The Downfall of Othello

He tells Iago that he wants proof of Desdemona’s affair with Cassio. In this scene, Iago tells Othello to beware of jealousy and spreads even more lies. Othello begins to let his jealousy take over and soon becomes immersed in it. Othello’s words also give way that if he finds out Iago has lied he won’t be forgiving. When Iago mentions the handkerchief, Othello’s suspicion gets the best of him so he confronts Desdemona about its whereabouts. Othello’s sense of distrust and anger toward Desdemona become clear as he grows into the green-eyed

However strong Othello's and Desdemona's marriage seems, it begins to deteriorate as a result of Othello's self-pride. At first, Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful. Iago suggests to Othello that Desdemona slept with Cassio. Iago uses a handkerchief given by Othello to Desdemona that he got Emilia to get for him as his proof against

Shakespeare's play, “Othello, the Moor of Venice,” is a powerful example of a tragedy and it’s main character, Othello, is an excellent illustration of what Aristotle constitutes as a tragic hero. The play imitates life through basic human emotions such as jealousy and rage. In addition, Othello is far from being a perfect character - another quality that meets Aristotle's requirements. Othello also matches Aristotle's ideas of tragic hero because our Othello realizes the error of his ways, causing us to feel sympathy for him. If we carefully examine the third scene in the third act, we can see how Othello fits into Aristotle's definition of tragic hero. This passage reveals how much Othello has deteriorated as far as his ability to reason

Othello, a play that was written in 1604 by William Shakespeare, is an example of a type of story called a “tragedy.” Throughout the course of the work, Othello proves himself to be very easily misled, despite his heroic status. This causes him to lose his ability to make good judgments and decisions. Even though Othello had a reputation as a hero, he ends up being one of the most gullible characters in the play when he completely falls into the evil trap that Iago set for him. As the story unfolds Othello’s character evolves in an extremely tragic way as Iago manipulates him and leaves him to rot in his misery. Eventually, this leads to Othello’s suicide.

determine as to which one will win, so that is why one cannot exist without the other. However, there are some whose emotions are unbalanced, which causes them to near towards one side more than the other one ­­ and many times the side a lot of people prefer to lean on is evil. Shakespeare’s play O​thello​is set in 16th­century Venice and Cyprus. Othello, a noble black general from the Venetian army has secretly married Desdemona, daughter of Venice senator Brabantio. Othello chooses inexperienced Cassio to be his lieutenant, while he decides to give the ensign position to Iago, a malicious but very experienced man who, with his stealth and knavery, will ultimately ruin almost everyone’s life since for a long time, he was desiring the position of lieutenant just like Cassio. At the end of the play, Othello, Desdemona, Iago’s wife Emilia, and his sidekick Roderigo die due to his revenge against Cassio, for obtaining the position he wanted and Othello, for being the man who he hates the most. The play ends with Iago being told that he will be punished and tortured for his actions. However, despite the fact that Iago is punished at the end of the play for doing all of the malicious things he did, he still manages to wear down Othello’s relationship with Desdemona, get Cassio demoted from his lieutenancy, and cause Othello to show his cowardness by

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?”

In William Shakespeare’s play Othello, the Iago is the most important character. It is his dreams, hopes and desires that turn him evil, bringing out the worst possible characteristics in order to achieve all the things he wants. Iago’s manipulative traits, deceitful actions and love for Othello eventually cause the death Emilia, Desdemona and Othello himself.

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.

Throughout my study of “Othello”, I have learnt of the many aspects of Othello’s character. He is noble and strong, yet he has many insecurities and is recognised for trusting others too easily. This causes him to obtain the famous title of ‘tragic hero’. According to Greek philosopher Aristotle there are certain characteristics of a tragic hero. These include a noble birth, a tragic flaw that eventually leads to his downfall, a reversal of fortune brought about by the hero’s tragic flaw, his actions results in an increase of self-awareness and the audience must feel pity or fear for the character.

He tells Iago “Oh, that men should put an enemy in their mouths to steal away their brains! That we should, with joy, pleasance revel and applause, transform ourselves into beasts!” (2.3.232). Iago then suggests that Cassio asks Desdemona to sway Othello to give him his job back. He agrees and decides to visit her the next morning. In act 3 of Othello, Cassio brings musicians to play for and woo Othello. They are not of much help. He then asks Emilia, who is Iago’s wife, for alone time with Desdemona. They talk and come to an agreement. A little while afterwards, Cassio gives Bianca a handkerchief, so she can copy its embroidery. It just so happened to belong to Desdemona. This is exactly what Iago wanted to happen because he placed the handkerchief in Cassio’s

The second event to this process of tragedy is when Iago uses the handkerchief that he had his wife take to create “proof” that Desdemona was cheating on Othello with Cassio. Already ridden with jealousy, Othello demands Iago that he must have “ocular proof” to Desdemona's “deception.” In line with his devilish plan, Iago tells Othello that, “but such a handkerchief—I am sure it was your wife's—did I today see Cassio wipe his beard with” (Shakespeare 1330), knowing full well that the handkerchief was a precious symbol of love between the moor and Desdemona, although he pretended to be oblivious. His plan once again works its “poison” upon Othello as the moor says, “now do I see

In Shakespeare?s play Othello, Othello himself is the tragic hero. He is an individual 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 person, but is rather the consequence of a wide range of feelings, judgments, misjudgments, and attempts for personal justification revealed by the characters.

As in almost all tragedies, especially those of William Shakespeare, the tragic hero always runs into misfortune. The play Othello is no exception. In this play, every character acquainted with the tragic hero appears to be unfortunate. While these misfortunes are oddly related to Othello, are they his fault or did each character attract them out of their own actions? To answer this daunting question, one must consider the three most unfortunate characters: Othello, Desdamona and Roderigo and analyse their downfall which eventually lead to their deaths. It is known from reading the play that Iago is the one who manipulates all three of them. Examinations of their connection with him before their deaths are necessary to answer this

By using these guidelines, Shakespeare created one of his greatest Aristotelian tragedies. This is because he applied the Poetics’ guidelines to complex plot, the tragic hero, and the establishment of pity, fear, and catharsis of the audience’s emotions. The complex plot follows Othello and his transformation from nobleman to monster through the exploitation of his tragic flaw. As the plot moves from exposition, complication, challenge, conflict, climax, and finally to dénouement, Othello goes through a recognition scene which leads to a reversal in his fortune and his scene of suffering.

He gets Cassio to talk to Othello’s wife, Desdemona, to ask for his position back and he begins to point out small things like them whispering. When Cassio exits the scene when Othello approaches, Iago does not hesitate to make his move and mentions it. Asking of Iago’s suspicions, Iago says, “Good my lord, pardon me, Though I am bound to every act of duty I am not bound to that all slaves are free to Utter my thoughts” (138-140). This places Othello in the position of being alarmed because what could be so horrible that this “honest” man would want to keep secret from him. Eventually, Iago comes out with his fake suspicions and Othello somewhat believes it but wants some kind of evidence. Fortunately, Iago’s wife, Emilia gets a hold of Desdemona’s handkerchief and gives it to him. He puts more of his plan into action saying, “in Cassio’s lodging [I] lose this napkin. And let him find it. Trifles light as air Are to the jealous confirmations strong As proofs of holy writ. (331-334). This is enough to convince Othello of Desdemona’s affair with Cassio, enraging him to want to murder the two. Othello decides he will kill his wife, and asks Iago to do the same to