Danielle Lemmon
Prof. Jacobs
World Lit section 205
18 April 2016
Examination of William Shakespeare 's "Othello"
In the world we live in, we value family, friendship, and romantic love with that special someone. Trust and good communication plays vital role in maintaining our relationships with the people we care about and vice versa. Even in today 's society gender roles play a vital role in our relationships with other people. However, once that trust turns into betrayal, our whole perspective of that loved one will be changed. With this in mind, it is clear that Shakespeare 's stories are out of date, but in William Shakespeare 's play "Othello" he demonstrates the importance of loyalty, betrayal, and demonstrates how this story can be relevant in today 's society. "Othello" is a story of love, jealousy, trust and betrayal. The reason Othello does not investigate Iago 's accusations towards Desdemona 's betrayal because of the lack of communication in their relationship, Othello 's duty as a soldier and the double standard between men and women prevents him from seeking proof of Desdemona 's so called affair with Cassio.
The culture in which individuals live in can affect the communication between people. "All of us take part in conversations that we regret" (Harkins 64). One reason, that prevents Othello from seeking proof of Desdemona 's so called affair with Cassio because of the lack of communication in their relationship. According to Irene Dash, she recognizes in
Fear of cuckoldry is widely known theme in medieval and Renaissance English literature. Fear of cuckoldry was also a widespread fear in English society during those eras. Men often treated their wives as possessions. Once men and women married, divorce was almost impossible, especially since it was almost impossible to prove that one had been cuckolded. If one were cuckolded and one’s wife had another man’s child, one might spend decades taking care of that child and passing on one’s money and belongings to that child without ever knowing that one had been deceived. Unmarried women are seen as their fathers ' property and the play 's two marriages are marked by jealousy and cruelty. Most
In Othello every character has their own personalities that makes them the person they are. In Othello there are characters that show true grit, a fixed mindset, and a growth mindset. Each characters are different which makes the book even more interesting. True grit means to endure and push through to do something better no matter what it takes. An example of grit is studying for a long period of time for a test and enduring the amount of work that must be completed. The definition of mindset is the established set of attitude held by someone. There are two other types of mindset as well. There is growth mindset and fixed mindset. Growth mindset is when the person isn 't
Othello, a play that was written in 1604 by William Shakespeare, is an example of a type of story called a “tragedy.” Throughout the course of the work, Othello proves himself to be very easily misled, despite his heroic status. This causes him to lose his ability to make good judgments and decisions. Even though Othello had a reputation as a hero, he ends up being one of the most gullible characters in the play when he completely falls into the evil trap that Iago set for him. As the story unfolds Othello’s character evolves in an extremely tragic way as Iago manipulates him and leaves him to rot in his misery. Eventually, this leads to Othello’s suicide.
Shakespeare’s Othello is a play consistently based on jealously and the way it can destroy lives. One is quick to think this jealously is based on Othello’s lack of belief in Desdemona’s faithfulness to him or his suspensions over Desdemona’s affair with Cassio, Othello’s honorable lieutenant. Upon closer inspection of the jealously that exists throughout the play it becomes clear that his jealously is not the sole start and reason for all of the destruction that occurs. Iago, a good friend of Othello, is not who he appears to be. Iago’s own jealously of those around him pushes him over the edge. He begins to deceive all those who believe he is a true, honorable, and faithful man. Throughout Othello, Iago incites his own jealously in
When pairs of texts are considered together, their universal themes and ideas lead to greater understanding, appreciation and insight of both the old and the new. The texts Othello, William Shakespeare (1600) and Othello, Geoffrey Sax (2001), ring true for this statement. Despite the differing contexts and ages, the universal themes of racism and betrayal bring new meaning to each of the texts. The primary meaning from the juxtaposition of the two is that of the human condition, and how the problems faced in the 17th century are faced in modern times.
In the play, evil intentions destroy what we know of a pure heart as well as trust and genuine honesty by this falsehearted deception. The agony of the tragic play is captured in a nutshell when Othello admits to Desdemona “when I love thee not/chaos is come again.” There is some misunderstanding of tragedy of love between the two characters. Trust is misplaced, honesty smeared out and finally, lives are ruined by denigrating fabrications and outright lies (Lupu, Jeffrey and Westmaas-Jones 12). The tragic cautionary of Shakespeare offers a supreme warning over jealousy which is referred as “the green eyed monster with doth mock the meat it feeds on.”
Literary works that explore core human experiences are able to retain their textual integrity through a range of contexts, despite the dynamic nature of prevalent social constructs and moral viewpoints. Playwright William Shakespeare whose works were originally composed during the Elizabethan era encompasses this idea, but they have been appropriated through different mediums, as the exploration of universal concepts is still relevant to contemporary responders. This is particularly evident in Shakespeare’s “Othello” (1603).
At one point or another, we have all heard that “love is blind”; this saying is a warning of how love can overshadow the truth. Shakespeare verifies the accuracy of this idiom in his play Othello, where its main character, Othello, a black general, is oblivious to the crimes plotted against him because they are being made by his good friend Iago. Shakespeare's tale begins with a seething Iago who is scheming to ruin Othello’s life because Othello picked Cassio to be his lieutenant instead of Iago. He deviously plans to make it seem as if Desdemona, Othello’s new wife, has committed adultery. Othello is a passionate person and loves Desdemona wholeheartedly, but his passion, while making him an ardent husband and friend, also means he reacts
In this drama study, an analysis of the racial xenophobia and anxiety of Anglo-Saxon culture in the 17th century performance of Othello at the Globe Theater. Othello, published in 1604, was performed at the Globe Theater in England, which provides a racially xenophobic cultural setting based on English class values as a basis for the play. Early 17th century England was an isolated island that interpreted privilege and class status on white racial perceptions that often demonized or subjugated people of the African race. The major source of xenophobia is directly related tor racial purity in the threat the Othello presents to audiences in the Elizabethan era. The Globe Theater was a place in which Anglicized versions of European plays with Italian motifs could be presented through the cultural framework of English xenophobia. The text-based language of the Othello exposes xenophobic views of “strangers” and "foreigners”, such as the Moor, to exemplify the fear of disrupting English racial and cultural values. This form of “cultural anxiety” is part of the early 17th century performance at the early Globe Theater, which Othello brought fourth for English audiences at the time. In essence, an analysis of the racial xenophobia of Elizabethan anxiety will be defined in the early 17th century performance of Othello at the Globe Theater.
The strong emotions of jealousy and misplaced thrust present trouble for most of the main characters in the play, Othello. William shakespeare displays how these emotions are easily brought out in the best of people. Iago, although brilliant in this own mnd still falls vitem to jealousy's for cassio's job. The brave moor othello has doubt sof desdemona's faithfulness and in stand of trusting his wife he allows iago manipulations to could his good judgement. Desdemona is the kind innocent wife othello could ever look for but she constantly battle for trust with the moor while still helping her friend cassio.
In William Shakespeare’s play, Othello, he explores manipulation and jealousy using the character Othello; ultimately, he argues that jealousy and manipulation can destroy lives. Othello is affected by Iago’s deceitful task to ruin him for appointing Cassio as a lieutenant, instead of him. Othello is manipulated into believing that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio, which causes the play to end in a tragedy because Othello ends up killing Desdemona and himself over rumors that could’ve been prevented by having a conversation.
Critics have debated the significance of Othello’s race in terms of portraying his identity for a long time. The negative connotations of “blackness” have led to the creation of many racial constructs associated with the “Moor”; this denigration has infused the opinions of many critics, such as Albert Gerard, proposing that Othello’s “negroid physiognomy” reaches down to the “deepest levels of personality” and that he is a “barbarian”. However, many other critics like Edward Berry and Martin Orkin believe that colour is merely a “surface indicator” compared to the outward virtue of beneficence, defining identity. Beneficence could be defined by the will to practice good acts, in conjunction with the aversion of practicing evil, and the prevention and removal of evil.
Othello is, in the opinion of many, one of Shakespeare’s most prolific plays. It broke the mold by assigning the lead protagonist role to a black man, and the central love story is of that between this older black man and a young white woman. Othello has perhaps the most wicked- and likable- villain in all of Shakespeare’s work. It has love- both fulfilled and unrequited, family conflict, rebelling daughters, paranoia, manipulation, war, revelry, betrayal, and homicide. Iago, the villain, has a gift for twisting events to appear the way he wishes them to. He is clever and scheming, often comedic, and serves himself above all others. He knows no loyalties, even to his spouse, that supersede those to his own interests. What makes him so likable is that he so wholly embraces this aspect of himself. What makes Iago so heinous is that his motivations for his scheming are never really clear. One theory is that he believes his wife to have been unfaithful to him with Othello. Another common interpretation many come to when looking at his dialogue, especially about Othello, one would think that perhaps he just had a particularly bad case of racism.As Iago is typically played by a white actor, this is a feasible argument. But with the recent casting of a black actor in the role in the 2016 production from the Royal Shakespeare Company in the UK, there is a need to reevaluate the
In Part Four of the course, Critical Study, we studied Shakespeare’s tragedy, Othello. This is a play that comprises of enduring themes of love, betrayal, jealousy, appearance versus reality, racism, and revenge.
The tragic play Othello by William Shakespeare, discusses the relationship between Othello and Desdemona that begins as loving, but abruptly alters to a hateful relationship due to a lack of truth. Dishonesty and misunderstandings between Desdemona and Othello drive the collapse of their marriage as well as Iago’s deceitful words which force Othello to discredit Desdemona’s love. William Shakespeare portrays the fall of the relationship of Desdemona and Othello due to his ability of believing false delusions he hears about his wife and the reason for this is from his distrust for women, his jealousy and the fact that he truly lacks confidence in himself, leads him to doubt the love Desdemona has for him.