Othello by William Shakespeare

Othello trusts Iago and now Iago is trying to take his wife from him for someone else. Furthermore, “He takes her by the palm...sir in.” (pg. 71). Iago watches Cassio and Emilia because he thinks they had an affair he watches them carefully so he can figure out how to convince Othello that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair. Another example involves the plan to help Othello kill Desdemona. “Do it not with poison. Strangle her in her bed, even the bed she hath contaminated” (pg. 185). Othello believes that Iago is most honest, thus he believed killing his wife Desdemona was the right thing to do. Iago brainwashed Othello into believing the wrong thing was the right thing. The characterization of Iago is created by the use of dramatic irony. The audience knew how devious Iago is, but the characters fell for his mischievous acts.

Shakespeare 's complex play Othello holds numerous pressing issues within its intricate layers that seem to leap out to modern society. One such issue seen by many is the representation of women. Women within the play can be characterized as submissive possessions and temptresses. This ideology, though commonplace in this time period, appears controversial to the modern eye as we deconstruct the characters of this play. This dominate patriarchal society present within the setting merely conditions this belief further as it is prevalent within the characters dialogue.

Othello’s trust for Iago enables Iago to completely discredit Othello as the good guy of the play when Iago manipulates him into thinking Desdemona was unfaithful to him with Cassio. Even though Othello must know in his heart that Desdemona would not betray him, he is so caught up by Iago's efforts and has fallen for his manipulative lies, that all rational thoughts abandons Othello and he ultimately ends up murdering his wife since to Othello betrayal was immoral. At the end of play, even Othello can hardly believe what he has done because he thinks of himself as, "One not easily jealous, but, being wrought, perplexed in the extreme..." meaning that he has acted out of character and only in the interests of honor. Iago’s betrayal to those such as Othello and Desdemona, ultimately successfully destroyed everyone, himself included.

In Shakespeare’s Othello, the nominal character, an honorable Venetian general, is driven to madness through the deceptions of his honest right hand Iago. Iago plots to ruin Othello and through his deception, he drives Othello’s insecurities by implanting the idea of infidelity of his beloved wife Desdemona. Othello goes on to murder his wife, and after he discovers Iago’s plot, he kills himself. In a time when women were looked down upon, Shakespeare crafted a drama in which women took part in major roles. Modeled by Elizabethan England the women in Othello were portrayed in a light justified by society as in Othello, these women were nothing more to than objectified possessions, forced to submit to the ever dying will of their husbands. This is displayed by Desdemona and Emilia’s and relationships with their husbands.

A society consists of diverse cultures, looks, values, and beliefs. In a world with one predominant culture, those perceived as different from the norm are associated with negative images and treated inferior to the superior culture. The negative images associated with color, specifically blackness, has a detrimental effect on the victims who are racially stereotyped. The character Othello is a unique character in English literature, because unlike the other members of society, Othello is an outsider in Venice. He is a black man living in a white world, married to a white woman, and a leader of white men in battle. Othello is persuaded that his wife, Desdemona, is cheating on him, leading him to murder her. Some argue that because Othello was the typical black stereotype he killed Desdemona, but evidence suggests that Othello viewed his own racial identity as undesirable for Desdemona and killed her out of honor and self-hatred. Henceforth, the long-term psychological effects of racism affects an individual’s self-identity and his or her relationship with others.

Othello is the character with whom most of Iago's methods have success. His weakness as a jealous lover is apparent early on, but only after Iago’s has planted the seeds of doubt within his mind. Such is Othello’s trust for Iago that he uses the misnomer of describing Iago as ‘honest Iago’ and irony considering the action held within the play.  The trust is obvious and implicit and thoroughly entrenched within the language. Othello surmises on the aforementioned doubts during the last act of the play when he says;

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.

He convincingly states: “Not to affect many proposed matches of her own clime, complexion, and degree, whereto we see in all things nature tends” (III.iii.230-232). At the same time, Iago portrays Desdemona as an unfaithful woman and portrays a salacious series of rumors about her past. He tells Othello that she is unfaithful. Iago states: “She did deceive her father, marrying you, and when she seemed to shake and fear your looks, she loved them most” (III.iii.207-209). He alludes that Desdemona, having betrayed her father, is very likely to betray Othello.

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.

Othello by William Shakespeare tells the tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venetia and how one of his most loyal subordinates Iago betrays him, by making Othello believe that his wife Desdemona was being unfaithful with Othello’s Lieutenant Casino. Iago’s deception not only causes Othello to distrust his wife Desdemona, but it ultimately leads to the deaths of most characters in the play including Othello, and Desdemona. The Fourth act Second scene is mainly about Desdemona and Emilia talking about unfaithful women and if either one of them had being unfaithful to their husband. This dialogue between Desdemona and Emilia is important because the audience can connect to early events in the play and to a small degree the audience can make connections to Iago’s plan for Othello and what can be the future of Othello and Desdemona.

In the Shakespearean play Othello, Othello kills his wife on the assumption that she was cheating on him. Othello gets this idea from his assistant Iago who wanted to be Othello’s lieutenant but lost the job to a man named Cassio. The entire play revolves around Iago carrying out his revenge on Othello while trying to be named his lieutenant. During the play, the audience sees Iago manipulate the other characters to get what he wants. One of the characters he manipulates is Othello by telling him that his wife is cheating on him and sharing a bed with Cassio. Othello is further tricked by Iago,who gets him to kill his wife and clean up the mess that Iago left.

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

Othello and Iago’s relationship, the most prominent relationship, represents the duality of the play. Othello believes that Iago is helping him and guiding him to be a better person; however, Iago is using Othello to get his way. “Iago is annoyed that he didn't receive promotion from general Othello” (“Relationships in Othello”). Iago is dissatisfied with Othello’s choice because he believes he deserves the promotion. Iago becomes vengeful and devises a plan to enact his revenge. “I follow him to serve my turn upon him” (Shakespeare). Iago is shown to only serve Othello for his own purposes. Othello cannot see through the facade that Iago has put up and follows him blindly. “Othello trusts Iago totally as Iago has a reputation in Venice for being very honest” (“Relationships in Othello”). Moreover, Othello calls Iago “Honest Iago” on multiple occasions in the play. Othello is shown to believe that Iago is honest and trustworthy by Shakespeare to emphasize the duality of the relationship between Iago and Othello. Their relationship is a major aspect in

Women, especially Desdemona but Emilia as well, are obviously targets of male violence in Othello. For some reason Shakespeare’s play often put the emphasis on the role of the female characters and their influence on the main male characters. For instance, the result of the passionate love of Romeo for Juliet, the effect of Ophelia’s insanity had on hamlet, and so on. In Othello, Shakespeare made Desdemona and the other women in the play no different; Othello’s jalousie and love made the play a tragedy. Shakespeare made Desdemona the faithful wife of Othello. She was such a kindhearted and wished to make everything work even when the situation where she lost her handkerchief she tried to fix the situation and calming Othello. However, her innocent sympathy towards Cassio made lago’s lies more credible. Overall, one can say that her naïve nature causes her to become a target for the men in the play.

William Shakespeare wrote Othello during a time of great racial tension in England. In the drama, he introduces Othello, a military general who works for the state of Venice but is by origin a Moor (a black Arab). This gives him the unique position of being one of the most important men in Venice, while simultaneously being seen as an outsider. In writing such a character for a seventeenth century English audience, the author is clearly attempting to send a message. This tension between human desire and the need for control, not only in politics but in intimate relationships, is an equalizing force among humans of different races, backgrounds, and societal status. Othello conveys a theme that all humans – even those considered outsiders, even those in powerful positions – are vulnerable to destruction through their own lusts, jealousies, and desires. While, Othello is written as a tragic character, it is important to note that the source of his tragedy was not his color or background, but his human weaknesses that were, in some measure, shared by all the characters. This paper will explore how human desires and weaknesses can bring about destruction, particularly when exploited by an ill-intentioned individual.