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The portrayal of women in Shakespeare's plays
Full summary of Othello
Characterization of women in Shakespeare
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Othello's Responsibility for Desdemona's Death Othello is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays. Its controversial issues and passionate characters excite audiences around the world. In the United States, the first ever on-stage kiss between a "black" man and a "white" woman occurred in a 1943 production of the play that went on to be the longest running Shakespearean play in the country's history. Othello is a play written in the early 17th century. It has many characters who are Othello, Desdemona, Iago, Roderigo, Cassio and Emilia. Othello, Desdemona and Iago are the main characters. Othello focuses on the relationship between ''Othello and Desdemona''. Iago, Emilia and Roderigo play a big role in the relationship. It is a tale of love and deceit. Iago, Othello's friend is being duplicitous. That causes rafts between Othello and Desdemona. Which leads to Desdemona being strangled by Othello. Looking at that Othello has been stupid to believe what Iago has said to him. For example, on one occasion Othello suspects Cassio, ''ha! I like not that''. This explains to us that Iago making Othello suspicious that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair, Othello really does believe Iago. That makes Othello responsible for Desdemona's death. For example, when Othello sees Cassio talking to Desdemona, Iago winds him up and says he should beware jealousy, the ''green eyed monster''. This explains to us that from now on you have to take on jealousy as well. The era this play is set in was very racist. They did not like dark-skinned people. It is very unlike now. That is partly the reason why the tragedy of Othello the pl... ... middle of paper ... ...acters react to his presence in different ways. Given these statements, Othello, Iago and Roderigo are the people who are responsible for Desdemona's death. Iago for planning the whole thing. He uses any chance, he gets to arouse Othello's anger and jealousy to make Desdemona and Cassio seem guilty. Planting the handkerchief...which is the symbol of faithfulness. Othello for being too trusting, and trusting the wrong people, for example, Iago. He listens to Iago and eventually even adopts his nature and language. Roderigo for being gullible and too easily duped into Iago's plans. He believes that he will have a chance with Desdemona. For example, "put money in thy purse" shows how clever Iago is with his subtle techniques of persuasion. These three Othello, Iago and Roderigo are the people who are responsible for Desdemona's death.
Desdemona's naivety is the prime cause of the conflict in "Othello" because she doesn't know that Iago is depriving her in Othello's mind by using her actions against her. Desdemona loves Othello, but also is benevolent in helping anyone even if it might be practiced against her. Cassio asked Desdemona if she can help get Othello's trust back, only as Othello and Iago enters they see Cassio leave and gets a bit
Though her world was fall apart with Iago creating false images of an affair between her and Cassio to Othello, Desdemona strangely remains kind, innocent, and willing to grant grace. When Cassio approaches her for help, she quickly agrees to help her old friend. While she discusses relationships with Emilia, she rejects all thoughts of infidelity. She had every reason to fight Othello when Othello carries out her murder, yet she resist only a little, She responses, “The Lord have mercy on me…[and] mercy on you too” to Othello’s “Thou diest” (Othello 5.2.50; 71-74). When she is briefly revived and quested by Emilia as to who her murderer is, Desdemona only replies, “I myself” (Othello 5.2.152).
In everyones life there is always the one person who you think you can trust, and later come to find that they have been playing you all along. This is the exact case for Othello. Iago, whom Othello thought was a person he could trust, betrayed him in many horrific ways.As you read the famous Shakespearian play, Othello, the Moor of VeniceI, you come to realise pretty quickly that Iago is the evil charecter in this play. The readers do not actually get to see a good side of Iago, if there is any, because he is constantly using and playing people. Readers will also come to learn that no matter how evil Iago may be perceived as that he is very much a coward, using other people to do most of his dirty work for him.
Is Othello responsible for Desdemona’s death? Or is it Iago who planned to get revenge against the Moor? There are many people in the play who are responsible for Desdemona’s death. However, one of the individuals in the play unwittingly helps contribute to her death by being naive. Emilia who is Desdemona’s loyal friend fails to convince Othello that Desdemona is faithful. She is unwittingly responsible for her friend’s death because, she never mentions the handkerchief until Desdemona has been killed. Although, Iago is the master mind behind Desdemona’s death and Othello is the person who murdered her if then, it were not for Emilia who initiates Iago’s plans Desdemona would still be alive. Emilia is unwittingly responsible for Desdemona’s death because she is naïve about her husband’s actions; she is silent about the handkerchief and lacks courage to prove to Othello that Desdemona’s is innocent.
Honesty is one of the most important factors in Othello. And although there is very little honesty actually present in the play the term is most commonly applied to Iago, who also happens to be the most dishonest character in Othello. Due partly to the other characters naiveté, Iago is capable of manipulating, brainwashing, and molding the other characters to satisfy his need for revenge against Othello.
In Shakespeare’s play Othello, the main character Othello is typically victimized and portrayed as a mere scapegoat of the villainous Iago’s devious plans. However, Othello is not completely void of responsibility for the death of his wife. Othello, the tragic hero, is just as responsible as Iago for his premeditated murder of Desdemona due to his own internal flaws. Specifically, flaws such as his vivid imagination and his self over-idealization are brought to the surface by Iago, which consequently allows Iago to easily manipulate Othello.
Who is really to blame for Desdemona’s death? Although Othello made the fatal design and actually killed Desdemona, Iago‘s manipulation of Othello gives reason to put the blame on Iago. Iago is definitely to blame for the misfortune that occurs in the story. Iago disseminates every character in the story. Iago’s main reason for doing so was that he felt mistreated and overlooked when Othello assigned Cassio his right hand man.
Desdemona is one of the protagonists of the play contributes to the play and also fleshes out certain aspects of characterisation mainly where Othello and Iago are concerned. Thus her relevance is highlighted consistently throughout Othello, since without her ppresence, Iago would not have succeeded in manipulating Othello, and Othello's drastic transformation would not have been made evident.
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.
Iago’s hatred towards Roderigo is clear for the reasons that he took advantage of him, convinced him to sell his land, and “put money in thy purse” (1.3.341). Iago’s hatred is so powerful he was willing to use Roderigo as his puppet, in order to get into the minds of others. It becomes evident Iago hates Roderigo when he admits he looks down upon him as a "sick fool” (2.3.45). Iago’s malig...
In Shakespeare’s play “Othello” the main characters Othello and Desdemona suffer a tragic fate due to their actions and unforeseen circumstances. A majority of Desdemona’s suffering is down to Iago’s manipulation. However, it could also be argued that Iago is not completely to blame for the misfortune of Desdemona. We as the readers can see evidence of this at certain points in the play where Iago has planted the seeds of despair and Desdemona and Othello have fallen for his plans. In this essay, I will look at key moments in the play where Desdemona is presented as a tragic victim by the writer and justify why she is a tragic victim using quotes from the play.
... sake of his reputation, Iago persuades Roderigo to kill Cassio. In doing so, Roderigo only injures the lieutenant. Iago sees his plan collapsing and rushes in to kill Roderigo. Betrayed by his friend, Roderigo died in pursuit of Desdemona’s love.
Angry over being passed up for a promotion Iago decided to take matters into his own hands. In order to become lieutenant Iago devised a plan that included breaking up Othello’s marriage and eliminating Cassio as competition. Iago enticed Roderigo to be his partner in crime with the promise of attaining Desdemona’s love. Desdemona had many suitors since she was an attractive young woman, yet she “shunned [t]he wealthy,” (Act 1, Scene 2, Line 66-67), which included Roderigo, who owned multiple plots of land. Roderigo, who was naïve for thinking Iago actually had his best interest in mind, was easily persuaded since he was obsessed with Desdemona. The truth of the matter was that
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.
William Shakespeare’s Othello is a play about the downfall of the Moor of Venice induced by evil villain Iago. The characters are put into focus by their moral virtue, all except Iago because he is a Vice. The English Oxford Dictionary defines Vice as immoral or wicked behavior (OED). The motive of being passed over for a promotion is not enough to pin the cause of Iago’s wickedness. It is Othello who needs to be scrutinized, in terms of passion. Leo Africanus describes the Moor as honest, trusting, but jealous and given to passionate vengeful rage when wronged. (Vitkus, 161) This is extremely evident in Shakespeare’s play. Othello causes his own downfall being blinded by jealously. William Shakespeare’s use of jealousy and deception are partnered with the themes of appearance versus reality. Othello’s greatest conquest in this play is not Iago but his own vice, Jealousy.