The tragic play Othello was written by William Shakespeare in 1603. The play is about a moor named Othello who lived in Venice. He was judged by many people because of his race. The main themes of this play are trust, jealousy and appearances. The play was written in a religious way, showing the powers of devils and angels. Iago is the “devil” and Desdemona is the “angel”. It has a weird feel to it and many strange ideas. Othello is a very interesting play that makes it different from other plays.
The play is set in Venice, Italy. The play starts in a conversation between Roderigo and Iago, who was close friends with Othello. Roderigo was really discontent because the girl he loves, Desdemona, got married to Othello. Iago says he hates the moor because he did not promote him to lieutenant and promises him to separate the couple. Later that night, they go to Desdemona’s father’s house, and tell him that he had been robbed. As soon as they tell him , Iago hides so he doesn’t recognize him and goes to Othello. Barbantio gathers his friends to face Othello. Meanwhile lieutenant Cassio was talking to Othello and told him that the duke wanted to speak to him and that it was an emergency. When Barbantio reaches he begins an argument with Othello and decides to settle it with the
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The action took time to happen and it was a long play, but Othello was too fast. Othello didn’t take his time to make sure if what was happening was for real. He should have took his time with investigating the truth. Othello’s tragic flaw was clear. In the play he wished that she had an affair without him knowing rather than him knowing about it. Iago says “O, beware my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on” (Act 3, Scene 3). Iago says jealousy mocks you as it feeds on you, which is true. Othello was going insane thinking his wife was cheating on
The play begins with the introduction of the confident and well-respected general of the Venetian army, Othello. This version of Othello is calm, brave, and fairly unaffected by any racial prejudices against him. He speaks with great sophistication and respect to others, which indicates both his intelligence and rationality. When he elopes with Desdemona, the
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?”
The tragedy of Othello, written by William Shakespeare, presents the main character Othello, as a respectable, honorable, and dignified man, but because of his insecurities and good nature, he is easily taken advantage of and manipulated by his peers and alleged friends. The dynamic of Othello’s character significantly changes throughout the play. The contrast is most pronounced from the beginning of the play to its conclusion, switching from being calm and peaceful to acts of uncontrolled venomous rage. Othello’s motivation in the play appears to be his love and concern for his wife Desdemona, which ironically, ends up being his downfall in the end.
The play Othello by William Shakespeare showcases the unique characters of Othello and Iago. Othello commences with Iago: Othello’s general informing the audience of his hate for Othello. Next, the Duke sends Othello, Iago, Cassio along with Desdemona and Emilia to Cyprus to defeat the Turks. Once the Turks are defeated, Iago initiates his plan to ruin Othello’s life. He plants the idea of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness in Othello’s mind, which drives Othello mad. This leads to Othello murdering Desdemona and Othello’s death. Throughout the play Othello and Iago play key roles in the story’s plot. In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago and Othello’s complex character development lead to continued conflict and their downfalls.
He says, “Oh, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock. The meat it feeds on.” (3.3. 170-172). Iago is warning Othello about jealousy claiming it will destroy him for falling prey. In reality, Iago wants Othello to become jealous of his wife being with another man and kill her. For one, this line is ironic because Iago’s motive for his plan against Othello is in fact because he is jealous. It is also ironic because Iago is pretending to warn Othello of jealousy to appear as a loyal and caring friend.
William Shakespeare wrote Othello in 1603. It is a tragic, love story full of love, honour, and betrayal. Othello is the protagonist in this drama. He is a skilled fighter and he is not from Venice. He falls in love with Desdemona, a beautiful and innocent woman from Venice. Her father disowns her for the marriage because he is racist toward Othello. Iago is the antagonist in the drama. The drama starts with him and shows that he is an instigator. He manipulates his way in to the lives of all of the characters and gains their trust. Iago is responsible for most of the sins. He takes on the role of Satan in the ways that he entices the characters into sinning, which leads to their own
William Shakespeare, born in the mid sixteenth century, is a well-known poet and playwright from England. The topics of his plays range from history and comedy, all the way to tragedy, and focus on universal themes and relationships between characters to express these themes to the general public. Betrayal, incest, jealousy, and love are all common themes in his works. Although one of Shakespeare’s more popular tragic dramas, Othello, at first glance seems to mainly center around the characters Othello and Desdemona and their relationship, the play in reality focuses more so on the evil villain, Iago, and his insecurity which instills in him a hatred of Othello. Iago provides some dark humor to the audience, as he is self-possessed and intelligent, making it obvious when he is lying to another character and making himself seem honest and truthful. The play is one of jealousy, manipulation, and the cunning work of Iago, all combined to bring ruin to Othello. Although Shakespeare’s Othello is considered by some to be a commentary on race, Shakespeare is truly addressing the dangers of blind trust as well as the overwhelming power jealousy can have over even the most respectable mind; he addresses these themes by evolving the characters’ personalities and using dramatic irony to intensify and contrast the characters’ relationships with each other from the beginning to the end of this tragic drama.
The tragedy of Othello is one of the great literary works from the late playwright William Shakespeare. The play, written in 1603 during Shakespeare’s tragic period, consists of five acts. The backdrop of the tragedy centers around the cities of Venice and Cyprus when the Venetians are at war with the Turks. The play follows the story of the Moorish general Othello (who is black) and his scandalous marriage to a white Venetian woman, Desdemona. Othello’s ensign, Iago, cleverly deceives Othello that his wife is cheating on him, intending to break the Moor’s marriage apart. Sadly, Iago successfully persuades Othello that Desdemona is committing adultery with his lieutenant, resulting in the tragic event of many deaths at the end of the play. In the tragedy of Othello, Shakespeare uses conversation between Desdemona’s character and her husband in order to highlight innate misogynistic behavior in Othello’s personality.
William Shakespeare's "Othello, the Moor of Venice" chronicles the actions of Othello and his compatriots, and the way in which the Machiavellian Iago manipulates those around him. Shakespeare's use of various key techniques such as soliloquies, symbolism, and characterization assist in addressing the central theme of isolation, which radiates primarily about Othello, the troublesome and naïve protagonist, as well as many other central characters. The characters and the action of the play move from the city of Venice to the island of Cyprus. The island itself is a symbol of isolation in its truest form because an island is a piece of land surrounded by a body of water on all three sides.
The language and literary techniques used in William Shakespeare's Othello enrich the settings, plot, characters, and themes. Othello is a complex tragedy about good versus evil, loyalty, love, sexual jealousy, appearance versus reality, and intrigue, told in a first person point of view. The play takes place during the Renaissance in Venice, Italy and in Cyprus over three days. It is written in blank verse, usually unrhymed iambic pentameter. The protagonist, Othello, is a Moor well respected by senators for his valiant service in war and married to Desdemona, a Venetian woman. The play is entitled Othello and the plot and action encompass him, thus supporting his position of
This play started out with the beautiful Desdemona and the Moor Othello. Marrying behind closed doors, their decision caused a lot of commotion. Jealous men of the love and power they shared planned to shed blood. Devious Iago made a plan to get Othello out of
The Shakespearean tragedy Othello contains a number of themes; their relative importance and priority is debated by literary critics. In this essay let us examine the various themes and determine which are dominant and which subordinate.
"Othello" was written in 1603 and is one of many tragedies that Shakespeare wrote. It is set in Venice and is about the downfall of a noble Venetian general, Othello, due to grudges harboured by his second lieutenant, Iago. Iago is revengeful, for a number of reasons, the most prominent is the fact he is angry at Othello and Michael Cassio (the man who Othello promoted), jealous of Othello and Desdemona (Othello's wife) for their happy relationship and racist against Othello as he is a black man in a "white man's world". It is this racial prejudice and the jealousy Iago keeps against him, that ultimately leads to the breakdown of Othello which results in the murder of his wife Desdemona. Even though the play in named Othello, the character
"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 play Othello by William Shakespeare was published during the 16th century, it is one of Shakespeare’s popular and controversial plays. Shakespeare depicts Othello’s race as placing him apart in some respects from the predominantly white European society in which he lives. Jealousy is another of the main themes in Othello. Iago is the first character to start the sparks of jealousy in Othello, and in the end, causes the downfall of Othello and Desdemona. In the end, racism and jealousy are the causes of the tragedy in Othello.