Othello Analysis Essay examples

Shakespeare is prominent in his use of recurring themes throughout his works, particularly those of love, death, and betrayal. All these themes are present in Othello. Most dominant, however, are manipulation and jealousy. Jealousy runs the characters’ lives in Othello from the beginning of the play, when Roderigo is jealous of Othello because he wishes to be with Desdemona, and to the end of the play, when Othello is furious with jealousy because he believes Cassio and Desdemona have been engaging in an affair, but manipulation the prominent action that fuels the jealousy within Othello. Some characters’ jealousy is fashioned by other characters. Iago is involved in much of this, creating lies and implementing confusing situations.

When the play begins, Othello is introduced as a military leader and a Christian, both characteristics of a noble "Venetian." According to Bell: "

Othello is a general in the Venetian army who is looked up to because of his past. Othello is a moor who was once a slave, and now holds a high position, this shows how powerful he is. Othello is well respected for having the ability to command the military and leading them to victory. His desire is to love Desdemona forever, which is later changed due to jealousy after hearing false rumors of her affair with Cassio. He is most responsive to life through his emotional senses, he doesn’t think logically, he makes assumptions and acts based on that. For instance, when Iago manipulates him into thinking Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair, Othello doesn’t think of having a conversation with Desdemona, instead, he kills her and later regrets it, making him kill himself. In addition, he takes hold of an emergency without thinking things through, he takes actions quickly.

Able to sway people with his articulate way of speech, Othello is rational, a man with immense pride and courage, who is highly respected through the first parts of the play. He is confident about the military work he does as he even goes on to state that his services “shall out-tongue [Brabantio’s] complaints,” (1.2.19) showing his confidence in himself. He also exhibits his confidence through his love. His love for Desdemona is never ending and he truly cares for her. He is “one not easily jealous”

    The noble Othello in the Shakespearean play of that name has no one to blame but himself; his suicide results. Is his downfall resulting from his naivete and gullibility? Let us study and expose this famous character in this essay.

"The Tragedy of Othello Written by William Shakespeare" highlights a variety of ways in which males and females reacted to intense situations." The emotions of the characters changed from the start of Act 1, the end of Act 1, and continued as the story of Othello progressed. In Act 1, the main protagonist named Othello started off conveying the emotion of happiness because he and his wife Desdemona were newlyweds. Othello was the general of the army of Venice. Iago, who was a soldier desired the rank of lieutenant, but Othello skipped over him and chose Cassio as the lieutenant even though Cassio had no experience in war but was exceptionally knowledgeable. Iago feels envious towards Cassio gaining the rank he wanted, Iago decided to work with Roderigo, a man who loves Desdemona, to pressure Brabantio, Desdemonas’ father, into thinking Othello used a “magic charm” to build up Desdemonas’ love for him. ("The Tragedy of Othello Written by Shakespeare” Book) In addition to Iago’s actions, Brabantio conveying anger approached Othello by accusing him instead of talking to him calmly. Brabantio told Desdemona of the rumor and asked: “who do you choose?” Meaning, she had to pick either her husband or her father. Desdemona projecting love towards her husband chose Othello. In conclusion to Desdemona's actions, it appeals to the reader that the female character represents

Othello sees the good in everyone and believes that people are true to their word, which ironically Iago is not. Othello thinks Iago is the most loyal, trustworthy ensign a person could ask for, but behind his back Othello never sees what’s coming at him. Iago fills Othello’s head with so many lies about Desdemona that he begins to have seizures. Othello begins to think that Desdemona doesn’t love him anymore because of his age and race, and that is why she is now going after Cassio. Othello fills with rage and creates his own diabolical plan to kill both Cassio and Desdemona for going against him.

In Shakespeare’s play, Othello, a man who is named Othello, has been through instances of slavery, discrimination, and prejudice conquers all ends. He falls in love, becomes a general for the Venetian forces, and leads a successful mission to Cyprus where all his men survived safely ashore. When everything seemed to be panning out, a “friend” of Othello, Iago, deceives him effortlessly to believe his newly-wed, Desdemona, is cheating on him with the lieutenant, Cassio. Being in complete rage and despair over the love of his wife’s adultery, he planned thoroughly for revenge upon Cassio and Desdemona. In the end, Iago’s lie comes to light after Desdemona was murdered with Othello’s own hands. With guilt and remorse washing over Othello, he eventually

Jealousy is the root of all evil, bringing extreme consequences that may not have been originally intended. This theme is demonstrated in William Shakespeare 's play, Othello. The story was written in the early 1600 's when Shakespeare was forty years old. Othello is about a young Venetian woman, Desdemona, who falls in love with the Moor of the land, Othello. Many people disapprove of their marriage, and attempt to destroy the wedding. Iago is the mastermind in the play who devises a plan to manipulate Othello to believe his wife has committed adultery. Iago rages Othello so greatly that he arranges to have his wife and her suspected partner, Cassio to be murdered. This web of lies and a jealous attitude causes Othello 's naive desire to be successful. Shakespeare 's work was performed in a theater setting, where he received great praise from the most noble affairs. People of all social levels would gather at the Swan Theater to watch great plays like Othello. The cost for admission into the theater depended on where the party decided to sit or stand, ranging from groundlings to kings. Shakespeare incorporated many new elements into the stage, such as a curtain, door, balcony, and drop floor. These features added many dramatic effects to the plot. His techniques entertained the audience, and it also allowed them to gather information from the play that other characters may not have known. This strategy was used in Othello, with some of his major characters including

Iago reflects the ideas of feminist criticism in the book Othello because of his constant need for control over his wife, Emilia. Iago felt he should overpower Emilia. He treated her as if she was a servant, however Iago always made it seem as if she annoyed him. Iago felt that Emilia was not loyal to him, so therefore he did not respect her like he should have.

Othello, a tragic play written by William Shakespeare centers around the characters and the conflict that arise as a result of the character’s perception of the world. Each character’s self-influenced perception of truth and appearance either blinds them from deception or enables them to manipulate others. Othello is virtuous, trustworthy, and naive and believes that people are what they appear to be which ultimately results in his demise. Lagos, on the other hand, is a complicated character as he is the exact opposite of what he represents himself to be and it is for that reason that he is capable of developing such an evil plot and having the peace of mind to pull it off. The relationship between the characters and the text are

The play Othello written by William Shakespeare is well known as one of his tragic masterpieces written in the early seventeenth century. Othello a valiant courageous general of the Venetian forces known as “the moor of Venice” moor meaning sub-Saharan African (Norton 1:557), having a darker complexion than the rest of the people in Venice. Othello marries Desdemona the daughter of a Senator of Venice without him knowing but by the anger and malice of Iago and Roderigo her father finds out about the marriage. Desdemona the loyal wife to Othello is wrongfully accused of being unfaithful to her “lord” with Cassio and honorable lieutenant (Norton 555) by the lies of Iago and Roderigo. Emilia wife to Iago and Desdemona’s servant helps villain

Iago is able to use these desirable traits he possesses as well as his strong friendship with Desdemona to add fire to Othello’s insecurities regarding their marriage. Iago has created this destructive jealousy in Othello mainly toward Cassio as he was able to woo over his wife. Othello strips Cassio of his position as lieutenant after one incident and plans on death to Cassio. Cassio avoids speaking with Othello as he is embarrassed of the scene he caused, however, Cassio is unaware as of Act III of the affair claims. When speaking with Desdemona, “*Enter Othello and Iago*/...Madam, I’ll take my leave.../*Cassio exits*” (III.iii.32). Cassio fleeing the scene when Othello arrives makes him look very suspicious and allows for Iago to state Cassio is guilty, explaining the questionable exit. Othello’s interactions, or lack thereof, with Cassio display how jealousy silently takes over his whole body, to the point where no communication exists between the

In Act 1.2, Othello is confident, happy, and knows that his military standing will protect him from Brabantio’s rage for marrying his daughter. Othello even shows the old man respect and courtesy while deflecting his anger for supposedly seducing his daughter. This first appearance of Othello portrays him as a confident and calm man who is able to remain intellectual and powerful while his personal life is under fire. In addition, there is a threat by the Turks that becomes a political crisis for Othello. He remains strong and calm throughout this public exposition. In Act 1.3, Othello defends his courtship of Desdemona and his service of Venice in an eloquent speech even though he claims to lack any command of language. Othello remains confident and

Despite being a powerful figure, respected by most around him, Othello has much insecurity which results in him acting as a mentally challenged person. Othello’s character can be best described in the act 4 scene 1. In this act Othello and Iago are talking, and Iago mentions Desdemona’s betrayal towards him. Othello slowly goes from calm to angry to fierce, and even threatens to kill Desdemona. In this same scene, Iago is able to manipulate the conversation to give Othello evidence of Desdemona's “affair” with Casio by mentioning the finding of her handkerchief in Casio’s chamber. This made Othello extremely angry, which resulted in the death of Desdemona. Although Iago has been attempting to manipulate Othello throughout the play, in this scene he provides Othello with ‘proof”, showing that Othello’s patience has ended and that emotion has taken over his body. When playing Othello my sense of emotion started out as calm and when I said the line the handkerchief which I gave to you, that gavst to Casio, I became extremely angry, just as Othello would. In this line Othello realizes that he has been betrayed; this is the place were he goes crazy. After this scene Othello’s character goes from normal to slowly insane, to totally insane when he kills Desdemona in her own