Impact of Relationships Upon the Themes of Shakespeare's Othello

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The Impact of the Relationship between Othello, Iago and Cassio Upon the Themes of Othello

The major themes present in Othello are Jealously, Betrayal and Appearance vs. Reality. Each one of these themes are reinforced throughout the play in Iago's evil plot. They are represented or seen by Othello, Iago and Cassio and the relationship between them; dictating the motion of the play.

Othello is the main character of the play. He is a moorish general and head of the army of venice. He is a warrior, honest, and loves his new wife Desdemona very much. His only mistake is trusting his ensign, Iago too much and allowing Iago to come between his marriage. Iago makes Othello believe that his wife, Desdemona, is cheating on him.

Iago is Othello's ensign, and the main villain of the play. He hoped to be promoted to the position of lieutament, but Othello chose Cassio over him. To get revenge, he brings forth a plot to convince Othello that Cassio and Desdemona, are having an affair. Iago is truly evil, and cares only about himself.

Cassio is Othello's lieutanent who was chosen over the veteran soldier, Iago, for the position. Cassio is a young and handsome Florentine and is very polite with the ladies. By getting drunk and hurting Montano, Governor of Cyprus, he gets discharged from being Othello's lieutanent.

The relationship between Othello and Iago is not sincere as Iago makes Othello and everyone else believe. Iago fools everyone into believing that he is an honorable man and loyal friend so that he can get punish Othello for not promoting him to lieutenant. No one ever suspects him of wrongdoing until the end of the play. By the first scene ...

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...ssio is like a triangle where even though they are three different characters, they are connected in a way. Othello who has so much power as the general and head of the army, has a weakness in trusting people by their appearance. One of these persons is his ensign Iago, whose reputation is that of an "honest man", but inside he is an evil person. His envy towards Othello drives him on deceiving him and Cassio into believing his supposed loyalty. Iago betrays him by plotting against him using Cassio who is manipulated and innocent of his evilness. Cassio's only interest is getting the position as Othello's lieutanent and by this he gets used by Iago, who disliked him from the beginning because that was the position he wanted to receive. By bringing Cassio in, we close the triangle understanding how the relationship between them dictate the motion of the play.

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