The Secrets They Kept

Although their stories are vastly different, Othello, Oedipus and Nora had different personal flaws that led to the downfalls in their lives. They all share the same flaws of dishonesty and pride, but Nora has also shown passivity. For these characters the monster of dishonesty was present in their lives and marriages, and resulted in pain, heartache, and regret. In Shakespeare’s play Othello the Moor of Venice, instead of communicating with his wife, Desdemona, Othello shared secrets with Iago, which caused his marriage to become infected with dishonesty. After Othello finds the truth. Similar to Othello, Oedipus whose story is told in the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles, is dishonest and prideful. Yet, his pride is not apparent at first, to the audience he is a caring King who wants what is best for his Kingdom, Thebes. However, his pride is revealed when he refuses to see what is in front of him. Oedipus believes that he is successfully avoiding his prophecy, yet instead of avoiding his prophecy he is vividly fulfilling it. The last character to compare to Othello and Oedipus is Nora Helmer, who is the main character of Doll’s House a play by Henrik Ibsen. Nora is a caring, free-spirited wife who takes out a loan without consulting her husband, Torvald. She is proud of her accomplishment until it begins to haunt her. Lies are meant to be between the people creating them, but usually are not. When lies are revealed it can be as a slap to the face, leaving behind a bruise that never fades.

Othello, “The Moor of Venice,” was a good man, who had influence and control over men, and loved his newly wed wife Desdemona. Othello’s downfall occurred because of Iago, his adviser, becoming obsessed with ruining his life, for his own se...

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...a, in order to get the person on the other side to admit they are at fault. Regardless of the situation, what was revealed to these characters did not create an outcome they expected. There are high expectations for each character at the beginning of each play, however, the reader starts to find that they are flawed, and that these flaws will eventually lead to their downfall. Othello, Oedipus, and Nora have lost something or someone in their lives because of their character flaws. Although they may have expected their lives to play out perfectly and to not be at fault, their stories do not end this way. Othello, Oedipus, and Nora, gained an education that resulted in them having to sacrifice what they cared about. In the end, these character become haunted by their lies, and their lives start to reek of the stench lies create, driving them to act in different ways.