Othello: Characters Bring About Their Own Demise. Essay

In William Shakespeare’s drama, Othello, a reader does not need to search tirelessly to find one of the numerous victims of the tale. While it is true to state that many characters in this story endure great suffering and sorrow during their arcs, it is natural to wonder, “Who is the ultimate victim of this tragedy?” Is it the title character himself? Othello, mercilessly betrayed and emotionally tormented by his friend, Iago. Perhaps, it is Othello’s wife, Desdemona; she pays the ultimate price for Iago’s deeds at the hands of her beloved. Emilia, Desdemona’s handmaiden, could also be considered the most tragic character. Still, there is one man who rises above the others in his suffering; a man whose own daughter was stolen from him before he even knew she had been taken. Ultimately succumbing to his grief, only one character can truly be deemed the ultimate victim of this play, Desdemona’s father, Brabantio.

Iago warns Othello that “[Desdemona] did deceive her father, marrying [Othello], and when she seemed to shake, and fear your looks, she loved them most.” (Shakespeare 3.3.207-210). We can see that Iago is trying to make Othello jealous by pointing out that Desdemona has already betrayed someone that she loved so what would prevent her from doing it again. Iago manipulates Othello by claiming that Desdemona gave Othello’s handkerchief away “yours by this hand! And to see how [Cassio] prizes the foolish woman, your wife! She gave it to him, and he hath given it to his whore” (Shakespeare 4.1.170-173). The final blow to manipulating Othello, Iago tells him that Desdemona gave Cassio her handkerchief confirming her betrayal. This is the end to behaving rationally for Othello. Mark Rose insist that Iago is “playing his victim [Cassio] with wine has robbed [Cassio of his reputation]. The presentation of Cassio as a decent man changed into a drunken madman foreshadows the actions of Othello to come” (Rose 285). This displays the idea that Iago is manipulating anyone in any way in order to get to Othello. In this case he is manipulating Cassio’s reputation so that later in the play Iago can use Cassio against Othello to make him jealous of his wife cheating on him with Cassio. Iago is easily able to set this in motion because he damaged Cassio’s reputation so much that Othello doesn’t trust him, or want him

Othello is an easy target in this drama, because Iago already knows that he is a very insecure person. With that stated, it will be easy for Iago to use Othello’s jealousy to trick him into thinking that Desdemona is an unfaithful wife. Iago will manipulate the way Othello sees things in order to convince him that what he sees is innocent acts between Desdemona and Casillo. Iago’s starts to plant the idea in Othello’s head of an affair after Othello sees Casillo rush leaving Desdemona in a manner that looked as though he is guilty (1223). Alone with Othello, Iago begins to make Othello feel threatened by Casillo and Desdemona’s apparent relationship by bringing up the fact that Casillo served as Desdemona’s and Othello’s go-between during the time of their courtship. The conversation ends with Iago asking Othello to watch carefully of Desdemona and Casillo, and Iago exits giving Othello time to question the accusation of Iago (1225-1228).

Othello’s love for Desdemona was so deep he could not bear the thought of another being with her; “If she be false, O! Then heaven mocks itself. I’ll not believe’t.” Iago uses the characters of Cassio and the obsessive Roderigo as his weapons in his cunning plan. Iago drives the idea into Othello’s mind that Desdemona has been unfaithful, inciting him into a state of jealousy. “Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul, but I do love thee; and when I love thee not, chaos is come again.” Othello growing insecurities about his wife’s faithfulness only adds to his psychological suffering which in turn acts as a catalyst towards the suffering of other characters involved in the play.Iago tells these lies with the intention of driving Othello insane as well as establish his dominance and influence the situations of those characters close to Othello. Evidence of this comes in one of Iago’s soliloquies from act two, scene one; “That Cassio loves her, I do well Believe’t: That she loves him, ‘tis apt and of great credit.” This section shows that he is trying to convince himself that his own manipulative lies are true and is trying to reassure his motives by justifying his own actions. By convincing Othello

    Tragedy is an intrinsically human concept; tragic heroes are damned by what they themselves do. Othello is not so much felled by the actions of Iago, but by a quality all people possess-- human frailty. Accordingly, Othello is not a victim of consequences, but an active participant in his downfall. He is not merely a vehicle for the machinations of Iago; he had free agency. Othello's deficiencies are: an insecure grasp of Venetian social values; lack of critical intelligence, self-knowledge, and faith in his wife; and finally, insecurity-- these are the qualities that lead to his own downfall.

The relationship of the characters in Othello are shaped by the theme of truth and lies. Othello has trouble believing in his relationship with Desdemona because he considers too many outside opinions. Iago is the center of creating manipulations to alter the truth of the actual information. Therefore, Othello questions his fidelity with Desdemona because Iago plants different information to manipulate Othello’s mind and ultimately disrupt his relationship. According to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Othello wishes to excuse himself—to excuse himself by accusing” (151). Othello has others easily influence his decisions, in which he is incapable of trusting himself. Needless to say, Othello finds it easier to accuse Desdemona of her wrongdoings and for being unfaithful; he does not question Iago’s creditability. In addition, the theme of truth and lies arise from Othello’s inability to understand himself, so Othello initially has Iago dictate. For that reason, Iago is able to tell Othello anything, knowing that Othello does not question him. However, Othello does not see that Iago manipulates him, and Iago’s lies are perceived as the truth, as it contradicts what Desdemona says.

A key figure, if not the most important in the play, is that of the malcontent Iago, who sows the seeds of jealousy in Othello’s mind, and presents him with ‘proof’ to back up his suspicions. Iago acts as a catalyst to Desdemona’s murder and it is his intricate

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.

This quote by Iago puts into Othello's mind that Desdemona may be cheating on him with Cassio. Othello then begins to question whether he was right to marry or not and although without proof, he believes in Iago's words. This is shown in his statement, “why did I marry? This honest creature doubtless sees and knows more, much more, than he unfolds”(Shakespeare 1324), indicates that he quickly turns to doubting his love Desdemona and takes Iago as being credible and true. It also causes him to become jealous and angered with only a simple touch of trickery by Iago. This marks his first sign to a down hill plunge in moral.

In Shakespeare’s play “Othello” the main characters Othello and Desdemona suffer a tragic fate due to their actions and unforeseen circumstances. A majority of Desdemona’s suffering is down to Iago’s manipulation. However, it could also be argued that Iago is not completely to blame for the misfortune of Desdemona. We as the readers can see evidence of this at certain points in the play where Iago has planted the seeds of despair and Desdemona and Othello have fallen for his plans. In this essay, I will look at key moments in the play where Desdemona is presented as a tragic victim by the writer and justify why she is a tragic victim using quotes from the play.

For all the dangers and encounters he has been involved in, Othello is still naive when it comes to the corruptness of other people. Othello has a trusting nature in which he gives it all. He put all his trust in Iago during times of war and during his marriage to Desdemona. Everyone considered Iago to be honest, and it would be simply unspeakable for Othello to believe any differently. For example, Othello had told Duke: "So please your grace, my ancient; a man he is of honesty and trust. To his conveyance I assign my wife, with what else needful your good grace shall think, To be sent after me" (I, iii, lines 306-310). Even if Othello were not as trusting or corrupt, he still would not realize Iago was lying.

Commonly featured throughout Shakespearean dramas, the defect of a character’s personality ultimately becomes their predetermined undoing. Following this archetypal structure two characters from Othello, Roderigo and Othello ultimately allowed themselves to become responsible for their own deaths. These two men dedicated themselves to maintaining a heroic persona to earn the affections of Desdemona, however during this period they allowed themselves to become extremely vulnerable and easily manipulated by Iago. The emotionally fueled or pride driven actions of both Roderigo and Othello in this play essentially acts as the greatest influence in their demises. Othello’s Achilles heel stemmed from his inability to admit the inadequacies he recognized within his life and his own self, feeling pride be more necessary than admitting to his flaws.

Iago quickly tried to come up with false evidence to apparently, to prove to Othello that this is indeed, reality, “I know not that; but suck a handkerchief – I am sure it was your wife’s – See Cassio wipe his beard with.”(3.3.496). Iago was supposedly ‘thickening his proofs’, and he insisted that Cassio has Desdemona’s handkerchief. Notice how Iago is exaggerating false allegations, only to make Othello think that Desdemona is unfaithful. It becomes fairly manageable for Iago to sell his tale to Othello, as he takes advantage of Othello’s trust, and reports what he ‘apparently witnessed’. After Iago successfully manipulates Othello, to consider his wife as a false-hearted woman, he doesn’t even think to reflect upon his sinful deeds, revealing his cold-hearted soul to the audience. By now, the viewers can only look down upon Iago with disgust, as he is also breaking a loving relationship between an honest man and his innocent wife. Why would Iago want to harm Desdemona when he clearly hates the Moor, and only the Moor? What was Iago’s purpose in slandering a beautiful, innocent woman? Well, Iago’s villainous schemes continue to leave the audience in disbelief. Then, Iago also vividly describes to Othello, about how Cassio is yearning for Desdemona, “There are a kind of men so loose of soul that in their sleeps will mutter their affairs. One of this kind is Cassio. In sleep I heard

Shakespeare is very well known for his inclusion of tragic flaws throughout the storylines of his novels. Hero’s, as courageous as they may seem, are just like any other person and go through flaws throughout their lifetime regardless of the extent of their situation. In Shakespeare’s novel Othello, with all the events twisting the readers mind from one side to another, there are many distinct qualities that portray Othello’s tragic flaw. Iago was portrayed as an honest character but with his careful deceptions jabbing in Othello’s mind, he is far from honest. Othello’s tragic flaw is that he trusts others opinions more than his own perceptions and Shakespeare develops this flaw by using convincing persuasive appeals and strong syntax throughout

[Bradley presents an overview of Othello, in an attempt to discover what makes this the "most painfully exciting and the most terrible" of Shakespeare's tragedies. He highlights aspects of the play which reinforce its emotional impact: the rapid acceleration of the plot, the intensity of Othello's jealousy, the passive suffering of Desdemona, and the luck and skill involved in Iago's intrigue. According to Bradley, these features combine to produce feelings of "confinement" and "dark fatality" that suggest that the characters cannot escape their destinies. He then discusses three scenes—Othello's striking of Desdemona in IV. i, Othello's treatment of Desdemona as a whore in IV. ii, and her death in V. ii—and maintains that the emotional intensity