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The Character of Othello
The character analysis of othello
The character analysis of othello
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Mrs. Cornwall
ENG3U1
October 14 2015
A Tragic Hero’s’ Path Towards His Downfall
In society there are always people who are easily manipulated and possess poor judgment. This leads them to make wrong decisions and negatively affect their lives and the lives of the people around them. The reason for Othello’s tragic downfall was because of his poor judgement, his easily manipulated conscience and his jealousy and obsession with. These traits displayed why Othello was responsible for the play’s tragic outcome.
The first trait that led to Othello’s downfall was his easily manipulated conscience. Throughout the drama Othello let Iago control him as if he was a puppet under his master’s hands. When Iago first brought up the idea that Desdemona
Othello made the poor decision to believe the wrong people and mistrust the people that were close to him from the beginning. In the drama not once did someone other than Iago tell Othello that Cassio and Desdemona were having an affair. Othello came to a quick decision when only Iago told him about this situation and this was a poor decision. Othello said “Get me some poison, Iago, this night. 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
Othello being very easily manipulated led him to make choices that would later on kill his wife and even kill himself. Othello having poor judgment lead him to trust the wrong people and this tied to him making the wrong decisions. His jealousy and obsession with Desdemona was what lead him to kill her. If Othello did not possess these traits the drama would have ended completely different. Othello let himself believe everything Iago told him, if he chose to trust his wife the whole conflict would have been averted. His obsession with his wife was so strong that he could not help think about what she did with Cassio and the only way out was to kill her.
In conclusion the downfall of Othello was because of his own weaknesses. His traits were the reason why Othello was responsible for the plays tragic outcome. Iago was able to control Othello like a puppet because of his easily manipulated conscience. He chose to make the poor decisions, trusting the wrong people. His mind got clouded by the obsession and jealousy of Desdemona. Othello’s own weaknesses were what led the tragic hero to his tragic
Iago can manipulate this, and it could be argued that Othello himself. brought on this tragedy again, for having no faith in Desdemona by his. quickness to judge when he talks of a "monstrous" thought that Iago. must have. He is quick to assume that something is very wrong about his wife when Iago quotes "Ha!
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.
Othello has many positive traits, including being a great leader and loyal. He also has one negative trait that ultimately leads to his death; jealousy. Iago provokes deep, strong emotions in Othello, jealousy being the strongest. Jealousy is a nasty little emotion. It causes people to do terrible things because once it is on a person’s conscience, it stays for quite some time. Because of these effects, jealousy can impact some of the strongest people such as Othello. The love between Desdemona and Othello was portrayed so elevated and pure and was filled with religious words and phrases that just added to the strength and sanctity of their love. Othello has such a strong mind, but jealousy caused by the manipulation of Iago, negatively impacts him. Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him with his friend Cassio. When Othello asks Iago for proof of Desdemona’s deceit, Iago describes scenes and events in which Othello has a reason to be jealous. In Act III, Scene I Iago is describing to Othello, Desdemona and Cassio’s imagined relationship, “It is impossible you should see this/ were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys, as salt as wolves in pride, and fools as gross as ignorance made drunk.” These images planted themselves inside Othello’s mind and haunted him until he did something about it. These images led to Othello believing Desdemona really did love
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.
Iago wanted Othello’s position and used others to shame Othello and gain stature. Iago dressed himself up a trustworthy man and worked his way into Othello’s trust with tricks and lies. He wore a very convincing mask; often temporarily defending the person he was trying to ruin to further his honest visage. He says to Othello, “Men should be what they seem…” (3.3.127) through these methods, Iago convinces Othello that Cassio, an officer, was having an affair with Othello’s beautiful wife Desdemona. As a vicious result, Othello is driven mad with anger and sadness and throttles Desdemona in their bed. The death and want left by Iago’s deception is vast hurting everyone involved most frequently on a mortal level. When the truth finally comes out, Othello, in his grief and remorse, ends up stabbing himself with a dagger. In the end, many die due to Iago’s deception, through villainy or despair, and none gain what they truly want because of it. This just goes to show that the mask of deception that a man wears can cause an unbelievable amount of harm, bodily and worse,
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 knew it was a lie because Othello loves Desdemona and would die for her. Othello was madly in love with Desdemona and they were compassionate for each other, but he was misguided and confused with jealousy and hatred which steered him off course to his sinister fate. Othello cannot be justified as a bad person because of one incident, especially after all the great things he’s done and achieved for the city. Iago is the real antagonist and has become the bad man of the play as his roles are to protect the crown in which was Othello and stay loyal to fellow soldiers but throughout the play he was the complete opposite with characteristics such as being a liar, un loyal to every character in the play.
Tragedy is an intrinsically human concept; tragic heroes are damned by what they themselves do. Othello is not so much felled by the actions of Iago, but by a quality all people possess-- human frailty. Accordingly, Othello is not a victim of consequences, but an active participant in his downfall. He is not merely a vehicle for the machinations of Iago; he had free agency. Othello's deficiencies are: an insecure grasp of Venetian social values; lack of critical intelligence, self-knowledge, and faith in his wife; and finally, insecurity-- these are the qualities that lead to his own downfall.
Othello's reputation also plays a big role in this play and the outcome of it. He has the reputation of a no nonsense military general. This status in fact partly causes Desdemona's death. He becomes so distraught when he hears from Iago that Cassio and Desdemona and cheating on him he becomes angry and wants to kill her. "I will chop her into messes! Cuckold me?" He is surprised and astonished that she would go behind his back and do this. His reputation doesn't allow him to confront her with the situation and talk things over. He is also angry that his reputation would be tarnished when found out that he is a cuckold. He proves that his reputations means a lot to him when he says, "For nought I did in hate, but all in honour." Othello believed that reputation was everything, because of his status as a general and the fact that those under him and above him respected him. Othello's reputation played a big role in the outcome of the play and in part caused Desdemona's death and his own.
Othello shows regret and a sense of torment. Clearly, parts of him doesn’t want this to happen. And after the death of Desdemona, he sees the misplaced change and rage he had. When Othello hears of Iago’s disseat, he changes back to the good Othello that was present at the start of the play. He might be filled with regret and a new rage for Iago, but his morals seem solid again.
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.
Othello's lack of experience made him vulnerable to Iago's falsehoods "In Venice they do let God see the pranks they dare not show their husbands; their best conscience, Is not to leave't undone, but keep't unknown." Iago says to Othello, planting a false idea of a Venetian woman in Othello's mind. Othello, having little knowledge of the Venetian woman, is easily persuaded to believe Desdemona is unfaithful to him.... ... middle of paper ...
In the play “The Tragedy of Othello” by Willian Shakespeare, Othello Changes from an intelligent and confident person to a senseless and insecure person. This change in his personality occurs mainly because: Iago plans to ruin his relationship with Desdemona, he was an Outsider, he had bad judgement when it came to trusting people and failed to see reality, his negative thinking about himself and his relationship with Desdemona.
From the beginning, Othello is noble, quick to act, judicious, trusting, and gives much weight to the importance of duty. These are all traits that serve to make him great at the beginning of the play, and later, ironically, become key elements in his downfall. These aspects can be considered the internal causes of Othello’s tragic flaw. “Othello's nature is all one piece. His trust, where he trusts, is absolute.
Iago has been to blame for the downfall of Othello because he is the one that created the jealousy within Othello. Iago started this because he was jealous of Othello because he was not made lieutenant, and Cassio was. Iago has been selfish and takes it upon himself to get revenge against Othello.
Of the 38 plays Shakespeare has produced over his lifetime, his tragedies are the most heart-wrenching, horrifying productions the theater has ever seen. In these tragedies, there are gruesome ideas such as lethal love, megalomania, and the absolute corruption of heroes that were originally considered to be wholesome. The latter theme can especially be seen in the play Othello. In this tragedy, there is an ongoing theme of corruption in a considerable amount of characters in the play, the most significant change being in Othello. Othello undergoes a shocking transformation, as he starts off as the storybook hero, a reputable soldier who illustrates great passion towards his wife, but transforms to become a twisted