Othello's Downfall

Iago plays on Othello’s own insecurity about his race to trigger jealousy; an example of this would be his observation on lines 227 and 228, where he insinuates that Desdemona may be better suited to somebody “of her own clime, complexion and degree”. This follows a quote from Othello, stating that his relationship is ‘nature erring from itself’, allowing the audience to see his own uncertainty about his ethnic background, which Iago then develops and twists to suit his needs. Iago’s quote implies that Desdemona would be better matched with a man of similar race, such as Cassio, rather than Othello, which is designed to spark jealousy within Othello, and is shown to have a profound effect on him towards the end of the scene, with his aside to the audience “Why did I marry”.

Rocco Dine Mr. Reardon English 9A, Period 6 6 March 2024 Little Fires Everywhere Essay The book Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng shows the relationship between Mrs. Richardson and her daughter Izzy, and how difficult it can be to balance conformity and being true to yourself. Mrs. Richardson wants everything to be perfect in their suburban home, but Izzy's rebelliousness tests it. Ng shows Mrs. Richardson’s relationship with Izzy is unhealthy, conveying the message that people who often worry about others often affect their relationships. When Izzy rejects the dresses her mom bought her and gets grounded, it shows how much, she wants to be her person. Izzy's mom thought she wore too much black, so she bought her cute dress.

It is without any exception that the relationships between characters in any masterful piece of literature defines truly the themes which the author wishes to convey. They are the pillars on which the rest of the novel is securely built upon and is dependant on. In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, she uses these relationships to create parallels and foil characters to develop and securely establish the subjects of growth and family; by doing so, she highlights the key contrasts between these characters to complicate and deepen the characterization of the main protagonists. She builds up these pairs of foil characters exquisitely to reveal the themes in her novel that firstly, the situation in which a person is found does not define their character, it is their reaction and response that determines their worth; secondly, that the concept of family is not solely dependant on blood and

By not having confidence Othello is constantly looking for approval and what the right or wrong action is. In the following quote Brabantio eludes to the fact that Desdemona and Othello’s elopement is a sign that Desdemona will deceive her husband, just as she has does so to her father,“Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see. / She has deceived her father, and may thee” (Shakespeare 1.3.333-334). The fear that Brabantio has brought to Othello is the fear that brings Othello to the goal of making sure that Desdemona is forever faithful. The high status that Othello's position comes with gives him false hope on the help others will give.

To understand the dynamics of Othello and Desdemona’s relationship, it is important to look at both of these characters in-depth. Othello is a moor who is the military commander of the Venetian military (act I, scene i, lines 52-65). He is not a citizen of Venice, but he has military leader experience. Along with this, Othello is in an interracial relationship with Desdemona. He has insecurities about being from a different country, his age compared to his wife, and his racial background. His insecurities become jealousy as Iago coerces Othello into thinking Desdemona cheated on him with Cassio. This changes Othello’s behavior from calm, level headed leader to a hot head ready to murder his wife because he believed she committed adultery. While we know that he loves Desdemona, the story of Othello does not go deep about his relationship in general terms from the

A major theme in the play is racial prejudice. When Desdemona and Othello are married, Iago hollers to Brabantio: “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe” (I.i.97-98), portraying Othello as an animal because of his race. Without this aspect, Iago’s schemes on Othello would not have worked. Because of these cruel racial biases, Othello subconsciously thinks he is not worthy of his wife, of his job position and feels he is unattractive, which furthers Iago’s manipulations to get him to believe Desdemona could be unfaithful.

In the beginning, it is clear that Othello truly loves Desdemona. But, as we move deeper into the story he becomes more violent and angry as he begins to think about his circumstances. Though never clearly stated in the play, it is clear that he is insecure about himself and when he learns that the one person he truly loved and overcame every obstacle for is “cheating” on him, he feels that it is because he is not good enough for her. Thus begins the shift of noble and confident Othello to murderous and jealous Othello. The meaning of Othello’s murdering Desdemona depends upon their marriage, and their marriage’s meaning is thoroughly invested in Othello’s blackness (Lombardo 17). In the beginning when Desdemona first arrives to be with Othello, he treats her kindly and says, “Come, my dear love, the purchase made, the fruits are to ensue”. Shakespeare did not present Othello as a stereotypical black character, and contends that it is the darkness of Iago's soul that ruins Othello (Mott par 3) because After Iago feeds Othello with lies of Desdemona’s infidelity, there is a notable shift in behavior because Othello becomes more jealous and this is shown in (Shakespeare 4.1. 266-268) When Othello hits Desdemona for “professing her love to Cassio”. This is a shock to everyone because this is not who they know as Othello and, in the last few scenes Othello’s insecurities begin to overcome him as he kills

Othello is not hurt because of a failing love, but because of how it makes him look and hurts his pride. This is when things get ugly. Othello puts more trust in Iago than in his own wife. This is due, in part, to Iago's manipulative skills, but mostly to Othello's lack of communication skills, especially with his wife. But Desdemona does not do anything to mediate the situation and lets the condition escalate, and her self-blaming attitude only perpetuates Othello's misgiven notion that she has been falsely accused . After Othello strikes her in front of the whole dinner party, and orders her around like a peasant,

To begin, Iago’s encouragement of prejudice leads to Othello’s manifestation of darkness. For instance, when Iago unveils to Rodrigo that he has a plan to attain Desdemona’s affection for him, he in contrast dehumanizes Othello he reveals that “If I the Moor I would not be Iago. In following him I follow but myself; Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty, but seeming so for my peculiar end. For when my outward action doth demonstrate” (I.i.57–65). This illustrates, Iago’s true nature that he holds prejudice and hatred for Othello by referring to him as a Moor, it proves that he only views him as substandard. Iago will pretend to serve him, but in reality he is only loyal to himself. This foreshadows that Iago will use negative connotations of race to manipulate Othello into thinking he is worthless. Thus, planting in Othello’s mind thoughts of adultery and hypocrisy. Later, resulting in the uprising of jealousy and darkness of Othello’s character. So Rodrigo, can obtain Desdemona’s love. Promotion of racial bias is also, evident when Iago tries to insinuate that Desdemona is unfaithful. He argues that “not to affect many proposed matches of her own clime, complexion, and degree, Where to we see in all things nature tends—Foh! One may smell in such a will most rank, Foul disproportions,

In chapter 8, we learned about Civil Liberties and the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights was originally made due to the fact some felt that the constitution wasn’t doing enough to protect the citizen’s basic rights. From there the Bill of Rights was formed in order to restrict the power of government in relation to our rights. It is to protect the citizens from the government by restricting its power in certain aspects.

Shakespeare is very well known for his inclusion of tragic flaws throughout the storylines of his novels. Hero’s, as courageous as they may seem, are just like any other person and go through flaws throughout their lifetime regardless of the extent of their situation. In Shakespeare’s novel Othello, with all the events twisting the readers mind from one side to another, there are many distinct qualities that portray Othello’s tragic flaw. Iago was portrayed as an honest character but with his careful deceptions jabbing in Othello’s mind, he is far from honest. Othello’s tragic flaw is that he trusts others opinions more than his own perceptions and Shakespeare develops this flaw by using convincing persuasive appeals and strong syntax throughout

The relationship between Desdemona and Othello in the play ‘Othello’ is used to express and observe the way that humans are selfish by nature. Although both Desdemona and Othello do sincerely love each other, both of them find great personal gain in their marriage, which clearly contributes to their feelings for one another. Othello, who is a black leader in an overwhelmingly white, Christian society, has come from a troubled and difficult background, being “sold to slavery” and working in the military all his life. In finding a good Christian wife in Desdemona, he finds someone to always support him in hard times, as evidenced in his summary of their romance, “she loved me for the dangers I had passed, and I loved her that she did pity them”. This quote suggests that their love is more self-serving than he lets on; Desdemona loves Othello for the adventures he has been on and the stories he tells, and Othello loves Desdemona because she listens and devotes herself to what he has to say. When Desdemona gets a chance to explain their relationship herself, she is particularly proud of the fact that she “did love the Moor to live with him; my downright violence and storms of fortunes may trumpet to the world”. We note that she mentions her ‘violence’, the way she deliberately disobeyed her father and fled his company to secretly marry a man who is not one of her father’s approved suitors. This furthers the idea that Desdemona seems to be in love with Othello because of the adventures he has been on, and the excitement and liberty of her being with such a man; she is seeking her own freedom in a misogynistic society by defying her father to marry Othello. Their relationship is

The most influential impact on Othello and Desdemona’s relationship was the differences in race. Differences in races have –and will- impact on relationships for a very long time. Desdemona was fair skinned, as was the rest of her family, and Othello was a dark-skinned Moor. Race discrimination has been an issue for thousands of years, with the common misconception, that ‘whites’ are better then ‘blacks’. Othello and Desdemona put this judgment aside, and fell in love with each other. This, of course, shocked others around them, primarily Desdemona’s father, Brabantio. Brabantio had liked and trusted Othello, before he found out that he was with his daughter. He couldn’t accept them being together, and believed that Othello had put a spell on Desdemona, as ‘black’ people were often presumed to be part takers of witchcraft. Othello also felt threatened by other ‘white’ man around Desdemona, particularly Casio, which made him jump to the conclusion of

The tragic play Othello by William Shakespeare, discusses the relationship between Othello and Desdemona that begins as loving, but abruptly alters to a hateful relationship due to a lack of truth. Dishonesty and misunderstandings between Desdemona and Othello drive the collapse of their marriage as well as Iago’s deceitful words which force Othello to discredit Desdemona’s love. William Shakespeare portrays the fall of the relationship of Desdemona and Othello due to his ability of believing false delusions he hears about his wife and the reason for this is from his distrust for women, his jealousy and the fact that he truly lacks confidence in himself, leads him to doubt the love Desdemona has for him.

Othello and Iago love emotions shows throughout the play that they have certain different view on their wives. Othello is so in love with Desdemona that he can’t imagine the thought of her being unfaithful to him. The aspect of him and his unbreakable love for Desdemona can be seen in these lines: “But that I love the gentle Desdemona, I would not my unhoused free condition, Put into circumscription and confine” (Othello 561;lines 25-28). Othello and Desdemona shows a healthy and genuine love for each other. Othello shows his affection for Desdemona despite their racial differences. Throughout the play Othello reassures us about their love and no one else’s thought can break it.