Shakespeare's Othello
analytical Essay
1330 words
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. The story of Othello begins in Venice when Roderigo and Iago having a discussion. Before the discussion with Iago, Roderigo finds that Desdemona has already been married off, to a Othello, a moor, none the less. Iago is enraged by this news, he decides that he now has more than one reason to hate Othello. Othello has not only taken the woman that Iago so desperately longs for, but he had just recently surpassed him over for the position of lieutenant for Michael Cassio, who is not as experienced as Iago. Iago and Roderigo go to the house of Brabantio, the father of Desdemona, to tell him that his dearly beloved daughter has been kidnapped and has married a moor. They tell him to go and check on his daughter to see if she is in the house, when Brabantio goes to check his daughter's room he indeed realizes that she is missing and he quickly sends out some of his officers to find Othello. These events show that Iago will take any chance that he can to take a stab at Othello, no matter what the risks may be, if the king... ... middle of paper ... ... as expected he runs away from the problem at hand. In the end Othello kills Desdemona, and then realises that she was telling the truth all along, unable to deal with this he kills himself. Iago ends up murdering Emilia and tries to flee, but he is stopped by Lodovico and Montano. After that he is sentenced to death. There are many, many ways that a reader can observe and analyse Iago, but most can agree that he is not a very good or nice person by any means whatsoever. He is a conniving coward who is a very jealous person and wants to have all of the power that he can get his hands on, no matter what the cost, unless the cost is his own life of course. Works Cited Shakespeare. Othello, the Moor of Venice. Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X Day, and Robert Funk. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 2008. 951-1038. Print.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how othello's character, iago, betrayed him in many horrific ways in the famous shakespearian play.
- Analyzes how the story of othello begins in venice when roderigo and iago discuss desdemona's marriage to a moor, enraged by this news, decides that he has more than one reason to hate him.
- Narrates how iago tries to hide his hatred towards othello, but before brabantio finds him, he accuses him of kidnapping his daughter and using witchcraft to seduce her.
- Narrates how iago, rodrigo, desdemona, and emilia arrive on a ship together, as their boat docks, they spot the ship that othello is on.
- Analyzes how iago's first soliloquy states that the first step to defeating othello is to eliminate cassio.
- Analyzes how iago tells the audience that he will frame cassio and desdemona as being in love, which will make othello extremely jealous.
- Analyzes how desdemona begs othello to forgive cassio and make him his lieutenant once again, a sure sign that they are having an affair.
- Analyzes how emilia sneaks into the room and steals a handkerchief from desdemona and othello. iago is ecstatic about it, and he knows how to use it against him.
- Analyzes how iago takes the handkerchief and places it in the room of cassio as evidence to his supposed affair with desdemona.
- Analyzes how othello becomes enraged with desdemona, and jealous of cassio, that he convulses upon the floor. when iago tells him to be hidden to retrieve the story of des
- Analyzes how othello yells at desdemona stating that she is a whore. later, iago tells rodrigo that the next step in the plan is to kill cassio.
- Analyzes how othello kills desdemona, and then realises that she was telling the truth all along. iago ends up murdering emilia and tries to flee, but is stopped by lodovico and montano.
- Opines that iago is a conniving coward who wants to have all of the power that he can get his hands on, no matter what the cost.
Related
- analytical
- Iago as the Hero of Shakespeare's Othelloanalytical essayA Shakespearean play always includes a typical villain character. He is boisterous, egotistical, sometimes witty, and all too eager to seek revenge. In William Shakespeare Othello, Iago is the well-liked, trusted, and brave ensign of the great Venetian general Othello, or so it appears. Iago actually possesses all of the typical villainous qualities, however Iago conducts himself with great composure, and by manipulating his counterparts, he makes people believe he is on their side. I find this characteristic to be a very intriguing one that is not easy to perform. It is perhaps Iago's villainous actions throughout this play that lead me to believe that he is the hero rather than the typical villain.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes iago as the hero of othello, a shakespearean play that always includes the typical villain character — he is boisterous and egotistical, sometimes witty, and eager to seek revenge.
- Analyzes how iago uses his brilliance to capture the attention of the people, both onstage and off.
- Analyzes how iago uses convincing words to get roderigo to think he would win the new bride's heart if only by telling the father.
- Analyzes how iago makes his character look calm, cool, and good-hearted in act 1 scene 2.
- Analyzes how iago lacks the traits of a wicked man, and cassio's evil side in the next scene.
- Analyzes how othello's monologue teaches the audience that he hates the moor, and that his actions towards him are fake.
- Analyzes how othello is thanking iago for his advice about cassio's wrongdoing towards his wife, desdemona, while he addresses her by telling her that the man she loves is dying.
- Analyzes how iago was in command of the characters around him, and his audiences attention. his plan worked and othello lost all trust in desdemona.
- Opines that it is necessary for a prince, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how not to be good and to use this knowledge and not use it according to the necessity of the case.
- Analyzes how machiavelli explains that all men must commit wrongdoing if they are going to be good men. iago is smarter than everyone else, and he knows how to act in ways that will trick people.
- Cites bloom, harold, and jones, eldred. "the tragedy of othello the moor of venice."
1305 wordsRead More - Iago Character Analysisanalytical essayWilliam Shakespeare’s antagonist, Iago, is a dynamic character whose villainous mastermind that strikes from the sidelines. Iago is the type of person who does not like to get his hands dirty, and would prefer to manipulate others in to doing his bidding. Iago is quite possibly one of the best examples of mischief in the literature. He is merely as manipulative, if not more as other "bad guys”. He uses not only lies but kind of twists the truth to get the results he wants in every situation. Benjamin Beier says “Iago also brings the interesting feature of truth into it all. From the very start of Othello, Iago is in the middle of his scheme to destroy Othello.” He leads everyone on using his likeable persona to fool everyone such as his wife Emilia, Cassio, and especially Othello to his advantage. It is true that his goal is to essentially affect Othello negatively but he does so in such a way where he is totally manipulating the situation without directly involving himself. He speaks with the rascal, Rodrigo and from the very first moment Iago states to not really being what he seems.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that iago is the most sinister character in shakespeare's literature. he is a ruthless sociopath, and no other character can even come close to how evil he has become.
- Analyzes how shakespeare's antagonist, iago, is a dynamic character whose villainous mastermind strikes from the sidelines. he uses not only lies but twists the truth to get the results he wants in every situation.
- Opines that iago is better than michael cassio in the battle field. othello is an upright general and a good role model on his soldiers.
- Explains that iago is a soldier in othello's army as well as trustworthy friend. he plans to manipulate all those around him in the sense of revenge.
- Analyzes how siler commented on iago's comment about othello’s psychological structure, saying he executed his scheme so skillfully because of his intimate knowledge of the way his mind operates.
- Opines that everyone views iago as a trustworthy, truthful man. he is directly or indirectly accountable for the deaths of othello desdemona, emilia
- Analyzes how iago viewed himself as the most committed soldier othello had, alongside a deep bond. while everyone around him is enraged and confused, he plays blameless.
- Analyzes how iago's insecurity overwhelms him to ridiculous point. he makes those who succeed suffer to make himself feel better, while being portrayed as innocent.
- Analyzes how iago is a two-faced, scheming, self-centered failure. he has dedicated an enormously dangerous crime, and he's done it without lifting the finger.
- Analyzes how iago tricks othello into believing that his wife, desdemona, is having an affair with cassio. he entices and implants images into his head that lead him to his own demise.
- Analyzes how iago's motivation is hate, wounded with pride, feeling of personal injustice, and jealous suspicion combine into his mastery passion of hate for othello the moor.
- Analyzes how iago, as the antagonist in "othello," is one of the most sinister characters in shakespearean literature. the consequences of all of his actions caused death on several characters.
1121 wordsRead More - William Shakespeare's Othelloanalytical essayIago is one of Shakespeare’s most complex villains. Initially you get the impression that the character of Iago is one of pure evil. Right from the start of Act 1, it becomes obvious that he is capable of most anything. You see right away that he is able to give the appearance of one thing, but in reality be something quite different. He has been acting like he is interested in helping Roderigo by bringing gifts and messages to Desdemona for him. Iago is in reality using Roderigo who is very gullible and in fact not too bright. Iago plays him like a fool, even taking money from him as payment for doing him favors.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how iago is one of shakespeare's most complex villains. he is able to give the appearance of one thing, but in reality he is using roderigo who is very gullible and not too bright.
- Analyzes the theory that othello is a play about the jealousy of one man, rather than iago, which is noted by several critics of the play.
- Explains that dimitri lozovoy believes that iago is a successful schemer because his jealousy allows him to recognize the potential for the same feelings in others and exploit it to gain his own ends.
- Analyzes how roderigo is sure that iago must have known about desdemona's elopement with othello. with his cunningness, he is able to talk his way out of trouble, and is in control of the situation.
- Analyzes how shakespeare develops the character of iago by making him an amoral villain instead of an immoral one.
- Explains that iago is one of shakespeare's most intriguing and plausible villains because of his skill in manipulating his prey and numerous critics of the play note watching his deceptions wreak havoc.
- Analyzes how iago cleverly combines deceit and honor. he knows that trust is a powerful emotion when combined with trust and uses it to his benefit at every possible opportunity.
- Analyzes how roderigo questions this by saying to iago " i wouldn't follow him then ", and then he responds " o, sir, content you; i follow you to serve your turn upon him."
- Analyzes how iago is telling roderigo that he is only following othello to a certain point, revealing the fact that once they reach that certain level, they will not follow him any longer.
- Explains that everyone considered iago honest and it would be out of character for othello to believe any differently than everyone else.
- Analyzes how iago is manipulative, deceitful, scheming, and conniving. he constantly tries to convince himself that all of his actions are justified.
- Opines that iago is manipulative and determined, and that there is true evil, not just mental illness.
- Explains that mandy believes that iago is more deceptive and smarter than all of the other 'othello' characters.
- Analyzes how the play shifts from venice to cyprus. venice represents good or specific-ally desdemona and cyprus represents evil or iago.
- Analyzes how iago is at his best in giving the appearance of someone that othello should trust.
- Analyzes how iago uses his cleverness to strengthen othello's trust in him, when cast in the direction of cassio.
- Narrates how iago murders roderigo before he can tell othello the truth about him. he is consumed by all of his lies and his wife emilia exposes his plot.
- Analyzes how iago's theory of being an evil villain is noted by several critics of the play.
- Explains miriam's belief that iago is not evil as he shows a little bit of guilt and confusion.
- Analyzes how iago's biggest mistake was that he placed too much trust in his wife emilia.
- Analyzes how lodovico sums up iago's final standing at the very end of the play by stating to othello.
2354 wordsRead More - Shakespeare's Othelloanalytical essay“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.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how jarod kintz's words are an example of miscommunication, or failure to comprehend meaning.
- Analyzes how shakespeare's othello is a tragedy of incomprehension, not at the level of intrigue, but at deepest levels of human dealings, where the intentions of characters and how others interpret them are often misaligned.
- Analyzes how characters in the play fail to comprehend iago's true nature until it is too late. those interacting with him fall into the belief that he is loyal to his superiors.
- Analyzes how iago is reluctant to give a negative report of cassio, while in reality his true intentions are the opposite.
- Analyzes how iago breeds jealousy in othello's subconscious, suggests the idea of infidelity, and leaves enough mystery to create doubts and suspicions.
- Analyzes how iago's incomprehension applies to him, despite the success of his plans, but his motivation for doing so remains a scattered entanglement.
- Analyzes how iago accepts a rumor as valid reason to hate othello, but he doesn't fully understand his motivation to betray his superiors.
- Analyzes how incomprehension pushes the play further down the path of tragedy when othello doesn't understand desdemona's innocent intentions.
- Analyzes how shakespeare has given us fair warning of the tragedy that could spring from incomprehension.
1248 wordsRead More - Othelloanalytical essay"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.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how "othello" is a good example of aristotelian drama. it is simple play with few distractions from the main plot and concentrates on the themes of jealousy, prejudice, pride and honesty.
- Analyzes how the opening act in venice serves as a prologue to the tragedy. it introduces the characters and gives us some insight of itarian government controlled by the venetian senators.
- Analyzes how othello's appointment to cyprus is the start of this tragedy. in venice, iago is frustrated by his calm management of himself and the orderly proceedings of the senate.
- Analyzes how othello and desdemona elope and despite their differences in age, race and background, attempt to start a life together.
- Analyzes how shakespeare's "othello" is a story of malevolence and manipulation. iago is intelligent, clever, perceptive, and has sly manipulative abilities.
- Analyzes how iago manipulates othello by taking advantage of his trust, race, and disbelief desdemona's love and loyalty.
- Analyzes how othello, a moor, is an officer in the venetian military and highly regarded by the senate.
- Analyzes how othello murders desdemona and his reaction of her death is one of shock and anger. he recovers his dignity and eloquence and comes to a more complete self-knowledge before death.
- Opines that othello's tragedy, the pain and suffering and misfortune, makes the drama compelling.
765 wordsRead More - Othelloanalytical essayThe Significance of Othello’s Ethnicity. In William E. Cain’s essay, “The Triumph of Will,” he clearly states, as is represented by James that Othello’s race is not an issue in the play. I strongly agree with James and believe that if Othello’s skin was white it would not affect the outcome of the play at all. Desdemona’s marriage to any other man, black or white, would have been just as upsetting to Barbantio and Roderigo, and in this paper I will further discuss my reasoning.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that if othello's skin was white, it would not affect the outcome of the play.
- Analyzes how barbantio was not mad at desdemona for marrying othello, but felt betrayed by his own daughter.
- Analyzes how roderigo's main conflict is the fact that desdemona has married a man who is not himself, as he would rather have it.
- Opines that if shakespeare were to replace othello with a white man, the play would most likely end the same way.
- Concludes that the initial conflict in the play is that desdemona is in love with a man other than roderigo, and this leads to most of the drama.
722 wordsRead More - Othello and The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeareanalytical essayOthello is a play where Iago tricks Othello into believing that Desdemona is unfaithful and to do so Iago manipulates and disposes of characters at his will. The play Othello begins with Roderigo and Iago telling Brabantio that his daughter has married Othello. This leads Brabantio to confront Othello, and that is where Brabantio learns that Desdemona willingly chose to marry the Moor. Right after that event, Othello has to go off to war to fight the Turks. Later on, Othello safely arrives in Cyprus while a storm destroys the Turkish fleet so; the city of Cyprus has a celebration. At this party Cassio gets drunk and gets into a fight where he injures Montano, which results in Cassio’s demotion from his position as lieutenant. Iago then tells Cassio to ask Desdemona to help get back his position. Iago tells Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him with Cassio since they are always together. Emilia gives Iago Desdemona’s handkerchief and Iago places it in Cassio’s possession and then Iago tells Othello that he will get Cassio to admit that he slept with Desdemona. Othello becomes enraged and tells Iago to kill Cassio, but Iago only injures Cassio and then Othello kills Desdemona. At the end o...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that shakespeare seamlessly conveys tensions between different cultures in multiple plays through his expert use of language and ethnic knowledge.
- Analyzes how iago manipulates othello into believing that desdemona is unfaithful and disposes of characters at his will.
- Analyzes how shakespeare's play was influenced by the events that occurred in spain during the 1600s.
- Analyzes how iago expresses a racist attitude toward othello, because he was overlooked for the position that i deserved. brabantio's racist view is expressed through the racial tension.
- Analyzes how shylock shows his dislike for antonio by taking him to court in order to punish him for his inability to pay his debts.
- Analyzes how shakespeare's the merchant of venice is representative of the time period from which it was written.
- Analyzes how the character of shylock is depicted as a villain simply because of his religious affiliation.
- Analyzes how the degrading portrayal of othello and the widespread hatred for shylock provide evidence of the racial and religious tensions shakespeare used as inspiration in his works.
- Analyzes gender and race in othello. n.p., n.d. web.
- Narrates themes in the merchant of venice.
1439 wordsRead More - iagoanalytical essayWhen it comes to it, Iago was a brilliant character, and a clever calculating villain. People believed Iago to be trustworthy, when in fact he wasn’t. Through this gullibility it allows him to manipulate them all. He was the main reason that this play was so interesting to me. He is the master manipulator and he was able to plant these seeds of lies into each characters head, without them realizing that he was the bad guy. In my opinion Iago is one of Shakespeare’s best characters. Othello was a great play!
In this essay, the author
- Explains that shakespearean's definition of honest implies that someone is truthful, but in shakespeareans' time, an honest person was someone who gave the appearance to the public as a gentleman.
- Analyzes how iago uses two different motives for his hatred of othello: he was passed over for a promotion, and cassio had never seen the battlefield.
- Explains that iago is incredibly trust worthy by the other characters, and it's through this gullibility that allows him to manipulate all of them.
- Analyzes how iago is known for his racist comments in the play, such as othello being a barbary horse, and desdemona being the white ewe.
- Analyzes how iago's insanity can be questioned, as he will go after anyone who provokes him, like his wife emilia, or his accomplice roderigo.
- Opines that iago is one of shakespeare's best characters, and othello was a great play.
734 wordsRead More - Shakespeare's Othello - There Would be No Othello Without Iagoanalytical essay...sp; Every person that came in contact with Iago ended up dead or wounded in some way. Iago manipulated everyone he knew for his own means. In the end he got everything he wanted. He got revenge on Othello and ended up killing three people and seriously wounding one person in the process. One of the people who died was his own wife, but he could have cared less about that as long as he succeeded. If Iago was not around and did not carry with him the animosity, hatred, greed, and selfishness, none of those inimical things would have happened, but then, there wouldn't be a play either. Bad characters are needed in plays and in life. If we always got what we wanted and bad things never happened, then life would be very boring. Iago tormented and played around with Othello's mind, and he enjoyed this immensely, it was his goal and he achieved it.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how "othello" is centered around iago's revenge and his willingness to make others' lives miserable.
- Analyzes how iago hates othello with a passion and believes that he has slept with his wife emilia.
- Analyzes how roderigo was iago's puppet. he believed everything that he was told and always did as a result of his love for desdemona.
- Analyzes how iago wanted revenge on othello, but also on cassio for stealing his job away from him.
- Opines that desdemona's pestilence will be poured into her ear. she will undo her credit with the moor, and turn her virtue into pitch.
- Analyzes how desdemona's handkerchief plays a large role in iago’s web of destruction.
- Narrates how they heard desdemona say, "let us be wary, let us hide our loves." then, he gripped and wrung their hand, kissed them hard, then laid his leg over their thigh.
- Analyzes how iago used and poisoned othello's mind with thoughts of desdemona and cassio in bed together.
- Analyzes how iago manipulated everyone he knew for his own means. he got revenge on othello and killed three people and wounded one. bad characters are needed in plays and in life.
1083 wordsRead More - A Comparison of Iago and Luciferanalytical essayIn Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is the antagonist and villain who causes all the trouble and disorder. Othello is the protagonist, and is the main person Iago’s destruction and revenge is aimed towards. Othello is naïve and gives everybody his trust even though he may not know them or they haven’t earned his trust yet. He often refers to Iago has “Honest” Iago, which is a direct showing of irony because Iago is not honest at all (Shakespeare, I, iii. 289). Iago is so angry that Othello didn’t give him the promotion that was given to Cassio that he plans to seek revenge against Othello. He seeks his revenge against Othello by manipulating and lying to all of the people around him including his closest friend Roderigo, Cassio, Othello’s wife Desdemona and even his own wife Emilia. In the end, Iago’s lies and manipulation led to the deaths of Roderigo, Emilia, Othello and Desdemona. This isn’t the first time many of these individual characteristics have shown up in one of Shakespeare’s plays.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how shakespeare's lead characters share common characteristics, such as being jealous of their half-brother.
- Analyzes how shakespeare's othello portrays iago as a static character, liar, manipulator, outcast, and complex character.
- Explains that lucifer, more commonly known as satan or the devil, shares many similar characteristics with iago.
- Describes lucifer as a liar, deceiver, imitator, and extreme tempter.
- Analyzes how lucifer showcased many "evil" characteristics in lauren kate's fallen and rebecca fitzpatrick'
- Analyzes how lucifer is a big presence in post-modern literature, but the similarities between him and iago are obvious.
- Compares iago and lucifer's character structure. both are masters of manipulation, and both rely on intricate lies and manipulations to uphold their goals of destruction.
- Analyzes how iago and lucifer had motives to all of their actions, including pride and jealousy.
- Analyzes how iago and lucifer share more characteristic than one might think. they both find themselves motivated with jealousy and aim their revenge towards the object they despise the most.
- Analyzes how iago and lucifer are developed with many "evil" qualities woven intricately into their character development.
2324 wordsRead More