To begin, one factor that causes Othello’s downfall is that he is characterized by gullibility. Firstly, Othello is tricked by Iago, who leads him to believe that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. After Iago tells Othello about Cassio’s dream, Othello says, “Oh, monstrous! Monstrous!" (Shakespeare. 3. 3. 427). Othello trusts and relies on Iago too much; he believes Desdemona is truly having an affair with Cassio. His gullibility makes him become very vulnerable in Iago’s revenge scheme and gradually becomes increasingly jealous. When jealousy takes over Othello, his mind and judgment are disturbed. Furthermore, when Emilia tells Othello about the death of Desdemona, Othello admits to murdering his honest wife Desdemona but says that he killed her because she is untrue to him. After Emilia tells Othello that his thought is untrue, Othello replies: “Ay, ’twas he that told me first./ An honest man he is, and hates the slime/ That
In Shakespeare’s play Othello, tragedy unfolds on the account of one man’s actions, Iago. He is a twenty eight year old military veteran from Venice. His personality consists of being obsessive, manipulative, relentless, and bold. From the beginning he expressed his hatred towards the Moor, or North African named Othello. Othello is a highly respected general and is also married to the pure Desdemona. The marriage between Othello and Desdemona is destroyed due to Iago’s actions and lies. His actions consist of getting Michael Cassio discharged as lieutenant and convincing the Moor that his wife is cheating on him. The motives Iago has for despising Othello are he passed him over for a promotion to be his lieutenant, instead he chose
People do idiotic things. No matter how hard you try and how careful you think you may be, you are bound to make mistakes sometime in your life. Whether it is as small as spelling a word wrong or to as large as causing someone or something's demise even though it may not entirely be their fault. In the Shakespearean play Othello, Iago is seen as a ruthless, power hungry man who wants to see Othello burn. Othello on the other hand appears to be a wise general who only has one weakness in particular: Desdemona. He is flat out head over heels for her which Iago uses to his advantage through the green eyed monster itself: jealousy. Jealousy is one of the main themes within the play, and plays a very important role in the tragic outcome where
The amount of torture presented in the play Othello opens up the discussions of how deep does this torture go. Was Othello the only one to be tortured throughout the play and what kind of torture is this considered when Iago doesn’t touch a single person until the end of the play. Iago’s behind the scenes and not so behind the scene multiplication moves the play along at a pace that makes it impossible not to place on the blame on him. The question is not if he is at fault by the end of the play; the question ends up being how many deaths brought on by a psychological torture caused by Iago is actually his fault.
all the characters presented in Shakespeare 's literature the most sinister one is without a doubt Iago. He is a ruthless sociopath. No other character can even come close to his evil. Most of the antagonists present in Shakespeare 's plays have valid reasons for the troubles the cause. Iago doesn 't for the most part he just has a burning hatred for the world especially Othello.
Can love--or what we imagine to be love-- sometimes inspire the most terrible of crimes? Human emotion is often messy and often without defining lines. Can instinct alone impair our reason, or can a third deadly emotion mar all? In “Othello”, Shakespeare bids us look at some ugly facets of the human psyche and how what is beautiful and good can be twisted and destroyed in the name of self-interest and damning pride.
Critics have debated the significance of Othello’s race in terms of portraying his identity for a long time. The negative connotations of “blackness” have led to the creation of many racial constructs associated with the “Moor”; this denigration has infused the opinions of many critics, such as Albert Gerard, proposing that Othello’s “negroid physiognomy” reaches down to the “deepest levels of personality” and that he is a “barbarian”. However, many other critics like Edward Berry and Martin Orkin believe that colour is merely a “surface indicator” compared to the outward virtue of beneficence, defining identity. Beneficence could be defined by the will to practice good acts, in conjunction with the aversion of practicing evil, and the prevention and removal of evil.
In William Shakespeare’s, “The Tragedy of Othello”, Iago the antagonist of the play is one of Shakespeare’s most multifaceted villains. Through deception Iago makes his fellow characters believes he is a true and honest man. All the while he is manipulating and deceiving every single one of them. Iago is not the typical villain one would now see in cinema. He has much more depth and complexity, and can be believed to be unethical; this is what gives his character such ability to control others.
What is this book? Why would you read this? Why did you bother to pick this up? Well I have no clue why you are reading this. So If you are bored continue reading. You probably would read this book because it is about a girl that has Aspergers and has a tough time after her brother died. I was forced to read this book back in fifth grade because of a book report. So we looked for a book that I could read at the time. We found Mockingbird. At the time I had no clue if it was going to be good or not. I liked the book surprisingly. if I have to read a book for a class I read it, but this book I just wanted to continue reading. I made a lot of connections at the time because I felt people at school where being absolute jerks to me
"Othello is set in a world and focuses on the passions and personalities of its major figures." (Thomas). Othello is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The work revolves around four central characters: Othello, Othello's wife Desdemona, his lieutenant Cassio and advisor Iago. The play appeared in seven editors between 1622 and 1705. The themes of the story are racism, love, jealousy, and betrayal. Othello is a black soldier who is accused of stealing his wife Desdemona. Although Desdemona's father dislikes his daughter's choice, Desdemona loves Othello very much and the two are married. Othello’s right hand man is angered at the fact that Othello picked a man named Cassio to be more important than him and he also feels that he is messing with his wife. Iago plans to manipulate Othello but his plan eventually causes more hurt to most of the characters. Iago tries to use the meeting between Cassio and Desdemona as a way to make Othello believe she was cheating on him. Iago goes on with his manipulative plan by planting a handkerchief in Cassio's room, and goes and tell Othello about what he has seen Cassio do. Othello becomes jealous throughout the story and begins to believe that Cassio is talking to his wife. Iago persuades Othello to come up with a master plan to kill Cassio and Desdemona. As Othello tries to kill Desdemona, Emilia, Iago's wife, comes in to tell Othello the truth about Iago. Unfortunately it is too late. Othello had already suffocated her. When Othello
The Tragedy of Othello the: Moor of Venice was written by William Shakespeare, and it is only one of countless notable plays he wrote. A reoccurring theme in Othello is jealousy brought on usually by deception; throughout the play people often hide their true intentions and are not always what they appear to be like W.H Auden said “There 's always another story. There 's more than meets the eye.” The relationships Iago built on manipulation, lies, and false promises were a crucial part of the play; Iago was able to deceive other characters by twisting the situation so that characters like Roderigo, Cassio, and Othello misinterpreted what they saw. However, he was not the only one to put up a front in Othello; Emilia also put up a façade when claiming to be Desdemona’s friend. Lastly, Othello masqueraded as a strong and noble general, yet he was easily manipulated and self-conscience about his relationship with Desdemona.
From the play, Othello, by William Shakespeare I had concluded that, due to Iago’s evil nature, he had set-up the fate of Othello and Desdemona and this is because he wanted revenge on Othello. Surprisingly I have found that some critics disagree with this or they contradict it with different explanations as to why they think otherwise. As Othello is such a complex play, there can be many interpretations and arguments between critics creating a cause for multiple meanings. The critics that I will be discussing about will be William Marginn (1987), Bell, Millicent (1997) and Fred West (1978) which all are at different time periods. The critics tend to have interesting observations on Iago’s motives, acknowledging insight of his character and provide a reason to explain about his actions, which had affected both Desdemona and Othello later on tragically. All of these critics had very independent views on the nature of Iago, which had broadened possibilities and ideas for my understanding towards his motives, and on why he was so against Othello.
Biography.com announces “William Shakespeare, often called the English national poet, is widely considered the greatest dramatist of all time.” Many of the characters in Shakespeare’s writings share feelings of betrayal, revenge and moral failure; however, there are some that share reconciliation and forgiveness. One of Shakespeare’s most memorable plays, Othello, introduces several cast members who share many of these personalities, some of which are apparent and others that are in secret. Desdemona and Emilia, the two principle female characters, have encountered several situations that exemplify great illustrations of how these characteristics are responsible for the twists and turns in this story’s plot. As audience members witnesses the numerous encounters of deceit and betrayal, one particular principle is made clear. It is imperative to get to know a person’s true feelings and regularly evaluate personal relationships.
In literature tragic heroes can be defined as a character that makes a flawed judgment that inevitably leads to their own demise. William Shakespeare’s Othello the Moore of Venice is a play about a heroic individual that goes through a tragic event based on his decisions throughout the play. Many of the characters that Shakespeare presents in his plays reveal attitudes and value that is reflective of both the Elizabethan society in sixteenth century England and William Shakespeare; these values are evident in the context of the Venetian society that Othello takes place in. Through Othello Shakespeare embodies his belief of a tragic hero exemplifying his own values. Through the representation of Othello Shakespeare is sharing what he believes is a tragic hero as well as how he thinks society viewed a man of a different race during the sixteenth century. Upon being inspired by Aristotle’s concept of the tragic hero and his principles Shakespeare created a tragedy play with a tragic hero. After taking a careful analysis of the play it is evident that Othello is considered as the tragic hero because of his self centered nature and simplicity. Shakespeare was a well-rounded author bearing many interesting ideas based on analyzing the society in which he lived in these ideas were delivered through his plays, through the use of spokesmen that embodied and represented his thoughts such as Othello.
Speaking of the reasons of Othello’s tragic ending, the opinions have been various. Some people believe that racial discrimination contributes to the tragedy; some deem that Othello’s character defects causes the tragedy; some think that the instability of their love leads to the tragic end……