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Themes in othelo shakespeare
Themes in othelo shakespeare
Characters And Characterization In Shakespeares Works
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Roderigo: The Story of a Gullible Man
Thesis- Due to his extreme passion for Desdemona; his willingness to commit heinous and evil acts; and how he permits Iago to con him to the point of financial ruin, Roderigo is a complete fool.
The extreme passion for Desdemona blinds Roderigo from the truth.
Roderigo is very obsessed with Desdemona and the extreme flurry of passion does not allow him to act rationally.
He even admits to Iago how he is an extremely emotional man; he admits that it is his fault that he is so passionate, but he cannot fix it.
Roderigo does not have his own thought process. Instead, he relies on sudden passions and more intelligent people to direct him in life.
So great is his obsession and so little is his rationality, that he is willing to commit and irrational heinous acts in order to be with the object of his obsession.
In the first act and the last scene, Iago expresses his desire to end his life. This is an indicator that his thought process is not entirely normal. This is an indicator of severe depression, which has been known to cause impaired judgement.
Although Desdemona's father has the right to know that his daughter has married Othello, her father is an old man who should receive the news gently. The fact that he awoke this poor man in the middle of the night, yelled at him, and caused him such trauma all for the sake of being with Desdemona, is yet another indicator that not only is he psychologically impaired, but it is also evidence of how far he is willing to go to be with the object of his obsession.
Some of the most compelling evidence comes from Act IV, in which Roderigo acts as an accomplice by instigating a fight after Iago has successfully intoxicated Cassio. This causes Cassio to loose h...
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...hester University Press, 1986): pp. 16–30. Quoted as "The Descent of Iago: Satire, Ben Jonson, and Shakespeare's Othello" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Othello, New Edition, Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2010. Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 7 May 2014 .
Shakespeare, William. Othello. Minneola: Dover Productions, 1996. Print.
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. "Notes on Othello." Lectures and Notes on Shakspere and Other
English Poets. Quoted as "Notes on Othello" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Othello, Bloom's Shakespeare Through the Ages. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2007. Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 11 May 2014 .
...e used Roderigo to do his dirty work and without him he would have never been able to compromise Cassio in the first place. Roderigo seems to know Iago the best, possibly having figured out that he may have been betrayed by him, he writes letters he keeps with him which later serve to compromise Iago’s character and motives completely. Iago throughout the whole play feels like he is justified in his actions and does not let sympathy or understanding as a result.
Iago tells Roderigo that he can make Desdemona fall in love with him for a ‘small fee.’ Iago used Roderigo to make money. Iago also told Roderigo that Cassio was talking to Desdemona. Roderigo did not approve and Iago persuaded him to fight Cassio. Cassio ended up losing his ‘good reputation” and his position as Lieutenant, in the fight with Roderigo. Iago became the Lieutenant, just as he had
Towards the tail-end of the play, Roderigo, fed up with Iago’s counsel and frustrated by his lack of personal progress, approaches him with the intention of severing all ties. Iago, though, manages to maintain a leash over of him by playing on his jealous desire for Desdemona, promising him that he will have her in love in the coming days. This proves to be enough for him to convince Roderigo stay, and he resumes his manipulation. Despite his strong affinity for Othello’s wife, any romantic progress is halted due to Iago’s persistent interventions; he knows that merely mentioning the potential for a relationship between the two is enough to persuade him to do his bidding. While this seems desirable to Roderigo, in actuality, Iago is using his imaginative fantasies against him, and preventing any real advances in his journey for Desdemona, effectively destroying any possibility of this
Characters in the play fail to comprehend Iago’s true nature until it is too late. Those interacting with Iago fall into the belief that Iago is loyal to his superiors, when Iago is actually focused on bringing them (Cassio and Othello) down. Iago constructs a false impression of his loyalty to Othello through ...
the play, Iago is jealous of Cassio of his title and plots his plan to get rid of him. Afterwards, Iago
Iago’s hatred for Othello has developed through the influence of not only his personal values, but the social and contextual values of the time. Thus, Iago is compelled to manipulate Othello and cause the tragedy. It is evident that Iago’s upbringing in the Venetian context of valuing and prioritising reputation and power, has caused him to have a strong sense of arrogance and selfish entitlement. Therefore, Iago is seen to be extremely greedy, as he not only seeks power, but also a better reputation and social standing. However, Othello denies him of this position, leading Iago to resent Othello and start his plan. Iago openly admits that he will “follow him to serve
Roderigo for being gullible and too easily duped into Iago's plans. He believes that he will have a chance with Desdemona. For example, "put money in thy purse" shows how clever Iago is with his subtle techniques of persuasion.
Iago states that the only reason he spends time with Roderigo is for his own wealth and pleasure. His plan is to continue giving Roderigo unfulfilled promises. Iago continues to manipulate Roderigo. He convinces him that Desdemona will soon grow tired of Othello and begin to search for a younger, handsome man to fulfill her desires. Continuing to build on Rod...
Roderigo: A jealous suitor of Desdemona. Young, rich, and foolish, Roderigo is convinced that if he gives Iago all of his money, Iago will help him win Desdemona's hand. Repeatedly frustrated as Othello marries Desdemona and then takes her to Cyprus, Roderigo is ultimately desperate enough to agree to help Iago kill Cassio after Iago points out that Cassio is another potential rival for Desdemona.
Othello is without a doubt obsessively in love with Desdemona that the preconcieved idea of her cheating on him will throw him into an uncontrollable fits of rage that could be seen as slight symptoms of excessive jealousy responses in the brain. As a soldier Othello is supposed to hold himself to a higher standard. However Iago has made it a point to mention Othello’s epileptic tantrums as “passion unfitting such a man” (Act IV,scene 1). Othello a man of such noble standard and solidarity is witnessed as revealing weakness and vulnerability by the uncertainty of marriage with Desdemona.
With Roderigo, someone he commands control over, Iago employs pathos, allowing his plan to appeal to Roderigo’s sensitive emotions about Othello. Roderigo and Iago discuss about how each of them despise Othello when Iago says, “If ever I did dream of such a matter, / Abhor me” using pathos to confirm his hatred towards the General (1.2. 5-6). The play commences with Iago employing direct rhetoric and partnering up with Roderigo to enhance a sense of comradery. Harsh language such as “Abhor me”, exemplifies the hateful emotions Iago feels toward Othello as well as enhances the emotions Iago wants to appeal to in Roderigo (1.2. 6). Affecting Roderigo more influentially, Iago uses deeper, more personal pathos, by highlighting the seemingly good qualities in Roderigo. Iago contrasts Roderigo to Othello pointing out, “Let not they discreet heart think it…manners and beauties: all which the/ Moor is defective in” (2.1. 215, 219-220). Firstly, Iago weighs Roderigo’s positive qualities against Othello’s negatives ones, convincing Roderigo to feel more confident with Iago and following along with his scheme. Secondly, Iago alters this rhetoric to include Roderigo’s love interest, Desdemona. By exemplifying a more personal and sensitive side when talking about “manners and beauties”, Iago can create a bigger impact in
Like Roderigo, Cassio also believes in "Honest Iago," for he thinks that Iago is only trying to help him. On the night of Cassio’s watch, Iago convinces him to take another drink, knowing very well that it will make him drunk. Even though he really doesn’t want to, Roderigo puts his faith into Iago and states, "I’ll do’t, but it dislikes me." Iago’s plan goes smoothly when Cassio is make to look like an irresponsible fool, resulting in his termination as lieutenant.
Roderigo begins with a small jealousy of Othello for being married to Desdemona. It isn't until Iago makes Roderigo believe Desdemona does not really love Othello that Roderigo becomes destructive. Iago tells Roderigo, "It cannot be that Desdemona should long continue...
Angry over being passed up for a promotion Iago decided to take matters into his own hands. In order to become lieutenant Iago devised a plan that included breaking up Othello’s marriage and eliminating Cassio as competition. Iago enticed Roderigo to be his partner in crime with the promise of attaining Desdemona’s love. Desdemona had many suitors since she was an attractive young woman, yet she “shunned [t]he wealthy,” (Act 1, Scene 2, Line 66-67), which included Roderigo, who owned multiple plots of land. Roderigo, who was naïve for thinking Iago actually had his best interest in mind, was easily persuaded since he was obsessed with Desdemona. The truth of the matter was that
Iago’s biggest weakness is his jealousy of Cassio. Othello has promoted Cassio to lieutenant even though he has never seen war before. Cassio being promoted causes Iago to be extremely jealous of Cassio and annoyed at Othello for promoting him. The jealousy and annoyance is the roots for Iago’s plan to exploit other character’s weaknesses in the play. Throughout the play Iago’s jealousy could have been exploited by Roderigo. During the play Roderigo seems very oblivious to what is happening when it comes to Iago. However, if Roderigo had taken a minuted to stop and think about his conversations with Iago, he would have been able to identify Iago’s jealousy. He would have been able to see