Othello

983 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The role of Iago in Othello

After reading Shakespeare’s play OTHELLO you have to ask yourself is Othello as much a victim as he is a murderer? An assumption may be that because Othello kills his wife after the devious behavior of Iago, then maybe Othello is a victim of Iago’s evil. Some may argue that the sin of Iago to plot the down fall of the moor, is worse because it becomes a calculating mind compared to Othello’s sin because he has become a pawn in Iago’s hands. However, it is noticed that Othello allows himself to be manipulated. Iago’s suggestion of the infidelity of Desdemona, Othello’s wife, provides just the excuse Othello needs to justify the destruction of the wife he believes can not truly love him. Desdemona’s murder is a result of Othello’s pride and quick judgment, as a result, he must be held accountable.

Othello, unlike Iago, is capable of forming strong, loving relationships. His genuine friendship with Iago confirms this fact. Othello allows himself to be influenced by Iago, and allows Iago to bring out his most evil characteristics. Although Iago may be the more evil of the two, Othello does little to prevent his instincts from becoming dominant. To see why Othello commits his crime and why he has to be held accountable for it, we must examine his motive. It can be claimed that what actually causes Othello to commit murder is not his being mentally weakened and manipulated by Iago, but rather his own pride and lack of confidence which he allows to gain control. Othello is a strong leader, but he is insecure with his personal qualities. He is in a new city with different customs. He has a new bride, a young and beautiful girl, who he loves but does not know well. The Moor surely is aware of the widespread prejudice in Venice and certainly has to question why Desdemona would go against her culture by marrying a black man. Othello has his doubts about Desdemona before Iago begins his scheming. Even though his wife shows nothing but love for him, Othello cannot believe in her love wholeheartedly.

“Tis not to make me jealous to say my wife is fair, feeds well, loves company…Nor from mine own weak merits will I draw the smallest fear or doubt of her revolt, for she had eyes and chose me” (Act III, Scene III, 198) Othello is going to conclude that Desdemona's compassion and virtue alone enable her to love him.

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

  • Examples Of Insecurity In Othello

    621 Words  | 2 Pages

    Even before Iago exerts his influence over Othello, we can observe the inklings of Othello’s insecurity and the doubt he has regarding his relationship with Desdemona. During his audience with the Duke, Othello describes the circumstances by which he became acquainted with Desdemona. He says on the occasions that he told Brabantio of his life stories, he would also tell Desdemona the same stories. Then, Othello self-consciously proposes that the sole reason why Desdemona loves him is because she pitied his misfortunes: “She loved me for the dangers I had passed, / And I loved her that she did pity them” (I.iii.193-194). Othello feels way because as

    Read More

  • Othello

    789 Words  | 2 Pages

    In William Shaspeare play Othello, Iago make Othello believe that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. He does by taking advantage of any situation to make of Othello doubt. Iago make Othello thing a lot of crazy thing on his head, Othello got so jelous leading him to kill his own wife, Desdemona, satisfying iago obseccion for revenge.

    Read More

  • William Shakespeare's Othello

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    While Othello murdered his wife Desdemona, he did it purely from misunderstanding and jealousy. Iago made Othello believe Desdemona is cheating on him with Cassio even though she never did such actions. Iago’s persistence and villainous intentions made Othello become jealous of Cassio and break down his emotions towards Desdemona and want to kill her with fierce rage. Othello would not do such a crime if he have known it is was a

    Read More

  • The Misunderstood Iago of Othello

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • othello

    864 Words  | 2 Pages

    The play, Othello was written by William Shakespeare in the later years of his career. Giraldi Cinthios, Tale of a Moor, based Othello on a story that was a mellow Drama, about a moor and his doubts about his wife’s fidelity. In Shakespeare’s play the Moor (Othello) convinced by his jealous aid (Iago) that his wife (Desdemona) is not Being faithful. Iago’s jealousy is motivated by his anger when he learns that Cassio of Florentine has been appointed Governor of Cyprus. He felt that he deserved this promotion and vowed to seek revenge against Othello.

    Read More

  • Othello

    645 Words  | 2 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • Othello's Honor

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    Iago’s artful manipulation of Othello’s mind is done in such a way that Othello no longer realizes what he is doing. Angered by the “proof” Iago gives him, Othello does what he believes was honorable in his situation.  When he wishes to kill his wife, it is not because he wants it to end that way, but rather because he feels it is the only way to clear the sins the she has committed. Before he kills her Othello says, “Justice to break her sword! One more, one more!/ Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee,/ And love thee after.” (114).

    Read More

  • Othello

    765 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Othello" is a good example of Aristotelian drama. It is simple play and the focus is on a very small cast of characters. It has few distractions from the main plot and concentrates on just a few themes, such a jealousy, prejudice, pride and honesty. Jealousy is the emotion that drives the action of Othello. It has the classical unities of time, place (setting is in Venice in the first act and Cyprus thereafter) and action. Othello's cast is made up of "ordinary" people of moderate rank, and not of heroic stature and the dramatic action is interpersonal rather than universal.

    Read More

  • othello

    578 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Act 1. Desdemona admits that she fell in love with Othello's eloquence and harrowing adventures; 'I saw Othello's visage in his mind'. This outlines his sense of nobility in language,which empahsis how much of an experienced warrior ans revered noble man he is. Moreover Desdemona reveals Othello's nobility of love, 'She loved me for the dangers I had passed/ I loved her that she did pity them'. She succeeds in unveiling a side in Othello's nature which show him as a loving, respectful husband. He is clearly trustful of Desdemona and is not by any means jealous of him, as he allows her to travel to Cyprus with Iago,' To his conveyance I assign my wife'.

    Read More

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

    1629 Words  | 4 Pages

    In conclusion, I feel that Othello is to blame for his downfall completely because he could have prevented the deaths of three people including him from happening by not letting rumours and assumptions getting the best of him and having faith in his wife. If he had even bothered to ask Desdemona if any of what Iago said about her was true, he could have seen what a distasteful man Iago really was and not have been fooled and driven to insanity and Desdemona could have at least justified herself properly. He must have had the same doubts in his head from the beginning of the relationship as he instantly believed the lies, because if he hadn’t, he would have questioned Iago more than once. Jealously is a powerful motive.

    Read More

  • Reason And Emotion In Othello Analysis

    1474 Words  | 3 Pages

    Interestingly, as Othello is preparing to kill Desdemona, he still believes that he is using reason to make his decisions. He says, “It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul./ Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars,/ It is the cause” (V.ii.1-3). While he does not speak his reason, he is confident that he has one good enough for which to kill. This continues into an emotional set of lines about how much he is dreading preforming the necessary deed. It is not until the last set of Othello’s lines that he admits to being a fool overcome with

    Read More

  • Tragic Hero's Downfall In Othello '

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    Even though Othello trusted Iago, he did not once think about Desdemona’s faithfulness and that Iago might just be completely lying. I’ll not expostulate with her. ”(IV.i.206-208) It shows that he came to a quick and poor conclusion to kill Desdemona. Othello having poor judgment lead him to trust the wrong people and when he finally realized this, it lead to his demise. The third trait in Othello that led to his downfall was his jealousy and obsession with Desdemona.

    Read More

  • Othello

    931 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Shakespeare’s Othello, dramatic intensity is and dramatic tension is felt throughout the entire drama from the first scene to the last. As you read Othello you get a feeling as if you are in the play from all of the dramatic intensity and conflict that is presented to the reader throughout the drama. We are introduced to some of that dramatic intensity you feel as we read act I scene III 128 - 220. This is one off the many great dramatic points of this play letting us see the true feelings of Othello toward Desdemona, and how it gives Iagos a plot to plan against Othello to bring him down. This drama we see that the internal drama tension is from mainly Iago without him there would be no conflicts really throughout the play. We see inside of Iagos dastardly plan in Act II, Scene I, and Lines 211 – 292 were he is planning with Roderigo to get Desdemona away from Othello so that Roderigo could court her. We then from this scene see that at the end when Roderigo leaves that this is just a big plot to bring down Othello and get back at Cassio out of pure jealousy of him for being named by Othello his military understudy. Iago plotting the way he does in this part of the drama it’s only a mere prelude to the intensity and tension felt throughout the play. It makes us realize that the problem isn’t anything to do with Desdemona and Othello’s conflict of being together as in act I scene III lines 128 - 220. Iago in act II scene I lines 211 – 292 sets the entire plot and scheme of the drama out for us to see, and showing us that Othello’s and Desdemona’s confess to love in act I scene III lines 128 - 220 is no longer the dramatic conflict.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Reputation In William Shakespeare's Othello

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    Othello’s personality was shaped largely by war and his pride as a capable soldier. He was intelligent and strong enough to live through countless battles and lead troops into war with successful results. Even Iago, who hates Othello for passing him over for the lieutenant position, can not deny Othello’s noble yet naïve nature, which he explains to Roderigo, “The Moor is of a free and open nature” (Act 1 Scene 3 390). However, as Iago continually hints to Othello that his wife Desdemona is cheating on him with Cassio, more of his negative personality traits begin to show up. Doubt, mistrust, jealousy and rage all grew with Iago’s hints and led him to believe that his wife had damaged his reputation by being unfaithful to him. In the beginning of Othello, Othello betted on his life that Desdemona loved him and would never betray him and by the end of Shakespeare’s story, he suffocates and kills his wife out of honor in order to preserve his reputation and sense of self. He killed her not only out of a sense of duty, but also because of how hurt and betrayed he felt about her perceived infidelity. Therefore, Othello represents the good and the bad side of human nature by being intelligent, loving, open, and honorable and the bad by doubting his wife, exhibiting jealousy, anger and

    Read More

More about Othello

Open Document