Men of Power
In the plays, Othello, and Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare we are presented with a clear picture of love and politics and how the two mixed do not stand a chance. The political and social world of Shakespeare cannot fathom love or accept it as part of the struggles for power. Love and passion have no place in the world of power. For those in positions of nobility love is something that cannot truly be experienced in a peaceful manner. In the world of Shakespeare love must ultimately die in a world of political and social power.
In the play Othello we have a prince, Othello, who is slowly and powerfully deceived to the point where he distrusts his wife and kills her. He is the hock of one man, Iago, who is jealous and deceitful. It is because of one man, (Iago) that Othello falls and the audience is baffled between choices of who is at fault.
At the same time there are many things that speak of the nature of love and how others do not understand it much less accept it in a political world. Othello and Desdemona clearly love each other in a very simple and powerful way. They are really no threat to anyone, despite their political positions. Othello is primarily a foreign prince and truly poses no threat to the country and Desdemona simply loves Othello and possesses no power of her own. However, Iago, a man who symbolizes the lack of understanding in the society, convinces Othello that he cannot trust his wife. Iago perhaps represents those people in Antony's world who do not understand his love of Cleopatra. Iago represents the pressures of a society for two people in love.
In addition to the representation of Iago, we can see that there are issues of culture in both stories, issues that...
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...e attempt to find love, or attempt to live with their love, they are ultimately destroyed. They are also stories of how cultures cannot understand one another, or how love can rise above cultural barriers.
WORKS CITED
Adamson, Jane."Othello"as Tragedy: Some Problems of Judgment and Feeling. Cambridge, Eng., 1980
Antony and Cleopatra. Ed. David Bevington. The New Cambridge Shakespeare, Cambridge University Press, 1990
All Shakespeare. "Common Themes in Antony and Cleopatra and Romeo and Juliet."
Henderson, Liza. "Othello: The Language of Love and Death."
Johnston, Ian."The Triumph of the Lions? An Introduction to Antony and Cleopatra." (July 1999).
Kaula, David. "The Time Sense of Antony and Cleopatra." SQ 15:3, 1964, 211-223
Leggatt, Alexander. Shakespeare's Political Drama: The History Plays and the Roman Plays. London and New York, 1998
“I am not what I am,” proclaims one of Shakespeare’s darkest and most enigmatic villains, Iago, in the tragedy Othello. Iago’s journey for revenge enables him to become capable of immoral acts, and whilst his malevolence excites us, we are no more intrigued by his attributes than we are of the play’s tragic hero, Othellos’. Rather, both characters’ confrontation with jealousy and their subsequent moral demise as a result of failing to control such an emotion provides the true excitement for audiences. Iago’s spiteful manipulation of Othello makes him a multifaceted character — whose corrupt attributes make the audience examine their own morality. However, the same can be said of Othello; his failure to withstand Iago’s ‘pouring of pestilence’
In one of William Shakespeare’s most renowned and celebrated plays, the story of a General named Othello unravels in tragic form as he falls victim to the lies created by Iago. Once revered as a war hero and wed to the beautiful Desdemona, Othello’s life spirals downward with the untimely death of his beloved in his own hands, ultimately ending with his own demise. Love is the force behind this tragedy. Tragedy is the main driving force that brings happiness and tragedy to the characters within the play. But even as such a prominent force, it lacks clear definition. Love has a different meaning to the characters in the play. Characters like Othello, Desdemona, and Iago all have different perspectives on love, which informs their behavior in different ways.
William Shakespeare 's exemplary dramatization Othello bases on the two clashing characters of conspiring, manipulative Iago and the good, however as a rule irresolute Othello. In spite of the way that these men are totally inverse in character, Iago orders such convincing forces that he truly begins to influence Othello 's reasoning, adjusting the metaphors he uses and his view of those near him. Both Othello and Iago use a large number of the same scholarly gadgets and a great part of the same allegorical dialect to express their conclusions of everyone around them, as well as their general originations of the workings of the universe on a more otherworldly level.
Love is often perceived as something perfect and flawless in today’s society. However, Romeo and Juliet, a play written by William Shakespeare, portrays love as a form of passionate and violent force that comes with both rewards and consequences.The tragedy focuses on two young lovers called Romeo and Juliet, whose families are intertwined in an ancient feud that disrupts the peace in Verona, Italy. For love, the two teenagers are driven to overcome obstacles they will never imagine doing, and as a result, they along other family members are forced to pay the price of their lives. Through the play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare exhibits the reality of young love through the portrayal of the Queen Mab Speech, the impulsive actions taken by both lovers, and the results caused by the powerful nature of their love.
Iser, Wolfgang. Staging Politics: The Lasting Impact of Shakespeare's Histories. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.
Othello's love is nowhere near as powerful as Desdemona's. This is due to the fact that he is easily fooled by Iagos factitious statements of Desdemona cheating on Othello with the likes of Cassio. Due to the fact that there was already a bond between Othello and Iago the seed of deception was easily accepted by Othello.
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.
Love is a force that can overtake large adversities and can stumble over small challenges. Love is an intense feeling of deep affection. Love is eternal, but can be deflected. Different forms of love are expressed by Othello, Desdemona, and Iago in Shakespeare’s play Othello. As a result of romantic love, Desdemona splits from her family, and Othello slays his wife. Next, familial love, not as dominant as romantic love, is evidenced in Desdemona's choice to marry Othello against her family's requests. Lastly, Self-love is the basis for characters such as Iago and Othello to abandon moral reason. Love comes in different forms.
Love is a wonderful curse that forces us to do unexplainable things. Romeo and Juliet is a famous play written by William Shakespeare, who does an exceptional job in showing the readers what hate, mercy, death, courage, and most importantly, what love looks like. This play is about two star-crossed lovers who are both willing to sacrifice their lives just to be with one another. Unfortunately tragedy falls upon the unconditional love Romeo and Juliet have for each other, but along the way they experience immeasurable forgiveness and extraordinary bravery just to be with one another. Sadly enough, love is a cause of violence in the end.
Love is a very powerful force which some believe has the capability to overpower hate. Within the play, Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare displays various events in which the characters convey the message that love can conquer all. The characters in this play continue to forgive the ones they love, even under harsh circumstances. Additionally, Shakespeare effectively demonstrates how Romeo and Juliet’s love for one another overpowers significant emotional scenes within the play, including the feuding between their two families. Furthermore, by the end of the play the reader sees how love defeats the shock of death and how Romeo and Juliet’s love ends the ancient feud between the Capulets and Montagues. Using these three events, the reader sees Shakespeare’s message of how love can conquer all. In the desperate battle between love and hate, Shakespeare believes love to be the more powerful force in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.
Bradley, A.C.. Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. New York: Penguin Books, 1991.
...or example when she asked him to tell her how much he loved her, “If it be love indeed, tell me how much”. Her maids add a little to Cleopatra’s characteristics. Also she had a messenger go to Antony saying she was dead, which she was not.Cleopatra’s character is so exotic and proud to be able to manipulate men but Desdemona is a complete opposite. Betrayal is the other ultimate theme of both of these tragedies. In Othello, he betrays Desdemona by believing the evil Iago and not communicating with his wife. He instead assumes Iago’s statements are of truth. We see Iago’s slyness and cleverness grow and a vapid rate, Desdemona’s innoncence becomes more apparent and Othello’s character galls from a noble warrior into a jealous fool. Iago is the source of the problems in Othello. He has motivation to ruin dear Othello because of the promotion Cassio gets instead of Iago.
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.
Shakespeare’s Othello consists of the themes betrayal, love and dishonesty. At the centre of this play is the tragic downfall of Othello at the hands of his so called friend Iago. In this essay I will be discussing the reasons for and against Othello being responsible for his downfall through looking at critical interpretations of his character and actions.
Shakespeare uses Iago and Othello as the main characters of the play, showing how Iago manipulates Othello into believing his wife is cheating on him. Iago, or “honest Iago”, the villain of the play, a perfectionist at manipulation, that manages to influence people into thinking his deceitfulness is an act of honesty. He spends all of his time plotting against Othello and Desdemona, eventually convincing Othello that his wife has been cheating, despite the fact that Desdemona has been completely faithful. Othello, Venice’s most competent general, and the protagonist of the play. He was a noble and respected war hero, and a loving husband, however he was the target of Iago’s atrocities, which lead him to become an irrational, violent, and insanely jealous husband who murders his own wife at the end of the play.