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Humanity and Reason in Othello
In Othello Shakespeare probes deeply into the human condition by creating characters, who, by their inability to think rationally, surrender what sets them above animals. Before he succumbs to Iago's poisonous innuendoes, Othello himself expresses his clear understanding of this role of the human intellect. He initially refuses to listen to Iago's suggestions that Desdemona cannot be trusted, "Exchange me for a goat/When I shall turn the business of my soul/To such exsufflicate and blown surmises" (3.3.194-96). Othello feels that he would be acting like an animal if he became irrationally jealous because someone would say "my wife is fair, feeds well, loves company" (3.3.198). He tells Iago that he will not blindly fall into jealousy, especially when he never has had reason to suspect Desdemona, "I'll see before I doubt; when I doubt, prove;/And on the proof, there is no more but this--/Away at once with love or jealousy" (3.3.205-07).
Othello is at this point a confident man, both in his wife's faithfulness, and in his ability to think rationally. However, Shakespeare shows that this confidence is often not enough. In his Sonnet 129, Shakespeare describes lust as another force that destroys the ability to reason effectively. The poet depicts lust as desire that is
Past reason hunted, and no sooner had,
Past reason hated as a swallowed bait
On purpose laid to make the taker mad:
...
All this world well knows, yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.
(7-8,15-16)
In his sonnet, Shakespeare laments that even when we know that lust is dangerously irrational, most people cannot resist falling under its spell. Othello finds the same to be true ab...
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...mplete Works of Shakespeare . Ed. David Bevington. 4th ed. NY: Longman, 1997.
Soellner, Rolf. Shakespeare’s Patterns of Self-Knowledge . N.p.: Ohio State UP, 1972.
OUTLINE
Thesis Statement: When the characters in Othello cease to use reason they lose their humanity and are associated with animal imagery. Roderigo Irrationally in love with Desdemona Wants to drown himself like "cats and blind puppies" Iago calls him a snipe Iago Irrationally jealous of Othello and Cassio Equates love with animalistic lust Encourages others to "be a man" A man is decisive A man looks out for himself A man loves himself Roderigo calls him an "inhuman dog", Lodovico a "Spartan dog" Emilia implores him to tell the truth "if thou be'st a man" Othello Irrationally jealous of Desdemona and Cassio Equates lack of reason with animals Refers to himself as a dog.
To urban middle-class Americans of the late 19th century, nothing symbolized the progress of the American civilization quite as much as the railroad. Not only had the great surge in railroad construction after the Civil War helped to create a modern market economy, but the iron horse itself seemed to embody the energy, force, and technology of the new order. In fact, the fanning out of railroads from urban centers was an integral part of the modernizing process, tying the natural and human resources of rural areas to the industrializing core.
One of the major themes of Othello is that of jealousy, a manifestation of paranoia and obsession in itself. Iago’s burning desire to drive Othello to madness and a compulsion to disgrace those above him can be seen, with a Marxist reading, as his intense dissatisfaction with the social system he is a part of, ‘we cannot all be masters, nor all masters Cannot be truly followed’. Likewise, his intellectual superiority over his betters and peers is made evident ...
Iago asserts that sense and reason cooperate as if they were on a balance, and that if sense were not governed by reason “our natures would conduct us to the most preposterous conclusions”(1.3.324–25). So, by this view, when one focuses on sense more than reason, their lusts will cause them to do terrible things. Iago does not see any drawbacks from uncontrolled reason, and he does not believe that love is more than “a lust of the blood and a permission of the will” (1.3.329), but in the play the opposite seems to be true. Reason does not temper sense, but instead sense must set the foundation for reasonable conclusions, or they will lose unity with reality, so reason causes Othello to come to “preposterous conclusions” by relying only on rational thoughts to find his suspicion about Desdemona. Neither reason nor sense are invalid, but one must rely on both to get the most sure truth he or she can, and reason must not take priority over what the senses can clearly perceive, so by separating Othello’s reasonable mind from his senses, Iago can control him with false logic.
...om coast to coast. “The 1,800 miles of new track[s] were a huge boon to the nation’s economy” (The Transcontinental Railroad Is Completed! 1). “Distances shrank, but identification to land and fellow American[s] grew in inverse proportions” (The Impact of the Transcontinental Railroad 1).
How did the Railroad change America? Railroads created a more interconnected society. Counties were able help each other faster due to the decreased travel time. With the use of the steam engine, people were able to travel longer distances much faster and easier than if they were using only horse to pull wagons. The Railroads also created jobs across the United States that aided in the building of cities and towns across the country. With the invention of the steam engine those living in large cities across the country were able to obtain goods faster than they had been able with only horse powered means. Whatever good the railroads did for the country it also was rough on those who built it. Laying tracks in extreme weather conditions with
However, it was not easy for the railroad industry to promote their innovative new mode of transportation. With vision and ingenuity, the pioneers of the early American railroads were able to surmount all obstacles that stood in their way and led the Nation into a “transportation revolution.”
Thesis: Othello was a noble and valiant man who believed in seeking out the proof before accusation. He had been beguiled by his confidant, Iago; he used Machiavellian tactics to persuade Othello into believing that his loving wife, Desdemona, made him a cuckold. Iago was successful; Othello believed all the lies he was fed. As a result, he became inarticulate, rash and barbaric; losing all sense of rationality.
“O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock.The meat it feeds on; that cuckold lives in bliss. Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger; But, O, what damned minutes tells he o'er. Who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves” (3.3.163-168). In Shakespeare’s Othello, jealousy is the common theme that becomes Othello’s undoing. Through text in the play, the audience can notice Othello slowly begin to become crazed through his speech.
In a passage from William Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago dramatizes a subsequent conflict between Othello and Desdemona when he warns the former of a green-eyed monster, the manifestation of jealousy. As the play progresses, Othello becomes more like this beast that Iago told him about. Instead of being the honorable and respectable character he was, Othello now displays a more questionable personality, one that causes him to doubt his wife of infidelity. Even though Iago does play a role, it is mostly due to Othello’s insecurity that transforms him into a monstrous person.
The Web. 4 Dec. 2009.. Nordlund, Marcus "Theorising Early Modern Jealousy: A Biocultural Perspective" Shakespeare's Othello. Studia Neophilologica: A Journal of Germanic and Romance Languages and Literature 74.2 (2002): 146-160. MLA International Bibliography.
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.
The role of jealousy, love and betrayal play a major role in The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice. The entire play is based on the human interactions of the characters as related to Othello and Desdemona. The characters’ personalities, their social status, and their relationships to each other control the story line and their fate in the play. Othello is portrayed early in the play as an outsider with animalistic characteristics by Iago and Roderigo because of jealousy. “Your heart is burst; and have lost half of your soul/Even now, now, very now, an old black ram/Is tupping your white ewe”.(531) Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, accuses Othello of using witch craft on his daughter. “If she in chains of magic were not bound/ Whether a maid so tender, fair, and happy/ So opposite to marriage that she shunned…” (535) This point is important because Othello must defend himself not only to Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, but to the entire Venetian Senate. “And till she come, as truly as to heaven,/ I do confess the vices of my blood./ So justly to your grave ears I’ll present/ How I did thrive in this fair lady’s love, / And she in mine.” (539) Othello proves himself to be an intellectual hero early in the play. He has worked hard to gain respectability and power, but because he has a different background, is from another country, is dark-skinned and is older than Desdemona, he becomes jealous very quickly of Cassio. Cassio is from the same social class, is compatible with Desdemona and is a young handsome man. Iago has also convinced Cassio to seek favor with Desdemo...
Railroads have made better the lives of most citizens in the US. By the 1890s, the United States was becoming an urban nation , railroads were a great way of transport between towns. They were used for the shipping of food, building materials and fuel. The presence of them could bring a territory a lot of opportunities as well as it could change its economy in many ways. Railroads also helped to shape physically the growth of towns and also a lot business grew around focal points in the railroad industry. Later on, the United States transport system was composed by 320,000 kilometers of railroads that prolonged from the Pacific to the Atlantic and vice versa and also connecting with the frontier countries, Mexico and Canada.
Othello has many positive traits, including being a great leader and loyal. He also has one negative trait that ultimately leads to his death; jealousy. Iago provokes deep, strong emotions in Othello, jealousy being the strongest. Jealousy is a nasty little emotion. It causes people to do terrible things because once it is on a person’s conscience, it stays for quite some time. Because of these effects, jealousy can impact some of the strongest people such as Othello. The love between Desdemona and Othello was portrayed so elevated and pure and was filled with religious words and phrases that just added to the strength and sanctity of their love. Othello has such a strong mind, but jealousy caused by the manipulation of Iago, negatively impacts him. Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him with his friend Cassio. When Othello asks Iago for proof of Desdemona’s deceit, Iago describes scenes and events in which Othello has a reason to be jealous. In Act III, Scene I Iago is describing to Othello, Desdemona and Cassio’s imagined relationship, “It is impossible you should see this/ were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys, as salt as wolves in pride, and fools as gross as ignorance made drunk.” These images planted themselves inside Othello’s mind and haunted him until he did something about it. These images led to Othello believing Desdemona really did love
The play, Othello is one of the most famous tragedies composed by William Shakespeare during the Renaissance period. It powerfully portrays a world where the acts of evil ultimately vanquishes fidelity, nobility and integrity. The central themes jealousy and manipulation embodies the foretold tragedies and the downfall tragedies of the characters due to one’s insecurities. Through the use of literary techniques and figurative language, Shakespeare has effectively explored the themes of jealousy and manipulation.