thing that he could to save his family, which was murdering Imoinda. She was accepting of this fate and wished for
Iago often refers to Othello as the "Moor" and when Emilia realises how Othello has treated his wife, she calls him "the blacker devil". As Iago's plan unfolds, Othello's suspicions and jealousy come to the fore. Iago's blasphemous expressions gradually infiltrate Othello's vocabulary as Othello becomes more and more convinced that Desdemona is being unfaithful. Initially he claims that while the marriage is expected to bring him some physical satisfaction, he and his wife value their mental attraction just as highly. However, as he becomes ensnared in Iago's trap, Othello reveals a more detailed acknowledgement of Desdemona's sexual appeal. As he discusses her death with Iago, he says he will not argue with Desdemona"lest her body and beauty unprovide my mind again".
Othello’s love for Desdemona was so deep he could not bear the thought of another being with her; “If she be false, O! Then heaven mocks itself. I’ll not believe’t.” Iago uses the characters of Cassio and the obsessive Roderigo as his weapons in his cunning plan. Iago drives the idea into Othello’s mind that Desdemona has been unfaithful, inciting him into a state of jealousy. “Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul, but I do love thee; and when I love thee not, chaos is come again.” Othello growing insecurities about his wife’s faithfulness only adds to his psychological suffering which in turn acts as a catalyst towards the suffering of other characters involved in the play.Iago tells these lies with the intention of driving Othello insane as well as establish his dominance and influence the situations of those characters close to Othello. Evidence of this comes in one of Iago’s soliloquies from act two, scene one; “That Cassio loves her, I do well Believe’t: That she loves him, ‘tis apt and of great credit.” This section shows that he is trying to convince himself that his own manipulative lies are true and is trying to reassure his motives by justifying his own actions. By convincing Othello
Iago also has his own suspicion that Othello had an affair with Emilia, Iago’s wife, and seeks revenge. Iago’s soliloquy at the end of “till I am even’d with him, wife for wife” (Act 2, Scene 1) has the notion that Iago might sleep with Desdemona so that Othello must feel the same destructive jealousy.
Othello trusts Iago and now Iago is trying to take his wife from him for someone else. Furthermore, “He takes her by the palm...sir in.” (pg. 71). Iago watches Cassio and Emilia because he thinks they had an affair he watches them carefully so he can figure out how to convince Othello that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair. Another example involves the plan to help Othello kill Desdemona. “Do it not with poison. Strangle her in her bed, even the bed she hath contaminated” (pg. 185). Othello believes that Iago is most honest, thus he believed killing his wife Desdemona was the right thing to do. Iago brainwashed Othello into believing the wrong thing was the right thing. The characterization of Iago is created by the use of dramatic irony. The audience knew how devious Iago is, but the characters fell for his mischievous acts.
Somehow Iago manages to manipulate Othello into thinking that Desdemona cheated on him. When he demands that she show him the handkerchief he had given her, and she does not, he is convinced that she is being unfaithful. This is when he decides that he must kill her. Later in the novel Othello suffocates Desdemona out of jealousy.
*INTRO*The character Oedipus in the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles, and the character Othello in the play Othello the Moor of Venice by Shakespeare are both tragic characters. Oedipus ends up killing his father, and marrying and having children with his mother, whereas Othello ends up mistrusting and killing his wife. These two individuals have similarities and differences in several aspects such as the roundness of their characters, the retribution that they incur upon themselves and upon their respective wives whether directly or indirectly, and their horrors.
Othello is an easy target in this drama, because Iago already knows that he is a very insecure person. With that stated, it will be easy for Iago to use Othello’s jealousy to trick him into thinking that Desdemona is an unfaithful wife. Iago will manipulate the way Othello sees things in order to convince him that what he sees is innocent acts between Desdemona and Casillo. Iago’s starts to plant the idea in Othello’s head of an affair after Othello sees Casillo rush leaving Desdemona in a manner that looked as though he is guilty (1223). Alone with Othello, Iago begins to make Othello feel threatened by Casillo and Desdemona’s apparent relationship by bringing up the fact that Casillo served as Desdemona’s and Othello’s go-between during the time of their courtship. The conversation ends with Iago asking Othello to watch carefully of Desdemona and Casillo, and Iago exits giving Othello time to question the accusation of Iago (1225-1228).
When Othello is cognizant of Iago’s scheme, immediately Othello goes to attack him avenging the impacts Iago’s plan creates. Othello is upset that he could let Iago manipulate his thoughts and affect him drastically which leads to him killing his wife. He is full of guilt, anguish and overall is heartbroken. He lays over Desdemona and kisses her one last time. This show of affection is full of sorrow and symbolizes his immense love for her. Full of regret and adoration towards his wife, he stabs himself and dies beside her. Othello truly love Desdemona as he is in despair of his
Starting off, Othello allows Iago to tamper with his mind and does nothing to stop it. Othello puts all of his trust in him, but Iago is just hiding behind a mask and only wishes to torment Othello. Othello is not aware of his surroundings and the people there, making him vulnerable. If he paid more attention to Desdemona and not Iago than he would not have thought to kill his loyal wife. Othello jumps to conclusions too quickly
The ship captain persuading Oroonoko to aboard his ship with promises and once the ship captains won over Oroonoko’s trust, he took advantage of enslaving him. Behn represented this act as treason not because enslavement of a human is malevolent, but because is inadequate for someone who is born into royalty to have their position taken away from them (Behn 2332). The ship captain’s betrayal was continuous after the enslaving Oroonoko. The ship captain pretended and lied to Oroonoko about gaining his freedom, but it was trickery for Oroonoko to obey his orders on their voyaged to Suriname. As Oroonoko is a slave in Suriname he became more suspicious of the colonists and white men, but he was still blinded by their lies.
"Othello is set in a world and focuses on the passions and personalities of its major figures." (Thomas). Othello is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The work revolves around four central characters: Othello, Othello's wife Desdemona, his lieutenant Cassio and advisor Iago. The play appeared in seven editors between 1622 and 1705. The themes of the story are racism, love, jealousy, and betrayal. Othello is a black soldier who is accused of stealing his wife Desdemona. Although Desdemona's father dislikes his daughter's choice, Desdemona loves Othello very much and the two are married. Othello’s right hand man is angered at the fact that Othello picked a man named Cassio to be more important than him and he also feels that he is messing with his wife. Iago plans to manipulate Othello but his plan eventually causes more hurt to most of the characters. Iago tries to use the meeting between Cassio and Desdemona as a way to make Othello believe she was cheating on him. Iago goes on with his manipulative plan by planting a handkerchief in Cassio's room, and goes and tell Othello about what he has seen Cassio do. Othello becomes jealous throughout the story and begins to believe that Cassio is talking to his wife. Iago persuades Othello to come up with a master plan to kill Cassio and Desdemona. As Othello tries to kill Desdemona, Emilia, Iago's wife, comes in to tell Othello the truth about Iago. Unfortunately it is too late. Othello had already suffocated her. When Othello
Othello becomes so infuriated that he kills Desdemona. However, Emilia, Iago’s wife, finally realizes that the whole situation was caused by Iago and tells everyone the truth. Othello, in a moment of grief and despair, kills himself rather than live without Desdemona.
In the play Othello written by Shakespeare, the issue of racism is addressed. Othello, the protagonist of the play, is African American or black. “According to Lois Whitney, many of Othello’s specific attributes probably derive from Shakespeare’s reading of Leo Africanus, whose Geographical Historie of Africa which was translated and published in London in 1600”(Berry, 1990). Many critics have different views on this. “If Shakespeare depended upon Leo Africanus for such details, he must have been much more interested in racial psychology than critics such as Bradley or Heilman suggest”(Berry, 1990). One of the most prominent features of this Shakespeare play is the
In Shakespeare's Othello, Othello's pride prevents him from finding the truth, eventually leading to his demise. Initially, Othello and Desdemona are deeply in love, despite her father's disapproval of their marriage. However, when Othello promotes Cassio instead of Iago to Lieutenant, Iago has his revenge by convincing Othello that Desdemona cheats on him with Cassio, destroying the marriage between Othello and Desdemona. Othello grows to meet his downfall when his trusted friend Iago causes him to think that his wife Desdemona is unfaithful.
He gloats about the easy in which he can manipulate Roderigo (the fool) into giving him money. Directly after this, you hear of Iago’s feelings towards Othello (the Moor). You learn of Iago’s suspicion about his wife having an affair with Othello. This gains pity from the audience, because you feel that Iago is a man deeply distraught over the idea of his wife cheating on him. Iago then begins to contemplate how he would seek vengeance on Othello and gain his title. Iago plans to use Othello’s trust and opinion of him to his advantage. He speaks about how he will use Cassio as his pawn to lure Othello into believing his wife, Desdemona is being unloyal to him. Iago discloses that Othello’s character is naive and will be easy to manipulate. As his closing statement he states that, with a little help from the devil, his monstrous plan will be a success.