Othello’s Evil Side
In the Bard of Avon’s tragic drama Othello there is a very disquieting dimension of the play; this is the evil dimension, which has such depth and intensity that it penetrates not only the mind but the body and soul of the audience.
Even the imagery in the drama has its evil aspect. Kenneth Muir, in the Introduction to William Shakespeare: Othello, explains the instances of diabolic imagery in the play as they relate to the infecting of the Moor by the ancient:
The same transference from Iago to Othello may be observed in what S. L. Bethell called diabolic imagery. He estimated that of the 64 images relating to hell and damnation – many of them are allusions rather than strict images –
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S. Wilson in his book of literary criticism, On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy, addresses the character of the general’s ancient:
With such a man everything is food for his malice. There is no appeasing him. His ego feeds upon the misfortunes he contrives for others, and what he feeds on only makes him hungrier. He is proof against pity and remorse alike, as his last interview with Desdemona and his sullen defiance of his captors at the end only too painfully show us. In short, he is the demi-devil that Othello finally calls him, half a devil and half a man; yet the littleness in each of his components is formidable, spider-like, and appallingly human besides. (54)
In the essay “Wit and Witchcraft: an Approach to Othello” Robert B. Heilman unveils the evil awaiting the reader in Othello:
Reason as an ally of evil is a subject to which Shakespeare keeps returning, as if fascinated, but in different thematic forms as he explores different counter-forces. ]. . .] Although Iago, as we saw, does not take seriously the ennobling power of love, he does not fail to let us know what he does take seriously. When, in his fake oath of loyalty to "wrong'd Othello," he vows "The execution of his wit, hands, heart" (III.3.466), Iago's words give a clue to his truth: his heart is his malice, his hands literally wound Cassio and kill Roderigo, and his wit is the genius that creates all the strategy. (338)
By an extraordinary
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
The ability of passion to bring destruction upon the lives of the unsuspecting is illustrated in Shakespeare’s Othello with the use of both manipulation and deceit. The curse of fierce passion fell namely on Othello as he transitioned from a respected general to an unstable murderer. His downfall is demonstrated through his increasing self-doubt, lack of ability to articulate, and violence. In the start of the play, he is an accomplished general and happy newlywed, and has yet to be significantly held back due to his being a Moor and outsider in Venetian society. As passion overtakes him, however, Othello truly ingrains the idea that he is less than, and those around him begin to blame his actions on the nature of his ethnicity. He has completely lost his identity to his desires and is unable to think rationally. Shakespeare juxtaposes this version of Othello with his initial composed self in Venice to demonstrate the damage of ignorance to logic and heighten the sense of tragedy. The effects of an overwhelming passion involving love, jealousy, and revenge are shown through Othello’s degradation and loss of stability.
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
Powerful words are used in the world of “Othello” and can create order or chaos. Othello uses language when he tells his stories of war to Desdemona and as a result wins her heart. A positive example of the power of language is how Othello and Desdemona fall in love (Krieger, 2012). “She wished she had not heard it, yet she wished that heaven had made her such a man” (I, iii, 160-161). Iago uses the negative power of language as corruption to
William Shakespeare’s Othello would not be a dramatic tragedy if the smiling villain, Iago, were a deaf mute. There is no doubt that the destruction of each character can be blamed on jealous Iago. The theme of jealousy helps propel the plot naturally and demonstrates the consequences of being morbidly jealous. The circumstantial evidence Iago provides acts like a lethal poison, which surrounds Othello in suspicion and envy but also turns him into an inhuman murderer. Jealousy is the ‘monster’ that unresonably conducts the great suffering in the story.
H. S. Wilson in his book of literary criticism, On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy, addresses the arbitrariness and inconsistency in the play:
The character of the general in William Shakespeare’s tragic drama Othello is quite noble, although plagued by the shortcoming or weakness of gullibility. Let us in this essay look at all the features, both good and bad. of this ill-fated hero.
Othello is almost certainly the most tragic, heart-crushing play Shakespeare ever wrote. This tragedy leads the helpless audience on an emotional plummet as they watch the emotional and psychological manipulation of the antagonist, Iago, lead the play. Iago weaves his web of deceit and plays with the strings of all the characters in one great puppet show. At the end of the play, the audience is left with a longing for something more and a feeling of despair. Language and manipulation are two very main parts of this play with great symbolism to color and light woven in. Unlike all of Shakespeare’s other tragedies, there is no comedic relief, just a tragic plummet. One of the reasons this despair seems so raw is because, in the end, evil prevails, justice is not served, and there is no hero, there is only silence. In a play led mainly by language, there is an eeriness and incompleteness to this silent ending. The life of the main character, Othello, spirals downwards under Iago’s
This play notifies us that anyone can be manipulated for negative intentions. The character of Othello helps portray the theme that every human is vulnerable to be exploited no matter who they are. This tragedy also demonstrates that true human nature is self-loathing, egotistic, and unapologetically vengeful – humanity strives to achieve as much success as Iago. This is why Othello (the alleged main character) is often not the one most adored by the viewers but rather
Albert Gerard proclaims that Othello’s “fundamental barbarousnous” is made clear by his “superficial acceptance of Christianity” which hides his “fundamental paganism”. He accuses Othello of his lack of intellectual power blaming him for his own “eternal damnation”, and undermines the decisions which he makes. In doing this, Gerard studies Othello as a character whose “innate savagery” is disguised by
Othello is a popular play created by, William Shakespeare the play have been read by many people who may have an opinion on a character or maybe just the play alone. The best opinions are from experts who have done their research on the play or studies Shakespeare's work. We all have similarity weren't always much different from the people we think we have nothing in common with. Othello and Iago are considered an innocent man who really is in love and a evil villain who uses people and turn people against each other,but they are both driven by their desires. The main goal of this research paper is to analyze the characteristics of Othello and Iago, also to determine the similarities and differences they have between each other.
The diverse imagery found in Shakespeare’s drama Othello represents a world all by itself. And this world of imagery contributes to the prevailing sentiment of pain and suffering and unpleasantness.
In Part Four of the course, Critical Study, we studied Shakespeare’s tragedy, Othello. This is a play that comprises of enduring themes of love, betrayal, jealousy, appearance versus reality, racism, and revenge.
Othello has suffered less in its modern interpretation than any other of Shakespeare’s tragedies, it would seem. So insistently did Shakespeare keep this tragedy unified about the theme of jealousy and the central victims of the passion, so obviously did he mould his plot about the black Moor and the