The Significance of Power in William Shakespeare's Othello, Gwen Harwood’s “In the Park”, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Othello is a loyal, honest, brave hero, and he won Desdemona’s love with his own performance and the legendary hero life; however, his low self-esteem causes his doubt for himself about his black skin, age, and manhood, his rudeness, reckless, paranoid personality seized him and

In Shakespeare’s time, women didn’t have as much freedom as they do now. Instead, it was a time that they ought to behave in a certain way in response to their family’s honour under a strict social hierarchy and rules. However, Shakespeare gave three women power in Othello. Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca, although they are from different social classes, are able to use their power to successfully resist male authority.

Power is the ability to manipulate and control whatever one desires; to do what one pleases to do without answering to authority. The power that corrupts the characters plays an extensive role throughout Shakespeare’s play, King Lear. Goneril and Regan are corrupted by the power that Lear offers them. Edmund’s corruption comes from the trust of his father. Absolute power corrupts absolutely with the characters, because once have full control, they are so cold that they will do anything to keep the power – or to gain more. The quest for power corrupts, but when absolute power is attained, treachery and deceit is the only path to take.

Shakespeare's point in Othello the Moor is that each individual has a destiny and fate is central in the lives of his characters.  Othello, a great warrior, is the lead character and the target for attack from a disgruntled soldier, Iago.  Iago plots with the aide of his wife, Emilia, to plant subtle notions of jealously in the case of Othello's expedient marriage to Desdemona.  Othello loves Desdemona and the same is true for Othello, but Iago successfully destroys the trust between the couple with a scheme in which Othello is unable to control his jealousy.  There are several other characters that Iago uses to set his plan into motion such as Roderigo, Bianca and Cassio.  Cassio is not so much a willing participant in the scheme of the play as he is a scapegoat (or object of irrational hostility; Webster's Dictionary, 652) to pin the entire plot on.  It is known that Emilia's character becomes crucial to the plot, as she is the most essential character to her husband's crusade to destroy Othello and Desdemona.

Feminist critical lens examines certain texts with a primary focus on both gender’s relationship with each other and how such relationships demonstrate effects towards beliefs, behaviors, and values. This critical lens also examines a patriarchal-centered society and how such society define and interact with women with an emphasis on stereotypes of both genders that are present and evident in the text being analyzed. William Shakespeare’s Othello can be scrutinized through the feminist critical lens. A deep analysis focused on feminism of the play Othello paves way for the judgement of different societal status of women in the period when the play took place, the Elizabethan society. Othello is a best fit that demonstrates how men were

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.

   In Othello, Shakespeare explores the relationship between words and events. Spoken thought, in the play, has all the power of action; speaking about an event will make that event become reality for those who hear - it will affect reality as if that event had taken place. Shakespeare demonstrates the power of words poignantly through Othello's monologues. Othello struggles with the reality that Iago creates for him. When Othello speaks, he reveals that he is unable to stop himself from carrying out acts that Iago's and his own words have prophesied and initiated. Othello's monologues further demonstrate that even the knowledge of the power of words cannot protect the characters from the

Powerful words are used in the world of “Othello” and can create order or chaos. Othello uses language when he tells his stories of war to Desdemona and as a result wins her heart. A positive example of the power of language is how Othello and Desdemona fall in love (Krieger, 2012). “She wished she had not heard it, yet she wished that heaven had made her such a man” (I, iii, 160-161). Iago uses the negative power of language as corruption to

To some people, power is authority, and to some, it is capability. To all, it is a metaphorical concept that is individually assigned by one's own view of a situation. George R.R. Martin targeted this concept precisely in A Clash of Kings when he wrote, “Power resides where men believe it resides. No more and no less.” This quote ties in nicely to Othello by William Shakespeare. Power seems to be a relevant theme in this story, although the question of who help the power is also very prominent. The insightful quote from Martin helps us determine this. To defend this quote with evidence from Othello, one must first understand how to obtain ‘power’, then understand why the characters thought Othello was the one in power, furthermore, one may

Shakespeare’s Othello is a play consistently based on jealously and the way it can destroy lives. One is quick to think this jealously is based on Othello’s lack of belief in Desdemona’s faithfulness to him or his suspensions over Desdemona’s affair with Cassio, Othello’s honorable lieutenant. Upon closer inspection of the jealously that exists throughout the play it becomes clear that his jealously is not the sole start and reason for all of the destruction that occurs. Iago, a good friend of Othello, is not who he appears to be. Iago’s own jealously of those around him pushes him over the edge. He begins to deceive all those who believe he is a true, honorable, and faithful man. Throughout Othello, Iago incites his own jealously in

Othello’s trust for Iago enables Iago to completely discredit Othello as the good guy of the play when Iago manipulates him into thinking Desdemona was unfaithful to him with Cassio. Even though Othello must know in his heart that Desdemona would not betray him, he is so caught up by Iago's efforts and has fallen for his manipulative lies, that all rational thoughts abandons Othello and he ultimately ends up murdering his wife since to Othello betrayal was immoral. At the end of play, even Othello can hardly believe what he has done because he thinks of himself as, "One not easily jealous, but, being wrought, perplexed in the extreme..." meaning that he has acted out of character and only in the interests of honor. Iago’s betrayal to those such as Othello and Desdemona, ultimately successfully destroyed everyone, himself included.

In William Shakespeare’s classic Othello, it has remained relevant for the years since it was written. Not only because of the universal themes seen throughout, but due to its enduring value which has been seen in the exploration of issues that we as a society still face today. Othello as a character is portrayed as an outsider compared to the Venetian upper class society due to his different ethnicity, this classically reflects the views from Shakespeare’s time and still today reflects from issues seen recently. The recurring instances of social injustice and racial bias both in the text and in society today show that we as society still have not grown and continue to be bias to people due to things they cannot change. The nature of villainy shown through the antagonist, Iago, as he explores the need of power and how power or the want of

Throughout all of human existence, the desire for power has overruled everything. We are constantly trying to be better than the ones around us, and are jealous of those who are on top. In many situations, it seems that no matter how hard we try, we can never get to that point of control that we so badly strive for. In Shakespeare’s tragically deceptive play, “Othello”, the symbolism and conflict throughout the play continually demonstrates Iago’s struggle to gain power. Through Iago’s miserable fail to obtain the power he so badly aspires, Shakespeare proves that the human race can never be happy with what they have, and that they are always trying to be better than everyone

“Power is the ability to manipulate and control whatever one desires, to do what one pleases to do, without answering to authority.” Political authority and power play an extensive role in both Stephen Frears Film, The Queen and Shakespeare’s play, King Lear. Frears explores the theme of power through, Queen Elizabeth II, a hardline traditionalist who is blinded by old world protocols and traditions all but failing to see the transfer in balance of power. Similarly, Shakespeare explores the theme through the protagonist Lear, a king fascinated with grand showings of his sovereignty by staging and arranging situations that praise his ego. The very nature of power is in fact hazardous and has the ability to devour those who wield it,

A key figure, if not the most important in the play, is that of the malcontent Iago, who sows the seeds of jealousy in Othello’s mind, and presents him with ‘proof’ to back up his suspicions. Iago acts as a catalyst to Desdemona’s murder and it is his intricate