Othello’s Diverse Themes
Othello is one of William Shakespeare’s tragedies which thrives on a group of themes. Let’s see if we can sort them out and determine the dominant ones from the lesser ones.
The pain which the audience experiences is no accident, but rather one of the themes written into the play. Critic Caroline Spurgeon in “Shakespeare’s Imagery and What it Tells Us” explains the significant contribution which imagery makes to the theme of pain and unpleasantness running through the play:
The main image in Othello is that of animals in action, preying upon one another, mischievous, lascivious, cruel or suffering, and through these, the general sense of pain and unpleasantness is much increased
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Nor is this all. Such jealousy as Othello’s converts human nature into chaos, and liberates the beast in man; and it does this in relation to one of the most intense and also the most ideal of human feelings. (169)
Of course, jealousy of a non-sexual nature torments the antagonist, the ancient, to the point that he ruins those around him and himself. Francis Ferguson in “Two Worldviews Echo Each Other” describes:
On the contrary, in the “world” of his philosophy and his imagination, where his spirit lives, there is no cure for passion. He is, behind his mask, as restless as a cage of those cruel and lustful monkeys that he mentions so often. It has been pointed out that he has no intelligible plan for destroying Othello, and he never asks himself what good it will do him to ruin so many people. It is enough for him that he “hates” the Moor. . . .(133)
Act 1 Scene 1 opens with an expression of jealousy and hatred: Roderigo is upbraiding Iago because of the elopement of the object of his affections –Desdemona -- with the Moor: “Thou told’st me thou didst hold him in thy hate.” Iago responds with an expression of hatred, saying that he does indeed hate the general because he “Nonsuits my mediators; for, ‘Certes,’ says he, / ‘I have already chose my officer.’” Lily B. Campbell in Shakespeare’s Tragic Heroes indicates the palpable hatred:
It is then on a theme of
From an analytical view, Othello teaches us many things about the nature of human life. Further, Shakespeare’s usage of literary techniques and the strategies he employs are crucial to understanding not only the play, but the characters themselves. It becomes clear from Othello and its cast of characters, that human nature will always perplex human minds until the time we actually experience and understand what exactly happens between the point of believing and realizing the truth. From the play, one grasps an understanding of the crucial need to think and look at
However, along with his word choice, Iago is clever at the timing of what he says. He knows exactly what to say and when to say it to incite jealousy within anyone he wishes. He uses this particularly well with Roderigo and Othello. An example of Iago’s timing of jealousy is when he speaks to Roderigo of the suspicions regarding Desdemona’s love for Othello. “Mark me with what violence she first loved the Moor but for bragging and telling her fantastical lies. To love him still for prating? Let not thy discreet heart think it. Her eye must be fed”. In this excerpt Iago represents
In literary works, cruelty often functions as a crucial motivation or a major social or political factor. In the play Othello by Shakespeare cruelty functions as a crucial motivation, creating a theme of being careful with who can be trusted because, you never know if they’re telling the whole truth. Throughout the play, diction, dramatic irony, and characterization were used to further emphasis the theme.
Othello has been described as one of William Shakespeare’s most popular plays because the play focuses on its themes of good and evil, military, politics, love and marriage, religion, racial prejudice, gender conflict, and sexuality; but the controversy and debate surrounding Othello is “Why is Othello a qualification for a tragedy?”
The tragedy of Othello, written by William Shakespeare, presents the main character Othello, as a respectable, honorable, and dignified man, but because of his insecurities and good nature, he is easily taken advantage of and manipulated by his peers and alleged friends. The dynamic of Othello’s character significantly changes throughout the play. The contrast is most pronounced from the beginning of the play to its conclusion, switching from being calm and peaceful to acts of uncontrolled venomous rage. Othello’s motivation in the play appears to be his love and concern for his wife Desdemona, which ironically, ends up being his downfall in the end.
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
A man falls into a violent epileptic shock from sheer anger and jealousy. Othello is an aspiring man, who under delusional rage, allows revenge to blind him and so he betrays the trust of friendship and marriage. Actions alone can merit the characterization of evil simply because some deeds are too purely vicious and
Othello’s damning pride and self-justifying habits are the most potent elements of his ruin. Robert Watson writes, “Pride is as fundamental to the tragedy of Othello as jealousy, and the
Nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice. Then you must speak of one that loved not wisely, but too well; of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought…” (V, ii,338-345). Through everything that Othello has done, like murdering his wife, he wants to be remembered
Motifs are used to devalue Othello and make Othello feel as if he is worthless. Othello is a good and heroic man and people are envious of his wife and of his reputation, especially because he is considered a lower
“My fault, my failure, is not in the passions I have, but in my lack of control of them” (“Quotes About Passion”). Indeed, the unlit flame that exists within one’s mind is ignited by the matches of passion. This compelling fire propels one’s desire to achieve their ambitions, their goals, and their dreams. However, these growing flames become uncontrollable and consumes the mind until it turns into ashes. In William Shakespeare’s play, Othello, the power of this passion is examined as it slowly devours one’s reasoning until the point of nonexistence. The opening of the play marks the introduction of the mellow emotions that exist within many of the characters. However, as the characters enter the remote island of Cyprus, these emotions set on an unruly path lead by the temptation of success. This created isolation makes multiple characters exposed to the utter despair of passion. The play Othello, exhibits the creation of false epiphany through the emotions of infectious love, propelling envy, and overpowering enmity.
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. Throughout the play,
One of the major components in Othello, that Shakespeare incorporated throughout the play, is relationships. These relationships are driven by different motivations and give each individual something unique. Each character contributes disparate factors to their relationships and change from scenario to scenario. The presentation of different relationships in Othello represents many of the underlying motifs of the play.
In this essay, I will argue that Othello has the ability to transcend the racial infused “Moor” stereotype to become an individual with an inherent will to do good deeds and extinguish evil. Critical works from Albert Gerard (1957), Edward Berry (1990), and Martin Orkin (1987) will be cited as evidence for this.
In ‘The tragedy of Othello: the Moor of Venice’, Shakespeare probes into the human condition by creating characters who present distinguishing qualities of human emotion such as jealousy. It is a tale revolving around