Othello, By William Shakespeare

Love and jealousy are powerful emotions that can induce behavior that would otherwise not normally be warranted. In Othello, The Moor Of Venice, jealousy is a very important component of the play. Iago uses jealousy to control the Moor, Othello, into committing various acts against his wife, Desdomona, and one of his soldiers, Cassio. It can be deduced that the sheer power of jealousy is the most important theme in Othello because the play shows how a strong General, such as Othello, is subject to this malicious emotion and its trickery, how the strong emotion of love can be transformed into the omnipotent emotion of jealousy, and how jealousy can shroud the truth.

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.

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.

Iago is a ‘Machiavellian villain’, someone who is intent on realizing his desires at all costs and seeks to achieve this in a deceptive manner. To achieve his goals, he utilizes characters around him to carry out his plans without them realizing. His main purpose in Othello is to entrap and deceive the hero.

William Shakespeare’s plays transcends time and is renowned for their captivating plots and complex characters. Othello by William Shakespeare is a tragedy play that portrays major themes such as racism, manipulation, and jealousy just to name a few. Throughout the whole play, these themes are represented through the conniving character from the play, Iago. Out of all the plays Shakespeare has written, Iago is believed to be the most complex villain of all times. During the play, Othello, a black military commander of the Venetian military of Italy and also a close trustworthy friend to Iago, gives Michael Cassio the general second commander spot instead of Iago. This angers Iago because he was expecting the position instead of Cassio, he

Shakespeare’s Othello is seemingly about the blooming affection between a man and a woman. However, it is a love story gone wrong—or is portrayed as so by the author. In the historical context of Othello, which is set during the Turkish-Venetian war in the 16th century, it is essential to emphasize that Othello is the love story between Othello, the Moorish general, and Desdemona, the Venetian lady. This racial difference is most problematic to the eyes of the white Venetian society, allowing characters like Brabantio, Roderigo, and Iago to use this weakness against Othello. The hatred and jealousy, especially by Iago, is clearly illustrated through the language they use in referring to Othello. While Shakespeare uses characters like Iago

Othello is the perfect example that you can’t believe everything you see or hear in life, also that constant self-doubt can push one to the brink of insanity. It is always important to consider your source of information, can the information source be trusted? In the case of Othello, Iago has poured information into his ear that holds no truth or worth. Iago states that, “I’ll pour this pestilence into his ear” (II.III.330). “The Moor already changes with my poison” (III.III.329–336). Despite the obvious fact that Iago is not being truthful to Othello, he believes Iago and his word. Iago ensures him of that, “My Lord, you know I’m your friend” (III.III.6). Othello responds with, “I think you are. And I know you’re full of love and honesty, and you think carefully before you speak” (III.III.6). Othello believes the false accusations that Iago has poured into him. Iago is so sore at Othello that he chose him over Cassio to be his lieutenant. Iago felt he should have been the one chosen to fulfill the duties of the position. Iago has a plan to cast revenge on Othello and will see to it that he carries it out no matter the cost or lives lost.

In many of William Shakespeare’s plays, the main problem or conflict in the plot or subplots almost always comes by means of a human vice, which is often combined with an external force or influence. In Othello, for instance, the main problem is Othello’s jealousy for Desdemona, all because Iago has wrongly convinced Othello of her unfaithfulness. In one of the Twelfth Night subplots, Malvolio’s pride combines with the mischievous schemes of Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Maria, resulting in the conviction of Malvolio as a madman. This same pattern can be clearly seen in Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s most famous works. In Macbeth, the main conflict in the story is brought about through the meddling of three witches, who prophesy that Macbeth has become the thane of Cawdor and will later be crowned as the king of Scotland, positions which Macbeth had never even considered before. After having the position of thane bestowed upon him, Macbeth, totally consumed by the vices of greed, ambition, and lust for power, forsakes all of his morals in order to make the second prophecy a reality. The storyline starts off with relative order, descends into disorder and chaos, and the entire plot seems to self-correct back into order with the death of Macbeth at the end of the story. Macbeth exhibits the common pattern of order giving way to disorder correcting back to order that is prevalent across several of Shakespeare’s other works, and the causes and reasons for the disorders are brought

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

How much is too much?? We can see, Othello serving as an example to demonstrate the expectations of a woman in the society, the practice of privileges in male-controlled marriages, and the suppression and restriction of femininity throughout the play. According to Shakespeare 's society built upon beliefs, women were meant only to be married. As their only occupation, marriage held massive responsibilities of house management and child nurturing. Additionally, women were expected to be silent, untainted, and obedient to their husbands, and all men in general. In our societies women 's subordination is the natural order because women were thought to be physiologically and psychologically inferior to men.

At one point in our lives, we have all disguised our true identity and pretended to be someone we are not. We all have sat abaft a screen pretending to be the antithesis sex, or just someone innominate in order to get our true feelings and emotions out. Similarly, Shakespeare utilizes the theme of disguise in countless plays, specifically in As you like it and Twelfth Night. Although many may postulate that he has disguised certain characters as the opposite gender solely for comedic purposes, the reason behind it is significantly deeper and complex. By disguising the actors as the opposite gender, also known as cross-dressing, Shakespeare introduces incipient views on femininity and sexuality, views that were unmentionable in the Elizabethan times. It’s virtually as if Shakespeare is endeavoring to break the rules of society, break the rules of gender roles and sexuality roles. He represents women and sexuality in a way that was unacceptable in that time in society, but his purpose of doing this is to open up the minds of society to be more accepting of these gender and sexuality roles. He is accentuating to females, that you don 't have to pretend to be all lady like with your pinky out as you drink tea, and though there may not have been many known homosexuals back then, Shakespeare uses cross-dressing to show that society should start to get comfortable with same sex couples as well. Both, As you like it and Twelfth Night utilize disguises to portray these viewpoints,

In any story, the antagonist always scheme their way into getting what they want by any means necessary. In Shakespeare’s play, Othello, Iago is a prime example of this. In fact, he is one of the greatest villains Shakespeare has ever created. Some even believe that he is the source of immorality like in other work Shakespeare has done. According to Sholokhov and Tolstoy, author Helen Muchnic states that the Vice of the morality plays who evolved into Shakepheare’s Iago. He also states that “If Iago, like Falstaff, may be considered a continuation of the Vice figure, he seems, also like Falstaff, to elude the role at every point.” But besides this, Iago is indirectly responsible for the deaths of Othello, Desdemona, and Roderigo. Every act in Othello contains an evil plot set up by Iago. It is ironic because throughout the play he is known as “Honest Iago”(II.iii.7). The readers are the only spectators that understand Iago’s true feelings. Each character believes that he is a trustworthy and noble man, but they are unaware of his thoughts and schemes. Iago is so wicked because he takes advantage of people; he lies while making himself look admirable and he is able to manipulate characters through his words and actions. A very formidable character that can easily do harm without blinking an eye.

William Shakespeare’s play of tragedy, Othello, has an abundant bulk of dynamic characters throughout the duration of the play. The eventuality of the grievous end in Othello could have transpired contrastingly different, assuming a particular character procured a bit of empathy. The antagonist, Iago, and ancient of Othello could have shown a little deeper empathy towards his wife Emilia, from the start to finish of the play. If Iago had shown empathy he would not have suffered a crushing defeat and instead would acquire the revenge he so furtively devised without anybody at all gleaning his traitorous behavior. The first chance Iago missed, in using a little empathy towards his wife, was when Emilia found Desdemona’s handkerchief on the floor.

What is the most important trait in a healthy relationship? The romance? The dates? The sweet words? No. It is the trust. If there is no trust between lovers then the hope of a stable relationship is absolutely impossible. This brings us to our main lovers, Othello and Desdemona. Though in the beginning their love felt sweeter than a meringue; jealousy reared its ugly head and consumed Othello, making him believe his wife to be unfaithful. But mere jealousy alone was not the only cause for the demise of what Othello and Desdemona had. Iago was the match that sparked the forest fire, meaning Iago was the beginning of it all. But why was Othello so quick to believe him? The reason for Othello believing in Iago's dishonest words so quickly was because to Othello, Iago was a 'trustworthy and honest' man, Iago planted seeds of doubt in Othello's mind, and because Othello cares more for restoring his status and honor rather than believing his own wife; this is important because it brings up the question whether Othello truly loved Desdemona.

Iago has been frequently judged as an evil villain for the meticulous acts he makes after Othello betrays him. Though he was never a murderous villain until his downfall he is unfairly viewed as the antagonist in the play. Since the commencement Iago was an honest military man who never wronged anybody up until they wronged him. He was stripped of a military promotion he had been looking forward to accepting by Othello the general and not only this he was also informed that Othello might have been having relations with his wife Emilia. Iago felt betrayed due to the fact that the person elected (Cassio) did not even have battlefield experience of any sort compared to Iago and used the fact of Othello and Emilia being together as a further reason to propel himself to take action. He knew this decision had to have some sort of favoritism encouragement by taking into account that Othello’s wife Desdemona is dear friends with Cassio. Iago was not going to be an onlooker in this demeaning situation so he rightfully took action by ingeniously and harmlessly instigating critical emotional situations in the lives of his trusting targets leading to their own heedless demises. I dispute that Iago should not be viewed as malevolent as the play depicts because when critically analyzing the tragedy it is evident that he was just an honest Christian man rebelling to seek justice for his betrayal from