The Role of the Opening Act of William Shakespeare's Othello
The play Othello portrays the story of the protagonist Othello (The
Moor) and his loved one- Desdemona- and his struggles to overcome a
racist society in 17th century Venice. In the meantime Iago, one of
Othello’s closest friends’ plots revenge on him, as Othello passed him
over for an important position in the army and gave it to Cassio, an
outsider from Florence.
The outcome of the play reveals that Iago’s plan has been successful-
Desdemona is murdered by Othello in a spate of jealousy and anger,
caused by Iago’s cunning machinations. Othello soon realizes his
mistake and damns himself by committing suicide. While Iago is found
out and taken away to be tortured, the audience still realizes that
his plot has succeeded- he took over the military position and took
revenge on both Cassio and Othello.
The opening act provides the audience with clues which hint at the
outcome of Othello. Act one establishes Othello’s and Iago’s
characters, and how they are diametrically opposed. It establishes the
prejudice faced by Othello as a black man in a white society,
Desdemona’s loyalty to him as his wife, the setting of conflict and
war, the themes of jealousy, betrayal and pride and the insecurity
which Othello has in himself. In short, act one contains the essence
of the play.
Act one, Scene one establishes Iago’s character and his motives.
Indeed, the first word the audience hears from Iago is blasphemous;
“Sblood, but you will not hear me”, and later we hear “And I, God
bless the mark, his moorship’s ancient”
Iago is immediately established as the antagonist of th...
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... speaks in such a way- and its rhyme
implies its perfection. The audience, at the end of act one will
without a doubt realize that Iago’s plan will work.
It is thus possible to see that act one provides a plethora of hints
and visions for the end of the play- it shows us how Iago could
possibly exact his revenge on Othello and how others are fooled by
him, as well as the end result.
Probably the most important factor in act one which decides on the
ending of the play is the establishment of Othello’s and Iago’s
contrasting personalities. Shakespeare establishes a definite good
side and an evil side with a definite split between the two. Thus, it
encourages the notion of a final battle in the end of the play. The
audience will expect one of the sides to win- and indeed Iago, the
antagonist prevails over Othello.
Iago is, in my opinion, the main character, creating the most depth and interest throughout the entire play. Iago is often funny and quite charming throughout the play, but the most captivating part of his personality is his sheer lack of reasoning behind his hatred for Othello. The only two reasons he outwardly conveys in his speech is his anger towards Othello for not allowing him the lieutenant position. Later in the act he believes Othello slept with his wife and proclaims that he must get even. He seemingly seeks revenge on everyone around him and apparently takes joy and pride in whatever havoc he wreaks.
The Significance of Act 3 Scene 3 of William Shakespeare's Othello Othello was written by Shakespeare around 1602 and was set 35 years previously to that time (around 1571) during the Elizabethan era. Shakespeare got the idea for the play from the Italian Novella 'Gli. Hecatommithi and only changed minor details slightly. He kept the same plot but some of the characters and themes in the play were very different.
Dual Nature of Characters in Othello Many of the characters in Shakespeare's tragedy, Othello, are duplicitous to the extent that how. they are perceived in public is not how they behave in private. The perception of the public plays.
marriage at the end, and also has a happy ending. Othello is about a black man in a white society. This is what brings about the jealousy and murder at the end of the play. Iago is the man. of manipulation, he is jealous of Othello and where he lies in the community.
A single action, at the beginning of the play “Othello” by William Shakespeare that sets the stage for upcoming action in the pay is Act I: Scene 1 of Othello opens with conversation between Iago and Roderigo that catches audience interest. Audience realizes that Iago is trying to persuade Roderigo to take part in a plan to destroy Othello. The exposition in this scene Sheds light on Iago's basic character, which is treacherous, vindictive, and manipulative and unveils the primary conflict of t...
The biggest things that one notices in the plot, are the great losses incurred by Othello. A key loss of Othello was that of his best companion, his wife, Desdemona. Desdemona was the closest person to him; no one can get closer to a guy than his wife. They were able to share their thoughts with each other and that is very powerful. The unfortunate part to it was that it only took a couple untruthful words from Iago to change Othello's opinion of her. "O, beware, my lord, of jealousy!/ It is the green eyed monster…" (III, iii). From words like this, and just a little more suggestions, Othello killed his wife. Its hard to believe that just a few well-placed words like this started a chain reaction that caused great harm to Othello.
The Delay of Othello's Entrance in Act 1 of William Shakespeare's Othello In this piece of coursework I will be looking at the reasons why Shakespeare delayed Othello's entrance until Scene 2 of Act 1 in the play. I will also look at points such as the audience's perception of Iago, and our views of Othello before and after his entrance. I will also talk about the historical, social and cultural contexts and I will look at critical opinions, authorial intentions and language analysis. Othello is set in the early 17th Century when Shakespeare (the playwright) was in his middle ages.
This really starts the tragedy with the audience now knowing that evil Iago's plan has worked and the play. will have a tragic ending, this builds up the tension as well, because. the characters in the play still refer to Iago as "honest" when the audience can see plainly he is not. Shakespeare uses certain ironies in the play, where he seems to be. saying something to a person, but in fact saying something.
“I asked her to wear something revealing, so she showed up in a prophet's toga.”(CITE) Jarod Kintz’s words are an example of miscommunication, or failure to comprehend meaning. In this case, it is implied that one person misunderstood the message of another, but incomprehension also applies to problems other than falsely interpreted requests. Incomprehension can occur when people misinterpret another’s words or intentions, or when a person misreads situations or events. The outcome described in Kintz’s quote is unexpected and unintended, but there are instances of incomprehension that have consequences of greater severity. Perhaps a classic tragedy with a high body count falls under these parameters.
The beginning of the play starts when Iago and Roderigo were discussing about their plan of Iago wants to be second-in-command and Roderigo wants to make love with Desdemona. Next, they went into a dispute with Desdemona’s father about Othello marrying Desdemona. When, Othello marry Desdemona, Iago first plan was to get Cassio lose his job by getting drunk and into a fight. Afterwards, Desdemona tries to convince to Othello about giving Cassio’s job back. Then, Iago gets Desdemona, Othello, Cassio, and Bianca stuck in a situation about who are cheating on what, the handkerchief and Cassio’s job. Later on, Iago got in trouble of the evidence that reveal everything that actually happen in the play. Lastly, Othello killed himself, Iago receives imprisonment with torture, Emilia dies later and Cassio became the governor of Cyprus.
The tone of the story is tragic and serious. Meanwhile, there isn't any point of view because this is a play and a play doesn't normally have a narrator. Shakespeare lets the reader make up his/her own imagination with the characters' words and behavior. Since Othello is the protagonist, he is explained in more detail. Although Othello is a brave warrior, he is a jealous person; his jealousy also prevails over his good sense. The whole play depicts the fact that jealousy causes corruption. There are many conflicts found in Othello, and person vs. person is one of them. An example is when Iago seeks revenge against Othello and Cassio because of his anger and jealousy. Person vs. society appears when Desdemona's father Brabantio, disapproves her marriage to Othello because he is several years older than Desdemona, from a different class, and a different race. An internal conflict of person vs. himself is found when Othello is in a dilemma about whether or not should he believe that Desdemona is being unfaithful to him. Othello loves and trusts Desdemona until his jealousy is aroused by the cruel manipulations of Iago. Iago's intention was to persuade Othello to believe that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. As Iago succeeds in convincing Othello that Desdemona is guilty of adultery, it leads to the climax of the play. And so Othello must face emotions he can't deal with. His jealousy drives him insane, and his judgment is replaced with anger and hate. At this time, the reader notices that the death of Desdemona is inevitable. Othello smothers her, and he eventually kills himself when he knows that Iago falsely accused Desdemona. This also represents the tragedy of the play.
Othello is the tragedy, and, incidentally, the name of a Moor who serves as a general in the Italian military. He spends the first act of Shakespeare’s play in Venice, but is ordered shortly to Cyprus to fight the Turkish invasion. His journey isn’t officially noticeable at all in the play. One moment he’s defending himself in the Senate of Venice, the next he’s in Cyprus, taking credit for being victorious in a battle the storms fought for him against the Turks. The story unravels from there. His soon-to-be-lieutenant, Iago, whispers in his ear about his wife, Desdemona, and the unforgivable crime of adultery, throwing Othello’s orderly world to the winds of fate.
The events that occur in the first half of Act 1 are all in anticipation of the lead character Othello who we are not immediately introduced too. We learn Iago’s name in the second line of the play and Roderigo’s soon after, but Othello is not mentioned by his name once. Instead he is referred to as ‘he’, ‘him’ and is frequently described as ‘the moor’ (1.1.58) he is also described as having ‘thick lips’ (1.1.67) and later as being a ‘Barbary horse’ (1.1.111) is continuously described by his critics, mainly Iago, as a ‘moor’, demonstrating Iago’s frequently concerning nature of race and also portraying Othello as something of an alien. From this reference we are able to immediately understand Iago’s true feelings and motives for Othello.
Othello: The Moor of Venice is probably Shakespeare's most controversial play. Throughout this work, there is a clear theme of racism, a racism that has become commonplace in Venetian society which rejects the marriage of Othello and Desdemona as anathema. The text expresses racism throughout the play within the language transaction of the dialogue to question the societal ethos established by Othello, thereby making him nothing less than a cultural "other." Furthermore, the character of Desdemona is displayed as mad, or out of her wits, for marrying such an "other," and the audience sees her slip from an angelic state of purity to that of a tainted character. Also, the menacing Iago, a mastermind of deviant rhetoric, is able to play Othello and Desdemona against one another until their marriage fails, while at the same time destroying his adversary and friend, Cassio. Thus Iago has a specific agenda, not only to get back at Othello for choosing Cassio instead of him, but also to make Cassio the victim of his plan to destroy the forbidden marriage referred to by Brabantio as a "treason of the blood" (1.2.166-167). Essentially, Iago is a representative of the white race, a pre-Nazi figure who tries to inform the public of the impurity of Othello and Desdemona's marriage. He demonstrates how this miscegenation is threatening to the existing social order. Thus, through analysis of racism, the play represents the hatred possessed by mankind -- a hate so strong that society sees the mixing with an "other" to be a curse to humanity and a terrible threat to Aryan culture.
Iago was the main character who caused all the destruction at the end of the play, however there was always some worries going along in the play because Othello was a black man and he was married to the young, very much younger than him, Desdemona. Who also is a white lady. Neither the less this essay is not about Othello and Desdemona. Iago had Othello believe that Cassio was having an affair with Desdemona. There isn't really any conclusion or reasoning for Iago's doings, perhaps besides the only reason which he knows. And that reason none of us know of. The only conclusion i can come up with on why Iago has done what he done is because he was looking out for himself. This reminds me of a saying i use to always hear. "Nothing is going to happen for yourself unless you make it happen yourself." I don't know if Iago knew what the outcome of his doings would be, which was death for him, but i do believe he did the things he did because he was looking out for himself.