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Othello character study
Othello character study
Analysis of characters in othello
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Obsidian and Alabaster:
Othello and Desdemona
Othello and Desdemona’s marriage was doomed from the start. Even considering the racial nature of the marriage, his lack of a constant home, and the improper method of his courting, there is another reason why their marriage would never have worked. Othello’s label of Desdemona prevents him from considering her a person. He thinks of her instead as superior to himself in every way, to the point that she is a god. Her race, beauty, and status make her godly in his mind. Because Othello thinks of Desdemona as “Alabaster”(5.2.5) he will never consider her capable of responding to his love.
Because Othello is at his wit’s end when he refers to her as “Alabaster”, he is speaking out of his heart. After Othello reads the letter from Venice, he begins to speak in less cohesive manner. For instance the line, “Pish! Noses, ears, and lips. Isn’t Possible? Confess! Handkerchief! O devil!”(4.1.42) contains none of Othello’s former eloquence. He begins to speak with word association, rather than in complete sentences. For instance, the word “confess!” brings up the word “Handkerchief!”, and “devil!”. Because Desdemona, the handkerchief, and the sense of maliciousness were on his mind so much, he begins to express with abstract words and ideas instead of sentences. Although this makes his lines harder to read, they show us what he is constantly thinking of. Instead of clear and concise lines, they are a torrent of his true feelings. Therefore when he describes Desdemona as “Alabaster”, we can be sure it is his inner picture of her.
Alabaster’s beauty gives you an idea about his feelings of bodily inferiority to her. Alabaster is a naturally beautiful stone, used by ancient Egyptians and Chinese to make statues and vases. This word choice gives the reader a sense of his feelings of inadequacy to Desdemona. He is never said to be ugly, on the contrary, he is described as “far more fair than black”(1.3.291). He must have felt some sensitivity about his physical appearance. In contrast, he describes her face as “fair as Dian’s visage”(3.3.389), Dian most likely being the god of healing in Celtic mythology. This implies both beauty and health. He then goes on to say “begrimed and black as mine own face”(3.3.390). Othello superimposes her clean and young white face with his grimy old black face. The fact that he believed her to be unfaithful with Cassio further proves his insecurity.
Othello, takes place in Venice during an attack of the island of Cyprus . The
The story of Othello and Desdemona is one of forbidden love. She, a white Venetian and he, a black Moor, fall in love with each other despite the disapproval of Desdemona’s father, Brabantio. Her father accuses Othello of using black magic on Desdemona. This is the only reasonable explanation for Desdemona falling in love with Othello in his mind. Othello’s rebuttal to this accusation shows his inexperience when it comes to love. He states, “When I did speak of some distressful stroke that my youth suffered. My story being done, she gave me for my pains a world of sighs. She gave me for my pains a world of sighs. She swore, i’faith, ‘twas strange,” twas passing strange; “twas pitiful, ‘twas was wondrous pitiful.” He continues by stating, “She loved me for the dangers I had passed, And I loved her that she did pity them. This is the only witchcraft I have used.”(pg. 1199 Act 1, Scene 3 Line 157-169). Othello explains that Desdemona listened to him about his struggles in life ...
Othello is very particular in how he wants to be remembered by stating that he does not want his image to be exaggerated or toned down, but subconsciously, he is only trying to protect his reputation. After murdering Desdemona, Othello pleads with Lodovico and Gratiano, Desdemona’s father’s kinsmen, not to ask for forgiveness for committing such a heinous crime, but to remember him as an adequate man who made an irrevocable mistake. Instead of acknowledging his wife’s lifeless body, Othello is more with how he will be described in Lodovico and Gratiano’s letters. In the beginning of the play, Othello would profess his love for Desdemona at every available opportunity, but now he cares more about his own reputation than he does for his dead ...
Desdemona acts contrary to these plans by choosing to marry Othello who is a Moor, not a Venetian, which automatically lowers his stature. He is also an army general; he does not have a lot of money, only some prestige. In addition, he is old - he could be Desdemona's father nearly; in fact, he is Brabantio's friend. Army life would keep him (and her) out of Venice, and prevent Brabantio from seeing his daughter, or future grandchildren. Consequently, Brabantio is extremely upset when he learns that they have eloped.
As the details of her recent marriage to Othello unfold, Desdemona appears to be a woman driven by emotions. She marries a man because he has shared his stories of grand adventure. In order to do so, she elopes from her loving father’s house in the middle of the night. These seem like actions of emotion stemming from her love – or possibly infatuation – for Othello. Contradictory to this, when asked to speak about her willingness to enter the marriage, she responds with a very clear and sensible reason for staying with Othello:
rapidly, it may not be indicated by the script that it has changed, and was most
Despite Othello’s high status, it was still very difficult for him to gain a full view point in a mainly white dominated society; it is this vulnerability that allowed Iago to thrive. Because Desdemona deceived her own father to marry him, Iago tries to convince Othello that she is ...
The truth comes out after Othello has murdered his wife and before he kills himself he says, “must you speak of one that loved not wisely, but too well.” (Shakespeare 360), meaning that he wants to be described as someone who loved too much, but who was not wise. His jealousy and fear of ruining his reputation after murdering Desdemona lies within his final speech. Although, he mentions in his speech, “Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought, perplexed in the extreme” (Shakespeare 360), trying to convince the audience not to see him the way the events seem to make him look. He is trying to imply that he was not easily made jealous, but was tricked and manipulated by Iago. Othello wants to avoid having a bad reputation and would like the audience to remember him as an honorable
that completely destroys his life”("Othello"). Othello is shown he is a good man within the first few scenes of the play: “She wished she had not heard it; yet she wished That heaven had made her such a man” (1.3.162-163). This line in Act I spoken by Othello, is an indication that he is a good person although it may appear that he has stolen Desdemona away from her father. Othello speaks that although he has taken Desdemona as his wife without Brabantio’s consent, he is a good person for stating his reasons for his actions as well as standing his ground. After Othello’s marriage to Desdemona, the conflict is started when Iago insinuates t...
From this point on, Othello insecurity manifests into a seemingly irrational fear of being cuckolded, and his self-perceived worth diminishes exponentially. Othello comments on the likelihood of Desdemona cheating, by explaining how it may be “for [he is] black / And have not those soft parts of conversation / That chamberers have…” (3.3.280-282) Othello’s frustration with the threat of being cuckolded puts strain on his relationship with Desdemona, and she quickly becomes a victim of domestic abuse. For example, Othello acts as an interrogator, demanding to see the handkerchief which he gave her that symbolizes faithfulness and commitment towards Othello. (Quotation) When she is unable to produce their symbol of trust, Othello’s anger manifests inside him. The audience is shown a stark contrast to Othello’s typically cool, collected and composted nature. This abrupt and irrational change in behaviour is emphasized when Othello strikes Desdemona in front of Lordovico, (4.1.245) Othello’s
These lines are the first hint given that Desdemona may not have always been completely captivated by her husband. These words, not denied by Othello, sit in contrast to his own. Upon hearing her words, Othello seems a changed man, depressed and submissive, his new attitude brought on by “Desdemona’s own honest account of her original feelings for Othello and the role Cassio played in Othello’s winning of her” (Macaulay 269). With just a little concern for Othello’s own pride, Desdemona have chosen to withhold some words or soften their blow. Instead, her own pride continues to lead her headlong onto a destructive
Two tragedies from two different time period, Medea and Othello show similarities and differences in their characters, story plots and settings. Euripedes’ Medea written in the classical period and Shakespeare’s Othello written in the romantic era, the two tragedies shows different feel of what tragedies are.
Later, when he is speaking to the duke, Othello says, “Most humbly, therefore, bending to your state, I crave fit disposition for my wife” (I.iii.231). Once again, he continues to stay calm and nonchalant as he explains to the duke that he has done nothing in his life involving witchcraft but that Desdemona and he got married because “She lov'd me for the dangers I had pass'd, And I lov'd her that she did pity them” (I.iii.167), meaning Desdemona fell in love with Othello because of the stories he told her, not be...
In Greek, Desdemona means ‘the unfortunate’, perhaps reflecting an ideology that she is not meant to be liked, merely pitied for her misfortune as a tragic victim (commonly defined as someone who dies due to the faults of others). Throughout Othello, Desdemona is presented as pure and innocent – in regards to this, Auden’s comment is unusual as Desdemona is seldom criticised; indeed many critics are complementary, giving her titles such as ‘gentle Desdemona’.
Ophelia and Desdemona play the role of the "innocent lady" in Shakespeare's Hamlet and Othello. The roles of these characters provide a sense of completeness, faithfulness, and obedience to the leading male figures. In both plays, these innocent ladies end up dying. These deaths are both due to a false rejection of love. Othello kills Desdemona because he believes her love is false, and Ophelia dies ultimately because she reads Hamlet's mask of madness as rejection. These deaths exemplify the pattern of harmony turning to chaos in both of these plays, and provide proof of the decay that is spreading to everyone in Venice and Denmark.