Re-Contextualization of Othello for a Contemporary Audience Essay

Fear of cuckoldry is widely known theme in medieval and Renaissance English literature. Fear of cuckoldry was also a widespread fear in English society during those eras. Men often treated their wives as possessions. Once men and women married, divorce was almost impossible, especially since it was almost impossible to prove that one had been cuckolded. If one were cuckolded and one’s wife had another man’s child, one might spend decades taking care of that child and passing on one’s money and belongings to that child without ever knowing that one had been deceived. Unmarried women are seen as their fathers ' property and the play 's two marriages are marked by jealousy and cruelty. Most

Othello is the protagonist of the story, he is married to Desdemona and is general of the army in Venice. Othello has a growth and fixed mindset simply because if he falls he’ll try again to do better. Othello shows having a

Shakespeare is prominent in his use of recurring themes throughout his works, particularly those of love, death, and betrayal. All these themes are present in Othello. Most dominant, however, are manipulation and jealousy. Jealousy runs the characters’ lives in Othello from the beginning of the play, when Roderigo is jealous of Othello because he wishes to be with Desdemona, and to the end of the play, when Othello is furious with jealousy because he believes Cassio and Desdemona have been engaging in an affair, but manipulation the prominent action that fuels the jealousy within Othello. Some characters’ jealousy is fashioned by other characters. Iago is involved in much of this, creating lies and implementing confusing situations.

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.

Inside each of us, there is a seed of good and evil since it is a constant struggle for us to

Set in 16th century Venice, Othello, by William Shakespeare, explores the idea of an outsider from the very beginning of the play. Shakespeare uses Othello, a black army general, to explore the relationship of an outsider in high Venetian society using a variety of approaches. The reader sees characters consistently referring to Othello in derogatory and demeaning terms, as well as frequent implications that Othello is scarcely human. Further exploration of an outsider in society comes from Othello himself, as he outlines a few of the major differences that set him and the community apart.

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

Othello’s race and regression of speech (from calmness to rudeness), Iago’s victims (Othello, Desdemona, Cassio, Roderigo, etc.) being unravelled with manipulation and slyness, Desdemona’s struggling voice and false blame, etc., all participate in the damage the “power of language” causes. Therefore, by exploring the three language devices – “words as power”, “words as character” and “words as conversation” – it is possible to conclude that the language devices are used significantly in the play, “Othello”, because the human behaviour of the characters (Othello, Iago, Desdemona, etc.) is either positively or negatively influenced, and their characteristics and destinies are

The cultural perspective allows the reader to perceive the intensity of the character Othello because he is a moor that has Christian beliefs. Since moors are typically considered evil and jealous like Othello showed to be, he was able to use the values of marriage to justify his reasoning for murdering his wife. During the Shakespearian time era it was unacceptable for a moor to marry a Venetian. Although Othello can be perceived in the historical perceptive, the cultural lens is the best because it elaborates the conflicts in the play.

Cultural criticism is exploriing or examining the relationship of dominant role based on ethnicity, and sexual identity of person, also a great understand of yourself. Historical is basically know the background story before you making assumption off the text, and to better understand text lookup time period close to the time like 1600’s for Othello by William Shakespeare. To sum up the whole play Othello, in act one Othello is Accused of using black magic, witchcraft, and etc on Desdemona by her father Brabantio. Othello tells he that he has not using magic or witchcraft on Desdemona she just fell in love with his war story. And also state that Brabantio used to love him and his war story. In Othello by William Shakespeare Othello represent

Using the most compelling lens to analyze the play by William Shakespeare, we’ll learn that even in 2018 it’s eye opening even if Othello is 400 years old. To get the best experience you would have to view it through a cultural lens where you’ll learn that when you compare the culture 400 years ago and the culture today not much has changed when it comes to racism.

Only by considering a range of perspectives can we truly appreciate the world of Shakespeare’s Othello. It is through my exploration of these perspectives and their relationship with changing morals and values that has enriched my understanding of the play. One such reading of the play challenges the marginalisation and objectification of woman in a patriarchal Venetian society, while taking into account the changing role of women in modern society. Another interpretation of Othello examines its post colonial elements through the protagonist Othello, and his insecurities of being a black man in a white society. My interpretation of the play as a portrayal of the values existing in Shakespeare’s time is filtered through these

   The Shakespearean tragedy Othello contains a number of themes; their relative importance and priority is debated by literary critics. In this essay let us examine the various themes and determine which are dominant and which subordinate.

Othello teaches us much about our current postmodern culture. The play connects to our ideas of sexism, male-bonding, racism and capitalism. Shakespeare uses these universal and timeless flaws in humanity along with our use of language and truth to tell his tale. Iago, over a period of about three days, uses these facets of humanity to turn Othello against his wife Desdemona and his friend Cassio. Othello reveals both the struggle of the British people of the early 1600's and Americans in the late 1900's with sexism, capitalism and racism.