In the initial two acts, crucial judgments are made to dispense the just nature of certain events. The justice represented in Act 1 is very similar to that in Act 2, as they both follow the judgmental likings of Othello. Within Brabantio's attempt to prove Othello’s actions unjust, Othello is victimized as the criminal of the case. Just like Othello, Cassio is victimized in Act 2, when Iago illustrates that he and the others “entreats his pause”, as Cassio was in “rage strike” (2.3.210) (2.3.224). In both cases, some dishonesty occurs, as Brabantio says that Othello “corrupted [Desdemona] / By spells and medicines bought of mountebanks”, and Iago fails to say that he was the one who got Cassio drunk and sent Roderigo to provoke him (1.3.60-61). Through these lies and intentional omissions, Brabantio and Iago are attempting to sway the “judge” into believing that their view is just. The difference is, however, that one succeeds at doing this while the other fails. In Brabantio’s …show more content…
This naivety allows Iago’s plan to succeed and results in the unjust nature of Othello’s decision. Had Othello done what the Duke did, in which case he would have waited to hear Casio’s side of the story, his decision may have been more just. This is also the first event that Othello shows that he is having trouble with controlling his emotion, by saying, “Now by heaven / My blood begins my safer guides to rule, / And passion having my best judgment collied” (2.3.185-187). This event foreshadows the fact that Iago’s future plans will succeed, causing Othello to make several other unjust decisions; whether it be due to his emotions and/or his naivety. Othello’s naivety and use of emotions negatively correlate with the justness of his decisions. The less control he has over his emotions and the more trustworthy he becomes, the easier it will be for Iago to formulate successful steps in revenging
1.) In the play “The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice” written by Williams Shakespeare, he reveals the main themes in Othello’s final speech. The two main themes Othello illustrates in his final speech are reputation and jealousy. In Othello’s speech he says, “When you shall these unlucky deeds relate, speak of me as I am.” (Shakespeare 355), showing the importance of his reputation. He is unable to cope with criticism due to his low-self-esteem and therefore, cares what other individuals have to say about him. Othello’s dark skin is the reason why he does not have high-self-esteem and becomes jealous when Iago tells him about his wife having an affair with Cassio. Othello loves Desdemona but he feels that he is not good enough for her
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,
of choosing him to be his lieutenant, Othello chose Cassio. In the end of scene,
As early as the first scene of the play Iago shows us strong motives for his actions. In this first scene we see Othello, a general of Venice, has made Cassio his new lieutant. Iago feels he truly deserves his promotion as he says "I know my price, I am worth more no worse a place."(l.i.12) Iago over here is confused why Othello has made such a stupid decision. Iago is a man with a tremendous ego who knows, sometimes overestimates, his worth. Roderigo, a Venetian gentleman, understands Iago when Iago said that he is "affined to love the Moor."(l.i.41-42) What Iago really means is "I follow him to serve my term upon him."(l.i.45) Iago wants to use Othello for his personal goals. We also must put ourselves into Iago's shoes. He is a man whose self-esteem and professional carrier have just been torn apart. Iago makes his actions of revenge toward Othello almost immediately by informing Brabantio, a Venetian senator and father of Desdemona, that "an old black ram (Othello) is tupping (his) white ewe (Desdemona)."(l.i.97)
Othello is noble, tender, and confiding; but he has blood of the most inflammable kind. Unfortunately, Othello was naïve enough to be swayed by Iagos misplaced trustworthiness and the accusations cause the entire play to unfold. Once someone brings up a sense of all his wrong doings, he cannot be stopped by considerations of remorse of pity until Othello has extinguished all that fuels his rage and despair. Othello is described as a “Moor” by his critics (Brabantio, Iago). A “Moor” is a slang word used for the dark skinned appearance of the Muslim people from the northwest part of Africa.
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.
The European Renaissance forever changed the life of the contemporary individual. Explosive advancements in education, technology, and trade broadened geographic and mental horizons; however, in England these developments were paired with population crises of poverty and unemployment. In addition, the increased interaction with foreign cultures fomented by various commercial and diplomatic engagements gave rise to apprehension in English sensibility. Eventually, Christian England would attempt to reshape these ‘strangers’ in their image and modern racial tensions sprung forth. Recursion of the trope of race, under the guise of blackness, heathenry, or even femininity occurs extensively in literary tradition, and especially within Shakespeare’s oeuvre. “There exists in all literature an archetypal figure who escapes both poles of the classic definition – appearing sometimes as hero, sometimes as villain, sometimes as clown…[he] has been named variously the ‘shadow,’ the ‘other,’ the ‘alien,’ the ‘outsider,’ the ‘stranger.’” It is with this borderline figure, mired in ambiguity, that this investigation is concerned: primarily with the stranger as the Moor in Othello, the Welsh in Henry IV, Part 1, and the woman in both.
The play began as Roderigo and Iago were blaming Othello for their problems for him existing. He caused Roderigo problems as he was having a relationship with Desdemona stopping Roderigo from doing so. Iago’s problem with Othello was that Othello had become the general ‘He in good time, must his lieutenant be’ And I -- God bless the mark -- his Moorship’s ancient’ which made Iago his ancient. This caused them to go together to tell Brabantio of what they knew thus causing Othello to be blamed without trial showing how arbitrary justice is in this society. When Brabantio heard of the news, he automatically joined them in blaming Othello as he could not accept that a Black man could be loved by his angelic daughter ‘Damn’d as thou art. Thou hast enchanted her. Later on in Act 1 Scene 3 as the trip to Cyprus for Othello is mentioned Brabantio was bigot and took the argument to the Duke of Venice and the first senator in hope to gain their support in preventing a marriage between Desdemona and Othello. He tells them of his belief that Othello used magic to gain Desdemona’s heart saying that she would never love a black man ‘To ...
Othello is a man of romantic nature. He fell in love with the beautiful Desdemona. He was accused of stealing her away from her father. Othello was of a different race and did not fit in with her family. Othello makes a plea for Desdemona and tells his story which wooed her to begin with. Othello tells of the love that her father showed him since his boyish days. This was like a match made in heaven that overcame many obstacles which got in their way. Othello could not understand why he was good enough to work and fight alongside of her father, but was not good enough for his daughter.
In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Othello, Iago demonstrates a mastery of manipulation over people who had previously trusted and confided in him. His sudden turn from Othello’s loyal ensign to rage-filled villain seems indicative of a man who can no longer accept his position in life. Iago’s plotting of Othello’s demise starts as idle talk of a disgruntled 28 year-old career military man passed over for promotion. Iago believes that such a promotion may never come after Othello rejects his candidacy and makes it clear that he did not believe him suitable. He sees Othello is only concerned with personal and political gain with his choice of Cassio as lieutenant. When Iago teams with love-scorned and desperate Roderigo, he begins to construct Othello’s downfall. Iago is declaring an all-out covert war on Othello, Cassio, and anyone else who gets in his way. In Iago’s first speech in Act I Scene II, he proclaims hatred for Othello and lays out his plan for seeking vengeance. “After some time, to abuse Othello’s ears that he is too familiar with his wife (Shakespeare 1473).”
Through studying Shakespeare’s and Cinthio’s Othello, I explored the concept of ‘The Moor’. ‘The Moor’ is a disrespectful and racist term , often used by white Europeans referring to arabs and blacks, and people of other races with relatively dark skin, such as Othello. During Shakespeare’s time, blacks are considered to be outsiders and are inferior to white people. In Cinthio’s work, it stated that moors are hot-headed as evident in this quote ‘you moors are of so hot a nature that every little trifle moves you to anger and revenge’ which is evident that moors are hot-headed. In scene 1 of the play, Iago told Desdemona father that his daughter was robbed by a thief, Iago uses metaphor to describes Othello as a “black ram”. Desdemona’s father was shocked that his daughter will fall in love with a black man. He believed that Othello must have use some magic to make his daughter fall in love with him; as there is social class difference at that time and it is unimaginable that a white woman will love a black men.
In the first act of scene 4, we see Othello and Iago discussing Desdemona’s unfaithfulness. Othello still doesn't want to believe that Desdemona is capable, or would cheat on him. They're discussing the handkerchief, it's a very significant in the play, it's one of the first signs for Othello to believe that Desdemona is cheating on him. We usually see Othello defending Desdemona and Iago accusing her, but the roles have reversed and Iago seems to be defending Desdemona, while producing more "evidence" to condemn her. When Iago simply just says “Lie-” (Page 169, Line 33) without any further elaboration, Othello immediately assumes 'Lie with her”, which gives him more proof to condemn Desdemona and Cassio. Othello almost seems to be persuading himself that Desdemona did cheat on him when he says “Lie with her? Lie on her? We say lie on her when they belie her. Lie with her -Zounds, that's fulsome” (Page 169, lines 35-37). Right after that he falls in a trance, and Iago takes this opportunity, to make his accusation more believable. He calls in Cassio and tells him to come back again...
This character is so noble, Othello's feelings and actions follow so inevitably from it and from the forces brought to bear on it, and his sufferings are so heart-rending, that he stirs a passion of mingled love and pity which readers feel for no other hero in Shakespeare, and to which not even Mr Swinburne can do more than justice. Yet there are some critics and not a few readers who cherish a grudge against him. They do not merely think that in the later stages of his temptation he showed a certain obtuseness, and that, to speak pedantically, he acted with unjustifiable precipitance and violence; no one, I suppose, denies that. But, even when they admit that he was not of a jealous temper, they consider that he was "easily jealous"; they seem to think that it was inexcusable in him to feel any suspicion of his wife at all; and they blame him for never suspecting Iago or asking him for evidence. I refer to this attitude of mind chiefly in order to draw attention to certain points in the story. It comes partly from inattention (for Othello did suspect Iago and did ask him for evidence); partly from a misconstruction of the text which makes Othello appear jealous long before he really is so; [Endnote 2] and partly from failure to realise certain essential facts. I will begin with these.
Internal and external struggles influence people to action, be it swift and daring or cunning and low. In Shakespeare's plays, the events around and within a character often combine to cause a character to act in a manner that would be considered out of character or unnatural for the person. Shakespeare uses these characters to provide the audience with a lesson or theme; to give them something they can apply to life and see learn from. In Othello, the character he uses as an example is, in fact, Othello. Shakespeare informs his readers of how doubts caused by rumors and lies can lead to the breakdown of even a once noble person.
Othello has had Iago as his ensign for many years. They have gone to battle many times over. In war, every little thing can affect the outcome, everything is vital information. During this time, Othello, when he was upset or unsure of what to do, has learned to trust and listen to Iago’s insights about strategy and war. Othello shows that his trust in Iago extends beyond the battlefield when he asks Iago to take care of his wife during the voyage to Cyprus. It’s this trust that backfires on him. When Othello hears Iago’s off hand remark about Cassio, he trusts that Iago would not have said anything if it wasn’t something to worry about. Then, Iago, knowing how Othello thinks of his character, makes Othello think there is more to his thoughts than he is willing to speak of. Iago knows just what to say and how to articulate it to make Othello think the worst. He even manages to look like a friend who wants to keep...