Theme Of Cruelty In Othello

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

The ability of passion to bring destruction upon the lives of the unsuspecting is illustrated in Shakespeare’s Othello with the use of both manipulation and deceit. The curse of fierce passion fell namely on Othello as he transitioned from a respected general to an unstable murderer. His downfall is demonstrated through his increasing self-doubt, lack of ability to articulate, and violence. In the start of the play, he is an accomplished general and happy newlywed, and has yet to be significantly held back due to his being a Moor and outsider in Venetian society. As passion overtakes him, however, Othello truly ingrains the idea that he is less than, and those around him begin to blame his actions on the nature of his ethnicity. He has completely lost his identity to his desires and is unable to think rationally. Shakespeare juxtaposes this version of Othello with his initial composed self in Venice to demonstrate the damage of ignorance to logic and heighten the sense of tragedy. The effects of an overwhelming passion involving love, jealousy, and revenge are shown through Othello’s degradation and loss of stability.

Othello has been described as one of William Shakespeare’s most popular plays because the play focuses on its themes of good and evil, military, politics, love and marriage, religion, racial prejudice, gender conflict, and sexuality; but the controversy and debate surrounding Othello is “Why is Othello a qualification for a tragedy?”

Othello is an easy target in this drama, because Iago already knows that he is a very insecure person. With that stated, it will be easy for Iago to use Othello’s jealousy to trick him into thinking that Desdemona is an unfaithful wife. Iago will manipulate the way Othello sees things in order to convince him that what he sees is innocent acts between Desdemona and Casillo. Iago’s starts to plant the idea in Othello’s head of an affair after Othello sees Casillo rush leaving Desdemona in a manner that looked as though he is guilty (1223). Alone with Othello, Iago begins to make Othello feel threatened by Casillo and Desdemona’s apparent relationship by bringing up the fact that Casillo served as Desdemona’s and Othello’s go-between during the time of their courtship. The conversation ends with Iago asking Othello to watch carefully of Desdemona and Casillo, and Iago exits giving Othello time to question the accusation of Iago (1225-1228).

In William Shakespeare’s Othello, Othello is the tragic hero. He is a character of high stature who is destroyed by his surroundings, his own actions, and his fate. His destruction is essentially precipitated by his own actions, as well as by the actions of the characters surrounding him. The tragedy of Othello is not a fault of a single villain, but is rather a consequence of a wide range of feelings, judgments and misjudgments, and attempts for personal justification exhibited by the characters. Othello is first shown as a hero of war and a man of great pride and courage. As the play continues, his character begins to deteriorate and become less noble. Chronologically through the play, Othello’s character

To begin with, Othello is a graceful man with a valiant personality which draws people near. Although he is known

It accentuates that the nobility of Othello, and the favour and love towards his wife, Desdemona. Othello has many positive character traits as he wants to make his own way in the world. He had idealist beliefs and his beliefs stem from believing the truth, and his belief is noble. Both his social status and character traits demonstrate his nobility and presents him as a sympathetic character.

He gloats about the easy in which he can manipulate Roderigo (the fool) into giving him money. Directly after this, you hear of Iago’s feelings towards Othello (the Moor). You learn of Iago’s suspicion about his wife having an affair with Othello. This gains pity from the audience, because you feel that Iago is a man deeply distraught over the idea of his wife cheating on him. Iago then begins to contemplate how he would seek vengeance on Othello and gain his title. Iago plans to use Othello’s trust and opinion of him to his advantage. He speaks about how he will use Cassio as his pawn to lure Othello into believing his wife, Desdemona is being unloyal to him. Iago discloses that Othello’s character is naive and will be easy to manipulate. As his closing statement he states that, with a little help from the devil, his monstrous plan will be a success.

Othello plays right into the hand of Iago, which causes him to lose his friendship and trust in Cassio. “OTHELLO: What dost thou say? IAGO: Nothing, my lord; or if --- I know not what. OTHELLO: Was not that Cassio parted from my wife? IAGO: Cassio, my lord? No, sure, I cannot think it That he would steal away so guiltylike, seeing your coming. OTHELLO: I do believe ‘twas he.” (119). Iago purposely makes Othello see the communication between Cassio and Desdemona, which causes Othello to question himself yet again. This is the true beginning of Othello’s madness and downfall. Ultimately, Othello becomes so untrustworthy of his wife that he decides to murder her; much to the delight of Iago. “OTHELLO: get me some poison, Iago, this night. I’ll not expostulate with her lest body and beauty unprovide my mind again. This night, Iago. IAGO: Do it not with poison. Strangle her in her bed, even the bed she hath contaminated. OTHELLO: Good, good. The justice of it pleases. Very good.”(185). Othello’s mind had been so influenced by Iago that he gave up the one person who would love him forever, even though she told him that she did not cheat on him. When he finally realized what he had done, he stabs himself, which is the ultimate signal of a manipulated

In fact, he needs to convince Othello a general that has led many troops to battle that his wife Desdemona is having an affair with a man named Cassio, the man who received his position as Lieutenant (Bevington, D., 2014). Additionally, Iago has suspicions that his wife may have been seduced by Cassio and Othello; however, there is not enough sufficient evidence that this act took place. In Act I Scene III, Iago shares with the audience his ill will against Othello, and they soon discover he has reasoned it out with the loss of his occupation and the belief that Othello has enticed his wife, Emilia. “He proposes, as revenge of wife for wife, to put Othello into such a jealousy as judgment cannot cure” (Jorgensen, P. A., 1985, p. 59).

Overall, Otello illustrates more plainly the destructive qualities of various emotions while Othello tells a story of jealousy and betrayal while addressing issues of racism and sexism. This film enhanced my understanding of the emotions felt by the characters and the impact of these emotions both mentally and physically on both the individual and those around them. However, the film lacks the political commentary and overall meaning that Othello holds. In the end, the film and book are best in conjunction to bring out the strengths in

In the play, Othello is a larger than life character. He is a well-respected general in the army and had earned himself a high place in society. He was known throughout Venice. He is also noble and virtuous. He seems like the perfect character, but he is not.

Shakespeare’s Othello peels back the layers of society’s underlying feelings regarding people who lie outside of the perceived standard norm. It digs into the heart of society and reveals the damage that is placed upon individuals who are considered outsiders, even if they manage to achieve success. In this particular play, the audience is able to see how the subtleties of racial bias slowly destroy a person’s psyche. Throughout the play, the audience examines Othello cast in both negative and positive positions. Othello is both a great general of the Venetian army as well as, just “the moor” who used “magic” to trick his wife, Desdemona, into a marriage. Through harmful racial language Othello is constantly reminded of his outsider status. The destruction of his character through blatant and subtle criticisms cause Othello to doubt his self-worth and ultimately leads to his self-destruction.

The play “Othello”, by William Shakespeare and film adaption by Oliver parker explores the idea of how an individual’s sense of identity affects their actions and how this can be manipulated to create conflict. Shakespeare uses techniques such as soliloquies, dramatic irony, imagery, foreshadowing, and symbolism to show us how tragedy occurs from counteracting to patriarchal rules and stereotypes.

In the life of every tragic hero, with a promising future, there is a damaging flaw that takes over and possesses their life. This is a flaw that is possessed, by all heroes. From the place of honor, the hero will fall and the character of Othello is no exception. He is a genuine character that is determined to prove his worth as husband and a soldier, by speaking of his exploits. He is easily misled by others and therefore his honor is affected by that awful demon, jealously, which will be his downfall.’ When there is conflicting emotions, suspicious natures and feelings of betrayal, this will lead to revenge; the hero is full of promise and falls victim to his own mistakes and downfalls. This will inevitably be his destruction (enotes.com).