Othello By William Shakespeare 's Othello Essay

Books related to Othello Othello - The protagonist and tragic hero of the play. A Moor commanding the armies of Venice, he is a celebrated general and heroic figure whose "free and open nature" will enable Iago to twist his love for his wife Desdemona into a powerful jealousy. Desdemona - The daughter of a Venetian Senator, and Othello's bride. The most sympathetic character in the play, she is deeply in love with her husband, and her purity contrasts strongly with Iago's wickedness. Iago - Othello's ensign, and Shakespeare's greatest villain. His public face of bravery and honesty conceals a Satanic delight in manipulation and destruction. Passed over for a promotion by his commander, he vows to destroy the Moor. Cassio -

The Dramatic play entitled Othello is an unusual story full of jealousy, dark misunderstandings, lies, and regrets. Following Aristotle 's definition of a true tragedy, where does the tale of Othello fall? Is Othello too dramatic too be considered a tragedy or does it barely fall along the lines of tragic?

In Shakespeare?s play Othello, Othello himself is the tragic hero. He is an individual of high stature who is destroyed by his surroundings, his own actions, and his fate. His destruction is essentially precipitated by his own actions, as well as by the actions of the characters surrounding him. The tragedy of Othello is not a fault of a single person, but is rather the consequence of a wide range of feelings, judgments, misjudgments, and attempts for personal justification revealed by the characters.

When one watches a play, they are catching a glimpse into the characters lives. They are catching a narrow window of their existence. They do not know where they came from, what kind of experiences they have had, or what may have influenced them over the course of their lives. The central protagonist of Othello is none other than Othello himself, a man whose background ultimately shape and dictate his life during the play.

What dictates whether someone is evil or not? According to Merriam Webster, evil is defined as “morally reprehensible”. This definition of evil is very loose, thus has much room for interpretation. In Shakespeare’s play, Othello, many people may believe that Iago is comparable to evil. After exposing a relationship to a woman’s father, manipulating Othello, falsifying rumors of Desdemona’s infidelity to Othello, and killing a man people assume that Iago is evil. However, Iago’s actions aligned closely to Dollard and colleagues’ frustration-aggression hypothesis. Thus, Iago’s reactions to frustration are best defined as common human reactions, as opposed to evil. In order to analyze Iago’s behavior and discover the root of his aggression, not evil, the frustration-aggression hypothesis is most useful. As opposed to the argument of Iago being evil, his character acts comparable to the frustration-aggression hypothesis, Iago becomes frustrated due to lack of power, which leads to aggression towards people who frustrate him and those associated, such as Desdemona, Cassio, and Othello.

Analyzing a play can be quite difficult, especially older texts that can be convoluted. In my high school year, it wasn’t until senior year until I fully understood what all was in Shakespeare’s plays. This also goes for many texts that had religious undertones, which was a pain because I grew up in a Christian home. I could never find those small details that others could. Now, in college, I am more capable to finding these symbolic words, objects, or actions. Throughout the assignments in my theatre class, I was able to find these undertones and pieces of symbolism in the plays of Everyman, by Peter van Diest, and Othello, by William Shakespeare, the easiest to explain. If you were like me in high school, this essay might be able to help hone your ability to see these symbolisms easier. This analysis will go over the strong religion behind the play of Everyman, and the idea of “the Other” in the play Othello.

Mind control can be used to manipulate a person’s behavior through a psychological process, such as a process known as Classical Conditioning. Mind manipulation has been presented by villains throughout movies, novels, and even plays. The play Othello, written around 1603 by William Shakespeare, with the villain character Iago, is characterized as a jealous, hubris, sinister, crafty, and manipulative being. William Shakespeare has managed to write a tragic play where he used Iago’s malicious words to provide early Classical Conditioning, to cloud Othello’s mind of critical thoughts, turning him into a jealous zombie; this shows that Iago would go to any means necessary, whether it was murder or manipulation, to achieve his goal.

Shakespeare establishes an outsider in several of his plays and whether certain groups are considered to be “insiders” or “outsiders”. He displays this theme by Othello being a general of color living in Venice who must balance being a Moor and a Venetian. Othello demonstrates many times in the play his struggle to balance each of these roles. He is put into situations that call out characteristics from both personas, which affect the way he communicates with various characters throughout the play. The Venetian stereotype of a cruel and ignorant black man and the educated and broad-minded Christian military leader shine through in his interactions and conversations with other people. Othello’s struggles send him into madness which

In Othello, the character Iago is a very despicable man, but still holds an excellent reputation with all the other characters in the play. Iago is very manipulative and warps situations to make him look good as well as bring other people down. He gets away with his lies by making it seem as if he didn’t actually want to tell them or by downplaying his own lies to make it look as if he didn’t want to believe them himself. A couple examples might include when he warned Othello about Roderigo and Brabantio or when he was was telling Othello what happened with Cassio and Roderigo. Another one could be when he pretended to care for a wounded Cassio. Iago may appear to be great to many, but in reality Iago is a dishonorable villain.

In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is portrayed as a cruel puppet master, using his high order critical analysis and manipulative skills to exact on those he believe wronged him; as he weaves a web of deceit to ensnare the play’s protagonist (and namesake of the play) Othello. Various movie adaptations have portrayed the characters in different ways, often resulting in a fusion of the context of the age, artistic license and Shakespeare’s character. One such fusion is Stuart Burge’s 1965 filmic portrayal of Iago in his Othello. Act II, scene I is a prime example of how Iago can be adapted for film.

Turning attention to the character of Iago, one of the most compelling things about him was his true lack of motive for his actions. The play begins with him expressing his hate of Othello to Roderigo, citing what appears to be jealousy at Othello choosing Cassio to be his lieutenant. Yet, by the end of Act II, he states his revenge is based on a suspicion that Othello has slept with Emilia; “For that I do suspect the lusty Moor, Hath leaped into my seat” (2.2.1078), and that he must get even with Othello “wife for wife” (2.2.1082). These reasons never seem genuine, aided by Iago’s infamous refusal to reveal his motives at the play’s end; “demand me nothing, what you know, you know. From this time forth, I will never speak a word” (5.2.3607). Iago’s answer is akin saying to you know why I’ve done this, but neither Othello nor the audience have a concrete answer for his behavior. Former Iago actor Simon Russel Beale speculates that, “there is something genetic in Iago that just wants to mess Othello up, because Othello represents something good, I think it’s a very broad, genetic loathing of the good” (Othello with David Harewood). Iago is manipulative, conniving, and malicious, but perhaps what makes him so sinister is how mysterious his motives are. As professor Ryan describes, “pathologically normal and theatrically irresistible.” Iago’s actions may be unforgivable, but he remains charming, witty, and more importantly, he embodies a prejudice that may lurk in all

Many have read “Othello” and can clearly see how divided the characters are by many aspects, but one that seems to be most important to the whole theme is gender roles. The role of women in “Othello” varies from each female’s point of view and is easily recognized through their status and upbringing. From the point of view of the reader a person can definitely tell that they are also separated by class and that’s how it determines part of the problem for gender roles in this play. Another problem that is encountered is each woman’s personal attitude towards the men in the play. Lastly, one of the dividing factors for each female is how their upbringing really affects some of their actions.

Writers have been responsible for providing wisdom and entertainment through their literature since the first known published work. However, for many centuries the writer has also been seen to have a diagnostic function, scrutinizing the ills of their society and portraying them for the world to see. William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, was an English playwright, poet and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world 's most distinguished dramatist. His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems and a few other verses. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright, past and present. One of the most famous examples of these plays is the tragedy of “Othello”, believed to have been written in approximately 1603. The work revolves around four central characters; Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army; his new wife, Desdemona; his lieutenant, Cassio; and his trusted ensign, Iago. Throughout the play of “Othello”, William Shakespeare diagnoses and portrays two ills within his own society, which are undeniably still present in society today. Shakespeare portrays the issues of prejudice against race and prejudice against gender. In this essay I will discuss how, through the play of “Othello”, Shakespeare portrays these still current themes as well as how they were huge issues within the

People are not always the way you see them to be. Within the play Othello by William Shakespeare, a character named Iago displays a very good example of this. Iago who is Othello’s ensign is considerate to people although at the same time manipulates their minds into thinking different things other than what had really occurred. Therefore, the victims of Iago’s mischievous acts had been lured in to gullibility at every corner.

Shakespeare does a very good job in showing what kind of person Iago is right from the beginning of the play. The reader begins to realize this before any of the characters in the play do. I believe he did this so the reader will begin to see how evil Iago is yet how unjustified his reasoning is. Iago is the main reason there is conflict in Othello. I feel as if he had not entered the play Othello would have married Desdemona and they would have lived happily ever after. Right from the beginning of the play to the very end he causes conflicts. He is responsible for the deaths of Othello, Desdemona, Emilia, Cassio, and Roderigo. Which happen to all be the main characters. All the problems he causes are through lies, manipulation, and a deep unknown hate. Some of his hate is fueled by jealousy and revenge. The ironic part is that he wants to be known as "honest Iago". Every act