Similarities Between Othello And Roderigo

The relationship between Desdemona and Othello in the play ‘Othello’ is used to express and observe the way that humans are selfish by nature. Although both Desdemona and Othello do sincerely love each other, both of them find great personal gain in their marriage, which clearly contributes to their feelings for one another. Othello, who is a black leader in an overwhelmingly white, Christian society, has come from a troubled and difficult background, being “sold to slavery” and working in the military all his life. In finding a good Christian wife in Desdemona, he finds someone to always support him in hard times, as evidenced in his summary of their romance, “she loved me for the dangers I had passed, and I loved her that she did pity them”. This quote suggests that their love is more self-serving than he lets on; Desdemona loves Othello for the adventures he has been on and the stories he tells, and Othello loves Desdemona because she listens and devotes herself to what he has to say. When Desdemona gets a chance to explain their relationship herself, she is particularly proud of the fact that she “did love the Moor to live with him; my downright violence and storms of fortunes may trumpet to the world”. We note that she mentions her ‘violence’, the way she deliberately disobeyed her father and fled his company to secretly marry a man who is not one of her father’s approved suitors. This furthers the idea that Desdemona seems to be in love with Othello because of the adventures he has been on, and the excitement and liberty of her being with such a man; she is seeking her own freedom in a misogynistic society by defying her father to marry Othello. Their relationship is

Othello had the option of having a rational discussion with Desdemona however he decides to blame her without evidence. While reflecting on the information Iago has given him, Othello begins plotting his revenge. Othellos temper made matters worst for Desdemona. Whenever he becomes angered he lashes out on Desdemona and would physically and mentally abuse her. Othello’s aggressive behavior has become suspicious to some, yet he is left alone. Othello commits the murder of Desdemona with no remorse and doesn't think twice about what will happen to him. Othello states, “Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men. Put out the light, and then put out the light. If I quench thee, thou flaming minister,I can again thy former light restore”(5.2.235). He undoubtedly believes that Desdemona must be killed no questions asked. When Lodovico realizes what Othello has done he is stunned. Lodovico attempts to convince Othello of what he did is wrong, but he believes his actions were right, ”O thou Othello, thou wert once so good,Fall'n in the practice of a damnèd slave,What shall be said to thee?”, othello then states,” Why, anything. An honorable murderer, if you will,For naught I did in hate, but all in honor” (5.2.342-347). Instead of taking responsibility for killing Desdemona Othello is making excuses to protect

At First , Roderigo is envious of Othello because he wanted to be in love with Desdemona. This is the beginning of jealousy which runs

Desdemona is portrayed as a very inquisitive women, whom loves to explore the things and people outside of her class. She fell in love with Othello because of her curious nature and being attracted to his acts of bravado. Her intentions are sincere; however her curiosity in this act is seen as folly. She asks her cousin Lodovico about his arrival and informs him of Cassio’s dismissal. This angers Othello as she is praising another man, taking a persona of being proactive about him. For Othello this concludes that she is disobedient and has dishonored him - to put her in place, he resorts to violence:

The theme of jealousy is portrayed through various characters within the play. Iago increases Roderigo’s jealousy of Othello. By reflecting on the jealousy he bears within himself, Iago brings out the jealousy in others. Roderigo sees Othello as an opponent, which he has to compete against in order to win Desdemona’s heart. He expresses his emotions towards Othello when he states, “What a full fortune does the thick-lips owe,/ If he can carry it thus!”(1.1.67-68). Roderigo says that Othello only got Desdemona out of luck and he will not be able to carry it off. It is because of this jealousy that Roderigo continues to seek Iago’s assistance. Iago tends

Sympathy is a feeling of pity and sorrow towards the misfortune of someone else, most common when a warm-hearted individual goes through many unpleasant occurrences. The actions performed by each character, in their respective texts, results in a shared unfortunate outcome, deserving sympathy. In The Picture Of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde, Basil Hallward and Roderigo from Shakespeare’s Othello, their friends betray both of them, although, it is apparent that Basil Hallward is deserving of more sympathy. Both characters have such a deep adoration for their friends, Dorian and Iago, that they are blinded from obvious actions and body language. This blindness ultimately leads to their deaths. Basil and Roderigo share similar traits in their characteristics as well. For example, through being overly kind, caring, and being determine to get what they want. Basil aspiring to have the strongest relationship with Dorian and Roderigo wanting Desdemona’s love.

Othello’s love for Desdemona was so deep he could not bear the thought of another being with her; “If she be false, O! Then heaven mocks itself. I’ll not believe’t.” Iago uses the characters of Cassio and the obsessive Roderigo as his weapons in his cunning plan. Iago drives the idea into Othello’s mind that Desdemona has been unfaithful, inciting him into a state of jealousy. “Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul, but I do love thee; and when I love thee not, chaos is come again.” Othello growing insecurities about his wife’s faithfulness only adds to his psychological suffering which in turn acts as a catalyst towards the suffering of other characters involved in the play.Iago tells these lies with the intention of driving Othello insane as well as establish his dominance and influence the situations of those characters close to Othello. Evidence of this comes in one of Iago’s soliloquies from act two, scene one; “That Cassio loves her, I do well Believe’t: That she loves him, ‘tis apt and of great credit.” This section shows that he is trying to convince himself that his own manipulative lies are true and is trying to reassure his motives by justifying his own actions. By convincing Othello

"You don't love someone because they're perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they're not” (Picoult, 384). This quote is the definition of true love, something the two protagonists of this play sadly never had. The tragedy Othello is about a general of the Venetian army, and his beautiful wife Desdemona, whose lives are completely ruined by the deceitful, cunning, and cowardly Iago. One of Iago’s biggest accomplishments was breaking up Othello and Desdemona's relationship by getting it into Othello’s head that Desdemona was cheating on him. This really made the reader question Othello’s feelings towards Desdemona as for someone who claimed to have love Desdemona with a passion, Othello sure was quick to believe Iago’s lies and turn on Desdemona. Based on his actions towards Desdemona, Othello proved that he does not truly love Desdemona because he is insecure, lacks trust, and is a very jealous person.

Susan Snyder states "Barbantio, Iago and finally Othello see the love Between Othello and Desdemona as unnatural, ‘nature erring from it self’." Othello expresses this through his statement,

It is here that the audience begins seeing a different identity of Othello. Who was once regarded as so valiant and courageous, was now beginning to show signs of severe insecurities dealing with matters, most importantly, such as his lack of experience in love and marriage causing shadows of doubt over his confidence in himself and his ability to be loved by and worthy of someone like Desdemona. Desdemona, although not intentionally, seems to be the reason for all the unrest in Othello. This is an instance in the play when irony shines it's smiling face upon Shakespeare's most tragic characters. Othello feels truly happy with the presence of Desdemona in his life (Act II.1, 181-187):

As we read Othello in class Iago reminded me of a character named Lotso from the movie Toy Story 3 that was released in 2010. He reminded me of Lotso because in Toy story 3, he gained the trust of the toys at the daycare as well as Andy’s toys, he then manipulated them, and lastly turned them against one another. In Othello Iago manipulated the characters easily because they knew him as “honest Iago” and never doubted anything he said. He pretended to be everyone’s friend, and he also turned Othello against Desdemona and Cassio by using the fact that Othello was easily angered from jealousy. Iago did all of this because he wanted to punish Othello for not making him the lieutenant and to get rid of Cassio so that he could claim the position of lieutenant. These are the most apparent similarities between the two characters.

A.C. Bradley describes Othello as "by far the most romantic figure among Shakespeare's heroes"(Shakespearean Tragedy, 1). This is an unusual description of a man who murders his own wife. However, Othello's feelings of hate for Desdemona started as an overwhelming love for her when their relationship began. This transformation from love to hate also inflicted the characters Iago and Roderigo and like Othello their hatred resulted in the murder of innocent people. Roderigo's love for Desdemona was transformed into hate towards any man that he thought was loved by her. Iago's love for his job and his wife, Emilia changed into a destructive hatred of Cassio and Othello. As a result of

Othello and Iago love emotions shows throughout the play that they have certain different view on their wives. Othello is so in love with Desdemona that he can’t imagine the thought of her being unfaithful to him. The aspect of him and his unbreakable love for Desdemona can be seen in these lines: “But that I love the gentle Desdemona, I would not my unhoused free condition, Put into circumscription and confine” (Othello 561;lines 25-28). Othello and Desdemona shows a healthy and genuine love for each other. Othello shows his affection for Desdemona despite their racial differences. Throughout the play Othello reassures us about their love and no one else’s thought can break it.

Othello's hidden feelings and denials. The theme of this passage is hiding the true feelings, of fear and suspicion, that reside within Othello and seeing them come to surface through Iago. Iago first announces the speculation that Desdemona is cheating on Othello by exclaiming, #“Who dotes...yet soundly loves!”, this setup is to bring up Othello's hidden worries by encouraging the thought of any deception or suspicions within their marriage. Othello is not being convinced but being lead to reflect on his own doubts in order to let it consume him and his thoughts. These

Shakespeare explores more than just excessive, impetuous love in portraying the Moor. Othello has been prepared for his role as a jealous, murderous husband from the beginning of the play because his love for Desdemona is suspicious. Othello immediately discloses that the love he and Desdemona share derives from his stories of war, which are strong and heroic: "She loved me for the dangers I had passed/and I loved her that she did pity them." (1.3.168-169). He explains to Iago, "But that I love the gentle Desdemona/I would not my unhoused free condition/put into circumscription and confine/for the sea's worth." (1.2.25-28). Othello tells Iago that sea treasures could not make Othello surrender his love for war and nothing could make him surrender his love for Desdemona. This shows that the power Othello derives from war describes the powerful quality of his love. It seems doubtful that the love Othello has for violent "feats of broil and battle" can be used to describe his love for Desdemona who is "of spirit so still and quiet that her motion/ blushed at herself," without compromising the safety of love (1.3.131, 1.3.96-97). In fact, when he returns from suppressing the Cyprus revolt, he calls out to Desdemona, "My fair warrior!" (2.1.180). Although Desdemona has fallen in love with Othello by listening to his "travailous history", stating that she is a "fair warrior" does not seem to be the next logical step in