Othello, By William Shakespeare Essay

Shakespeare has produced an incredibly large library of work, including 38 plays and countless sonnets. His plays are divided into four main sections: the Histories, the Tragedies, the Comedies, and the Romances. Othello falls under Tragedy, as it ends with the death of numerous characters, including the principals. Shakespeare's work has been produced since the Renaissance in all artistic mediums from the original theater to opera, symphony, film, and ballet. It has also been consistently revisited countless times by the same artistic medium because it is said to be timeless.

“Othello”, by William Shakespeare, is a story of jealousy’s potential to manipulate thoughts and eventually lead to ultimate demise. The key to extremely detrimental jealousy lies within one’s ability to recognize it or deny it. It seems that the important theme of “Othello” is that if jealousy is not recognized and immediately dealt with, it receives a head start to commence the process of rotting away all normal human reason. Othello’s speech in Act III scene iii beginning with line 178 is the first and most important indicator of the trouble ominously looming on Othello’s horizon. His immediate response to Iago’s accusations is that of total denial. By depriving himself of that initial venting process, Othello gives his jealousy the

to do stupid things. William Shakespeare portrayed this flaw extremly well in the play Othello. IN

One of the most interesting and exotic characters in the tragic play "Othello," by William Shakespeare, is "Honest" Iago. At first glance, Iago seems to be the essence of "motiveless malignity." However, despite Iago's unquestionable malignancy, the motivation behind his actions lie more in Iago's quest for personal gain, as opposed to just being evil for evil's sake. Iago's rapacity can be validated by examining his manipulation of Roderigo, Cassio and, most importantly, Othello.

The Dramatic play entitled Othello is an unusual story full of jealousy, dark misunderstandings, lies, and regrets. Following Aristotle 's definition of a true tragedy, where does the tale of Othello fall? Is Othello too dramatic too be considered a tragedy or does it barely fall along the lines of tragic?

Previously, in Act 3.4, Othello begins to suspect Desdemona’s loyalty, as he continuously asks Desdemona for the handkerchief, yet she keeps on changing the topic. In Act 4.1, Iago continues to convince Othello of Desdemona’s faithfulness. In Act 3.4, Othello defended Desdemona when Iago accused her; but in Act 4.1, their position is switched. Othello becomes more aware of what Iago is saying and the anger that he has towards Iago has significantly reduced, while he begins to doubt Desdemona. In this passage, Iago’s malignant heart caused him to continue to exploit Othello by making him believe that Desdemona is unfaithful. Iago’s manipulative skills to poison Othello 's weaknesses are found through syntax, symbols, and soliloquy.

“Reputation, Reputation, Reputation” is a quotation from act two, scene three, of Shakespeare 's Othello (Arp, 2012, p. 1312). Reputation has always been a key aspect of human nature. People recognize trends in others, and will act accordingly, based on the situation. Reputation is gained through habitually exerting a virtue, or lack there of, and can be used to do many things, some good and some bad. The play Othello shows how hard it is to gain a reputation, how it can be used, and how easily it can be lost, all in one Shakespearean shell. Reputation is a main theme in the play Othello, and it shows, mainly, in the three characters Othello, Cassio, and Iago.

Tragedy in the modern impression of the word is categorized as an event causing great suffering or distress, it can come in many forms and effect people in different ways, but what constitutes a play as falling under the genre of tragedy? In the Shakespearean sense of the word, most tragic plays follow the pattern of having a hero whose fatal flaw causes his inevitable downfall ending in an untimely moment of clarity with a moral take-away. However, death is always the outcome in addition to the redemption. In the case of the play, Othello, those same factors hold true but the edition of a particularly sinister character, the observation of an unjust death, the first induction of a minority main character and a moral take-away that is less than conventional lead to the realization that this play is not your ordinary tragedy.

Shakespeare establishes an outsider in several of his plays and whether certain groups are considered to be “insiders” or “outsiders”. He displays this theme by Othello being a general of color living in Venice who must balance being a Moor and a Venetian. Othello demonstrates many times in the play his struggle to balance each of these roles. He is put into situations that call out characteristics from both personas, which affect the way he communicates with various characters throughout the play. The Venetian stereotype of a cruel and ignorant black man and the educated and broad-minded Christian military leader shine through in his interactions and conversations with other people. Othello’s struggles send him into madness which

Shakespeare is the second most quoted writer in the English language – after the various writers of the Bible. Many of Shakespeare’s ideas for the play Othello came from a collection of tales written by Giraldi Cinthio. In Othello the character of Iago acts as the prominent main character throughout the play, even though he plays the role of the antagonist to the other central characters in the comedy Iago is the tragic hero. Shakespeare’s Othello was not just a translation of Cinthio’s version from Italian to English, but a transformation of the drama, changing the dynamic of the play. Shakespeare’s use of metaphors, the tragic hero and the actuality of the story led to Othello becoming an infamous piece of writing during the Renaissance. William Shakespeare’s Othello is a classic piece of British Literature because of its use of literary devices, intriguing plot and historical.

Shakespeare’s Play Othello is one of the more notable plays produced during his playwright tenure, the play starts off with Othello who is a moor but the general of the Venetian Army. In this particular play Shakespeare placed several different themes throughout the play but two of the main themes were Love and Race. Othello is strong, confident man he is the head of one the most prestigious armies in all Europe. But with all that success Othello had envious people watching gain all this success, one of the people’s name is Iago who. The straw that finally broke the camel’s back is when Othello eloped with the beautiful Desdemona daughter of Venetian senator Brabantio. She disappoints her father by having wed the moor Othello and he disowns her for having done such a deed. Brabantio even said to Othello that Desdemona would betray him just like she betrayed her father.

Have you ever felt discriminated against due to your race? In Othello by William Shakespeare the theme of race is evident through out the play and is a very critical aspect towards the plot. Since Othello has a strong sense of self he is able to counter-balance the overt racism he is faced with in the beginning because he is respected and has high stature as a war general. Him and his wife lived happily without worrying what others thought of their bi-racial marriage. But, when Othello hears rumors of his wife’s possible infidelity he is soon over-whelmed with feelings of self-consciousness. These substandard feelings due to his race alter Othello’s usual self into a resentful, rage-filled, monster.

Playwrights generally write plays that are inspired by and based on real life events and/or issues that allow them to communicate their points of view as well as the opinions of involved parties. Plays written in the Elizabethan era are categorized as comedies, histories, or tragedies to make it easier for their audience to understand difficult and emotional themes. Although modern plays may follow classic Elizabethan structures, dramatists may adapt it to appeal to a broader audience and to reflect similar issues that may have evolved. For instance, audiences can easily identify with tragedies since they exhibit a downfall as a direct result of a fatal flaw that leads up, often times, to the death of a beloved character. Tragic heroes serve as a mirror for the audience in that as a tragedy progresses, the audience may see their personal experiences and views within it. William Shakespeare’s representation of a moor in his play, Othello, is a personification of a classical tragic hero, whereas Troy Maxson, the protagonist in Fences by August Wilson, serves as an example of a modern tragic hero. Shakespeare and Wilson utilize characteristics of tragic heroes— hamartia, hubris, peripeteia, nemesis, and catharsis—as a literary device to convey an archetypal theme of the hazards of passing judgments to their audience.

Literature and art are very powerful tools through which societies create and negotiate meaning and what they consider to be important parts of their culture and heritage. Literature can be seen as a vehicle in which certain powerful voices can to their best of their ability question whatever preconceived notions, power structures and relationships which they think have value or pertinence. That is to say, literary works, only serve a critical role inasmuch as they are used to hold some sort of lens or mirror to the societies which they are investigating. This might seem like a thoroughly modern mode of inquiry and something which is confined to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The case is that throughout history many different writers have used their voice as a platform to deal with things they saw as issues in their respective cultures and societies. William Shakespeare in one of his most famous plays Othello lies out a problem which he thought was pertinent enough for him to deal with directly, that is the problem of race. Othello was a Moor, a man of African descent who was put in a hostile situation by being put in Venice a primarily white society. The role of race in Othello and the kind of language used by Shakespeare throughout the play point towards Othello’s race and how others in the play as well as the reader react to these ideas.

Othello: One of Shakespeare's Tragic Heroes Othello is one of Shakespeare's tragic heroes. Othello is a well-respected character in this play. Othello is portrayed as a man with much greatness. Othello is tragic hero because he has a fault in his character that brings his death to others.