Othello, By William Shakespeare

The first of many examples of Iago’s manipulation occurs in Scene 1, Act 1. Rodgerio and Iago have had a bit too much to drink and they go over to Brabantio’s house to inform him about his daughter’s romantic relationship with Othello. When Roderigo starts telling Brabantio about this, he shrugs it off, blaming his nonsense on Roderigo’s unrequited love for his daughter. But Iago begins explaining the situation, saying “...very now, an old black ram is topping your white ewe. Arise, arise, awake the snorting citizens with the bell, or else the devil will make a grandsire of you.” (I,I). Iago’s exact choice of words in this quote is very significant because not only are they racist and distasteful, they are dehumanizing Othello. By comparing Othello to an animal, and “old

All men are born to have flaws. Flaws, varying from tiny to significant, have the ability to shape people’s path in life. A little flaw can undo all the merits that people have gained in their life. A significant flaw can tear people apart and cause them to fall from the peak of the mountain to the rough, hard ground for the rest of their lives. In Othello, written by Williams Shakespeare, there are three characters-Iago, Othello and Desdemona, all of which suffer greatly due to their own flaws that covers their eyes and contribute to a mass of misunderstanding and evil plans.

Throughout the play, Iago is motivated by his deep hatred of Othello, and will do whatever he can to undermine Othello and destroy his marriage and reputation. Iago knows that Venetians are mistrustful of Moors, and uses general racism towards Moors to attack Othello in any way he can. He knows that Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, is racist towards Moors and would not approve of Othello’s marriage to his daughter. He tells Brabantio, who does not know of the marriage: “You have lost half your soul. Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe. Arise, arise!” (1.1.96-98). Iago wants revenge on Othello, and he is willing to stoop to the lowest possible level to get that revenge. He knows that by highlighting Othello’s race, he can provoke Brabantio to hate Othello, so he reveals Othello and Desdemona’s secret in this context, and Brabantio immediately vows to kill Othello. He also evokes images that are sexual and animalistic in nature by referring to Othello as a ram

Iago is well aware of the scheme he is putting into action and plays on Othello’s weakness “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on” (Othello. 3.3.167-169). Iago takes advantage of his own wife, Emilia, retaining Desdemona’s scarf from Othello from her and placing it in Cassio’s possession. By doing, this Iago is able to prove his allegations of Desdemona and Cassio. Othello expresses jealousy and believes that Desdemona has been unfaith to him with Cassio and must kill her. He strangles Desdemona with his own hands. During this time, women were to be submissive to their husband, which makes it understandable why instead of fighting Othello she allows him to take her life. Moreover, it shows the respect and love she held for Othello. Emilia finds her woman dead and is furious because she knows the faithfulness of her woman. Emilia shows the most courage by speaking on Desdemona’s behalf against her own husband. She explains she gave the scarf to Iago exploiting him of all his lies. Iago instructs her to be quiet and she does not follow directions so he kills Emilia. There is a room full of men, guards at that, but not one go to her rescue. This exhibits the treatment society gives to women during this time. Women are more of an ownership than a human being. Society treats women as if they must earn their value through the type of wife they are to a man. Iago’s anger is the leading cause of

Trust is often indicative of the intimate relationship between two people: husband and wife or two soldiers, for example. In Shakespeare’s drama, “Othello,” the main character and general of the Venetian army, Othello, is forced to choose between trusting his first wife, Desdemona, or his reputable honest ensign, Iago. Iago tells Othello that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio, his lieutenant. Although he does not know of anyone more honest than Iago, Othello cannot easily believe that the women he so ardently loves would cheat on him and betray their marriage. Othello is forced to believe Iago’s accusations and punish Desdemona and Cassio or believe his innocent, fair wife. He decides to believe Iago’s false tale of Desdemona’s

Evil, those who contain an evil heart always appear to have a talent or hunger for destroying anything

In tragic plays, characters frequently experience misfortune, with varying degrees of personal culpability. In Shakespeare’s play Othello, the characters experience misfortune when their love for others is exploited. Through the actions of the play’s characters, Shakespeare illustrates how allowing emotion to overcome reason permits exploitations that cause misfortune. This message is demonstrated repeatedly with multiple characters: Othello’s love for both Iago and Desdemona results in, respectively, the excessive trustfulness and irrational jealousy that are the roots of his misfortunes; Roderigo’s desire for Desdemona clouds his judgement and allows Iago to manipulate him; and Emilia’s love for Iago blinds her to his amoral nature, which contributes to the deaths of both her mistress and herself.

Racism, love, betrayal, and jealousy are feelings that happen all the time in todays society, many people do not know how to handle it sometimes, and they get emotionally hurt for a long time. Othello is possibly the most famous literary exploration of the warping powers of jealousy and suspicion. At the same time, it 's among the earliest piece of work that deals with race and racism. With Othello being a supreme commander of the Venetian army, he never felt like he fit completely in, and the girl he loved, her father never liked him because of his race, when Brabantio told Desdemona “She, in spite of nature, Of years, of country, credit, every thing To fall in love with what she feared to look on! It is a judgment maimed and most imperfect That will confess perfection so could err Against all rules of nature,” this statement means Desdemona dad does not like him because he is of a different skin color. Othello loves Desdemona and he shows us this by saying, “Haply for I am black, And have not those soft parts of conversation That chamberers have; or for I am declined Into the vale of years—yet that’s not much— She’s gone. I am abused, and my relief Must be to loathe her. O curse of marriage, that we can call these delicate creatures ours And not their appetites! I had rather be a toad And live upon the vapor of a dungeon Than keep a corner in the thing I love For others’ uses. Yet ’tis the plague of great ones; Prerogatived are they less than the base. ’Tis destiny

One of the most interesting qualities of the play Othello are the intricate webs Shakespeare crafts connecting many characters to every event. Although some actions may seem to affect only a select few at first, the webs almost always intertwine more characters over time. When considering all the examples of such, perhaps the most extreme example is Iago’s conspiracy against Othello. What starts out as a conspiracy against Othello transforms into a series of acts that end up hurting many more than just Othello, and involve nearly every character in the play. Although such a result may be hard to believe, Iago’s rapid degradation from a masterful conspirator to an impulsive, helpless, and sloppy killer is one that happens quite often in the

In this life that we live, different individuals go about their business oblivious of their individual struggles that confront them. According to www.dictionary.com, a struggle is defined as, “a forceful/violent attempt or effort to get free from restraint or contrition”. Some of these struggles are more pronounced than others. From Othello, the tragedy by William Shakespeare, we can see how humans are faced with individual contentions, and their daily actions are in fact, efforts of trying to free themselves. In the discussion below, we not only consider Othello’s struggles of being different, gullible, timid, inferior, proud and selfish but also, Iago’s conniving personality, hatred, greed, manipulation, selfishness and slander.

Tragedy is best felt when an innocent person kills himself while not knowing the truth. The best example of that would be the play Othello by the great William Shakespeare. As little as a handkerchief could make a difference if it is a symbol for something. In the play Othello by Shakespeare, handkerchief is first introduced by Othello to his beautiful mistress, Desdemona, as a sign of their love. At the end of the play what gets Othello to take extreme measures by the location of the handkerchief. As the symbol of the handkerchief transforms from a strong symbol of love to a gift then to factor of suspicious and evidence.

We endure struggles everyday with race that are no different than those that which occurred in Othello written by William Shakespeare. Throughout the play Othello, we see the struggles of a marriage that is not accepted by their society. Othello is a extremely cherished black general living in a primarily white community. The play begins with Othello secretly becoming married to a white woman named Desdemona. This reasons others who are white to become angry and excuse to dislike this black man further more than they already do. Othello is a downward spiral from love, to jealousy, to betrayal, and then ending in a massacre.

Over the course of the play “Othello” by William Shakespeare, a nobleman named Othello becomes the antihero of his town, due to his fatal flaw: jealousy. Othello became Venice’s most competent generals, which gave him a loyal reputation. Although he has great success on the battlefield, his jealousy causes a downfall in his life. Iago is the man who is causing all of the mischief acts, because he himself is jealous of Othello’s choosing of general: Cassio. Othello’s act of jealousy causes him to lose himself, wife, and nobility.

A tragedy is a term used to describe destructive flaws in a character by leading to the downfall of the main character with tragic events and having an unhappy ending. The play, Othello, by William Shakespeare is twisted and full of revenge. Throughout the play there is a series of harmful plots and lies caused by Iago, the evil character in the play. Iago hates Othello from the very beginning of the play when Othello promotes Michael Cassio to lieutenant instead of himself. From this moment on, Iago creates a plan full of revenge, leading to Othello’s downfall. Iago uses Othello’s trustworthy nature, insecurities, and jealously to influence Othello into becoming someone who he is not. Othello becomes consumed with all of the lies Iago has been telling him and continues to believe all of it. In the end, Othello made his own decisions by himself and it was clear when he had to pay for his inaccuracy, but the influence of Iago’s manipulation cannot be denied.

Iago is portrayed as the evil character in the play, or the villain so to speak. Iago uses many people to his advantage to fulfill his plan of revenge on Othello without them even knowing what he is doing. Iago is so disappointed with Othello for not choosing him to be his lieutenant that he is consumed with envy and rage to