Manipulation In Shakespeare's Othello

determine as to which one will win, so that is why one cannot exist without the other. However, there are some whose emotions are unbalanced, which causes them to near towards one side more than the other one ­­ and many times the side a lot of people prefer to lean on is evil. Shakespeare’s play O​thello​is set in 16th­century Venice and Cyprus. Othello, a noble black general from the Venetian army has secretly married Desdemona, daughter of Venice senator Brabantio. Othello chooses inexperienced Cassio to be his lieutenant, while he decides to give the ensign position to Iago, a malicious but very experienced man who, with his stealth and knavery, will ultimately ruin almost everyone’s life since for a long time, he was desiring the position of lieutenant just like Cassio. At the end of the play, Othello, Desdemona, Iago’s wife Emilia, and his sidekick Roderigo die due to his revenge against Cassio, for obtaining the position he wanted and Othello, for being the man who he hates the most. The play ends with Iago being told that he will be punished and tortured for his actions. However, despite the fact that Iago is punished at the end of the play for doing all of the malicious things he did, he still manages to wear down Othello’s relationship with Desdemona, get Cassio demoted from his lieutenancy, and cause Othello to show his cowardness by

Othello has enduring relevance because of the themes which Shakespeare has used, the complexity of the characters and the way in which he uses language to create meaning. The play explores ideas such as jealousy, manipulation, racism and sexism, all of which people nowadays can still relate to. It is also a timeless classic because of the way in which we can reinterpret it into a modern context. Othello is a tragedy which was first performed in 1604 for an Elizabethan audience in London. It’s a story of jealousy and deception in which Iago deceives Othello, a General of Venice, into believing that Desdemona, Othello’s wife, cheated on him with Cassio, his Lieutenant.

The tragedy of Othello, written by William Shakespeare, presents the main character Othello, as a respectable, honorable, and dignified man, but because of his insecurities and good nature, he is easily taken advantage of and manipulated by his peers and alleged friends. The dynamic of Othello’s character significantly changes throughout the play. The contrast is most pronounced from the beginning of the play to its conclusion, switching from being calm and peaceful to acts of uncontrolled venomous rage. Othello’s motivation in the play appears to be his love and concern for his wife Desdemona, which ironically, ends up being his downfall in the end.

The basis of Othello is that words play a crucial role in the downfall of the character Othello. The audience is left to interpret Shakespeare’s language. This is what gives the play its beauty. In ‘O’ the power of words is lacking, and the director has created a film which involves the audience not being left to interpret the film for themselves. This immediately destroys the beauty and literary value of the play. In the play Iago only has to say one word and Othello makes grand presumptions completely unrelated to the that sole word. For example when Iago says ‘Lie’ to Othello, Othello replies with ‘Lie with her? Lie on her?’. Iago knows that ‘lie’ has two meanings and knows that Othello will instantly relate it to Desdemona’s affair. However, in the film there is no evidence on power and manipulation of words, which causes the film to look bad compared with Shakespeare’s version.

William Shakespeare’s Othello, the Moor of Venice is a play of great manipulation and jealousy. Iago is the antagonist character of the play Othello. Iago becomes irate and filled with jealousy when Othello names Michael Cassio as his lieutenant, because Iago believed he should have been the one promoted not Michael Cassio. By manipulating everyone around him, Iago portrays himself as an honest noble man whom can be trusted. Iago being known for the honest man he earns everyone’s trust and therefore learns their weakness for his ultimate plan of destruction. Iago’s greatest skill is disguising his manipulative schemes of destroying and betraying the ones around him with what he leads people to believe as honesty. Iago uses their

Othello is a general in the service of Venice. He is examined in the Shakespeare play as courageous, noble qualities, trustworthy. It is obvious to feel a degree of sympathy for Othello because he is considered an “other”. He is a man that is willing to accept that he is racially different, as he seems to recognize his status. I tend to sympathize with Othello because he easily influenced, insecure, and a benevolent heart for Desdemona. Othello relies heavily upon engaging with the Venetian culture and his identity as the military general. The two stories draw parallel to each other because Othello’s identity is not

The Shakespearean play Othello is about how a black military leader in Venice is undone by an elaborate plan thought up by Iago to overthrow Othello and obtain Othello’s high position in Venice’s military society. Othello was set in the late 16th century, when Venice’s trade was threatened by the growing power of the Turkish Empire. The setting in itself prognosticates a rapid downfall, as during Shakespeare’s time, as Venice would have been synonymous with luxury and culture, but as

Othello, not knowing that Cassio was in fact speaking with Desdemona in hopes of being reinstated as Lieutenant, mistakenly believes that the two are having an affair and that Desdemona has lost her chastity. Iago skillfully capitalizes on the situation by developing his attack further: "She did deceive her father, marrying you" (3.3.220). Othello begins to see Iago's reasoning: if she could deceive her father, she could just as easily deceive her new husband. Once Othello's bliss has been decimated, Iago concentrates on weakening Othello's perception of himself; Iago very carefully and very tactfully chooses words and metaphors that subconsciously pit Othello against the Venetians. Othello begins to perceive himself as an outsider in his own country, "a malignant and turbaned Turk" (5.2.365). A fruitful marriage with a Venetian woman becomes out of the question in Othello's mind. Iago's successful manipulation takes a self-confidant man and reduces him to one at ends with himself and with the woman he loved.

The character Othello, whose story is the focus of the play, starts out as a

   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.

To be honest, I have never read Shakespeare’s work before. I also am not a big fan of Dramas or love stories. Othello has all of this, but it does also have a very suspenseful and dark side, which kept me interested. Shakespeare’s Othello is story that takes place in the 1600’s and is centers around four main characters: Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army; his wife, Desdemona, his lieutenant Cassio and his trusted ensign, Iago. I found Othello to be a great story, play and movie because it encompasses all of the things we all experience in life such as: racism, love, jealousy and betrayal. As I read Othello, I found that once I started reading, I didn’t want to stop. I won’t lie, I did find the dialog challenging to follow at times.

Iago was consumed by his desire to get revenge on Othello to the extent of putting his plan into action. Othello’s love and possessiveness over Desdemona overtakes him to the point where he would rather kill her than grant anyone else the privilege to have her. In this manner, despite their differences, Othello and Iago represent the same thing - human emotion. Both characters can be viewed in this way throught the play.

This particular scene of Othello’ is developed to be a fundamental portion of the production that furthers the already developed themes and the audiences understanding of the plot. It is also a pivotal scene in regards to the characters development.

Othello is a respected figure of authority in society, yet is still viewed as an outsider. For example, Desdemona’s father does not appreciate his position as a general, but instead looks upon his colour of skin.

First of all, the setting of Othello greatly contributes to the dramatic storyline. In a modern soap, the circumstances force the characters to face each other. For example, the characters usually form an intimate group, like a family or close group of friends. In real life they would have