In Shakespeare’s Othello, betrayal serves as a major theme. While the antagonist, Iago, presents the most prominent betrayals, there are many other overshadowed acts of betrayal. An act of betrayal that shaped the play was when Othello began to lose trust in Desdemona. Although it leads back to Iago deceiving Othello, Iago only prompted him. He was careful in making sure that Othello conjured up an accusation of Desdemona’s “affair” on his own and Othello did just that. Instead of trusting his wife he chose to believe “honest” Iago. While Iago did have a major role in this conflict, it was essentially Othello that actively betrayed Desdemona.
Shakespeare often has common themes throughout all of his poems which include love, death, and betrayal. When talking about Othello, all of these major themes are presented. Although, the major theme is jealousy. Throughout the play, jealousy is shown in each character in some way and drives the decisions that they make. The beginning starts with Rodrigo being covetous of Othello for being with Desdemona, and at the end where Othello is envious because he believes Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. Iago is an important character throughout all of this because he makes up lies and misleads characters into believing things that are untrue. From the beginning, he is envious of Cassio and has hatred towards Othello because Othello
Starting off, Othello allows Iago to tamper with his mind and does nothing to stop it. Othello puts all of his trust in him, but Iago is just hiding behind a mask and only wishes to torment Othello. Othello is not aware of his surroundings and the people there, making him vulnerable. If he paid more attention to Desdemona and not Iago than he would not have thought to kill his loyal wife. Othello jumps to conclusions too quickly
Even if Othello was not as trusting or corrupt, he still would not realize Iago was lying. Othello commits his first act of violence against Desdemona by hitting her. This shows now Othello's tragic flaw. He made himself susceptible to Iago and the jealousy within him begins to lead to the end of others. By his actions, Othello has isolated himself from everyone except Iago. This gives Iago the perfect opportunity to complete his course of action. Finally, Othello's breakdown
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
In the play Othello, Shakespeare creates a tragic plot with the use of betrayal through the actions of the most villainous character of the play, Iago. Iago’s betrayal of his commander, his friend and his own wife sprang from his jealousy of being overlooked for a promotion. Betrayal is the overall catalyst to the buildup of the tragic ending to this play, where the majority of characters die due to Iago’s intricate plan of betrayal to all who were close to him.
In the play, The Tragedy of Othello, judging from the relationship between Desdemona and Othello, seems to say that marriage based on an innocent romantic love is bound to fail. There is a common thread of betrayal and deceit among many characters. Othello and Desdemona being the most vividly portrayed. The two appear to love one another romantically at first, but it soon after transforms into a secular love. This comes to pass because there is no foundation for a relationship. There is no trust, no communication, and no understanding.
Throughout the play jealousy is shown within almost every character, ago mostly causes everyone in the play to be jealous of someone by doing what he does best, manipulating everyone and getting them to do his dirty work. Jealousy plays a big role within the play, and influences almost every decision made by each character at some point in the play. Sadly, the decisions made due to the characters being jealous are mostly bad, the play mainly shows how jealousy affects Iago, Othello, and Roderigo. Iago at some point gets each character to believe everything he has to say and talks them into doing anything he wishes them to do all for the sole purpose of revenge and jealousy
In the play Othello, jealousy is shown to be very evident through the actions of the characters. Jealousy is an emotion that everyone shares, and it is ultimately responsible for the tragic ending of the play. Everyone feels jealous at certain times of their lives, and this feeling can cause people to do irrational things. This human emotion also shows people to be weak in the sense that they are never happy with what they have. Shakespeare shows through Othello, Iago, Roderigo, and Brabantio that jealousy is the most corrupt and destructive emotion.
Shakespeare explores themes that are still as relevant today as they were during the Elizabethan era. As humanity's flaws haven’t changed, there are still attitudes that conform to racist stereotypes and the greed for power and control .These concepts that are portrayed throughout Othello are of a timeless nature.
Betraying and lying have become the root of all evil today. People have made it an everyday thing to lie and betray people just because they like to see people broken in misery. People also lie and betray people because of jealousy they may have towards them. The tragedy of Othello explains why some people are not trustworthy. Just because some people feel like they are miserable, they try everything in their power to make the other individual miserable as well. Enemies come in different colors, shapes, and forms, making it difficult for you to pick out who the ones that is worth trusting. The author uses Characterization, conflict, and themes to tell about the deceitful ways a person has, and all the harm it causes to people to
In Othello, by Shakespeare, Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and Frankenstein, by Marry Shelly some characters feel as if they have been betrayed or have betrayed someone they loved. Betrayal is a destructive force, whether motivated by love or hatred. These characters are Iago, Othello, the monster from Frankenstein and Amir. Iago is motivated by his deep hatred for Othello and feels he has been betrayed for the lieutenancy. Othello loved his wife so dearly when he couldn't have her no one could so he must take revenge for this infidelity.
Nevertheless, Iago’s manipulation influences Othello and Desdemona’s relationship, and it affects the other characters in the play. One of Iago’s motive
Othello is one of Shakespeare’s tragic plays about a Moor who married a young, white woman who he was madly in love with. After being passed up for a promotion, Othello’s ensign, Iago, swears to destroy Othello, and he successfully does so. The only way to describe Iago is evil. He is manipulative, deceitful, and unrepentant which helps the audience understand his true intentions throughout the play. He gets so caught up in his revenge that he loses all capacity for compassion.
In Othello by William Shakespeare, the villainous Iago devises a plot with the hopes that Othello and his wife, Desdemona, will be separated so that he can take Othello’s position as head of the Venetian Military. Iago’s scheme consists of him convincing Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him with his lieutenant, Cassio. Iago has told no one else about his ploy so while everyone else’s actions remain true, he manipulates their every move for his benefit. While their actions may not lead to results that they expected, exploring the reasoning behind everyone’s actions, can give insight to their values since the actions were based on what they believed was the best thing to do. To the characters of Othello, honor is more important than
Themes of Deception in William Shakespeare's Othello Deception is one of the main themes running through Othello, along with love, pride and society. Indeed, it is deception that provides the fuel for the plot and deception that is leads to the classic downfall of the 'hero' as is common in Shakespeare tragedies. We see Macbeth and Hamlet both succumb to downfall. perhaps the most obvious deception is Iago's deception. The principal method that Iago uses to convince Othello of Desdemona´s infidelity is by using one of Othello´s most treasured possessions and telling Othello that his wife, Desdemona, has given it away to her lover, Cassio.