In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, our main protagonist, Othello, is manipulated by a man who he thought was honest and noble, Iago. Othello is pushed all the way to the lengths of murder, and eventually commits suicide. I believe that Othello’s inevitable fall was due to his own tragic flaws. Some of these factors include his jealousy, him being gullible, and the high amount of trust that he puts in Iago. One factor contributing to the reason Othello falls as the result of a tragic flaw is that he is characterized by jealously. Othello’s jealousy throughout the play is very strong, and is also sensed by many of the other characters in the play. Othello says “Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul. But I do love thee! And when …show more content…
Othello is a very gullible person and believes everything that Iago throws at him. He is very easy for Iago to lure and fall into his evil plan due to the fact that he is so in love with Desdemona. For example he was tricked by Iago, into thinking that Desdemona was really having an affair with Cassio. When Iago told Othello that Cassio had a dream about Desdemona, Othello replied “Oh, monstrous! Monstrous!" He trusts Iago too much and totally relies on Iago therefore making him really vulnerable to his evilish schemes. He lets his thoughts take over, he loses control of himself and acts on his emotions. He lets his thoughts clutter his mind and good judgment. Another example would be when Emilia told Othello about Desdemona death, and he admits to murdering his honest wife Desdemona, but says that he killed her because she was untrue to him. When Emilia told him that it was false Othello said “Ay, twas he that told me on her first. An honest man he is and hates the slime that sticks on filthy deeds.” By reading that quote, Othello gullibility is fully observed. Othello believes Iago and his lies because he thought that Iago was an honest person. Iago’s plan was so powerful that Othello praised him for his “honesty”, which led to the demise of …show more content…
Othello believing Iago of Desdemona’s infidelity so quickly, shows his insecurities. In Act 3, Scene 3 Iago starts planting his plan on Othello to make him believe that Desdemona has been unfaithful. Iago brings up the fact that Desdemona is very young and many other young men would be happy to be married to her but she decides to marry Othello. When Iago says this Othello begins to wonder “Why did I marry” to himself (3. 3. 283). Othello’s insecurities begin to show when he starts wondering why did Desdemona really married him. Desdemona is young and beautiful so Othello doesn’t understand why she would choose him over a younger man. Othello’s insecurities about his own physical appearance bring suspicion about Desdemona. Later Othello says “Haply, for I am black” (3. 3. 303) suggesting Desdemona may have cheated because he is black. Othello saying this shows that he is self-conscious about being black. He believes that because he is black Desdemona would possibly cheat. Othello insecurities with himself cause him to lose control and fall into Iago’s plan. Othello turns from being successful to murderous due to his insecurities. His constant doubt that Desdemona could actually be in love with him controls his thoughts and he begins to believe that she is cheating. Othello’s insecurities consume him to the point that he makes the ultimate mistake of killing
Othello is such a gullible character with so much trust in the wrong people. He trusts Iago before he trusts his own wife, Desdemona; he let Iago get into his mind. Iago arises any doubt Othello has for anyone he ever trusted making them all seem untrustworthy. More then anything Iago uses pathos to appeal to emotion. “ But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve For daws to peck at. I am not what I am” (Othello, Shakespeare, Act I Scene I Line 65-66). Iago talks about being open and honest; although this is not true it makes the other characters feel secure. Othello is a strong character, but Iago is his downfall. Blinded by jealousy and questions Othello will no longer trust Desdemona nor Cassio, because of this he will meet his
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.
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.
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.
Throughout the novel, up until his insanity, Othello is described as a temperate man whose honor does not allow him to believe assumptions unless he has been shown proof. Firstly, when the men of Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, confront Othello’s men, Othello calmly says, “Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them.” (10). Othello is confronted on the matter of his elopement with Desdemona with force and with words. Not only is he very cool about his dealings with violence, but also when he is asked to tell the story of how he had Desdemona fall in love with him he states the truth, and he doesn’t leave out any details of how he accomplished it. He openly admits that had any other man told his story, that man also would have won her heart. Only a truly honorable man can admit that it was a story, and not his personality that truly won the woman’s heart. Othello’s honor is shown by his trust in the people he knows and loves. When Iago tells Othello that he believes Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair, Othello does not believe Iago initially.
This was brought on by a simple persuasion of Iago, the evil character in the play. Even though Iago used extreme manipulation to get Othello to be jealous, Iago did not really have to try very hard to get Othello in a jealous state of mind. Othello was blinded by his jealousy, which led him down a path of constant questioning of his wife and his friend Cassio. Throughout the play we see his dramatic flaw sink him deeper and deeper into a cloud of doubt which eventually leads him to kill not only his love of his life but also himself. At the beginning of the play, we see Othello as a strong character.
He feels that Desdemona has cheated on him because of these reasons, despite that not being true since Desdemona did not have an affair. The idea that it was because he is black and older came from his own thoughts. It was his own insecurities that produced this idea. Just as Miriam is used to display Paul’s insecurities, Desdemona is used to display Othello’s. Paul believes that it is Miriam who makes him insecure despite him feeling that way before and after the relationship. Othello feels that Desdemona chose Cassio because he is white and young however Iago never said that Desdemona chose him because of those reasons hence Othello came up with the idea himself. In this way, Othello reveals his insecurities by believing that Desdemona cheated on him because of them and Paul reveals his by believing that Miriam is causing them. Likewise, Iago believes that Othello slept with his wife and uses this to further fuel his hatred for
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.
In Act 3 Scene 3 of this play Iago is able to convince Othello of Desdemona’s unfaithful character through the way in which he carefully phrases his answers to Othello. Iago’s reputation is that of an honest man and many people, as well as Othello, believe him to be trustworthy. Since the perception of Iago is positive by a vast majority he has influence over forming the perception of others’ reputations since his word is taken with little or no argument. With Desdemona being yet another character whom many praise and trust it may seem hard to understand at first why Othello believes Iago over his own wife (Cavell, p. 129), since in the beginning of the play he praises her virtuous character. Since Othello was never aware of Desdemona’s supposed infidelity until Iago tells him of his suspicions Othello starts putting his trust in him. He was blind to it and lets Iago lead the way to enlightening him on the issue. He thinks of Iago as honest as he is known to be by many and believes that he “Sees and knows more, much more, than he unfolds” (3.3.259) and that he “knows all qualities, with a learnèd spirit, / Of human de...
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.
The character Othello, from the tragedy Othello, is portrayed as faultless in many ways in the beginning. However, as the story goes on, many unattractive qualities are revealed through Othello’s actions. One flaw of his is that he is too trusting. Othello believes Iago’s lies and so unable to trust from then on. Such as, when he believes Iago when Iago tells him that Desdemona gave Cassio her handkerchief, although this is quite untrue. Later on, he does not believe Desdemona when she continually tells him that she is not cheating on him, as his trust has been destroyed. Another equally important flaw of his is jealousy. Othello is jealous of the suspicious relationship between his lieutenant Cassio and his wife Desdemona. This is ironic because there really is no such affair between the two. Othello has many flaws which allow him to seem more humanlike and connect to society.These many flaws of Othello allow for more genuineness to be seen within him, and as a result he appeals more to the public. Authenticity is imperative for the public to connect with the character Othello and really enjoy the Shakespearean tragedy. Othello is...
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.
Iago knows very well that trust and deceit must go hand in hand in order for him to achieve his vengeance on Othello and Cassio. Hence, as he plans the downfalls of them, he is continually trying to obtain their undoubting trust. He slowly poisons people’s thoughts, creating ideas in their heads without implicating himself. Iago even says himself that the advice he gives is free and honest and thus, people rarely stop to consider the possibility that Iago is fooling them.
The protagonist's fall from grace due to his character flaw is the main idea of a tragedy. Othello's fatal flaw was not a defect in his character, but an excess of one of his many virtues. He was too trusting and naïve and this one flaw combined with Iago's (the antagonist) treacherous lies paved the way for Othello's demise. In the beginning of the play Othello is characterized as a noble general who shares a deep, pure love with his wife, Desdemona. He is an even-tempered man and this can be seen when in Act I, scene ii Iago attempts to turn him against Roderigo, but Othello refuses to be baited. He states to Iago, "Let him [Roderigo] do his spite./ My services which I have done the Signiory / Shall out-tongue his complaints" (I. ii. 17-19). It is hard to imagine Othello as a man who could be led to murder his innocent wife at this point in the play. Being the crafty villain that Iago is though, he consistently and cleverly manipulates the trusting Othello un...