The Merchant Of Venice By William Shakespeare

Throughout the education system, there seems to be an unofficial consensus that pieces of literature that are deemed “controversial” should not be taught in school. The Merchant of Venice falls into this category due to the Anti-Semitism which exists within the play making it “controversial” therefore, banned. On the contrary, this play should not be considered controversial and it should not be banned due to the learning experiences and knowledge that can be gained by reading this play. The contrastive style of literature will provide students and teachers alike who read this play the chance to expand their horizons when it comes to their English skills. With this in mind, The Merchant of Venice written by William

Shakespeare 's complex play Othello holds numerous pressing issues within its intricate layers that seem to leap out to modern society. One such issue seen by many is the representation of women. Women within the play can be characterized as submissive possessions and temptresses. This ideology, though commonplace in this time period, appears controversial to the modern eye as we deconstruct the characters of this play. This dominate patriarchal society present within the setting merely conditions this belief further as it is prevalent within the characters dialogue.

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.

Throughout Othello by William Shakespeare, Othello makes numerous poor decisions due to his jealousy. Hitting Desdemona, trusting Iago, and killing Desdemona are among a few of the poor decisions that he makes. The word jealous can be defined as feeling or showing suspicion of someone's unfaithfulness in a relationship. Othello feels suspicious of Desdemona’s and Cassio’s relationship because of the lies that Iago tells him. Many people try to tell Othello the truth but he only believes the words of Iago. Even Emilia, Iago’s wife, tells Othello that Desdemona and Cassio are not having an affair and their interaction is business only, however; he does not trust her. Without Othello’s jealousy he would not have made these horrible decisions.

In Tempest, Caliban and Prospero are of contradictory natures. Their characteristics are notably different as well as other characters have different opinions and attitudes to them. However, both of them have the same master and savior Prospero.

In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, Iago manipulates other characters in an iniquitous way causing commotion and destruction in all of their lives. He uses malicious tactics to negatively affect faultless characters who have done nothing to intentionally harm him. In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is a character shaped by jealousy and hunger for power. He is ruthless and immoral, and manipulates nearly all the characters in the play in order to get what he wants.

In William Shakespeare’s Othello, the newlywed couple was truly and madly in love at the time they’re married the couple were unable to consummate the marriage. Perhaps it is because there were a few moments for the pair to be alone together. However when a chance did arrive for the couple to finally have a “honeymoon”, some unfortunate event would happen and the immediate moment was lost. It is for this reason of this unconsummated marriage that Desdemona’s virginity is a key factor in the fall of their marriage. M. D. Faber states that “Then too, there is nonstrousness in the fact that Desdemona is placed in the posture of the sinful mortal when she is in reality not only innocent but the one character in the play who is from an

Both Desdemona and Daisy are repetitively referred to as objects by the male characters in the texts. From the offset Desdemona is continually objectified by the male characters. Both Rodrigo and Iago refer to her as belonging to Brabantio (her father) where she is aligned with his ‘bags’, Brabantio states that; ‘she is abused, stolen from me and corrupted’ (1.3.61). This highlights his patriarchal dominance, it seems that he is more concerned about his reputation, rather than his daughter. This would have been accurate and expected of a woman, as they were seen as the property of their fathers and husbands. Shakespeare structurally objectifies Desdemona through the symbolism of the handkerchief. The handkerchief in Othello and

Othello is a play about love, hate, jealousy, betrayal, and much more. In Othello, Othello gives a handkerchief to Desdemona, his wife, that he received from his mother as a gift. This sacred cloth was more than a gift for Desdemona; it was their forever. The handkerchief was white with red strawberries. The white portraying purity, and the red strawberries symbolizing beauty (Hasnain, Ahsh p.1). Unfortunately, Othello was so attached to this handkerchief and its “spell”, that it brought him to kill himself and his lover. This piece of cloth is extremely important to the play, and its significance varies between Othello, Desdemona, and Iago.

In tragic plays, characters frequently experience misfortune, with varying degrees of personal culpability. In Shakespeare’s play Othello, the characters experience misfortune when their love for others is exploited. Through the actions of the play’s characters, Shakespeare illustrates how allowing emotion to overcome reason permits exploitations that cause misfortune. This message is demonstrated repeatedly with multiple characters: Othello’s love for both Iago and Desdemona results in, respectively, the excessive trustfulness and irrational jealousy that are the roots of his misfortunes; Roderigo’s desire for Desdemona clouds his judgement and allows Iago to manipulate him; and Emilia’s love for Iago blinds her to his amoral nature, which contributes to the deaths of both her mistress and herself.

Tragedy is best felt when an innocent person kills himself while not knowing the truth. The best example of that would be the play Othello by the great William Shakespeare. As little as a handkerchief could make a difference if it is a symbol for something. In the play Othello by Shakespeare, handkerchief is first introduced by Othello to his beautiful mistress, Desdemona, as a sign of their love. At the end of the play what gets Othello to take extreme measures by the location of the handkerchief. As the symbol of the handkerchief transforms from a strong symbol of love to a gift then to factor of suspicious and evidence.

Racism and the public’s reliance on stereotypes to judge individuals of a different decent can be traced throughout literature. The Elizabethan’s are no exception, and as their view of the word grew so did the permeation of racism and xenophobia in their society. Theater in Elizabethan England was full of stereotypical black characters that further perpetuated society’s racist tendencies. One play that challenged these stereotypes was Williams Shakespeare’s play Othello which depicts the tragedy of Othello, a Morris Captain. What is different about Shakespeare play is that the tragic hero is the black Othello and the villain a white Iago. Therefore, Shakespeare depiction of Othello as a tragic character and Iago as a villain, challenges Elizabethan’s stereotypes regarding individuals of African descent.

Iago is a ‘Machiavellian villain’, someone who is intent on realizing his desires at all costs and seeks to achieve this in a deceptive manner. To achieve his goals, he utilizes characters around him to carry out his plans without them realizing. His main purpose in Othello is to entrap and deceive the hero.

A tragedy is a term used to describe destructive flaws in a character by leading to the downfall of the main character with tragic events and having an unhappy ending. The play, Othello, by William Shakespeare is twisted and full of revenge. Throughout the play there is a series of harmful plots and lies caused by Iago, the evil character in the play. Iago hates Othello from the very beginning of the play when Othello promotes Michael Cassio to lieutenant instead of himself. From this moment on, Iago creates a plan full of revenge, leading to Othello’s downfall. Iago uses Othello’s trustworthy nature, insecurities, and jealously to influence Othello into becoming someone who he is not. Othello becomes consumed with all of the lies Iago has been telling him and continues to believe all of it. In the end, Othello made his own decisions by himself and it was clear when he had to pay for his inaccuracy, but the influence of Iago’s manipulation cannot be denied.

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare portrays Shylock as a victim throughout the play, but as he seeks revenge towards the Christians and everyone who has done him wrong, Shylock defends himself with some villainous behaviour. To a modern audience, the discrimination and suffering Shylock experiences, place him as a victim. Throughout the play, Shylock, a Jewish money lender, is perceived as a greedy and miserly man due to his Jewish culture. In Shakespeare's time, exploitation of Jews was common; particularly in Venice as it was an anti-Semitic city. However, Jews thought of themselves as victims of harassment and oppression. Shylock has been discriminated against, but nevertheless seeks revenge on people who have done him wrong which displays another side to Shylock. Therefore, Shylock is viewed as a victim and a villain, but more of a victim because of the abuse he has suffered.