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Comparison Of Oroonoko And Othello

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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

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