Vanessa Miller
Ms. Milliner
EES21QH-05
January, 2017
Mindset and Grit in Othello
Mindset is the ability to either motivate yourself,or hold yourself back. Mindset can be broken down into two categories: fixed and growth. People with a fixed mindset believe the only intelligence they have is what they are born with. They don’t believe that you can keep learning more and more to become more intelligent. People with fixed mindsets are constantly trying to prove their worth, which is why they tend to take it hard if they fail. They put themselves down because they feel that they aren’t good enough. People with growth mindsets, however, are the complete opposite. They don’t get discouraged when they fail, they simply see it as a way of
…show more content…
Iago also has a fixed mindset. His whole plan to destroy Othello started because Othello appointed Cassio lieutenant instead of him. He believes he is too good and too experienced to simply be Othello’s ensign, he believes he deserves to be lieutenant. In Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, author Carol Dweck says, “If you only have a certain amount of intelligence, a certain personality, and a certain moral character - well, then you’d better prove that you have a healthy dose of them.” Iago is basically trying to “prove” himself throughout the whole play. People with a fixed mindset feel that they’re stuck on whatever level of intelligence they’re born on. In Iago’s mind, he’s stuck on the level of being a lieutenant, and spends the entire play trying to prove that he deserves to be lieutenant over Cassio. He doesn’t accept the fact that he didn’t get the position and instead of trying harder to get a better position, he tries to destroy his competition.
The way Othello is spoken highly of in regards to his achievements on the battlefield, his ableness to lead men and stay calm even in the middle of bombs being blown up, it would appear that he has grit. But throughout the play itself, he hasn’t shown much grit. He married Brabantio’s daughter, Desdemona, behind Brabantio’s back, and showed some grit when Brabantio accused him of using witchcraft to steal his daughter away. But despite that, he
During the reading of The Mindsets, the author, Carol Dweck, described two different mindsets people have. The first mindset discussed is called “fixed mindset”. A fixed mindset means that people who have this mindset are set in their ways. They believe that the intelligence they have cannot change. This type of mindset makes believing in effort difficult; therefore, they are discouraged when they fail.
means to be determined and to stick to a task until you master it. In the article Mindset: The New
Chapter 1: The Mindset In chapter 1 of "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success" by Carol Dweck presents the idea of mindset and how it affects behavior, accomplishment, and resilience in the first chapter. Dweck compares and contrasts two basic mindsets: the growth mentality, which holds that abilities may be improved via hard work and persistence, and the fixed mindset, which holds that abilities are inherent and unchanging. She describes how different mentalities influence how people react to obstacles, failures, and opportunities for personal development. Dweck outlines the traits of each mindset, showing how those with a fixed mindset tend to shy away from problems, give up easily when faced with difficulties, and believe that effort is
In addition, Iago’s confidence has strengthen throughout the play. He convinces Roderigo to take part of his malicious plans. One of which are to talk behind Othello’s back about his secret marriage to Desdemona with her father, Brabantio. Iago is sure that he could break Othello’s marriage by passing the news to Brabantio. Iago’s desire to lead is growing throughout the play. He believes highly of himself, thinking that he is one of those followers who wear themselves out in their master’s service and do not look after themselves, he states, “Do well thrive by them. And when they have lined their coats, Do themselves homage. These fellows have some soul; and such a one do I profess myself” (I.i.53-55). This quotation shows that Iago is confident enough to think that he deserves the promotion more than Cassio, believing he is a better person. Iago’s self-confidence has engaged innocent victims to accompany him in his plan. Furthermore, Iago has successfully accomplished inspiring both Roderigo and Othello with a shared
Dweck’s book gives great insight to the two different forms of mindsets occupied by people. The first mindset he explained was the fixed-mindset. People who think with a fixed mindset believe that they are born with or without abilities and no amount of practice will improve their abilities. This belief causes them to maintain status and repeat the same task levels repeatedly in order to prevent from failing. People with fixed-mindsets see a small failure as a label of who they are. On the opposite end of the spectrum, people with growth mindsets believe that with hard work and dedication any ability may be improved. These people also take small failures as an area in which they can improve rather than a negative label of themselves. This mindset
According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, all humans have different levels of needs that we need to fulfill in order to survive. Self -actualization, self esteem, love, safety, physiological all things that people need for survival and throughout Othello many characters had these needs met. Desdemona became self - actualized and finally realized her full potential when she stood up for herself and expressed her love for Othello in Act 1 she said to her father “ I do perceive here a divided duty.. ..I may profess Due to the Moor my lord.” ( 1.iii.182-185). Roderigo found safety through Iago's’ constant reassurance “ It is as sure as you Roderigo” (1.i.58). Brabantio has a high self esteem, never doubting one word he said, never needing
I’m going to tell you how student learn these mindsets. In the 90s parents thought the most important thing that you child should have was self-esteem. But were they messed up is that you cant just hand your kids self-esteem. They took a poll among parents and found that 85% of parents thought that it was necessary to “praise” their children’s abilities to boost confidence. Now were going to talk about growth mindset. These students believe that intelligence is something that can be gained through education and effort. I wish in high school that I would of taken it more serious because now I could have had a growth mindset witch would of helped me out a lot in college. Those students have growth mindsets. They believe that you can gain intelligence through learning. Those with a growth mindset had a very straightforward idea of effort. The idea that the harder you work the greater the outcome is and I think that’s true. When these students had a set back in school they simply just study more or differently next time. That was my biggest set back in high school. Many bright students find grade school fairly easy and get right through it. But later on in life like in college they struggle. They don’t want to put the time into something and feel dumb when they get a bad grade on it. That’s bad because you should never feel dumb about something that you tried your hardest to complete. I hope that this information was helpful
There are people who have what they always wanted, and then there are people who never truly do. People who never have what they want seem to continue to want more than what they have already. Iago happens to represent these people. Through the play he held this unending jealousy for more that seems to grow. It started with a position he had wanted that Othello gave to Cassio instead. This was the match that lit the fire in Iago. As the fire rose his jealousy became more persistent that it caused him to place his thoughts into actions. He became a snake that knew how to slip his
This statement undermines his self-esteem. Because of his self-indulgence, we are inclined to believe his superiority as a warrior. Iago points out to Roderigo that Cassio, the newly appointed lieutenant, is not a true soldier. Iago says Cassio knows more “division of a battle “ (1.1.23) than this “bookish theoric” (1.1.24). Furthermore, there is nothing Iago can do about the situation: “there’s no remedy” (1.1.35). He realizes that “preferment goes by letter and affection” (1.1.36) and not by “old graduation” (1.1.37). So Iago will continue “serve” Othello, so that eventually he can “serve [his] turn upon him (Othello)” (1.1.42). As the reader, we get a clear-cut picture of where Iago was coming from, and we were forced to sympathize Iago’s position. In order to disguise his deep dissapointment and conceal his plans for revenge (which was his choice of action), Iago begins early in the play to reinforce his image as being an honest and loyal soldier. In Act I, Scene 2 for example, in a bit of playful boasting, Iago says that “in the trade of war I have slain men, / Yet do I hold it very stuff o’ the’ conscience / to do contriv’d murder I lack inequity…” (1.2.1-3). This was an outright lie, but he had come on stage with Othello and he said this for his general’s (Othello’s) benefit, posing as the rough and ready , but good hearted soldier. Iago also hides
“Mindsets are an important part of your personality, but you can change them.”(Dweck 46) Carol Dweck author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success says this because mindsets aren’t permanent and you are able to change your mindset about anything. How you approach things in life and what mindset you use toward it can affect the outcome of what occurs. How you take the results of how you did can affect the future of how you go about doing things. One of the reoccurring themes of the growth mindset is trying a new approach at a goal or a situation that you don’t know how to go about.
In Othello every character has their own personalities that makes them the person they are. In Othello there are characters that show true grit, a fixed mindset, and a growth mindset. Each characters are different which makes the book even more interesting. True grit means to endure and push through to do something better no matter what it takes. An example of grit is studying for a long period of time for a test and enduring the amount of work that must be completed. The definition of mindset is the established set of attitude held by someone. There are two other types of mindset as well. There is growth mindset and fixed mindset. Growth mindset is when the person isn 't
Iago’s revenge plan started because he wanted a higher position in the army. The position that Iago wanted was the one that Cassio had. So he knew the only way to get this was through the “easy prey” (spark notes) Othello. Iago saw Othello as an easy target because of his insecurities of marrying Desdemona and his trusting nature. Othello was insecure because he was a man
In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Othello, Iago demonstrates a mastery of manipulation over people who had previously trusted and confided in him. His sudden turn from Othello’s loyal ensign to rage-filled villain seems indicative of a man who can no longer accept his position in life. Iago’s plotting of Othello’s demise starts as idle talk of a disgruntled 28 year-old career military man passed over for promotion. Iago believes that such a promotion may never come after Othello rejects his candidacy and makes it clear that he did not believe him suitable. He sees Othello is only concerned with personal and political gain with his choice of Cassio as lieutenant. When Iago teams with love-scorned and desperate Roderigo, he begins
An obvious thing to note from Shakespeare’s Othello is that main character Iago has a well developed sense of strategy. In Majorie Garber’s “Who is Iago?”, Garber developes her claims on why Iago is so successful in achieving his maniacal goals. I am in accordance with Garber’s words as reaches the goals he sets for himself by utilizing the strategy of getting into people’s heads as mentioned in both the essay and play. In the essay, Garber writes that “Iago is successful precisely because he has no second dimension, no doubt, no compassion...he is all action” and he refuses to let anyone hold him back (Garber). These behaviours of Iago pair perfectly with his strategy as it allows him to feel no guilt for anything he does which makes it easier
Now some of you may know Othello as just a man who was held high within Venice’s military, but I Michael Cassio knew Othello as not only a leader, a general and a beloved captain. Othello was my leader, my friend and my mentor. From him, I learnt so much. I learnt to never let myself get down about my mistakes, like the time he and I were commissioned to go defend Cyprus from the invading Turkish army. While on the way back to Cyprus, our two ships were to venture together but I got lost in the dense fog.