Misinterpretation of Reality in Othello
Othello, by William Shakespeare, is a mix of love, sexual passion and
the deadly power of jealousy. Shakespeare has created an erotic thriller
based on a human emotion that people are all familiar with. There is
an extraordinary fusion of characters' with different passions in Othello.
Every character is motivated by a different desire. Shakespeare mesmerizes the
reader by manipulating his characters abilities to perceive and discern what is
happening in reality. It is this misinterpretation of reality that leads to
the erroneous perceptions that each character holds.
After reading this tragedy, the depth of Shakespeare's characters
continue to raise many questions in the minds of the reader. The way I
percieve the character of Othello and what concerns me, is that Othello is able
to make such a quick transition from love to hate of Desdemona. In Act 3, Scene
3, Othello states, "If she be false, O, then heaven mocks itself! I'll not
believe 't." (lines 294-295) Yet only a couple hundred lines later he says,
"I'll tear her to pieces" (line 447) and says that his mind will never change
from the "tyrannous hate" (line 464) he now harbors. Does Othello make the
transition just because he is so successfully manipulated by Iago? Or is there
something particular about his character which makes him make this quick
change? I believe that "jealousy" is too simple of a term to describe Othello.
I think that Othello's rapid change from love to hate for Desdemona is fostered
partly by an inferiority complex. He appears to be insecure in his love for
Desdemona (as well as i...
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...mply be
percieved as extraordinary.
Works Cited and Consulted
Alexander, Peter. Shakespeare. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1964.
Greene, Gayle. "'This That You Call Love': Sexual and Social Tragedy in Othello." in Shakespeare and Gender: A History. Deborah E. Baker and Ivo Kamps. New York: Verso, 1995. 47-62.
Mason, H.A. Shakespeare's Tragedies of Love. New York: Barnes and Noble. 1970.
Neely, Carol Thomas. "Women and Men in Othello: "What should such a fool/Do with so good a woman?" In Broken Nuptials in Shakespeare's Plays. Carol Thomas Neely. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985.
"Othello's Occupation." The Norton Shakespeare Workshop. Mark Rose, ed. CD-ROM. W.W. Norton, 1998.
Shakespeare, William. "Othello". The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997. 2100-2172.
Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Print
At the time when Othello is about to kill Desdemona his heart is tried to find a reason not to. Othello cried, “O 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 that’s 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 (Act 5: 2; lines 16-22). Even though his hatred for Desdemona was strong, his love for her was even stronger and sweeter than ever before. For almost half of the play, Othello had grown a deep hatred for his newly wed Desdemona but exactly at the moment when he was about to kill her, his weak heart did not have the courage to commit his heroic duty. This shows how unbalanced his emotions are and how he cannot seem to get his mind straight. Even after his spouse’s death, Othello would still continue to reveal his darkest
Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Print
Jones, Eldred. "Othello- An Interpretation" Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994. (page 39-55)
According to the conceptual framework, the potential users of financial statements are investors, creditors, suppliers, employees, customers, governments and agencies, and the general public (Financial Accounting Standards Board, 2006). The primary users are investors, creditors, and those who advise them. It goes on to define the criteria that make up each potential user, as well as, the limitations of financial reporting. The FASB explicitly states that financial reporting is “but one source of information needed by those who make investment, credit, and similar resource allocation decisions. Users also need to consider pertinent information from other sources, and be aware of the characteristics and limitations of the information in them” (Financial Accounting Standards Board, 2006). With this in mind, it is still particularly difficult to determine whom the financials should be catered towards and what level of prudence is necessary for quality judgment.
sax’s Othello, reflect the context and values of their times. Within Shakespeare’s Othello there is an analysis into the context of the female. Brabantio’s rhyming couplet “Look to her, Moor, If thou hast eyes to see/ She has deceived her father, and may thee,” demonstrates his domineering and patronising attitude, as the Elizabethan era was a patriarchal society and the role of the female was to be ‘obedient’ to their father or husband.
The portrayal of gender roles in William Shakespeare’s play Othello, demonstrates the inferior treatment of women and the certain stereotypes of men placed on them by society. Both the male and female characters in the play have these certain gender expectations placed on them. In a society dominated by men, it is understood that the women are to be seen rather than heard. The women are referred to and treated much like property. If indeed they do speak up, they are quickly silenced. One woman’s attempt to be the perfect wife is what ultimately led to her demise. The expectations of men are equally stereotypical. Men are to be leaders and to be in control and dominant especially over the women. The male characters compete for position and use the female characters in the play as leverage to manipulate each other. Shakespeare provides insight in understanding the outcomes of the men and women who are faced with the pressures of trying to live up to society’s expectations, not only in the workplace, but also in the home. The pressure creates jealousy issues amongst the men and they become blind to the voice of reason and are overtaken by jealous rage, leads to the death of many of the characters.
During the Elizabethan era women had a status of subordination towards men. They had a role to marry and oblige to their husband’s wishes. Shakespearean literature, especially illustrates how a woman is psychologically and physically lesser to their male counterpart. The play, Othello, uses that aspect in many different ways. From a Feminist lens others are able to vividly examine how women were subjected to blatant inferiority. Being displayed as tools for men to abuse, women were characterized as possessions and submissive; only during the last portion of the play did the power of women take heed.
b. What is the essential ethical issue here? (In your own words, write out a one-sentence summary of the ethical issue as it arises in the type of situation being described here.)
Shakespeare, William. "Othello". The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997.
Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ed. Philip M. Parker. [San Diego, Calif.]: ICON Classics, 2005. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
Schofield (2014) researches the difference between public and private company financial reporting. For instance, a private company has fewer consumers reviewing their financial statements, whereas public companies could have multiple consumers reviewing financial statements. In addition, private companies typically have less specialized accounting personnel, whereas public companies will have several. Lastly, Schofield (2014), reviewed the number of amendments proposed and finalized to help benefit private companies financial reporting.
With the persisting issue of fraud in the discipline of accounting, a solution must be established. The government has stepped in and put in place regulations and laws that are meant to eliminate accounting fraud. One of the many laws set in place was Considerations of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit which gave U.S. auditors expanded guidance for detecting fraud. Another major government implication is the Surbanes-Oxely Act which established the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board or PCAOB for short. It’s intended to “protect the interests of investors and further the public interest in the preparation of informative, fair, and independent audit reports”. In the article Current Trends in Fraud and its Detection “to provide more than reasonable assurance that financial statement fraud is not being committed, fraud audits rather than GAAS audits need to be performed”. A third party of CPA’s will come in and perform an audit on the company to e...
3. Allow for the fact that ethical questions do not always have a unique, faultless answer.
Accounting standards are a set of principle that govern current accounting practice and are used as a reference to determine the appropriate treatment of complex transactions. Having financial statements in the same format allow them to be compared and in this essay we shall discuss how the accounting standards came about, and why it continues to exist until this very day, as the format of such practice has changed dramatically over the years as they are now used as a reference when problems occur.