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Othello as the victim essay
Othello as the victim essay
How is othello responsible for his actions and his downfall(essay form)
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The Play Othello first performed in 1604 written by Shakespeare was a play that portrayed the problems faced in society regarding blame and justice. He showed this by using the setting of Venice where almost everyone was rich, living in houses based in the most powerful part of Italy. Shakespeare used race which tied into the setting as the main character, a black man living in a white society. He used gender to portray labels and to show how different sexes were treated. Shakespeare is showing us that blame and justice are given randomly and are of anyone’s control, whether or not they are guilty.
Othello
The play began as Roderigo and Iago were blaming Othello for their problems for him existing. He caused Roderigo problems as he was having a relationship with Desdemona stopping Roderigo from doing so. Iago’s problem with Othello was that Othello had become the general ‘He in good time, must his lieutenant be’ And I -- God bless the mark -- his Moorship’s ancient’ which made Iago his ancient. This caused them to go together to tell Brabantio of what they knew thus causing Othello to be blamed without trial showing how arbitrary justice is in this society. When Brabantio heard of the news, he automatically joined them in blaming Othello as he could not accept that a Black man could be loved by his angelic daughter ‘Damn’d as thou art. Thou hast enchanted her. Later on in Act 1 Scene 3 as the trip to Cyprus for Othello is mentioned Brabantio was bigot and took the argument to the Duke of Venice and the first senator in hope to gain their support in preventing a marriage between Desdemona and Othello. He tells them of his belief that Othello used magic to gain Desdemona’s heart saying that she would never love a black man ‘To ...
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...emale it allows her to be a target in certain situations, also because Othello is black it allows him to be discriminated against in other situations but as Iago is White and male in a venetian society he is an ideal member this allows him to get out of sticky situations easily ‘I do not know: friends all but now, even now, In quarter, and in terms like bride and groom Devesting them for bed; and then, but now As if some planet had unwitted men Swords out, and tilting one at other's breast, In opposition bloody. I cannot speak Any beginning to this peevish odds; And would in action glorious I had lost Those legs that brought me to a part of it!’.
To conclude on this essay Shakespeare concludes the dramatic performance to address the questions of blame and justice by using the three factors of race, gender and setting to expose the ease of blaming someone unjustly.
The Shakespearean drama Othello renders less to the female gender than it does to the male gender. All the women characters are victims – unjustly so. Let’s talk about the obvious sexism throughout the play.
The audience at this point know nothing of Othello that is gained by their own opinion, instead we are lead to believe from Iago’s race related description that Othello is a threatening and evil moor, whose beastial sexual appetite, conveyed by Iago’s cries to Brabantio, telling him that ‘an old black ram is tupping’ his ‘white ewe’ (1.1.89), is something of a rapist. Iago’s coarse animal related language conveys Iago’s feelings against Othello’s marriage in a much more pronounced way. The image of an ‘old black ram’ gives the audience nothing but negative images of Othello, especially when this ‘old black ram’ is being associated with the innocence of a ‘white ewe’. Iago then associates Othello with the image of ‘the devil’ (1.1.92) because of Othello’s colour, Iago warns Brabantio that he has ‘lost half [his] soul’ now that Desdemona is married to Othello. Iago here emphasises the biracial nature of the marriage, already showing his ability to manipulate people, in this case he is manipulating Brabantio, to believe in Iago’s own opinions and in theory to eliminate all thoughts that Brabantio might of had of his own about the marriage.
We get introduced to Iago and Roderigo, who are scheming about getting back at Othello or so called the Moore, for promoting Cassio to lieutenant instead of Iago. We find out that Iago’s plan is to be friendly to everybody in order to gain their trust and betray them. They go to the house of a person called Brabantio, to tell them that Othello has stolen his daughter. He is in shock because this is Venice a place of logic and peace. This makes Barbantio pissed and he gathers up a mob to find Othello. Iago snags off to buddy up with Othello to make himself look like a good guy. Iago tells Othello that he is his “friend”. Cassio comes in to tell Othello that duke request him. Barbantio then comes in to accuse Othello of using dark magic to seduce his daughter and tries to arrest him. Othello says that they were both summoned by the duke. The duke and the senator are discussing the war in Cyprus. That the Turkish fleet is coming. We find out that Othello is a general and they need him for the war. However Barbanto explains what that “Othello stole his daughter” and the duke agrees with Barbantio that whosever took his daughter should be punished. Othello explains that he and Desdemona fell in love when she heard him tell stories Barbantio about his life and experiences. Brabantio doesn’t believe Desdemona isn’t like that, but then Desdemona comes in for herself and says she did fall in love with Othello. Barbantio accepts
... One day he meets a girl, who happens to be his friend’s daughter, and falls in love. She falls in love with his stories and he falls in love with her passion. One troublemaker tries to cause problems by accusing Othello of stealing his friend’s daughter using drugs and witchcraft. All this happens after Othello and Desdemona gets married. Othello is put in the position of defending his honor, and Brabanzio in the position of defending his daughter’s honor. Iago is the villain who started the nasty rumor. Brabanzio is also a man who does not believe in mixed marriages and Othello was a black man. This is a story that does not end very well. Shakespeare tackles the issues of race, lies, friendship and jealousy.
Brabantio's anger at Othello's "thievery" leads him to entreat the Duke and Senate to annul the marriage. It is also true that the scene involving Iago and Roderigo telling Brabantio of his daughter's eloping does much to develop the character of Iago as a meddling weasel early in the book.
Iago makes his actions of revenge toward Othello almost immediately by informing Brabantio, a Venetian senator and father of Desdemona, that "an old black ram (Othello) is tupping (his) white ewe (Desdemona). " (l.i.97) Iago's next motive becomes clear when he convinces Othello "that he (Cassio) is too familiar with his (Othello's) wife." (1,iii.4399) Iago's motive here is to break the bond between Othello and Desdemona.
The core of it is thanks to 1603’s views on African males, as they believed that they were savages that practiced black magic. So, this had caused issues once Iago had resurfaced those problems with the subtle reference to the infidelity of Desdemona. He does this through saying innocently “As for Michael Cassio I think it would be safe for me to swear that he’s honest” although it seems harmless the amount of ideas that plants in Othello’s head while distancing himself, protecting and accusing Cassio at the same time. The complexity of this one quote by Iago is enough for Othello to be sent down a deep spiral of self-doubt and anger displaying how easily his insecurities can be exposed. Deconstructing the same scene, there is a ton of irony here as he utters Cassio’s name once after making Othello say it five times. Iago acts innocent and clueless which is against his character and saying that Cassio is honest when in fact Iago isn’t but Cassio is, creating a paradox situation that is irony filled. This is the turning point in the plotline as Iago has just planted the seeds of doubt in Othello’s mind and it will only bloom from
Othello: The Moor of Venice is probably Shakespeare's most controversial play. Throughout this work, there is a clear theme of racism, a racism that has become commonplace in Venetian society which rejects the marriage of Othello and Desdemona as anathema. The text expresses racism throughout the play within the language transaction of the dialogue to question the societal ethos established by Othello, thereby making him nothing less than a cultural "other." Furthermore, the character of Desdemona is displayed as mad, or out of her wits, for marrying such an "other," and the audience sees her slip from an angelic state of purity to that of a tainted character. Also, the menacing Iago, a mastermind of deviant rhetoric, is able to play Othello and Desdemona against one another until their marriage fails, while at the same time destroying his adversary and friend, Cassio. Thus Iago has a specific agenda, not only to get back at Othello for choosing Cassio instead of him, but also to make Cassio the victim of his plan to destroy the forbidden marriage referred to by Brabantio as a "treason of the blood" (1.2.166-167). Essentially, Iago is a representative of the white race, a pre-Nazi figure who tries to inform the public of the impurity of Othello and Desdemona's marriage. He demonstrates how this miscegenation is threatening to the existing social order. Thus, through analysis of racism, the play represents the hatred possessed by mankind -- a hate so strong that society sees the mixing with an "other" to be a curse to humanity and a terrible threat to Aryan culture.
In the opening scene, while Iago is expressing his hatred for the general Othello for his having chosen Michael Cassio for the lieutenancy, he contrives a plan to partially avenge himself (“I follow him to serve my turn upon him”), with Roderigo’s assistance, by alerting Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, to the fact of his daughter’s elopement with Othello: “Call up her father, / Rouse him: make after him, poison his delight [. . .].” Implied in this move is the fact of a father’s assumed control over the daughter’s choice of a marriage partner. Brabantio’s admonition to Roderigo implicitly expresses the same message:
Othello has been described as one of William Shakespeare’s most popular plays because the play focuses on its themes of good and evil, military, politics, love and marriage, religion, racial prejudice, gender conflict, and sexuality; but the controversy and debate surrounding Othello is “Why is Othello a qualification for a tragedy?”
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.
While there have been a great number of changes in the world since Shakespeare wrote Othello, there are a few truths about humanity and society that remain true. Othello is notorious for it’s examination of race, but is not given enough credit for its observations of gender. Iago embodies masculine gender roles in a severe and exaggerated way, allowing his desire for proving his masculinity to corrupt him morally. Iago then turns and uses his own fears of inadequacy against Othello as the root of his revenge and to improve his own self-image. Desdemona is hurt most by the need for gender roles, which ultimately ends up in her death. The characters in Othello are severely harmed by the gender roles they feel the need to adhere to.
One of the themes of the play is prejudice. The reader gets a taste of Iago’s prejudice against women and sexist ways when Desdemona and Cassio first arrive on Cyprus. Iago says to Desdemona “You are pictures out of door/ Bells in your parlors/ Wild-cats in your kitchens/ Saints in your injuries, devils being offended/ players in your housewifery, and housewives in your beds.” (2.1.109- 112). He thinks that all women have two sides to them; a pleasant public side and an irritating private side and he sees Desdemona as a lesser person simply because she is female. Iago looks down on Cassio because Cassio is “a great arithmetician … a Florentine … That never set a squadron in the field” (1.119,20,22). He is a mathematician, not an army man, which makes Iago feel that he is more qualified for the job of lieutenant. Othello is older, from Africa, and Iago often calls him “the Moor” (1.2.58) and “an old black ram” (1.1.88). Iago does not want to follow him as he tells Roderigo “I follow him to serve my turn upon him/ we cannot all be masters, nor all masters/ cannot be truly followed.” (1.1.42-44). By this, Iago is saying that he only follows Othello to take advantage of him and does not think he deserves to be followed. This prejudice drives Iago’s malicious actions through a yearning to be seen in the superior way the way he feels he deserves to be
William Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Othello” shows how a manipulative villain can create chaos within a society. The play was written around the year 1603 and takes place in Venice Italy before it is repositioned to Cyprus. This Shakespearean tragedy shows the effects of jealousy, love, desire, betrayal and passion in a society with an imbalance of power in a race, gender, and social position.
Racism in William Shakespeare's Othello. The play, Othello, is certainly, in part, the tragedy of racism. Examples of racism are common throughout the dialogue. This racism is directed toward Othello, a brave soldier from Africa and currently the supreme commander of the Venetian army.