Othello, By William Shakespeare

In Shakespeare's tragedy, Othello, Iago is uncharacteristically honest when he says "I am not what I am". However, he is not the only character whose appearance differs from the reality. Nonetheless, he is possibly the only person who intends this duplicity. Unfortunately everyone is under the impression that Iago is "honest and just". Once alone, Iago reveals "when devils will the blackest sins put on, they do suggest at first with heavenly shows as I do now". Iago is two-faced in his relationships, even in the language he uses. After referring to Othello as a "black ram", he then tells him "my lord, you know I love you". Iago has no shame in appealing to heaven and godly images in

Iago abuses Othello’s trusting inclination in order both further his personal rank and ruin the lives of those he feels have wronged him. Trusting by nature, Othello initially refuses to see anything but the best in people, including Iago. Iago exploits this by making Othello believe things that are completely false. In Othello’s view Iago would not lie to him because he had no reason to and had never done so before. Iago does this because he feels he has been wronged when told that “[Cassio]… must his lieutenant be… and I his Moorship’s ancient” (I i 35). Iago thinks that he should be given the position that was given instead to Cassio, and he feels that he must take brutal revenge on Othello for being the source of his calamities. Using the trust bestowed upon him by Othello Iago feeds rumors to Othello that trigger jealousy and arouse

Love is complicated due to the fact that there is a difference of opinion and perception and it is complicated because people see stuff in different ways and interpret things differently as well. In the 3 texts dissatisfaction or complication is shown. Firstly in Othello love is presented as ephemeral and transient while atonement love is presented as unrequited and finally in cat on a hot tin roof love is presented as painful and troublesome due to unreciprocated feelings.

William Shakespeare’s Othello would not be a dramatic tragedy if the smiling villain, Iago, were a deaf mute. There is no doubt that the destruction of each character can be blamed on jealous Iago. The theme of jealousy helps propel the plot naturally and demonstrates the consequences of being morbidly jealous. The circumstantial evidence Iago provides acts like a lethal poison, which surrounds Othello in suspicion and envy but also turns him into an inhuman murderer. Jealousy is the ‘monster’ that unresonably conducts the great suffering in the story.

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.

A society consists of diverse cultures, looks, values, and beliefs. In a world with one predominant culture, those perceived as different from the norm are associated with negative images and treated inferior to the superior culture. The negative images associated with color, specifically blackness, has a detrimental effect on the victims who are racially stereotyped. The character Othello is a unique character in English literature, because unlike the other members of society, Othello is an outsider in Venice. He is a black man living in a white world, married to a white woman, and a leader of white men in battle. Othello is persuaded that his wife, Desdemona, is cheating on him, leading him to murder her. Some argue that because Othello was the typical black stereotype he killed Desdemona, but evidence suggests that Othello viewed his own racial identity as undesirable for Desdemona and killed her out of honor and self-hatred. Henceforth, the long-term psychological effects of racism affects an individual’s self-identity and his or her relationship with others.

William Shakespeare’s 16th century play Othello is a duplicitous and fraudulent tale set alternatingly between Venice in act 1, and the island of Cyprus thereafter. The play follows the scandalous marriage between protagonist Othello, a Christian moore and the general of the army of Venice, and Desdemona, a respected and intelligent woman who also happens to be the daughter of the Venetian Senator Brabantio. Shakespeare undoubtedly positions the marriage to be viewed as heroic and noble, despite Othello’s hamartia and subsequent downfall that inevitably occurs. Their marriage is then sabotaged by the jealous Iago, Othello’s ensign and villain of the play. While Iago’s ostensible justification for instigating Othello’s demise was his failure to acquire Othello’s position as lieutenant, Iago’s motives are rarely directly articulated and seem to derive from an obsessive, almost aesthetic pleasure in manipulation and destruction. Through the genre of the play, being a Shakespearean tragedy, and the structural devices employed by Shakespeare such as plot development, exposition, foreshadowing, dénouement, dramatic excitement, and catharsis, the key ideas of jealousy, appearance vs. reality and pride are developed and explored.

Tragically, this pure, innocent love obsession more often than not, develops into a bitter and resentful obsession that will spite one or both parties. This is clear in Shakespeare’s Othello. Desdemona’s and Othello’s harmonious marriage is warped by the Machiavellian villain Iago, who is insanely jealous and obsessed himself. Othello finds true contentment in Desdemona; she truly comprises his ‘other half’, as a spousal cliché states. She provides serenity in the life of a soldier who has known war since the age of seven. Unfortunately, this serenity and this union is what Iago seeks to undo. Expert in his understanding, he seizes upon lines previously spoken: “Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see:/ She has deceived her father, and

William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice presents a man who is undone by his own insecurities, as well as strong female characters who lead to the downfall of the men. The character of Othello allows others to control how he feels and this leads to a tragedy that could have been prevented. The source of this tragedy comes from within himself. His character is completely wrapped up in his wife Desdemona’s character and interestingly enough, as soon as her character starts to decline from the words of Iago, so does Othello’s. Unable to stand on his own, Othello is more concerned with outwardly appearances than Desdemona. He puts more pressure on her, than he does himself in regards to his character and how he

To reach Desdemona specifically is unforeseeable for Iago considering that Othello is better than him. It is consequently that Iago chooses to adventure Othello. In the event that Iago can turn Othello against his own particular wife he will have vanquished his restriction. Act III Scene III, is vital in light of the fact that it is the point in the play where Iago starts to build up his control of Othello. Cassio feels that it is important to look for the assistance of Desdemona keeping in mind the end goal to recover his position of lieutenant and along these lines meets with her to examine this probability. Iago and Othello enter the scene soon after Cassio leaves, and Iago witfully trys to make it look like Cassio left in light of the

When Iago talks to Othello, he then starts to talk about Cassio, “What if I had said I had seen him do you wrong?” (Shakespeare IV.i.28). Iago acts as his alter ego, “Honest Iago,” yet he reveals his true nature by acting evasive but accusing at the same time. Only one perspective displays itself here, leading Othello to a jealous rage. If multiple perspectives revealed themselves, Othello could have trusted his friend Cassio, and doubted Iago, who does not live up to his nickname of “Honest Iago.” Iago continues talking to Othello, vividly describing what he wants Othello to believe, that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair. After Othello falls into a fit, Iago says, “Work on,/My medicine, (work!) Thus credulous fools are/caught,/And many worthy and chaste dames even thus/All guiltless, meet reproach.--What ho! My lord!/My lord, I say. Othello!” (Shakespeare IV.i.53-58). Iago admits that his “work” includes convincing honest people to believe him so that innocent people seem guilty, showing that Iago himself understands the danger of a single perspective, and he uses that to his advantage. When Iago says “What ho!” he finally notices that Othello has fallen into a fit, because Iago displays his existence in his storytelling fantasy. Othello’s fit demonstrates that when only one side of the story shows itself, it leads people to doubt their

Women, especially Desdemona but Emilia as well, are obviously targets of male violence in Othello. For some reason Shakespeare’s play often put the emphasis on the role of the female characters and their influence on the main male characters. For instance, the result of the passionate love of Romeo for Juliet, the effect of Ophelia’s insanity had on hamlet, and so on. In Othello, Shakespeare made Desdemona and the other women in the play no different; Othello’s jalousie and love made the play a tragedy. Shakespeare made Desdemona the faithful wife of Othello. She was such a kindhearted and wished to make everything work even when the situation where she lost her handkerchief she tried to fix the situation and calming Othello. However, her innocent sympathy towards Cassio made lago’s lies more credible. Overall, one can say that her naïve nature causes her to become a target for the men in the play.

Racism, love, betrayal, and jealousy are feelings that happen all the time in todays society, many people do not know how to handle it sometimes, and they get emotionally hurt for a long time. Othello is possibly the most famous literary exploration of the warping powers of jealousy and suspicion. At the same time, it 's among the earliest piece of work that deals with race and racism. With Othello being a supreme commander of the Venetian army, he never felt like he fit completely in, and the girl he loved, her father never liked him because of his race, when Brabantio told Desdemona “She, in spite of nature, Of years, of country, credit, every thing To fall in love with what she feared to look on! It is a judgment maimed and most imperfect That will confess perfection so could err Against all rules of nature,” this statement means Desdemona dad does not like him because he is of a different skin color. Othello loves Desdemona and he shows us this by saying, “Haply for I am black, And have not those soft parts of conversation That chamberers have; or for I am declined Into the vale of years—yet that’s not much— She’s gone. I am abused, and my relief Must be to loathe her. O curse of marriage, that we can call these delicate creatures ours And not their appetites! I had rather be a toad And live upon the vapor of a dungeon Than keep a corner in the thing I love For others’ uses. Yet ’tis the plague of great ones; Prerogatived are they less than the base. ’Tis destiny

In the first scene, Iago was seen in the middle of a conversation with Roderigo. This opening scene sets forth the key elements to understanding Iago’s basic character and the play’s conflict. The scene revealed Iago’s deep resentment toward Othello and his outlook on himself as a soldier. “And I of whom his eyes had

Iago manipulates Othello by metaphorically poisoning his ear into believing that his wife is having an affair with Cassio. The poison, made of built events and lies, intoxicates Othello’s body and produces in him an effect that does not let him think rationally. One toxic lie that Iago tells Othello is that Cassio has confessed to sleeping with Desdemona, telling that Cassio was “with her, on her, what you will” (IV, i, 2451). The theme appearance versus reality is noticeable in this event because Othello is making conclusions by just listening to what Iago tells him. Othello relies on appearances producing in him the incapability of distinguish how things look on the surface as opposed to the truth of the matter (Tweg par. 2).