Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Character study of othello
Analysis of characters of othello
Character of Othello by Shakespeare
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Character study of othello
In Shakespeare’s Othello, the character of Othello is seen as an unfit man due to his propensity to jealous and his weak character. Leavis’ evaluation of Othello’s character can be seen to be true to a very high extent because during the course of the play, Othello evolves into a weak, jealous character who is easily manipulated and made jealous by the scheming of Iago. We can see this change in his character through the use of a number of techniques such as stage directions, soliloquies, dialogue and stage action. This makes it easier for the audience to follow and plot exactly where during the play Othello begins to show jealous and a weak character.
Othello is presented as a noble moor who is confident and eloquent as well as a man of authority. Due to his position in the military, he has earned great amounts of respect. So much that they appointed him as army general. Their respect is further emphasised when they request his presence in Cyprus to protect them from the Turkish army. The Duke admires Othello so much that he tries to convince Brabantio to accept his new
…show more content…
The hero’s, Othello, tragic flaw could be seen to be his lack of self-knowledge which brings about his downfall. It can be argued that Othello has a number of problems such as a propensity to jealousy, poor judgement of character and a violent nature, however this could all be resolved through self-knowledge. In addition to this, throughout the play Othello proves that he is self-centred and lacks self-knowledge because he gives in to his propensity to jealous which makes him lose sight of what is happening around him. He is so blinded by jealousy that he is unable to balance emotion with logic and becomes stubborn when he hears Iago’s lies. This suggests that his lack of self-knowledge and reason sets him up for his own demise due to the fact that he possesses a weak character and has a propensity to
Othello had a public perception of being a military man, and a courageous leader. “Valiant
Throughout Othello the Moor of Venice we experience a rather uplifting story that seems to somehow come crashing down on not only the characters in the story but the reader also. Author William Shakespeare does a tremendous job at connecting us with the characters in the play. Othello, the protagonist in the play, falls slowly into the pit of destruction where jealousy takes control. He along with many other characters in the play are manipulated by Iago and slowly taken down from a peaceful, love filled, and triumphant place in their lives to one that is dark and revengeful. Many are led to their deaths because of the terrible deeds done by Iago, some of which include Othello himself who commits suicide only after murdering his new wife over nothing but the mindset of jealousy and hate. Shakespeare explores a vast amount of literary content here some of which delve into Jealousy. Jealousy alongside intense deceitful manipulation can introduce a person to another sinister side of themselves they never knew to existed. Iago 's ultimate goal in the play is not yet clearly laid out; there is much to
Othello is a character of which he believes he has high standards and is a strong character, but yet his love for Desdemona becomes a great weakness which causes conflict later in the play.
When Cypress is threatened by Turkish forces, Othello is wanted specifically by the duke and the senate, as evidenced by Cassio’s comment that the senate “sent about three several quests” to look for Othello (I.ii.46).Othello became Governor of Cypress in Act I, Scene III, but his fortunes promptly change and not for the better. Othello has a reputation for courage in battle along with wonderful judgment when it comes to serious decisions about the military. The Venetian government has enough faith in Othello to put him in full martial and political command of Cyprus. In his dying speech Othello reminds the Venetians of the “service” he has done their state
Othello: The play's protagonist and hero. A Christian Moor and general of the armies of Venice, Othello is an eloquent and physically powerful figure, respected by all those around him. In spite of his elevated status, he is nevertheless easy prey to insecurities because of his age, his life as a soldier, and his race. He possesses a "free and open nature," which his ensign Iago uses to twist his love for his wife, Desdemona, into a powerful and destructive jealousy
Othello is one of Shakespeare’s four pillars of great tragedies. Othello is unique in comparison to the others in that it focuses on the private lives of its primary characters. When researching the subject of Othello being an Aristotelian tragedy, there is debate among some critics and readers. Some claim that Shakespeare did not hold true to Aristotle’s model of tragedy, according to his definition in “Poetics,” which categorized Othello as a classic tragedy as opposed to traditional tragedy. Readers in the twenty-first century would regard Othello a psychological thriller; it definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat creating the emotions of terror, heart break, and sympathy. This paper will focus on what Shakespeare actually intended regarding “Othello” and its Aristotelian influences.
“Othello”, by William Shakespeare, is a story of jealousy’s potential to manipulate thoughts and eventually lead to ultimate demise. The key to extremely detrimental jealousy lies within one’s ability to recognize it or deny it. It seems that the important theme of “Othello” is that if jealousy is not recognized and immediately dealt with, it receives a head start to commence the process of rotting away all normal human reason. Othello’s speech in Act III scene iii beginning with line 178 is the first and most important indicator of the trouble ominously looming on Othello’s horizon. His immediate response to Iago’s accusations is that of total denial. By depriving himself of that initial venting process, Othello gives his jealousy the perfect culture on which his jealousy can turn cancerous and grow out of control. Othello does not spit out the seed that Iago has planted within himself soon enough and thus lets Iago water it with smooth speech until its roots spread and cannot be uprooted. The only way to appropriately illustrate this point is through an in depth analysis of specific text from the play.
Tragedy is an intrinsically human concept; tragic heroes are damned by what they themselves do. Othello is not so much felled by the actions of Iago, but by a quality all people possess-- human frailty. Accordingly, Othello is not a victim of consequences, but an active participant in his downfall. He is not merely a vehicle for the machinations of Iago; he had free agency. Othello's deficiencies are: an insecure grasp of Venetian social values; lack of critical intelligence, self-knowledge, and faith in his wife; and finally, insecurity-- these are the qualities that lead to his own downfall.
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.
In the play “The Tragedy of Othello” by Willian Shakespeare, Othello Changes from an intelligent and confident person to a senseless and insecure person. This change in his personality occurs mainly because: Iago plans to ruin his relationship with Desdemona, he was an Outsider, he had bad judgement when it came to trusting people and failed to see reality, his negative thinking about himself and his relationship with Desdemona.
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.
Shakespeare has created the character of Othello to be a ‘hero of the ancient world‘ (Helen Gardner,1995), in spite of this there are certain circumstances beyond his control that contribute to the downfall of Othello. Othello proves to himself and everyone around him that he is a noble warrior that deserves a certain level of respect. Society doesn’t have a problem with Othello leading the Venetian army but does oppose to the marriage of Othello and Desdemona.
Othello is, without a doubt, one of Shakespeare’s most tragic heroes. He fills every sense of the word, beginning as a character nearly without flaws but evolving into a misled, pitiful disgrace whose sense of justice has been warped by the darkness of Iago. Even the flaws he is stricken with are those that may seem praise-worthy in some. Throughout the entirety of the play Othello has one supreme goal, subconscious or otherwise, in mind: As a general and as a man, he desires to rule militarily, socially, and romantically, with justice and without passion. This ‘passion’ refers to the calmness and balanced judgment required of such a figure as Othello. When we first meet Othello in person, he is immediately stricken as our hero. He loves with all of his soul, lives to uphold justice, and apparently governs without emotion tainting his mind. However, as the play continues, he degrades into less of a paragon and into a shell of a hero struck down by tragedy. His jealousy is spurred on by that which he vowed to never let rule him; his passion. Othello becomes little more than a puppet on a string, a powerful sword swung by Iago’s arm.
The role of jealousy, love and betrayal play a major role in The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice. The entire play is based on the human interactions of the characters as related to Othello and Desdemona. The characters’ personalities, their social status, and their relationships to each other control the story line and their fate in the play. Othello is portrayed early in the play as an outsider with animalistic characteristics by Iago and Roderigo because of jealousy. “Your heart is burst; and have lost half of your soul/Even now, now, very now, an old black ram/Is tupping your white ewe”.(531) Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, accuses Othello of using witch craft on his daughter. “If she in chains of magic were not bound/ Whether a maid so tender, fair, and happy/ So opposite to marriage that she shunned…” (535) This point is important because Othello must defend himself not only to Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, but to the entire Venetian Senate. “And till she come, as truly as to heaven,/ I do confess the vices of my blood./ So justly to your grave ears I’ll present/ How I did thrive in this fair lady’s love, / And she in mine.” (539) Othello proves himself to be an intellectual hero early in the play. He has worked hard to gain respectability and power, but because he has a different background, is from another country, is dark-skinned and is older than Desdemona, he becomes jealous very quickly of Cassio. Cassio is from the same social class, is compatible with Desdemona and is a young handsome man. Iago has also convinced Cassio to seek favor with Desdemo...
Tragic Heroes have flaws that vary. Some men may have a weakness for being jealousy, for some men it might be arrogance, and for others it may be one’s own appearance. Othello’s main flaw was jealousy, which is what led him to the death of his wife, Desdemona (cliffnotes) . He also had another flaw, which was gullibility. Gullibility leads him to believing Iago and his misleading about Cassio, Desdemona, and etc… Without a flaw, a character cannot be a hero. This flaw leads to the downfall of the hero. Othello’s flaws are what made him seem to be a bad person. It is also what leads him to killing Desdemona.