The Trials of Othello
In Shakespeare's Othello there are three main trials that build the plot of the play. In each of these "trials", Iago though not always the judge tries to be the puppet master. He does this by focusing on each characters fatal flaw.
In the play the three main trails go as follows. First there is Othello's trial were he is being judged by the Duke and Brabantio regarding what happened with himself and Desdemona. The second and main trial is that of Othello judging Cassio, though it is not much of a trial per say because Othello is merely listening to what Iago has to say and does not even confront Cassio. The third and most dramatic trial is when at the end of the play Othello confronts Desdemona for the last time only to find out after he's killed her that Iago had been tricking him all along.
When the play begins we are given Iago and Rodrigo in the street outside of Brabantios window debating if they should tell him what they had heard about Othello and Desdemona. This is where the first trial begins. Iago tells Brabantio that he had been "robbed... of half his soul... by a black ram." (1.3.82-85) Iago bakes sure to word everything he says as best he can, stretching any small truth into a lie but one that would appear true, given the circumstances. In this case Iago says to Brabantio that Othello has kidnapped Desdemona and goes on exaggerated everything he says so that when Brabantio gives his testimony to the Duke It sounds a lot like Iago is speaking. When told to answer to this accusation that he has abused and stolen Desdemona from Brabantio all Othello can say is "that I have ta'en aw...
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...o confronts Desdemona while she is alone in her room. He asks Desdemona if there is anything she wants to tell him to try and get rid of her sins. He also says that this would be best for her because his mind is made up and she is going to die anyway. At this point Othello has convinced himself that what he is dong is fully justified because Desdemona will betray other men if he does not go through with it. Desdemona pleads for just one more day but he says that he just cannot grant this and that she must die now. Othello proceeds to suffocate Desdemona in her own pillow and though Othello hated to have to do it he at least feels that she can do no more harm but this all changes when everyone enters the room. After a few short dialogues Othello is informed that Iago had been lying the entire time and Othello proceeds to kill himself.
Film Analysis of Psycho When ‘Psycho’ was first screened in New York on 16th June 1960, it was
For this paper I chose to explore Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho because it has remained the only horror movie I’ve seen to date. I went into a couple others but immediately left; let’s just say horror is not my favorite genre of film. People may or may not always call Psycho a horror film, it may be more of a thriller to people nowadays, but I still believe the correct genre analysis is horror because it should always refer to the genre at the time the film was created and released. I chose Psycho because I spent multiple weeks in high school studying Hitchcock, and Psycho specifically, so I feel comfortable writing on it. I also thoroughly enjoy the film, its backstory, and the character development. Plus, it’s been roughly adapted into one of my favorite shows: Bates Motel, which I will also briefly explore.
gotten to the point where they feel as if there is no point in living.
Othello, a play by William Shakespeare, tells the tragic tale of the black Venetian general, Othello, and how he is manipulated by his ambitious friend, Iago. Iago becomes angry at Othello when he promotes Michael Cassio rather than Iago to the lieutenancy. Iago then schemes a plot to take down Othello. Iago uses Desdemona, Othello’s new wife, to take down the great general. He leads Othello to considering that his wife is cheating on him with Michael Cassio. This causes Othello to become suspicious and eventually drives Othello into killing Desdemona. In the end, Othello learns that his wife was faithful, and Iago had lied to him. This upsets Othello and causes him to also kill himself. Iago’s many motives are never revealed to the audience or the characters as in the last scene he states, “Demand me nothing. What you know, you know. From this time forth I never will speak word.” (Othello. Act 5 Scene 2: 355-356). In the play Othello, Iago is the master manipulator that formulates devious plots against the characters of Roderigo, Cassio, and Othello by using their desires to his advantage to reveal their underlying weaknesses.
Shakespearian tales always leave us with a plethora to ponder about the Elizabethan age and Shakespeare himself. “Othello” is no break in this mold, leaving us to ponder the roll of Iago within the harsh tale of love and murder. Iago is the one to tell Othello of his wife’s betrayal with Cassio, hence making up a story that will work to his favor yet betray those around him. Iago betrays his wife, Emilia, but not only her as he drags Othello, Desdemona, and Cassio into the mix of lies and the hatred he is spreading to improve his rank with Othello. But were Iago’s acts unjust and done for the sake of it? Is he a heartless man who’s only happiness is to bring sorrow upon others? No, Iago has a just reason for what he does, even though he causes the deaths of Cassio, Emilia, and Desdemona in his search for revenge; Iago is not a heartless fiend, just a man wronged.
The crucial moment in the play is the scene where Iago deceives Othello and induces him to fall. He does this by expanding the tactics used in prior scenes. Iago plants the seed of doubt in the Moor’s mind when he says, “Ha! I like that not “ (III, iii) as they came upon Cassio and Desdemona talking. He then retreats into a guise as “honest Iago” as he did in the brawl (II, ii). When he was the reluctant truth teller who must have unpleasant news dragged from him by a determined Othello.
“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.
We get introduced to Iago and Roderigo, who are scheming about getting back at Othello or so called the Moore, for promoting Cassio to lieutenant instead of Iago. We find out that Iago’s plan is to be friendly to everybody in order to gain their trust and betray them. They go to the house of a person called Brabantio, to tell them that Othello has stolen his daughter. He is in shock because this is Venice a place of logic and peace. This makes Barbantio pissed and he gathers up a mob to find Othello. Iago snags off to buddy up with Othello to make himself look like a good guy. Iago tells Othello that he is his “friend”. Cassio comes in to tell Othello that duke request him. Barbantio then comes in to accuse Othello of using dark magic to seduce his daughter and tries to arrest him. Othello says that they were both summoned by the duke. The duke and the senator are discussing the war in Cyprus. That the Turkish fleet is coming. We find out that Othello is a general and they need him for the war. However Barbanto explains what that “Othello stole his daughter” and the duke agrees with Barbantio that whosever took his daughter should be punished. Othello explains that he and Desdemona fell in love when she heard him tell stories Barbantio about his life and experiences. Brabantio doesn’t believe Desdemona isn’t like that, but then Desdemona comes in for herself and says she did fall in love with Othello. Barbantio accepts
In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Othello, Iago demonstrates a mastery of manipulation over people who had previously trusted and confided in him. His sudden turn from Othello’s loyal ensign to rage-filled villain seems indicative of a man who can no longer accept his position in life. Iago’s plotting of Othello’s demise starts as idle talk of a disgruntled 28 year-old career military man passed over for promotion. Iago believes that such a promotion may never come after Othello rejects his candidacy and makes it clear that he did not believe him suitable. He sees Othello is only concerned with personal and political gain with his choice of Cassio as lieutenant. When Iago teams with love-scorned and desperate Roderigo, he begins to construct Othello’s downfall. Iago is declaring an all-out covert war on Othello, Cassio, and anyone else who gets in his way. In Iago’s first speech in Act I Scene II, he proclaims hatred for Othello and lays out his plan for seeking vengeance. “After some time, to abuse Othello’s ears that he is too familiar with his wife (Shakespeare 1473).”
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.
In The Tragedy of Othello, William Shakespeare tells the tale of the “noble Moor” whose honor and innocence bring about his downfall. Shakespeare writes of the power of jealousy, and the art of masterful deception and trickery. The story primarily takes place in Cyprus, during a war between the people of Venice and the invading Turks. In this play Shakespeare shows the feelings of Othello’s embittered right-hand man of, Iago, who feels he is passed over for a promotion and swears his revenge. He proceeds to manipulate his friends, enemies, and family into doing his bidding without any of them ever realizing his ultimate goal. He makes Othello believe that his new wife, the innocent Desdemona, is committing adultery with his newly promoted officer Michael Cassio. After this seed of jealousy has been planted, Othello’s mind takes its course in determining the true outcome, with a little more nudging from Iago. The course of action he proceeds to follow is one that not only ends his own life, but also the life of his wife and others. In Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Othello, Othello is a man who is still truly honorable, despite the course of action he takes to resolve his perceived problem.
Othello, being the titular character, occupies fifteen positions in our fictional court, each one quite powerful. He brings the case against Desdemona, and he tries, sentences and executes her: thus he occupies the judge’s chair, wields Death’s scythe, and forms the jury, all the while seated to the judge’s right as the prosecution. Furthermore, despite being the main character, Othello is quite passive until the end, his character arc fully engineered by Iago. Therefore, his courtroom roles are largely inactive: the judge and jury see what they are shown by the counselors (Iago) and make their final judgement based off that. In the same manner, Iago is the character who drives the plot forward, more so than any other, with the counselors bearing the same responsibility in the courtroom. The relative positions of the characters also serve to illustrate this, with Iago being the central figure and Othellos lining the sides. Desdemona sits in one corner, an afterthought in the dynamic between these two
In the very beginning of Act I Iago displays his hatred for Othello. He is angry with him for making Cassio the lieutenant. Jealousy is his first motive. He then tells Roderigo (a former suitor of Desdemona) that Othello and Desdemona are getting married. The two of them then go and tell Desdemona's father, Brabantio, that Othello and his daughter have just eloped. This infuriates Brabantio. Soon after, Brabantio gets a gang after Othello. Iago's treachery is first displayed here. When Othello is confronted Iago is on his side. Iago was the person who instigated the whole situation. Shakespeare does a very good job in showing what kind of person Iago is, right from the beginning of the play. The reader begins to realize this before any of the characters in the play do. He did this so the reader will begin to see how evil Iago is, yet how unjustified his reasoning is. Act I is where Iago pieces together his whole sinister plot to get revenge. He first tells Roderigo to sell all he has and move to Cypress to court Desdemona. The last stanza of Act I is where he manifests his grand scheme. His idea is to get Othello into thinking Cassio is in love with Desdemona.
"I follow him to serve my turn upon him," said Iago (9:45). From the beginning of the story Iago has a cruel intent bent on destroying Othello merely because the job that he sought after was given to young Cassio. Exactly why his hatred burns so bright is unclear because it was not uncommon to lose a position to another soldier. With or without reasonable justification for revenge, Iago immediately starts to tear Othello apart by informing Brabantio (Desdemon's father, Othello;s wife) that she is out with a black ram and committing unjust acts. As time progresses Iago becomes more wrapped up in his lies that he even begins to believe that Othello has slept with his own wife, Emelia, and now he has even more reason to hate "the Moor", "I hate the Moor and it is thought abroad that `twixt my sheets `has done my office"( 55:429-431). Iago is so obsessed with his revenge on Othello that he does not care what happens to anyone else so long as he is happy. In the process of hurting Othello he manages to have Roderigo killed, Cassio severely injured, his own wife Emelia is slain by his own hands, Desdemona dies at the hands of her husband Othello, and after everything Othello kills himself. Sadly Iago accomplishes his revenge but with so many casualties and then he himself is tortured and killed for his part in the great conspiracy, but before he is punished he has to see that Cassio will be the one to take Othello's place (a strange irony since it was Cassio that Iago was jealous of).