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Characters And Characterization In Shakespeares Works
How shakespeare is using characterization to shape the dramatic moments in othello
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In the play Othello Shakespeare presents Othello and Desdemona who can be admired as long as they are honorable and noble, but when faced with baser human qualities they crumble.
Othello and Desdemona are both very loyal and noble people, but their vulnerability makes it easy for predators fall prey on them. Othello is a combination of greatness and weakness, in his own words "an honorable murderer. He is a general in the Venetian defense forces, and, although a foreigner from Africa, he has won this post by excellence in the field of war. He has courage, intelligence, the skill of command, and the respect of his troops. Under pressure, he makes an inspiring speech. Othello is very vulnerable in many cases, such as he naive when it comes to Venetian women, doesn't question the information he has been given, he is socially insecure, he is an outsider and he is black but his biggest vulnerability is jealousy and his unableness to think.
Othello lets his jealousy consume him in many situations, to the point that he is unable to think. In the situation where Cassio got drunk and fough...
In the beginning Othello is seen as a calm collected man when put into an awkward situation, such as being ridiculed by his wife’s father in thinking that Othello has used some sort of magic to gain Desdemona 's infection. Othello’s calm collected ways start to deteriorate after he is convinced by Iago, a deceiving evil man that Desdemona has slept with Cassio. Othello’s self control no longer exist once he is fully convinced that it is in fact true that Desdemona has been unfaithful. His sense of what is real and what is not real is thrown out the window. Othello starts to become extremely jealous of his used to be beloved Cassio, and after considering giving back his spot as liternuanat he denies him that. He starts to become cold and distant towards his wife, and starts to call her out of her name. As Othello continues to lose control the people around him start to doubt his abilities of being able to protect Cyprus, and even his wife starts to doubt him, and agree with her father. No one knows who this man is anymore, he has started to act in an insanely matter. He can longer be his true self and take on the responsibilities of being general as he starts to crack. With Othello being faced with evil, him being calm is no longer an option for him because he can’t face the fact that the person he loves so dearly is cheating on him. Going back the they handkerchief, the symbol of his love for her. Othello seeing Cassio with Desdemona’s handkerchief sets him over the edge becoming truly convinced that his wife has betrayed him. Even when Desdemona and her maid Emila, Iago’s wife, has told him countless times that she has not been unfaithful, he is so far gone from reality that he does not believe either one of them. With the state of mind he’s in he cannot bear the thought of another man touching his wife. Othello and Iago plan to kill Cassio and Desdemona. After he
The tone of the story is tragic and serious. Meanwhile, there isn't any point of view because this is a play and a play doesn't normally have a narrator. Shakespeare lets the reader make up his/her own imagination with the characters' words and behavior. Since Othello is the protagonist, he is explained in more detail. Although Othello is a brave warrior, he is a jealous person; his jealousy also prevails over his good sense. The whole play depicts the fact that jealousy causes corruption. There are many conflicts found in Othello, and person vs. person is one of them. An example is when Iago seeks revenge against Othello and Cassio because of his anger and jealousy. Person vs. society appears when Desdemona's father Brabantio, disapproves her marriage to Othello because he is several years older than Desdemona, from a different class, and a different race. An internal conflict of person vs. himself is found when Othello is in a dilemma about whether or not should he believe that Desdemona is being unfaithful to him. Othello loves and trusts Desdemona until his jealousy is aroused by the cruel manipulations of Iago. Iago's intention was to persuade Othello to believe that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. As Iago succeeds in convincing Othello that Desdemona is guilty of adultery, it leads to the climax of the play. And so Othello must face emotions he can't deal with. His jealousy drives him insane, and his judgment is replaced with anger and hate. At this time, the reader notices that the death of Desdemona is inevitable. Othello smothers her, and he eventually kills himself when he knows that Iago falsely accused Desdemona. This also represents the tragedy of the play.
Language and imagination are among the most dangerous weapons Iago has at his disposal in Othello. Jealous and angered by Othello’s - his commanding officer - passing over him for a promotion, Iago develops a fierce, antagonistic perspective the aforementioned character; this sentiment quickly corrupts his volition, and he subsequently concocts a plot bent on destroying Othello. He renders this revenge scheme credible by concealing his true feelings behind a facade of loyalty and trustworthiness, and fabricating a fictitious story concerning the infidelity of Desdemona, Othello’s wife. Until the play concludes, Iago utilizes purposeful rhetoric to drive his agenda, and also a mastery of deception to mislead the minds of his targets.
The Othello of the Fourth Act is Othello in his fall. His fall is never complete, but he is much changed. Towards the close of the Temptation-scene he becomes at times most terrible, but his grandeur remains almost undiminished. Even in the following scene (III iv), where he goes to test Desdemona in the matter of the handkerchief, and receives a fatal confirmation of her guilt, our sympathy with him is hardly touched by any feeling of humiliation. But in the Fourth Act "Chaos has come". A slight interval of time may be admitted here. It is but slight; for it was necessary for Iago to hurry on, and terribly dangerous to leave a chance for a meeting of Cassio with Othello; and his insight into Othello's nature taught him that his plan was to deliver blow on blow, and never to allow his victim to recover from the confusion of the first shock. Still there is a slight interval; and when Othello reappears we see at a glance that he is a changed man. He is physically exhausted, and his mind is dazed. He sees everything blurred through a mist of blood and tears. He has actually forgotten the incident of the handkerchief, and has to be reminded of it. When Iago, perceiving that he can now risk almost any lie, tells him that Cassio has confessed his guilt, Othello, the hero who has seemed to us only second to Coriolanus in physical power, trembles all over; he mutters disjointed words; a blackness suddenly intervenes between his eyes and the world; he takes it for the shuddering testimony of nature to the horror he has just heard, [Endnote 6] and he falls senseless to the ground. When he recovers it is to watch Cassio, as he imagines, laughing over his shame. It is an imposition so gross, and should have been one so perilous, that Iago would never have ventured it before. But he is safe now. The sight only adds to the confusion of intellect the madness of rage; and a ravenous thirst for revenge, contending with motions of infinite longing and regret, conquers them. The delay till night-fall is torture to him. His self-control has wholly deserted him, and he strikes his wife in the presence of the Venetian envoy. He is so lost to all sense of reality that he never asks himself what will follow the deaths of Cassio and his wife.
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.
Cassio cares deeply for his reputation as after he is disgracefully disbarred from his rank of lieutenant he obsesses over the loss of his reputation and sulks about it for a majority of the story. A moment wherein he had just lost his rank as lieutenant you can see how much he values his social and army status “My reputation, my reputation! I’ve lost my reputation the longest-living and truest part of myself!” and further cements the importance of it as he completely blames himself in the next few lines “I rather ask him to hate me then ask such a good commander to accept such a worthless drunk, stupid officer as myself”. These two excerpts clearly demonstrate the true insecurity of Cassio that is easily taken advantage of by Iago which in turn drives the story because it is the catalyst to the main event as Othello starts suspecting Desdemona’s infidelity to him. Due to this it is yet another example of how another character’s insecurities were used to drive the action further
It is apparent that Othello idolizes Desdemona, through the language he uses in describing her as well as how he treats her during their interactions. While most female characters in the play are oppressed and demeaned by their male partners, Othello’s respect for Desdemona is a testament of his feeling inadequate and strive to entice her. Although he has an alterior motive of evading a conviction of witchcraft to win Desdemona’s heart, he confesses to many noblemen including Barbantio, Desdemona’s father, that Desdemona does not love him, just his war stories. Incidentally, his war accomplishments were the only way a man of his background would be able to be so close to a prestigious woman such as Desdemona in a time plagued with so much racism. In the second scene of Act V, Othello has been pushed well beyond his breaking...
Othello is a man of romantic nature. He fell in love with the beautiful Desdemona. He was accused of stealing her away from her father. Othello was of a different race and did not fit in with her family. Othello makes a plea for Desdemona and tells his story which wooed her to begin with. Othello tells of the love that her father showed him since his boyish days. This was like a match made in heaven that overcame many obstacles which got in their way. Othello could not understand why he was good enough to work and fight alongside of her father, but was not good enough for his daughter.
In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, we see a black man marrying a wealthy young white woman named Desdemona. The black man named Othello serves the Italian government, as a general, this man is a very a loyal and trusting person. Othello is easily persuaded as stated by Iago, his ancient, who wrights this passage about him ““The Moor is of a free and open nature, That thinks men honest that but seem to be so, And will as tenderly be led by the nose As asses are. (Act 1, 3,405.)“ This shows us the kind of man Othello is a trusting man, and thinks that everyone is telling the truth. This opens Othello, to believe on the lies that Iago, is telling him. However, Othello is not a stupid man, he is a general after all, and must be shown proof when people put up arguments especially against his own wife, cheating on him. Now the question is why did Othello not look for his own proof of the acquisition laid up against his wife cheating. He surly is not stupid, considering that he has such a high position. In this essay, I will explain why, Othello does not look for more proof, of his wife’s affairs and merely believes Iago.
Othello is considered to be a great general, who is noble and composed. Because of his reputation, he is able to be in charge of Cyprus and marry a beautiful women, Desdemona. But, when Othello gets very mad after Desdemona proclaimed her allegiance to Cassio, he curses and hits her, which causes Lodovico to say, “ My lord, this would not be believed in Venice, Though I should swear I saw 't: 'tis very much:” This is the first time Othello has harmed himself by damaging his reputation in front of an outsider in Cyprus from Venice, Lodovico. At that time, Othello did not realize that his reputation of having a “solid virtue” would be damaged. In addition, after Othello kills Desdemona for great fear of being made a “cuckold”, Othello is stripped of all his power. Lodovico tells Othello that because of this murder, “You shall close prisoner rest, till that the nature of your fault be known to the Venetian state.” By being scared of being mocked at for being a cuckold, he loses one of the most important things to him: his reputation of being “valiant”. He could have made rational decisions such as to allow Desdemona to defend herself or he could ask Cassio to bear witness, but he chose to act upon his rage and fear. Moreover, after Iago instigates Othello, Othello says, “I would have him nine years a-killing.” Othello did not realize that Cassio was beneficial to the
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...
In the first act of scene 4, we see Othello and Iago discussing Desdemona’s unfaithfulness. Othello still doesn't want to believe that Desdemona is capable, or would cheat on him. They're discussing the handkerchief, it's a very significant in the play, it's one of the first signs for Othello to believe that Desdemona is cheating on him. We usually see Othello defending Desdemona and Iago accusing her, but the roles have reversed and Iago seems to be defending Desdemona, while producing more "evidence" to condemn her. When Iago simply just says “Lie-” (Page 169, Line 33) without any further elaboration, Othello immediately assumes 'Lie with her”, which gives him more proof to condemn Desdemona and Cassio. Othello almost seems to be persuading himself that Desdemona did cheat on him when he says “Lie with her? Lie on her? We say lie on her when they belie her. Lie with her -Zounds, that's fulsome” (Page 169, lines 35-37). Right after that he falls in a trance, and Iago takes this opportunity, to make his accusation more believable. He calls in Cassio and tells him to come back again...
The tragedy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. As it hath beene diuerse times acted at the Globe, and at the Black-Friars, by his Majesties servants. Written by William Shakespeare set in Venice. The plot is based on a story about two people who love each other dearly and the problems and conflicts they face from the start. The conflicts are, for the most part, tied in with racial issues and questions of loyalty. These conflicts stem from the society around the couple, as well as from the couple themselves as they too are part of this society, but with very different backgrounds: The female protagonist is the daughter of a highly-respected Venetian senator: Brabantio. Othello--also known as the Moor--is a foreigner, black in color, has a past
The scene starts of with Cassios pleading to Desdemona that she would talk to Othello about reinstating Cassio in his old position. Promptly Desdemona vowes to do so, however right in that moment Iago and Othello enter.
A soliloquy is side speech given by a character that is directed to the audience; it most often used to reveal emotions or thoughts of a character in a play. In This Research paper I am going to be discussing three different soliloquies of “Othello”.