The Character of Iago in Othello In the play Othello, the character Iago plays a paramount role in the destruction of Othello and all of those around him. Some critics state that Iago's actions are motiveless and that he is a purely evil character. However, during the course of this paper, certain motives for Iago's actions will be discussed. For the first motive to be understood the reader must become knowledgeable of Othello's heritage and the setting of the play. Othello is a Moslem from North Africa. He is living in Venice. He is the leader of the Venetian forces. Anthony Burgess, a Shakespearean critic, believes that Othello's color has nothing to do with Iago's actions. "Othello's color had no connotations of the enslavable inferiority. There were many great Negroes in those days like that Antonio de Vunth, who was King of Congo's ambassador to the Holy See."(Shakespeare, pp.200) There may have been many great Negroes around in those days but there were none in Venice. Othello was the only member of his race in Venice. Many of the people who lived in Venice had never seen a Moor. To the people of Venice, Moors were different and feared, they were seen as an evil spirit. Some people thought that they were witches or devils that walked the earth. Included in a text written by Stephen Greenblatt, Roderigo and Barbanizo believed that "Othello used magic to win Desdemona."(Norton Shakespeare, pp. 2091). You also see many references in the play where a character will refer to Othello as being a devil or beast. It was no secret to the reader of the play that Iago possessed a hatred for Othello. In fact, in act one of the plays the reader s... ... middle of paper ... ...nced by motives and he was not just evil. There must be motive to spark evil and in Iago's case the fact that he was losing what seemed to be respect and accountability from the people of Venice and his friends, drove him to hate. Works Cited and Consulted Bayley, John. Shakespeare and Tragedy. Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1981. Bradley, A. C.. Shakespearean Tragedy. New York: Penguin, 1991. Campbell, Lily B. Shakespeare's Tragic Heroes. New York: Barnes and Noble, Inc., 1970. Di Yanni, Robert. "Character Revealed Through Dialogue." Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Literature. N. p.: Random House, 1986. Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.
NBA.com: Evolution of the Draft and Lottery. (n.d.). NBA.com: Evolution of the Draft and Lottery. Retrieved April 14, 2014, from http://www.nba.com/history/draft_evolution.html
Earley, P. (2014). CIA Traitor Aldrich Ames — The Story — Crime Library. Retrieved April 10, 2014, from http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/spies/ames/1.html
Civilization struggling for power against savagery was shown throughout Lord of the Flies. These opposite mindsets are shown battling while determining who had the right to speak during assemblies, when the group hunted pigs, throughout the struggle over Piggy’s glasses, and finally with Simon’s death. These polar opposites are shown throughout these examples and reveal the desperation of clinging to civilization while savagery took over the actions of the some of the boys in Lord of the Flies.
Smith, Darron T. "Images of Black Males in Popular Media." Huffington Post. N.p., 14 Mar. 2013. Web. 12 May 2014.
... moor but Shakespeare is instead discussing the, "amalgam of the noble and the jealous, the soldier and the fool and the Christian and the barbarian who is reduced to stammering brutality." A modern audience would not see Othello as the guilty and barbaric moor but as a victim of Iago and his deception. The audience instead would take would take with them a message that colour does not play a part in character. Instead those who discriminate people racially are the truly devious characters and Shakespeare shows this clearly through Iago and Barbantio. Iago himself is clear evidence that Shakespeare is not in any way condoning racism but instead he is attacking racism. The attack on Barbantio's hidden racist views also prove that this is the case. The main message of Othello would be very positive foe a modern audience; that racism in all forms is totally unacceptable.
Lovelady, Cambria. "Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis." Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (2005): 1. Biography Reference Center. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
The tragedy of Othello is a somber, regretful story of passion, deceit, and racism. Othello, often called the Moor of Venice, is the dark-skinned protagonist, and though he is of a high ranking, he is still a victim of racism and animalization. Iago, though his trusted advisor, secretly hates Othello, disparagingly references his race, and machinates a complex web of misunderstandings to drive him to madness. Othello takes place during the Ottoman-Venetian War (1570- 1573), a conflict in which Venice fought the Ottoman Empire for control of Cyprus. The play’s portrayal is by no means historically accurate, but the event is documented. Not only does Shakespeare juxtapose Othello with the predominantly white city of Venice, but he also gives
Ferguson, Robert A. "Rip Van Winkle and the Generational Divide in American Culture." Early American Literature. 40.3 (2005): 529-544. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
Chalmers, Jennifer H. "Romantic Love: Is It a Realistic Goal for Marriage Therapy?" Romantic Love: Is It a Realistic Goal for Marriage Therapy? N.p., 2013. Web. 11 May 2014.
In the tragedy Othello, Shakespeare creates a mood that challenges the way a person sees his or her self and the world. Subjects like racism, sexism, love, hate, jealously, pride, and trickery are thoroughly developed in the play of Othello to enable the audience to view the characters and also themselves. The Shakespearean tragedy of Othello was written in a time of great racial tensions in England. According to Eldred Jones, in 1600 just three years before Othello was written, Queen Elizabeth proclaimed an Edict for the Transportation of all "negars and blackmoores" out of the country ("Othello- An Interpretation" Critical Essays 39). It is in this atmosphere that Shakespeare began the masterpiece of Othello, a drama about a noble black Arab general, Othello, who falls in love with and marries, Desdemona, a young white daughter of a senator. From the above knowledge one may conclude that Shakespeare wrote Othello to express that all people, of all ethnicity, are basically the same in human nature. Shakespeare borrowed the idea of Othello from an Italian love story by Giraldi Cinthio. However, Shakespeare focuses more on the differences in color and age between Othello and Desdemona than Cinthio. Shakespeare does this to escalate Othello’s isolation from the rest of Venetian society and to display Othello’s vulnerability due to his color. In the tragedy not only is Othello susceptible to weaknesses but so is every major character . The tragedy reminds humans that even one’s good nature can be taken advantage of for the worse. The drama Othello expresses, through relationships and emotional attitudes, a theme that all humans are vulnerable to destruction even if they are in positions of power and glory.
Bily, Cynthia A. "Annabel Lee." Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition (2002): 1-2. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.
Define the three primary types of decision-making systems, and explain how a customer of Actionly might use them to find business intelligence.
There are many way in which a man can achieves a higher status than women in today’s society. Galligan (1998) shows that in 1991 women only made up 33.5% of the work force in Ireland. The economic difference between men and women are self explanatory with all the facts and figures given. However, I do not want to concentrate wholly on economic reasons such as minimum wage or women in the workforce but more so I want to concentrate on factors such as women in politics and their participation in important subject matter in parliament. Women receive a lower status then men in terms of education by the lack of respect and recognition they receive even in today’s modern era. But most importantly how women are treated in everyday practice in our society such as the status that is given to women is care givers and the status women hold with children and child-minding and rearing is a major way in which men have a higher status then women in society. I hope to prove that even though much is broadcasted in our media about how equal women are in today’s society, women are in fact, not as equal as perceived
When you think of a British poet you may think of a boring life with nothing interesting going on in it, but Matthew Arnold had a life that was not like the ordinary British Poet. Even as a child, his life was very fascinating. His family had a great inspirational part in his education. Pushing him was the cause of his astounding achievements. Along with his many achievements, his works were also great. Matthew Arnold was a young man with tons of literature inspiration all around him; because of it, he was a great poet, as well as an excellent critic, which guided his life in a great direction during his lifetime.
The right to Life, Liberty, and Security, is one of the most important citizen rights that you can have. With the right to life, it means that any individual has the right to live, and shouldn’t be killed by anyone. With the right to Liberty, it means that we have the right to be free, and do almost anything we want. Lastly, the right to security means that you are guaranteed to be protected the best way possible, while you are in that country. Even though it is just one of many rights, they all fall under the right to freedom. Which everyone just wants the right to do what they want, and to stand up for what they believe in. Everyone should have the right to freedom, as well as the right to life, liberty, and security.We felt that this right was the most important because it summed up the rights that we need as citizens. Like the right to not be enslaved, can count as the right to Life and Liberty. So in our opinion, the right to Life, Liberty, and Security, is the one that should be one of the first applied rights to our lives. The next few paragraphs will describe how we feel on these particular rights, as well as examples of how these rights are being violated all over the world.