Vulnerabilities in Othello
In the play Othello, the villan Iago forms a plan to cause the downfall of Leutenet Micheal Cassio and the Moor Othello. Each of these characters have vulnerabilities and traits that make them ripe for Iago's paln of distruction.
The character of Micheal Cassio is easily manipulated. He is very involved with his work as leutenant in Othello's army. He also continues to see the good in people even when they do him wrong. He continues to stay loyal to Othello, even after his is puplicaly humiliated and stripped of his duties by the Moor."Thy honesty and love doh mince this matter, Making it light to Cassio. Cassio, I love thee, But nevermore be officer of mine." ( Act 2 Sc. 3, pg. 97) His public displays of weakness also make him a likely target for manipulation.
Cassio can also be described as a weak person. His military experience is limitid to statagy, and he severly lacks credibility in the combat department. "One Michael Cassio, a Florentine, A fellow almost damned in a fair wife, That nevetr set a squadron in the feild, Nor the division of a battle knows more than a spinster - unless the bookish theoric, wherein the toged consouls can propose as mastery as he. Mere prattle without practice is all his soldiership." (Act 1 Sc. 1, pg.9) Hius weakness is displayed even more when he begs Desdemona to talk to Othello to regain his job. By begging, or bowing down to a woman, which was not to be done in those times, Cassio shows more of a weakness. "Bouteous madam, whatever shall become of Micheal Cassio, He's never anything but your true servant." (Act 3 Cs. 3, pg.117)
Cassio oalso has a bit of a melo-dramatic streak to his character. An example of this is when he sapeaks to Iago about how upset he is after Othello fires him. "Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial. My reputation, Iago, my reputation!" (Act 2 Sc.3, pg.99)
Othello the Moor, is a very trusting person, and this makes him vulverable. His involvment with Desdemona translates into a deeper trust with heart. Being older than Desdemona, Othello has fears that she will find a younger man who is more attractive than Othello.
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Without this reputation, Cassio feels as if he has degraded himself. Cassio then becomes an outsider in another way because his only form of communication is through Desdemona, and he must sneak around in order for a 'chance' to regain his position of lieutenant. Othello is perhaps the character with the most reasons to feel like an outsider. In the very first scene, before we have even met Othello or heard his name, we are struck by the prejudiced and crude refe... ...
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Cassio cares deeply for his reputation as after he is disgracefully disbarred from his rank of lieutenant he obsesses over the loss of his reputation and sulks about it for a majority of the story. A moment wherein he had just lost his rank as lieutenant you can see how much he values his social and army status “My reputation, my reputation! I’ve lost my reputation the longest-living and truest part of myself!” and further cements the importance of it as he completely blames himself in the next few lines “I rather ask him to hate me then ask such a good commander to accept such a worthless drunk, stupid officer as myself”. These two excerpts clearly demonstrate the true insecurity of Cassio that is easily taken advantage of by Iago which in turn drives the story because it is the catalyst to the main event as Othello starts suspecting Desdemona’s infidelity to him. Due to this it is yet another example of how another character’s insecurities were used to drive the action further
Despite the fact that Iago deliberately subjects Othello to his twisted thoughts, Othello seems to have a greedy ear for his discourse, and appears to rely on Iago for the underlying truths of this white, male-dominated society he wants to belong to. Perhaps that helps explain how easily Othello is fooled without any real evidence. Once Iago has sown the seed of doubt in Othello's mind about Cassio, whom they both presumably see as a proper man (I.
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They may even argue that Iago’s control over Othello is unreasonable because Iago was the only one to procure any evidence or approached him with the matter. However, C. F. Burgess has a great counter-argument for that claim and does a great job explaining the rationale behind it, “Othello has been conditioned to expect absolute loyalty and honesty from his subordinate.” This expectation of absolute loyalty left Othello blind to the smaller subtleties in Iago’s intentions, ultimately allowing Iago to control Othello. In Act 2 Iago deceives Othello into demoting Cassio not by stating outright that Cassio has done something wrong, instead by appearing conflicted. Iago tells Othello that “[He would] rather have this tongue cut from [his] mouth than it should do offense to Michael Cassio.” which creates the false image of concern for Cassio. By constructing the interaction play out like it did Shakespeare demands attention to Iago’s flair for deception, and also warns that deceit is also leading someone into making false
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From the beginning, Othello is noble, quick to act, judicious, trusting, and gives much weight to the importance of duty. These are all traits that serve to make him great at the beginning of the play, and later, ironically, become key elements in his downfall. These aspects can be considered the internal causes of Othello’s tragic flaw. “Othello's nature is all one piece. His trust, where he trusts, is absolute.
Cassio is newly promoted as Othello's lieutenant at the beginning of the play even though he has little experience on the field, '. This position is what triggers Iago's inferiority complex, so he plans the bring Cassio down. One can easily say that through the course of this tragedy, Cassio's fortunes change considerably. In Act I, he is Othello's loyal and trusted lieutenant. In Act II, he is Othello's loyal friend in Cypress and respectful admirer of Desdemona but in Act II, Scene III, is manipulated to fight Roderigo, hitting him and Montano, and consequently losing his position as Othello's "lieutenant".
In Act I, Othello expresses that he is a man of honor, a hero who’s held in high prestige by the upper class. What Othello expresses here is nothing that an archetypal hero would express; he expresses nothing towards Cassio (to the point where Othello has imagined killing him) and Desdemona but hatred and vengeance, and he has become poisoned by Iago’s ruse. Additionally, Othello has grown to only trust Iago, which will only make him grow worse. This is the beginning of Othello’s transformation to a tragic hero, with his naivety and jealousy being his