Formulative Lens of William Shakespeare's Othello

763 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Symbolism of ophelia's death

Formulative Lens of William Shakespeare's Othello

The Tragedy of Othello by William Shakespeare is a great work by a great author. Shakespeare was correct in titling it The Tragedy of Othello because Othello lost so much. In the literary sense, a tragedy is the downfall of a character through that character's own flaws. The way most people see a tragedy is a story where there is much suffering and loss, and a not so happy ending. No matter way one looks at it, literary or public sense, this was a correct title. The main character, Othello, brought his own downfall upon him through his flaws, caused the suffering of many people, and he himself loss very much. All of these factors pile up to equal a big tragedy.

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.

Another is how Othello lost his friends, and is faith in them. By the end of the story, Othello has lost probably his best friend he had in Cassio. He lost Cassio because he did not trust him; Othello thought Cassio was his enemy. Othello believed in Iago so much that he forgot about others. And this trust in Iago was wrongly placed; he turned out to be his true enemy. Othello brought this upon himself by blindly following Iago when he had no other reason to do so but Iago's reputation as an honest fellow. "I know, Iago, Thy honesty and love…" (II, iii).

Another loss of Othello's was his good name, his reputation.

Show More
Related

  • Tragic Heroes And Their Downfalls In Shakespeare's Othello

    1347 Words  | 3 Pages

    Northrop Frye once said, “Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divisive lightning.” Othello is the pillar of tragic heros, first playing the part of a loving husband with a beautiful wife, then being manipulated into believing his wife was cheating on him and killing her. Throughout the play, he played the part of the protagonist, everyone hoping he would figure out Iago was lying to him. Othello being the protagonist made the fact he was also a villain bittersweet. His apparent love for his wife Desdemona, his ‘just’ reasoning for killing her, and Iago’s deserving end all contribute to the tragic work as a whole.

    Read More

  • The Dual Nature of Characters in Shakespeare's Othello

    566 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Manipulation of Perception in Shakespeare's Othello

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    This paper contains 237 words of teacher’s comments.   What one perceives is influenced by one’s environment. The setting and commentary surrounding events changes our perception of them. Any innocent gesture can be perceived in the wrong way with enough persuading from someone else. Even if someone has total faith in another person's innocence, they can be persuaded to doubt them through the twisting of events. Once just a small amount of doubt has been planted, it influences the way everything else is seen. This occurs throughout the play, Othello. In this play, Iago influences Othello's perception of events through speeches and lies, making him doubt Desdemona's fidelity. Iago uses his talent of manipulating events to exact his revenge on Othello. Iago's twisting of events in Othello's mind leads to the downfall of Othello as planned, but because he fails to twist Emilia's perception as well, he facilitates his own eventual downfall.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis of Othello

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    Picture this- William Harold Shakespeare, the most coveted playwriter in the history of the world, sitting at his desk, perspicaciously pondering over what shall become his most prominant and delicated tragedy of yet. Of course, given what little is known about Shakespeere displays, such deepseated imagery cannot simply be accomplished without first the propriety of haste and vinction.And yet, his very own rhetorical vibe displays allows such a vague pictoration to be concieved. Throughout the whole of Othello, the great Shakespeare remarks through an astounding displays show of pronouns, allitteration, and cacophonous diction his own resentment of both the King of Italy and the poor conditions of the said novelist.

    Read More

  • Othello Reflects the Context and Values of its Time

    1338 Words  | 3 Pages

    Texts and their appropriations reflect the context and values of their times. Within Shakespeare’s Othello and Geoffrey Sax’s appropriation of Othello, the evolution of the attitudes held by Elizabethan audiences and those held by contemporary audiences can be seen through the context of the female coupled with the context of racism. The role of the female has developed from being submissive and “obedient” in the Elizabethan era to being independent and liberated within the contemporary setting. The racism of the first text is overtly xenophobic and natural, whilst the “moor” is unnatural whereas the updated context portrays Othello’s race as natural and racism as unnatural. Therefore these examples show how Shakespeare’s Othello, and it’s appropriation, Geoffrey sax’s Othello, reflect the context and values of their times.

    Read More

  • Shakespeare's Othello

    1248 Words  | 3 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • Fate or Free Will in Othello by William Shakespeare

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Othello

    1432 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Act three, Scene three, Desdemona agrees to speak to Othello in Cassio’s behalf) As Desdemona and Cassio discuss Cassio’s loss of rank and trust in Othello’s eyes. Iago brings to Othello’s attention the discussion taking place between Cassio and Desdemona. Iago knowing full well why the discussion is happening. Iago hints the pair seems to be spending a lot of time together. Iago plants the seed of doubt in Othello’s mind Othello begins to ponder the idea of whether Iago suspicions are true.

    Read More

  • Free College Essays - The Tragic and Serious Othello

    557 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Othello is Solely Responsible for his Downfall in Shakespeare's Othello

    1629 Words  | 4 Pages

    I believe Iago has nothing to do with Othello's downfall as Othello is an easily mislead man who is easily influenced. Not only did Iago not directly say Desdemona was having an affair, he neither didn’t give proof to confirm the rumours. By Othello believing the lies, it surfaces his inability to trust and have faith in his own wife. Othello is written by William Shakespeare and was set in Cyprus and Venice during the 16th century. It is about a well-respected military soldier who due to lies and deceits killed his wife for no reason and after turned the knife towards himself. The play illustrates how much one could be polluted in such little time; with the ‘facts’ based upon suspicions and assumptions from a source who was determined to kill him. Venice is a town in where Othello and Desdemona wed. It was convenient for the beginning part of the play as it was one of the most powerful cities of the time. It had a thriving atmosphere and was noted for the pleasures it offered in the way of arts and music. However, Cyprus is an alternative to Venice. It is a foreign, strange exotic place which is desolated and has a lot of open space. Since the war finished before it begun, the main focus reverts to Othello and Desdemona.

    Read More

  • Othello's Tragic Flaw

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    Of Shakespeare’s five greatest tragedies, Othello is by far the most passionate and gripping. It is a tale of love, deception, evil, honesty, and virtue. Othello himself is set apart from other Shakespearean tragic heroes by the absolute feeling of affection the audience feels for him even unto the very end of the play. Any discerning reader painfully recognizes the virtue and goodness of Othello throughout the entire play, in contrast to the general degeneration of character so typical of a tragic hero. It is this complete pity that makes the death of Othello so tragic as the audience lends their full hopeful support until the inevitable and unavoidable fall. The evil side of Othello’s tragic flaw came from without, in the form of Iago. The internal flaw exists only in his heartrendingly unshakable goodness and honor.

    Read More

  • Iago the Machiavellian in Othello

    1407 Words  | 3 Pages

    Iago plans to destroy Othello and Desdemona’s marriage by using Desdemona’s kindness toward Cassio against her and make her look unfaithful in front of her noble husband.... ... middle of paper ... ... Othello is not only a tragedy, but also an important reminder of how people are easily deceived to gain power and recognition.

    Read More

  • Tragic Hero's Downfall In Othello '

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    Othello being very easily manipulated led him to make choices that would later on kill his wife and even kill himself. Othello having poor judgment lead him to trust the wrong people and this tied to him making the wrong decisions. His jealousy and obsession with Desdemona was what lead him to kill her. If Othello did not possess these traits the drama would have ended completely different. Othello let himself believe everything Iago told him, if he chose to trust his wife the whole conflict would have been averted. His obsession with his wife was so strong that he could not help think about what she did with Cassio and the only way out was to kill her.

    Read More

  • Jealousy, Love and Betrayal in Othello by William Shakespeare

    1748 Words  | 4 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • The Tragic Hero in William Shakespeare´s Othello

    611 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tragic heroes tend to have very pre-determined paths; usually making the most virtuous of characters destined to suffer. The hamartia or ‘tragic flaw’ is the typical reason the hero falls. Shakespeare was noted to be one of the best writers of tragedies, one of his most prominent to be Othello. In Othello, we find a number of tragic flaws two including pride and ambition. In William Shakespeare’s play, Othello, pride and ambition are used to identify the outcomes for the main characters in the play when seeing the resolution of the play, perceiving those who survive and those who don’t, and considering each character’s role in the turn of events.

    Read More

More about Formulative Lens of William Shakespeare's Othello

Open Document