Mindset And Grit In Shakespeare's Othello

Mindset/Grit & Othello MidTerm

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Understand the book through to Mindset and Grit

Throughout Shakespeare's Othello, he tells a story of a prince living in Venice who is

secretly in love and also engaged with a woman named Desdemona who is in fact the daughter

of the Brabantio (the Senator). It was an intriguing tale about the different aspects and conflicts

involving Shakespeare's mindset and grit for all of his characters. In our CUNY English class, we

read multiple articles and passages from different publishers and psychologists about how grit

and mindset can be interpreted and used to understand what a person can do and how they would

do it. The way I would interpret grit is through an acronym. G stands for Give it your absolute

best. Knowing that you

did 100% of what you're capable of is important to understand for your

life and for your mind.

R stands for Restart when you feel inevitable. It's okay to have mistakes,

it's about evaluating your mistakes and understand what you did wrong. Once you've figured out

how to correct your mistakes, pick yourself up and redo it over with a better frame of mind. I

stand for Ignore Failure. If your first mindset is knowing that you're going to fail, most likely

you are. You always showed to have a mindset, not about winning but getting to the finish line.

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And last but not least, T stands for Take your time to do it right. If you have time, use it all. You

do not have to rush if you time. Your time is very valuable and managing it well will eventually

get everything you need done. Grit has been shown (and also not shown) in Shakespeare's

Othello with the main characters when pointing their conflicts with marriage, greed, betrayal,

and being pragmatic. Shakespeare's Othello can be compared to those of the publishers theories

and thoughts on mindset and grit.

Starting with Othello, Othello throughout the Othello presents a growing mindset toward

himself and toward other important characters such as Desdemona and Iago. Othello in

the

beginning of the book first shows his love and passionate affection for Desdemona to her father,

Brabantino. His mindset is clear that he's passionate for her and don't want her father to get in the

way of their love.

Othello - Ah balmy breath, that dost almost persuade

Justice to break her sword! One more, one more.

Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee,

And love thee after. One more, and this the last:

So sweet was ne'er so fatal. I must weep,

But they are cruel tears: this sorrow's heavenly;

It strikes where it doth love. She wakes. (L.20)

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Due to jealousy, Iago was determined to dethrone Othello's place of power. He did so by

deception. He told deceptive lies to Othello that seem very believable and in fact was. That was

the moment in the book where Othello's mindset had changed for the worst. It changed

drastically because even thought Iago told him the lies about Cassio and Desdemona so-called

love affair, he planted deceptive evidence which was placing Desdemona handkerchief in

Cassio's bin. Iago was also like a brother to Othello so knowing that his lie had proof to go along

with it made it harder for him not to believe him. Othello's mindset grew to anger and hatred

toward Cassio and Desdemona, sadly ending her life of purity and truth.

Othello - Cassio did top her; ask thy husband else. (L.162)

O, I were damn'd beneath all depth in hell,

But that I did proceed upon just grounds

To this extremity. Thy husband knew it all.

Othello has grit involving the letter I (Ignore Failure). When he found out that Iago had deceived

him into thinking Cassio had an affair with Desdemona, he didn't actually acknowledge the fact

that he killed her, he acknowledges her death and how it was entirely Iago fault. It was clear to

understand to all the characters in the book that Othello was the murderer of Desdemona's death

(and his own) but it was clear to him that evil came upon through Iago, so Iago held

responsibility for her murder. After he killed her, mindset change again, but for the better

realizing that he should've listened to his wife instead of his "brother".

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Desdemona always had clear mindset of loving her husband. She stood up to her father

who didn't approve of the love affair she was having with Othello.

Desdemona - Nor would I there reside

To put my father in impatient thoughts

By being in his eye. (L.278)

He knew that bad things would come if she'd stay with Othello, but through thick and thin, she

ignored his judgement. She loved Othello more than anything and to have him suddenly treat her

like crap over a deceptive rumor was shocking to her. Through the book, she never changed her

love for Othello. She knew she was true to what she was saying to Othello and that everything

that Iago was placed in Othello's ear was completely falsified. She was pure to Othello.

Desdemona - And have you mercy too! I never did

Offend you in my life; never loved Cassio (L.70)

But with such general warranty of heaven

As I might love: I never gave him token.

Nothing more than a girl who was truly in love with someone for the first time, shadowed and

betrayed by someone who couldn't handle his petty jealousy. Desdemona's grit begins with the

Letter G (Give it your absolute best). Desdemona tried her absolute hardest to convince her

husband that everything Iago had said about her was a lie. That he was jealous of who Othello

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was, how much power Othello had amounted to, and how Othello was going to grant Cassio with

the position he's been wanting from the beginning.

Cassio mindset was fixed, but was temporarily changed due to intoxication. Cassio was

one of the few characters that particularly didn't do anything, and was dragged into this deceptive

misshape with Iago. Iago realized that Cassio and Desdemona had a "moment" and embraced on

the chance he had. Cassio always wanted to have the relationship that Iago and Othello had,

while Othello wanted what Cassio and Othello had. He wanted to be noble to Othello, to show

him that he is worthy as a man and as one of his fare "Brother". That was tragically ruined by

Iago petty jealousy against him. His mindset changed during intoxication. He was saying stuff

that should have been said and doing stuff that should have been done. While intoxicated, Iago

sneaked Desdemona's handkerchief into his bin.

Othello - By heaven, I saw my handkerchief in's hand.

O perjured woman! thou dost stone my heart,

And makest me call what I intend to do

A murder, which I thought a sacrifice:

I saw the handkerchief.

When the rumors come out about him and Desdemona, he tried his hardest to regain forgive and

redeem himself to Othello as a noble yet truthful person, while also trying to say that Iago was

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behind all of this organized chaos. Iago tried to kill Cassio, but didn't succeed and it eventually

had gotten out from Cassio what Iago had been up to.

Cassio - There is besides, in Roderigo's letter,

How he upbraids Iago, that he made him

Brave me upon the watch, whereon it came

That I was cast. And even but now he spake,

After long seeming dead: Iago hurt him,

Iago set him on. (L.145)

Cassio's grit begins with the letter R. Restart when you feel Inevitable. Cassio saw that he had

messed up with Othello with his foolishness while intoxicated, so in order to redeem himself to

Othello (along side from the rumors about the affair with Desdemona), he made sure that Iago

would get what he deserve for causing of this destruction.

Iago definitely has a growing fixed mindset. His evilness toward Othello vastly grew

more vicious from the beginning to the end of the play. In the beginning, the relationship was

between the two was obviously that Iago had slight jealousy over Othello. Things went left when

Othello assigned Cassio into Iago's wanted the position. The tension grew inside of Iago thus

wanting revenge on Cassio for stealing his thunder and Othello for giving Cassio his thunder.

Cassio - Patience, I say. Your mind may change (L.512)

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He ended up brainwashing Othello to believe that Desdemona was in fact having an affair with

Cassio. Emilia, Iago mistress was on the side of Desdemona to tell Othello that he was lying.

But did you ever tell him she was false?

IAGO - I did.

EMILIA - You told a lie, an odious, damned lie; 210

Upon my soul, a lie, a wicked lie.

She false with Cassio!--did you say with Cassio?

IAGO - With Cassio, mistress. Go to, charm your tongue.

The guilt from Desdemona death made Othello kill himself. Iago rage grew to lead him lower

than where he had started. Iago's grit begin with the letter T. Take your time and do it right.

Instead of trying to smuggle his way to the top of the chain with Othello, he could've earned it

just like Cassio did. Othello consider Iago as one of his most trustworthy men, so there should be

no reason why should be jealous of him. He was right by his side, but I think that since Othello

had all the power, it seemed great to have.

Shakespeare's Othello shows many signs of grit and mindset portrayed in characters to

help the audience understand why Othello did what he did and how it was brought about. CUNY

LINCT help me understand grit and mindset more to understand Shakespeare's general ideas in

Othello. Having a fixed and growth mindset is simple to understand but hard to evaluate. Each

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character eventually connected so to comprehend all of them was very interesting to think about.

Othello was a great way to express a clear meaning or people's mindsets and grits.