Othello, The Shakespearean Tragedy Of Great Eclat

Contextually it is important to understand how women are presented as tragic victims of men in ‘Othello’. Contemporary views of women were, according to Sir Thomas Elyot “to be mild, timorous, tractable, benign, of sure remembrance, and shamefast.” Conversely men were seen to be “fierce, strong in opinion, covetous of glory, desirous of knowledge, appetiting by generation to bring for his semblable.” Elyot’s views of the contemporary man, though much grander than those of women, could prove to be their downfall in ‘Othello’. Shakespeare’s protagonist’s downfall could be based on the fact that he is desirous of knowledge, and Iago’s manipulation of Othello’s trustworthy nature suggests that not only are women the tragic victims of men, but it is men who are also victims of men.

William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice presents a man who is undone by his own insecurities, as well as strong female characters who lead to the downfall of the men. The character of Othello allows others to control how he feels and this leads to a tragedy that could have been prevented. The source of this tragedy comes from within himself. His character is completely wrapped up in his wife Desdemona’s character and interestingly enough, as soon as her character starts to decline from the words of Iago, so does Othello’s. Unable to stand on his own, Othello is more concerned with outwardly appearances than Desdemona. He puts more pressure on her, than he does himself in regards to his character and how he

    Othello represents a prime example of Shakespeare's ability to develop relationships between the sexes so as to demonstrate those relationships' weaknesses. In Othello, the sexes are divided by misconceptions and ego- centric views of the opposite gender. The men of the play, in particular Othello, maintain a patriarchal, chivalric notion of the sexes, while the women of the play yearn for more involvement in their husbands' affairs. So it is that the thrust of the play emerges from "the opposition of attitudes, viewpoints, and sexes." (Neely 214)

One of Shakespeare's most popular tragedies, Othello is worried about the topics of desire and possessiveness, artlessness and visually impaired enthusiasm, and the perils that can emerge from an inability to see past the surface appearances. Differentiating Village, Lord Lear, and Macbeth, which manage the undertakings of state and which resound with the general human concerns; Othello is set in a very private world and concentrates on the interests and individual existences of its significant figures, Othello and Desdemona. Othello is a standout amongst the most habitually established plays of Shakespeare, and its prominence is maybe because of the comprehensiveness of its topic: cherish and sexual desire, the contention amongst affection

.Within Shakespeare’s “Othello”, the many forms of betrayal cause for Shakespeare to illustrate the nature of man belittling woman. The effect that the betrayals have, is that they show the honesty of what women were treated like back in the day. Most of the men in the play lust after women and don’t picture them as equal to them.. They're seen as property to the men, to were even Othello sees women the same way as the antagonist Iago .The

“A text to be considered worthy of study must have a set of themes that the composer is able to make available and understood by all readers” Othello is a text in which is worthy of study for its ability to still have themes in which are relevant in a modern literary society and are easily understood. William Shakespeare’s 17th century play Othello is the story of Iago a man, who does not receive the position he wants and in revenge of this plots to ruin the life of his commanding officer, Othello. He manipulates everyone around him in order to seek revenge by destroying Othello’s life in every way possible. Shakespeare discusses the themes of the effects of jealousy on a person’s reality, the unreasonable gender stereotypes and expectations

"The Tragedy of Othello Written by Shakespeare" highlights a variety of ways in which males and females reacted to intense situations. Emotion became the key factor to the cause of a majority of each characters' action in "The Tragedy of Othello Written by Shakespeare.” Iago formed the shift of emotions, majority of the characters in the book were his victims. Such as how he told Brabantio that Othello was using “magic charms” to force Desdemona to desire him. (Shakespeare: Act I, Scene 2, Page 4, Line 66.) Iago’s main victim was Othello, who went from conveying love for Desdemona in Act 1 and Act 2, to conveying hate for Desdemona in Act 3, 4, and majority of 5. He did not figure out his wife was not a cheater until he killed her which caused

Shakespeare’s Othello, a play which begins with Othello, a moor and his wife Desdemona’s perpetual love, ends as a tragic as Desdemona is murdered by her husband and lover Othello. The other characters in the play such as Iago, Michael Cassio, Emilia, Roderigo and Bianca play an active role in this tragic end. However, more than the characters that play the active role in a tragic end, the inferiority of the women depict in the play ultimately results in such an ending. The only three women in the play are Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca and all three of the women portray the expectations of women in Shakespeare’s patriarchal Elizabethan society. They are in a men dominated society and are expected to follow and live under the male authority. It can thus be argued that in Othello Desdemona is marginalized and suppressed by the men in the play, as she is used for her sexuality and portrayed as a possession and thus she is depicted as the other. Desdemona is portrayed as the other in Othello, because Othello wants to stay true to his expected authoritative role. Shakespeare presents the women such as Desdemona as possessions through diction and his style of language, as his choice of word portrays the women to be read upon as possessions and property rather than humans. Othello in the play already holds on to an authoritative role as he is the general of the Venetian army, therefore staying true to his dominant and expected role is very important to him. Desdemona is portrayed as

Critics have debated the significance of Othello’s race in terms of portraying his identity for a long time. The negative connotations of “blackness” have led to the creation of many racial constructs associated with the “Moor”; this denigration has infused the opinions of many critics, such as Albert Gerard, proposing that Othello’s “negroid physiognomy” reaches down to the “deepest levels of personality” and that he is a “barbarian”. However, many other critics like Edward Berry and Martin Orkin believe that colour is merely a “surface indicator” compared to the outward virtue of beneficence, defining identity. Beneficence could be defined by the will to practice good acts, in conjunction with the aversion of practicing evil, and the prevention and removal of evil.

throughout the play. I think Vogel writes this in to bring attention to bifurcation between women of opposing views.

In this life that we live, many different individuals go about their business without considering the individual struggles that they have to deal with. According to dictionary.com, a struggle is defined as, “a forceful/violent attempt or effort to get free from restraint or contrition”. Some of these personal struggles are more pronounced than other. From Othello, the tragedy by William Shakespeare, we can see how humans are faced with individual contentions, and their daily actions are ways and efforts of trying to free themselves. In the discussion below we consider Othello’s struggle with being different, gullibility, timidity, inferiority, pride and selfishness and Iago’s conniving personality, hate, greed, manipulation, selfishness and slander

"Othello is set in a world and focuses on the passions and personalities of its major figures." (Thomas). Othello is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The work revolves around four central characters: Othello, Othello's wife Desdemona, his lieutenant Cassio and advisor Iago. The play appeared in seven editors between 1622 and 1705. The themes of the story are racism, love, jealousy, and betrayal. Othello is a black soldier who is accused of stealing his wife Desdemona. Although Desdemona's father dislikes his daughter's choice, Desdemona loves Othello very much and the two are married. Othello’s right hand man is angered at the fact that Othello picked a man named Cassio to be more important than him and he also feels that he is messing with his wife. Iago plans to manipulate Othello but his plan eventually causes more hurt to most of the characters. Iago tries to use the meeting between Cassio and Desdemona as a way to make Othello believe she was cheating on him. Iago goes on with his manipulative plan by planting a handkerchief in Cassio's room, and goes and tell Othello about what he has seen Cassio do. Othello becomes jealous throughout the story and begins to believe that Cassio is talking to his wife. Iago persuades Othello to come up with a master plan to kill Cassio and Desdemona. As Othello tries to kill Desdemona, Emilia, Iago's wife, comes in to tell Othello the truth about Iago. Unfortunately it is too late. Othello had already suffocated her. When Othello

Set in the late sixteenth century among the wars between the Turks and the Venetians, Shakespeare’s Othello is one of the earliest works in history to explore topics such as interracial marriage and the dangers of jealousy. When compared to the traditions of its time period, many critics will argue that the play portrays modern, radical ideas about gender relations. However, this claim isn’t completely true. Although the strong women in Othello are well ahead of their times, the men of the play remain grounded in the traditional ideas about gender and marriage.

Biography.com announces “William Shakespeare, often called the English national poet, is widely considered the greatest dramatist of all time.” Many of the characters in Shakespeare’s writings share feelings of betrayal, revenge and moral failure; however, there are some that share reconciliation and forgiveness. One of Shakespeare’s most memorable plays, Othello, introduces several cast members who share many of these personalities, some of which are apparent and others that are in secret. Desdemona and Emilia, the two principle female characters, have encountered several situations that exemplify great illustrations of how these characteristics are responsible for the twists and turns in this story’s plot. As audience members witnesses the numerous encounters of deceit and betrayal, one particular principle is made clear. It is imperative to get to know a person’s true feelings and regularly evaluate personal relationships.

Many have read “Othello” and can clearly see how divided the characters are by many aspects, but one that seems to be most important to the whole theme is gender roles. The role of women in “Othello” varies from each female’s point of view and is easily recognized through their status and upbringing. From the point of view of the reader a person can definitely tell that they are also separated by class and that’s how it determines part of the problem for gender roles in this play. Another problem that is encountered is each woman’s personal attitude towards the men in the play. Lastly, one of the dividing factors for each female is how their upbringing really affects some of their actions.