It's Complicated: Shakespeare's Othello

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People do idiotic things. No matter how hard you try and how careful you think you may be, you are bound to make mistakes sometime in your life. Whether it is as small as spelling a word wrong or to as large as causing someone or something's demise even though it may not entirely be their fault. In the Shakespearean play Othello, Iago is seen as a ruthless, power hungry man who wants to see Othello burn. Othello on the other hand appears to be a wise general who only has one weakness in particular: Desdemona. He is flat out head over heels for her which Iago uses to his advantage through the green eyed monster itself: jealousy. Jealousy is one of the main themes within the play, and plays a very important role in the tragic outcome where Othello kills Desdemona and everything unravels. At the end of the play one may ask themselves "why do I feel sympathy for this man?" Othello treated Desdemona so harshly after he obtains 'information' from Iago that she is cheating on him, and we still have sympathy for him? In the events that take place within the play, one may still feel sympathy for Othello as jealousy gets the best of us, effecting how we think and causes us to do stupid things that we would not do under different circumstances.
Throughout the course of the play, Othello is seen as a great and courageous general when, even at the point of his demise, retains some of his previous image. In act one, we begin to see the general consensus of how Othello is seen by the citizens within the play through various stories told by the people of Venice. When Desdemona's father accuses Othello of stealing his daughter through dark magic, Desdemona steps in to ease their minds proclaiming: "I saw Othello’s visage in his mind, / And to his...

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...t effected by Iago's trickery. Due to his passion for Desdemona, Iago cost him his wife, position, image, finally ending with his own life. When caught in such a stressful moment, it is just best to stop and assess the information before letting your emotions get the best of you and drive your actions or one may end up just like Othello.

Works Cited

-"Notes on Othello Themes." BookRags. BookRags Inc, n.d. Web. 02 May 2014.
- Crawford, Alexander W. Hamlet, an ideal prince, and other essays in Shakesperean interpretation: Hamlet; Merchant of Venice; Othello; King Lear. Boston R.G. Badger, 1916. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2009. (2 May 2014) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/othello/othelloessay2.html >.
- Shakespeare, William. "The Complete Text of Othello: Scenes from Shakespeare's Othello." Shakespeare Online. Amanda Mabillard, n.d. Web. Apr.-May 2014.

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