Shakespeare's Othello-The Shifting Sands Of The Moor Of Venice

‘Without setting, characters are simply there, in a vacuum, with no reason to act and most importantly, no reason to care.’ The setting gives place for a narrative to begin and evolve from, without a strong setting some texts may be difficult to interpret without extra contextual and historical knowledge of the time period of which it was written. Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venice written 1603 was set in Italy, in the Venetian Republic . This setting was gaining popularity with Elizabethan writers, maybe as a form of escapism, to have a crypto - catholic approach, as this country was the largest and still is the largest Catholic country. Or a more general form of escapism from the society at that time. Writing for a predominantly working class audience, Shakespeare’s work is an escapism from the audiences hardship of life.

A tragedy is typically explained as a type of drama that displays pain and suffering, and where the main character, the protagonist, experiences a life changing event that alters his fortune from good too bad. William Shakespeare’s play, Othello, the Moor of Venice is classified as an Aristotelian classical tragedy based on the guidelines Aristotle sets when examining a tragedy. Othello is a general in the Venetian army, and the husband of Desdemona, and well respected by society. The play describes how Othello’s fate has an undesirable change in fortune, the reversal. In brief, Othello is portrayed as a happy, powerful man in the beginning of the play, and by the end of the play he endures pain and suffering from his own misfortune

Texts and their appropriations reflect the context and values of their times. Within Shakespeare’s Othello and Geoffrey Sax’s appropriation of Othello, the evolution of the attitudes held by Elizabethan audiences and those held by contemporary audiences can be seen through the context of the female coupled with the context of racism. The role of the female has developed from being submissive and “obedient” in the Elizabethan era to being independent and liberated within the contemporary setting. The racism of the first text is overtly xenophobic and natural, whilst the “moor” is unnatural whereas the updated context portrays Othello’s race as natural and racism as unnatural. Therefore these examples show how Shakespeare’s Othello, and it’s

People do idiotic things. No matter how hard you try and how careful you think you may be, you are bound to make mistakes sometime in your life. Whether it is as small as spelling a word wrong or to as large as causing someone or something's demise even though it may not entirely be their fault. In the Shakespearean play Othello, Iago is seen as a ruthless, power hungry man who wants to see Othello burn. Othello on the other hand appears to be a wise general who only has one weakness in particular: Desdemona. He is flat out head over heels for her which Iago uses to his advantage through the green eyed monster itself: jealousy. Jealousy is one of the main themes within the play, and plays a very important role in the tragic outcome where

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.

Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe both tell about men of status who lose all power as a result of their actions. Othello and Okonkwo fall into the general category of tragic hero, with each having a tragic flaw and a downfall. Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero is that the hero must have a tragic flaw, be neither good nor bad, have a downfall resulting from the flaw, and recognition of their flaw in relation to their downfall. Both Othello and Okonkwo exemplify characteristics of Aristotle’s tragic hero, conveying a common theme while expressing individual themes. Things Fall Apart and Othello, the Moor of Venice share the theme that one’s insecurity will bring upon disaster; however,

William Shakespeare presents the character Othello as an excellent leader in the play, Othello. The hero has strength, charisma, and eloquence. Yet Othello cannot reason. The battlefield and Senate are, at least in Othello, depicted as places of honor, where men speak truly. In addition, the matters of war and state are relatively simple; no one lies to Othello, all seem to respect him. He never even has to fight in the play, with the enemy disappearing by themselves. This simplistic view does not help him in matters of the heart. His marriage is based on tall tales and pity and his friendships are never examined; he thinks that anyone who knows him love him. Thus the ultimate evaluation of

Othello, the Moor of Venice The story of Othello, the Moor of Venice was written by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare got the idea of Othello from a writer by the name of Giraldi Cinthio. The original story, was entitled,” Of Unfaithfulness of Husbands and Wives.” In the original story Disdemona was beaten to death with a stocking full of sand, which is quite a bit different from Shakespeare’s Othello, tragedy still befalls Desdemona. (Gioia)

Dignity, courage, a strong belief in religion, self-control and sound judgment is a few of Othello's other positive attributes portrayed in the play. His confidence in himself and his courage are clearly evident when Othello makes a stand before Brabantio, Roderigo and Iago, when following the drawing of their swords, Othello, as opposed to withdrawing in the face of danger taunts "Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them." (1:2:25:76-77). Shakespeare continues to portray Othello as a well-respected nobleman throughout his play, from beginning to end. Shakespeare also shows a soft side when he displays Othello's love and confidence in his wife Desdemona. Othello entrusts his wife to the care of another gentleman, as he must go off to war in Cyprus. The entrusted man and his wife happen to be his good friend Iago and his wife Emilia. His trustworthiness makes him a greatly respected person. Through nobility, respect, love, and trust, Othello is considered to be an honorable and commendable man. However, Othello's background is unsophisticated, and often affects his attitude. Othello is a person who is innocent and base in nature. He was influenced by the way his life was going on. The people around Othello also knew of his attitude. Iago is very quick to see this. In his first soliloquy, Iago says, "the Moor is of a

Desdemona and Othello’s relationship is (at least initially) everything that ought to be desired in a marriage: mutual respect, passion, empathy and loyalty. However, while sentiments of love and compassion circulate within the happy couple’s luxurious home, their surrounding neighborhood is filled with vitriol and paranoia: “Who is this animal that has bewitched sweet Desdemona?” they ask. The differences that separate Othello and Desdemona do not perturb them, but are starkly obvious and unnerving to the judgmental citizens of Venice. While it was certainly rare in the 16th century for couples to have such disparities in age, social position and race, none of these differences diminished how Othello and Desdemona felt for each other, yet each spurred external obstacles that threatened their relationship.

Othello, negatively influenced by his feeling of being rejected by society because of his skin color.

"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

There are many reasons to hate the antagonist in the play Othello, The Moor of Venice. He is a master manipulator, vindictive, evil person just to name a few. “Iago belongs to a select group of villains in Shakespeare who, while plausibly motivated in human terms, also take delight in evil for its own sake” (Bevington, 2014); for this reason he is often considered to have demonic traits. Was Shakespeare showing his own personal demons with the creation of the character Iago? Alternatively, does Iago’s character represent the evils that exist in the world? He seeks to punish not only Othello for passing him over for a promotion and giving it to Cassio, but to seek his vengeance on Cassio as well and anyone else that stands in his way. Iago plays a key role in the play Othello, acting as the devil’s advocate for poor Othello bringing about the death of more than Desdemona. Iago will go to great lengths to accomplish the result he desires. With the use of Iago’s master manipulation skills he is able to orchestrate a intricate senerio that leads to the demise of Othello and those around him.

As a character, Othello is tough, noble, and virtually fearless. He is recognized for his hard work as a soldier but at the same time manages to remain humble. Shakespeare makes him out to be a hero from the start of the play. For example, in Act One, Othello says, “Let him do his spite./ My services which I have done the signiory/ Shall out-tongue his complaints” (1.2.17-19). I think that this quote displays that Othello is confident enough with his value and importance to the city of Venice that he really is fearless of getting in trouble for marrying the one he loves, Desdemona. As the play progresses, Othello’s humility comes to the surface via the words he elects to use in order to explain his marriage to Desdemona. In Act One, Scene

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.