The Reputation of Othello Where in the rankings does this Shakespearean tragedy stand? This essay will explore the answer to this question by considering professional literary commentary. Francis Ferguson in “Two Worldviews Echo Each Other” ranks the play Othello quite high among the Bard’s tragedies: Othello, written in 1604, is one of the masterpieces of Shakespeare’s “tragic period.” In splendor of language, and in the sheer power of the story, it belongs with the greatest.
Racism and Interracial Marriage in Othello Othello: The Moor of Venice is probably Shakespeare's most controversial play. Throughout this work, there is a clear theme of racism, a racism that has become commonplace in Venetian society which rejects the marriage of Othello and Desdemona as anathema. The text expresses racism throughout the play within the language transaction of the dialogue to question the societal ethos established by Othello, thereby making him nothing less than a cultural
Nature in Othello 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
The Tragedy of Othello, the moor of Venice, otherwise known as Othello, is a Shakespearean tragedy believed to be written in 1603. The quarto edition of the play first appeared in 1622; the version printed in the 1623 Folio edition is around 160 lines longer than the quarto and has over a thousand words differences in the writing. Othello revolves around the four central characters: the titular character Othello, his wife Desdemona, the main antagonist Iago and his lieutenant Cassio. Due to the play’s
William Shakespeare wrote works that are typically known for their tales of love, drama, and tragedy. While there are a diverse number of themes in Shakespeare's many plays, it is not often that many of the works are associated with irony. One work in particular, Othello, is mainly recalled as a story of deception, jealousy, and even racism, but seldom is the story analyzed for its use of direct contradiction and cynicism. For example, the villain of the story receives more attention than the protagonist
This essay will cover the intersection of racism in Othello, with why Othello did not investigate Iago’s accusations against Desdemona, and believed Iago at face value.The three reasons supporting this are; Society already discriminates against Othello, because of his race he was paranoid about Desdemona being influenced by her father’s beliefs, and he was worried about his appearance in the military and society.. These all contributed to Othello immediately believing Iago, and not asking for Desdemona's
Othello is one of Shakespeare’s tragedies; originally written as a play and performed to an Elizabethan audience. Othello and many of Shakespeare’s other plays have been performed to various audiences since, and have been adapted into Opera, Ballet, Film and television productions. Othello has survived the centuries to this day and age; and continues to captivate and remain relevant to a modern audience; Othello certainly is a timeless classic work of art. “The object of tragic imitation is men
William Shakespeare's Othello is a remarkable tale of trust, deceitfulness, lust and the most destructive of human emotions: vengeance and hatred. Iago better known as Othello's antagonist embodies vengeance and hatred to move an agenda to squash all who oppose Iago's plans. As defined by Merrium-Webster the definition of a protagonist is a principal character in a literary work or a leading actor, character, or participant in a literary work. Othello by Shakespeare is a play about Othello an example
Shakespeare’s famous play Othello is a play of love that has turned bad by the unfounded jealousy of the protagonist character Othello. Arguably the contribution of Othello’s susceptibility to manipulation, his weaknesses and the manipulation of other characters tactics such as Iago each contribute to the downfall of Othello. However, to the extent of which each is more significant varies and this is what will be analysed in this essay. Like many of Shakespeare’s tragic plays each has to have a
Othello deals with the tragic events following the elopement and wedding of the “Moor” Othello and the Venetian Desdemona. Over 400 years since the infamous Elizabethan play was first written, questions were already raised regarding the nature of race, its social implications and furthermore, the correlation of a person’s outer appearance and inner self.1 The issue of racism and stereotyping is obvious in the play and is pivotal for the interpretation of the play. In this essay, I plan to analyse
In this essay I would like to explain how William Shakespeare makes the change in Othello so dramatic for the audience in Act 3 Scene 3 of the play, but before I go in detail I would like to go over the main points in the play for you. So, basically what happens is that there is a tragic downfall of a ‘black Venetian general’ Othello who was a ‘confident’ and ‘strong’ person but because he chose Cassio as his lieutenant, Iago gets really ‘jealous’ because he thought he deserved that title more than
Upon Feerick’s suggestion, the examination of the situations in which race is described in Othello, reveal race referencing to skin color. This ultimately draws the meaning of race away from bloodline and towards one of social hierarchy. Thus, paving the way for a line of thinking that correlates with discrimination and modern day terms such as
Othello's Final Speech in William Shakespeare's Play The five screen interpretations where all with the actors playing Othello as, Welles, Olivier, Hopkins, White and Fishburne. All five were produced on video format with a contrast of film and stage presentations. I have decided to focus on the three presentations of, Olivier, White and Fishburne. The final speech of Othello starts with Othello near to or cradling the limp lifeless boy of Desdemona after he has killed her. Iago has been
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. Iago is a very strategic and clever person, and he despises Othello because Othello appointed
William Shakespeare's Othello This essay will explore Coleridge’s assessment of Iago. In Iago’s soliloquies, Iago gives many reasons as to why he hates Othello but he often abandons his ideas and searches for new ones. This is because he is not completely sure himself why he hates Othello so much and is just trying to find reasons so that he can plot against him. Iago often does not know if his reasons are true but will behave as if they are just so that he has a reason to hate Othello. Iago
stir up trouble for its own satisfaction. Iago undoubtedly fits this description seeing that he is a sadist who attains power by annihilating others. In The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice, he is a sinister force steering virtuous people towards their gruesome deaths. Furthermore, he is the core focus of this academic essay. Our antagonist is an astounding piece of work. He pleads indifference despite dedicating his entire existence for revenge. Starting over with a clean slate would have
The Impotent Othello Othello is one of the most extraordinary characters in all of Shakespeare's dramas. He enjoyed unheralded success on the battlefield, which gave him the reputation as one of Venice's most able generals. The Moor's military proficiency placed him in a class by himself in the same way his ethnicity distinguished him from his Venetian counterparts. These are two intrinsic and highly identifiable characteristics of Othello. But a much lesser discussed idiosyncrasy of the Moor
swears.” Many of the most brilliant minds throughout time have used profanity. Shakespeare’s best works were revised and edited in order to remove the numerous curse words or obscene phrases he included. The harmless use of profanity in an informal setting should not be penalized, by the assignment of an essay. Profanity continuously evolves, and has a very rich and interesting history. The system of assigning essays for the use of profanity is ineffective and counter productive. “When angry, count
the great variety of shows and productions across the globe, racial inauthenticity continues to be a common phenomenon in theatre, musical theatre and classical music, as it is part of a long-withstanding system of stereotyping and typecasting. This essay aims to briefly unpack the historical relationship between race and performance, to illustrate how such cases of questionable casting have occurred in recent productions, and to examine how our current sociopolitical circumstances directly affect casting
agreeing to take over the task of policing socially acceptable readings and uses of the secular bible. Works cited Barthes, Roland. Mythologies. Trans. Annette Lavers. New York: Farrar, 1972. Burt, Richard. "The Love that Dare Not Speak Shakespeare’s Name: New Shakesqueer Cinema" in Shakespeare the Movie. Ed. Lynda E. Boose and Richard Burt. London and New York: Routledge, 1997. 240-268.