Throughout history, it is a known fact that nobody is perfect and in most cases, everybody has one major flaw that causes issues in their lives. Just like people in the real world tend to be flawed, the characters in Shakespeare’s Othello have flaws as well. Iago has the flaw of being jealous of Othello. Roderigo shares the flaw of being jealous toward Othello. Emilia has the flaw of being dishonest to Desdemona. Although Shakespeare’s Othello focuses on the flaw of the title character: Othello, characters: Iago, Roderigo, and Emilia also share tragic flaws that not only lead to the play’s tragic outcome but lead to the deaths of those they love and in most cases the death of themselves.
In Othello, Iago’s flaw of jealousy leads to the tragic deaths of Roderigo, Desdemona, Emilia, and Othello. Jealousy is displayed tremendously
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When Emilia steals Desdemona’s handkerchief to give to Iago, it displays great dishonesty and shows Emilia would rather do Iago’s dirty work unknowingly, then remain loyal and honest to her lady. Emilia giving the handkerchief to Iago allows Iago to help convince Othello of the suspected affair between Desdemona and Cassio, because when Othello notices the handkerchief is missing, he starts to believe that Desdemona left the handkerchief with Cassio, which is what Iago told Othello. The handkerchief in Cassio’s possession is significant evidence in Iago’s lie about the affair and makes Othello decide to suffocate Desdemona. After Othello murders Desdemona, Emilia realizes what stealing the handkerchief has caused, she tries to confess to Othello, and tell him that Iago is the reason for all of this, but Iago ends up killing Emilia with his sword. Emilia's initial act of dishonesty toward Desdemona ended up causing Desdemona, whom she loved to be killed, and herself to be murdered by her villainous
Emilia is not just in the play to be a simply friend. She is there to tell everyone the horrible acts that have happened. Once, Emilia realizes her mistress has died she starts asking questions which helps her put two and two together. Emilia finds out that Othello thinks Desdemona cheated on her something that Desdemona would never do. Emilia then asks Othello, why? The main reason is the handkerchief. Othello gave Desdemona handkerchief that represents their love and its precious. Because Othello finds out Cassio had it he thinks an affair was going on. Then is when, Emilia reveals that she gave the handkerchief to Iago because she found it. Quickly after that it’s revealed that Iago (her husband) is doing evil acts. Emilia “...That handkerchief thou speak’st of I found by fortune and did give my husband. For often, with a solemn earnestness—More than indeed belonged to such a trifle—He begged of me to steal it.” With that said, Emilia was much more than a
Shakespearian tales always leave us with a plethora to ponder about the Elizabethan age and Shakespeare himself. “Othello” is no break in this mold, leaving us to ponder the roll of Iago within the harsh tale of love and murder. Iago is the one to tell Othello of his wife’s betrayal with Cassio, hence making up a story that will work to his favor yet betray those around him. Iago betrays his wife, Emilia, but not only her as he drags Othello, Desdemona, and Cassio into the mix of lies and the hatred he is spreading to improve his rank with Othello. But were Iago’s acts unjust and done for the sake of it? Is he a heartless man who’s only happiness is to bring sorrow upon others? No, Iago has a just reason for what he does, even though he causes the deaths of Cassio, Emilia, and Desdemona in his search for revenge; Iago is not a heartless fiend, just a man wronged.
Iago plants the handkerchief on Cassio. Convinced of Desdemona’s infidelity, Othello smothers his beloved wife in their marriage bed. Emilia then proves Iago’s guilt and Desdemona’s innocence to Othello. Othello stabs Iago, who is under arrest, but fails to kill him and commits suicide.
Desdemona’s death is caused because Emilia is naive and has poor judgment of Iago. Iago believes that Emilia is promiscuous this sparks his jealousy toward Othello. Because he suspects that Othello and Emilia have been together intimately. He then seeks revenge on the Moor in the process he uses his own wife as an accomplice. This leads to, the case of the missing handkerchief! Emilia is completely naive and without any suspicion she never suspects that Iago envies the Moor and will use the handkerchief to deceive him. When Emilia says:
The play “Othello” by William Shakespeare was written in 1604 during the Elizabeth era. Othello is one of the most extraordinary characters in all of Shakespeare’s dramas. He enjoyed unheralded success in the combat zone, which gave him the reputation as one of Venice’s most competent generals. Even though he has great success in the battlefield, he has a dramatic flaw that causes a downfall in his life. The dramatic flaw that causes his downfall is jealousy. 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.
Continuing Act three, Scene three, Othello feels the beginning of a headache. Desdemona offers Othello a handkerchief to ease the pain upon Othello’s forehead. The handkerchief is a gift from Othello to Desdemona as a symbol of the love shared by Othello and Desdemona. In Othello’s pain the handkerchief falls from Othello’s hand and Emilia steals the handkerchief. Iago uses the characters of the play as pawns, including wife Emilia. Jealousy is the fuel and the handkerchief is the spark. With the handkerchief in Iago’s possession, Iago can continue to spin the web of lies and deceit. Iago plans to leave the handkerchief in Cassio’s lodgings to further support the suspicion of Desdemona’s infidelity.
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.
At the Because of this handkerchief, Othello decides he need to kill Desdemona, even though she tells him of her innocence until she dies. After she died, it was the handkerchief that allows Othello to see her innocence. Once Emilia tells Othello that she gave the handkerchief to Iago, Othello realizes his mistake. This handkerchief, that convinced Othello of her infidelity in Act IV Scene 1, is what eventually gets Emilia killed, Othello dead, and Iago captured.
A.C. Bradley describes Othello as "by far the most romantic figure among Shakespeare's heroes"(Shakespearean Tragedy, 1). This is an unusual description of a man who murders his own wife. However, Othello's feelings of hate for Desdemona started as an overwhelming love for her when their relationship began. This transformation from love to hate also inflicted the characters Iago and Roderigo and like Othello their hatred resulted in the murder of innocent people. Roderigo's love for Desdemona was transformed into hate towards any man that he thought was loved by her. Iago's love for his job and his wife, Emilia changed into a destructive hatred of Cassio and Othello. As a result of their hatred Cassio, Emilia, and at the end themselves were killed. The connection between love and hate in William Shakespeare's "Othello" is the ugly feeling of jealousy that caused such transformations. Jealousy can be described as a fear of losing something or someone that is valuable (Godfrey 2). As minor as this feeling appears to be by that definition, it can take on varying degrees of damaging behavior. Othello, Roderigo, and Iago became paralyzed by jealousy. Their thoughts, actions, and behaviors were ruled by it. Jealousy caused their inability to the act rationally. They became paranoid and unable to love. This paper will examine the jealousy that caused love to turn into hate for Roderigo, Othello, and Iago.
Emilia gets the handkerchief by mistake because Desdemona did not pick it up when Othello made her drop it. Emilia picked it up and showed it to Iago and Iago took it away from Emilia. The death of Desdemona and Emilia, and the handkerchief getting planted is all Iago faught. Othello being general, being the highest rank, and making Cassio a honorable lieutenant, second highest rank, and making Iago an ensign, the lowest rank, has caused Iago to become jealous and caused the tragedy. Cassio did not really have an affair with Desdemona. The whole time Cassio had love for the prostitute, Bianca. Bianca is in love with Cassio. Cassio tells Bianca she is jealous when he gives her the handkerchief. “From whence you have them. You are jealous now that is from some mistress, some remembrance. No, by my faith, Bianca” (Shakespeare III.iv.184-186) No one knows about Cassio and Bianca but them two. Othello, Desdemona, and Emilia dies while Iago ends up wounded from when Othello stabs him. “I bleed, sir, but not killed. (Shakespeare V.ii.284). Emilia was right to betray her husband because it caused Othello to kill Desdemona and Desdemona was innocent the whole time. Desdemona stayed loyal to Othello throughout the book and never betrayed him. Emilia served herself because she figured out the whole thing and told the truth. With Emilia picking up the handkerchief and not giving it back to Desdemona immediately, she still did not need to die. Iago got
During the course of the play, Othello is further deceived by Iago to believe that Desdemona is unfaithful to him. Emilia, Iago's wife, unknowingly helps Iago fool Othello when she gives her husband the handkerchief that was given to Desdemona by Othello on their wedding night. Desdemona always keeps this by her side, as a result of Othello's command. When Iago tells Othello that he has seen Cassio with his gift to Desdemona, Othello becomes enraged and vows to kill her. He also makes Iago swear that he will kill Cassio.
The single dishonest act Emilia performs towards Desdemona is stealing her handkerchief, which unbeknownst to her turns out to have devastating consequences. Desdemona’s loss of her handkerchief is in part a major convincing for Othello that Desdemona is guilty of infidelity. While Emilia presents her husband, Iago, with the handkerchief as he had obsessively been seeking, she was unknowingly going to play a key role in Desdemona’s death by doing so.
Othello’s true flaw is not vile, destructive jealousy, but rather pure and prevailing love. He has a very strong character of virtue and nobility that is intact up to the horrid end. Iago’s deceit and trickery are more the cause of Othello’s tragic fall than any fault of Othello himself. This innocence and greatness of the tragic hero unequaled in any other Shakespearean tragedy is what gives the play its terrible irony and passion. Othello plays on the most powerful of all human emotions: faith and love, both embodied to the fullest in the great and honest Othello.
Upon proof that Cassio has the handkerchief, Iago gets Othello to effectively divorce Desdemona and align himself with Iago. His plan to kill her is not only persuasive but very clever: he knows that Othello will be put to death for the crime. Othello says,
In William Shakespeare’s Othello, Othello is the tragic hero. He is a character 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 villain, but is rather a consequence of a wide range of feelings, judgments and misjudgments, and attempts for personal justification exhibited by the characters. Othello is first shown as a hero of war and a man of great pride and courage. As the play continues, his character begins to deteriorate and become less noble. Chronologically through the play, Othello’s character changes from a flawless military leader, to a murderer. He has certain traits which make him seem naive and unsophisticated compared to many other people. Iago knows Othello is a proud man, Othello’s open and trusting nature in the beginning of the play lets Iago- cunning, untrustworthy, selfish, and plotting; use him as a scapegoat.