William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice presents a man who is undone by his own insecurities, as well as strong female characters who lead to the downfall of the men. The character of Othello allows others to control how he feels and this leads to a tragedy that could have been prevented. The source of this tragedy comes from within himself. His character is completely wrapped up in his wife Desdemona’s character and interestingly enough, as soon as her character starts to decline from the words of Iago, so does Othello’s. Unable to stand on his own, Othello is more concerned with outwardly appearances than Desdemona. He puts more pressure on her, than he does himself in regards to his character and how he
The renowned play of Othello was written by William Shakespeare in the 17th century. The drama follows the life of Othello, a well-respected and admired Venetian general, and the lie he gets tangled up in. Othello is deceived by his “trustworthy” friend, Iago, who confidently convinces Othello that his honest wife, Desdemona, committed infidelity upon him with his honorable lieutenant, Cassio. At the start, Othello doesn’t quite believe Iago because he knew his wife would never do such a thing. Although, as the play progresses so does Othello’s trust in Iago. The audience is able to witness Othello’s mental deterioration and Iago’s personal motive for the deception. Towards the end of the tragic play Othello confronts his wife and mistakenly smothers her. Everything starts to fall into place, but not exactly the way Iago had in mind. Othello would be considered a tragic hero due to the fact that he had his entire life ahead of him, but it unfortunately falls apart because of his easy to manipulate personality, insecurities, and emotional vulnerabilities.
Supporting characters are often looked at as impractical and unnecessary, however they are just as important as major characters. Supporting characters help influence the way the main characters act and what they do. Minor characters not only make the main characters more meaningful, but they also help to develop and drive the plot. Ophelia, falling victim to the neglect and abuse of the other characters and depending solely on the men in her life, becomes the only character who truly becomes mad. Polonius’ concern with how others perceive him, along with his selfishness ultimately leads to him driving his children further away from him thus leaving Claudius with more power. Claudius uses manipulation, corruption and destruction of the lives of the innocent to stay in power, and in doing so; he is the epitome of all evil events that occur. In the tragedy Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the plot of the play obtains added mystery and dramatic appeal due to the complexity of the supporting characters, which propel the play to move forward.
In the play The Tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses satire as tone and irony as points of view to portray Macbeth’s unfortunately placed ambition and the manipulation that is used on him. His ambition to gain a higher status as king ends with consequences to himself and the others in his path. Shakespeare adds dramatic irony, verbal irony, and situational irony to keep the readers at the edge of their seats as well as engaged in each lie and mishap that Macbeth and his wife have to go through by will or by force. Satire is used to capture Macbeth’s confusion and doubt as well as the outcomes of his ambition.
Insanity occupies an essential place in William Shakespeare’s King Lear, and is associated with both disorder and hidden wisdom. As King Lear goes mad due to dementia, the turmoil in his mind mirrored the chaos that has descended upon his kingdom. He initiated the unnatural sequence of events when he proclaimed that he desires to relinquish his duties as a monarchy and conferring them onto his children. At the same time, Lear’s dementia provided him with important wisdom by reducing him to his bare humanity and stripped him of all royal pretensions.
throughout the play. I think Vogel writes this in to bring attention to bifurcation between women of opposing views.
Shakespeare 's The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a play that will forever be recognized as a staple piece in classic literature. The play was focused around Hamlet, a man betrayed by his Uncle. Hamlets father, who was the King of Denmark passed away and his Uncle (father 's brother) took his place. There is a notorious argument among the readers of this tragedy of whether or not Hamlet actually became insane after his fathers death or was just bluffing. Hamlet was not crazy. No one would be the same after the death of a parent, especially under his circumstances.
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, is a play written by William Shakespeare between 1601 and 1604 in England. Shakespeare is a legendary author, poet, and play writer. He has wrote many plays like Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear Othello is about a black general by the name of Othello who is desperately in love with a young woman named Desdemona. They marry and attempt to build a life together, even though Othello is way older than she is, he’s black, and did not come from a rich background like she did. Their marriage is inevitably ruined by Iago, who persuades Othello to believe that his wife, Desdemona, is unfaithful. Jealousy is the underlying problem that persists throughout the entire play. Iago, Othello’s “right hand,” Iago, had been enraged with jealousy since the beginning of the drama. By the end of the play, Othello would now fall victim to the characteristics of being envious and jealous combined. Betrayal was also illustrated.
The first tragic story created in ancient Greece. Tragedies were written as a form of catharsis or purgation of emotions. In these types of plays, the audience finds characters in which they can relate to which is a tragic hero. The tragic hero creates his own failures based upon their own actions and produces a detrimental fate for himself. The process of the protagonist’s fall is based upon the tragic structure. The structure of a tragedy consists of the exposition, exciting force, hamartia, the crisis, tragic force, moment of final suspense, the catastrophe and glimpse of restored order. Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth is in the form of the tragic structure. The Tragedy of Macbeth causes readers to debate over what the true crisis of the story is. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare builds the majority of the play with hamartia, the crisis and the events to follow the turning point.
On a superficial level, the characters in King Lear appear to be easily categorized as either good or evil. Edmund, Goneril and Regan are evil; Kent, Cordelia, and Edgar are good. This, of course, is a simplification- the intricacies of Shakespeare’s characters mirror the complexities of real people. In order to properly understand them, we must move beyond broad descriptions and instead examine the character’s true intentions and ideologies, as well as what Shakespeare intended them to symbolize.
King Lear is frequently regarded as one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, and its tragic scope touches almost all facets of the human condition: from the familial tensions between parents and children to the immoral desires of power, from the follies of pride to the false projections of glory. However, one theme rings true throughout the play, and that very theme is boundless suffering, accentuated by the gruesome depictions of suffering our protagonists experience . There is no natural (nor “poetic”) justice depicted in this pre-Judeo-Christian world Shakespeare presents, as the relatively virtuous individuals (Kent, Gloucester, and Cordelia) in this
themselves more, even in himself he has thought about suicide many times and thought about what are the repercussions of committing suicide. So his aversion from death has changed from thinking it is unholy to being afraid of what will come after dead. He realizes this when he states "ay there 's the rub; for in that sleep of death what dreams may come." (III.i.67). The realization totally shakes his total argument that is dying is freeing. For he does not know what come after life, nobody knows what come after life. This is conveyed when Hamlet says:
Shakespeare’s tragedies accentuate the qualities of human behavior and interactions with others when faced with adversity where the emotions of greed, ambition and madness are strongly expressed. Insight into the character’s psyche and moral values is explored to give understanding of the logic and reasoning behind the ways humans act. Harboring a universal and timeless quality, Shakespeare’s plays have the ability to exceed the restraints of the cultural values during the Elizabethan era, making it relatable to all audiences, especially the modern audience, leaving room for multiple perspectives and understanding of the play. Shakespeare’s play ‘King Lear’, depicts the main protagonist’s ‘gradual descent into madness’ as a result of the forces of evil acting in the play for Lear has, to an extent, have sinned though it can’t outweigh that he has been sinned against. This is confirmed through Lear’s injudiciousness to see through his two eldest daughter’s internal desires and ambitions as a result of his egotistical nature. It is the result of the severity and depth of human emotions which empower individuals to go great lengths to satisfy their own ambitions and interests as in the case of Gonerill and Regan. Lear’s blindness acts as the catalyst in the progression of the forces of evil that draws Lear into a circumstance of no return, the evidence of betrayal and mistreatment further contributes to the destruction of the natural order. Although Lear’s downfall was the
Shakespeare, born around 1564, was instrumental in the standardization of the English language. His writings were so popular and influential during the Elizabethan era that approximately 1,700 new words were adopted from his plays. Shakespeare’s reference to the gods is prominent in most of his plays. In Shakespeare’s play King Lear, many characters are dynamic and change throughout the play, however, Cordelia remains a static character. Thus, Cordelia is a tragic hero. Aristotle’s writings suggest that a true tragic hero should be virtuous, evoke pity or fear, and experience a reversal of fortune.
Lear 's endeavor gets revitalized with every generation that hears the saga, whether from myths, fairy tales, or from King Lear itself. A timeless story, King Lear remains one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies for its universal themes involving communication, morality, and family. The fall of characters in King Lear presents audiences with the frailty a community can exhibit from rulers’ pride. Stressing this message, Shakespeare mirrors the main plot surrounding Lear 's family with the sub-plot of Gloucester and his sons. Through the use of dialogue exploring motivations for character actions, King Lear amplifies the complexity of emotions in society. By sending Lear on a journey into the hardships of a primitive life to test his mental stability, Shakespeare establishes how madness can lead to clarity. Placing their affection in the wrong hands produces an onslaught of tragic events for those in this play who bare their heartstrings. Shakespeare’s King Lear dramatizes how the use of language, the authenticity of civility, and various manifestations of love affect relationships as well as psychological development.