Othello The Moor Of Venice Essay

However strong Othello's and Desdemona's marriage seems, it begins to deteriorate as a result of Othello's self-pride. At first, Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful. Iago suggests to Othello that Desdemona slept with Cassio. Iago uses a handkerchief given by Othello to Desdemona that he got Emilia to get for him as his proof against

The definition of tragedy is great suffering, destruction, or distress like a disaster. The term is commonly used in our society but where did it come from. Aristotle, an ancient greek philosopher, laid the foundation for the definition of a tragedy that we still use today. His idea of tragedy is a character who makes a judgment error that inevitably lead to his or her own destruction. He called this a tragic hero. Aristotle's’ idea was based on five specific characteristics. The characteristics were hamartia, peripeteia, anagnorisis, hubris and lastly, the character’s fate must be greater than deserved. The book, Oedipus The King, written by Socrates, fits Aristotle’s idea perfectly. Oedipus is an ideal tragic hero because he goes through all the five specific characteristics throughout the book.

In William Shakespeare’s Othello, Othello is the tragic hero. He is a character of high stature who is destroyed by his surroundings, his own actions, and his fate. His destruction is essentially precipitated by his own actions, as well as by the actions of the characters surrounding him. The tragedy of Othello is not a fault of a single villain, but is rather a consequence of a wide range of feelings, judgments and misjudgments, and attempts for personal justification exhibited by the characters. Othello is first shown as a hero of war and a man of great pride and courage. As the play continues, his character begins to deteriorate and become less noble. Chronologically through the play, Othello’s character

‘Without setting, characters are simply there, in a vacuum, with no reason to act and most importantly, no reason to care.’ The setting gives place for a narrative to begin and evolve from, without a strong setting some texts may be difficult to interpret without extra contextual and historical knowledge of the time period of which it was written. Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venice written 1603 was set in Italy, in the Venetian Republic . This setting was gaining popularity with Elizabethan writers, maybe as a form of escapism, to have a crypto - catholic approach, as this country was the largest and still is the largest Catholic country. Or a more general form of escapism from the society at that time. Writing for a predominantly working class audience, Shakespeare’s work is an escapism from the audiences hardship of life.

Without a doubt, Shakespeare's play Othello is a tragedy. The main character, Othello, is a typical Shakespearean tragic hero. Othello is good man who is deeply in love with his wife. He has one flaw, jealousy, which gets the best of him, and triggers the downfall of his wonderful life.

Iago is eager to get back to Othello and tell him what Roderigo has done, leaving out the part where he tells Roderigo what is going on. Brabantio finds Othello and accuses him of stealing his daughter and demands he be thrown in prison. Othello explains to Brabantio that he has more urgent matters to attend at the moment, so prison will have to wait. The Duke and senators are waiting for Othello to meet with them on war matters. Brabantio thinks this is an excellent opportunity to accuse Othello of his crimes. What Brabantio does not expect is for Desdemona to be there waiting on Othello so she can go off to war with him. She confesses to her father and the Duke that she is in fact in love with the Moor. Brabantio was in shock and could not believe what his daughter was doing to him. The Duke does allow her to go, but she must be accompanied by Iago because Othello has to leave at once. Iago’s second part of the plan is put in motion when he schemes to make Othello think that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair. He plans to take out both of his enemies at the same time with a lie. (Shakespeare, Othello, the Moor of Venice)

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.

Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero is someone of great importance or royalty. The hero must go through something terrible such as a relative’s death. We must feel what this character is feeling throughout the story. Aristotle also said that a tragic hero scan be defeated by a tragic flaw, such as hubris or human pride. In Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone, both Creon and Antigone are tragic heroes.

Iago’s second soliloquy reveals how he manipulates Cassio and Desdemona. While Desdemona waits for Othello to return from his journey across ravenous seas, Iago joins her. He purposely acts like a jerk to Desdemona and his wife, Emilia in front of Cassio. When Iago departs from the group, Cassio, in his good mannered gentleman way, reassures Desdemona that Othello will make it to shore fine. Having Desdemona confide in his words, Cassio takes interest in her just as Iago had planned.

Iago persuades Roderigo to kill Cassio while Othello smothers Desdemona. Emilia then reveals to Othello Iago's manipulation. As Emilia continues to divulge Iago's actions he kills her and flees. When Iago is returned to Othello, Othello wounds him and upon realizing the tragic actions he has brought about, kills himself.

To add to his suspicions, Iago sets Othello up to hear Cassio 's discussion regarding his mistress Bianca; however, Othello believes he is referring to Desdemona. This situation only becomes worse when Bianca produces a copy of Othello 's handkerchief, and believing it to be his own he strikes Desdemona in his rage. Othello first asks Emilia to confirm Desdemona 's unfaithfulness, but she cannot; therefore, he confronts Desdemona herself. Obviously astounded by the accusation, Desdemona is devastated. Meanwhile, Iago again tricks Roderigo- this time into killing Cassio in order to keep Desdemona in Cyprus. Roderigo again starts a fight with Cassio, but Cassio injures him, thus Iago injures Cassio himself. Othello, believing that Iago and has killed Cassio, leaves to again confront Desdemona. Wanting to rid himself of any potential threat, Iago kills Roderigo. As Othello is confronting Desdemona, he tells her to wake up and pray as he "would not kill thy unprepared spirit" (5.2.33). After explaining his reasoning for killing her, he smothers Desdemona with a pillow. Emilia finds her mistress murdered at Othello 's hand and is told that her husband, "honest" Iago, confirmed Desdemona 's adultery. Upon hearing this she, proceeds to tell him the truth of Iago 's deception. Iago murders his wife for her betrayal, but Othello only manages to injure him. Finally knowing

In the play Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare, the women take on various roles in this Venetian society. The roles include committing fraud, playing the part of the victim, and playing the part of the hero. In this Venetian society in the 1600s, the women served major purposes and were vital to keep the towns running. However, the women also faced being victimized and stereotyped in this man-run society. Women were inferior to men, treated unequally, and women were also viewed as sexual objects rather than human-beings. The play demonstrates how women were wrongfully treated in this Venetian society and how women are expected to be subordinate to men. In the end, a play seemingly riddled with negativity and degradation of women becomes a piece of work that shows the courageousness and truthfulness that the women in the play possess. With women playing a large role in the play, Othello can be differently interpreted from a feminist perspective.

Othello, the Moor of Venice is one of the major tragedies written by William Shakespeare that follows the main character, Othello through his trials and tribulations. Othello, the Moor of Venice is similar to William Shakespeare’s other tragedies and follows a set of specific rules of drama. The requirements include, following the definition of a tragedy, definition of tragic hero, containing a reversal of fortune, and a descent from happiness. William Shakespeare fulfills Aristotle’s requirements in this famous play.

    By definition, a tragedy is a story that details the downfall of a protagonist. Most often, the protagonist (tragic hero) is a member of high society who is faced with an oppositional force, be it internal or external. In his Poetics, Aristotle states that "tragedy is the imitation of an action; and an action implies personal agents, who necessarily possess certain distinctive qualities both of character and thought; for it is by these that we qualify actions themselves, and these- thought and character- are the two natural causes from which actions spring, and on actions, again all success or failure depends...." This quote illustrates an aspect of tragedy upon which many works are based, including

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