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The role of Iago in Othello
Shakespeare's portrayal of the women characters in Othello
Conception of conflict in Othello
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Recommended: The role of Iago in Othello
Othello as a Mirror of Man
In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, the characters are symbolic of qualities found in every human. The main characters, Othello, Desdemona and Iago, are key examples of this. Othello is symbolic of jealousy and pride; Desdemona is symbolic of kindness and honesty and Iago is symbolic of deceit and selfishness. Shakespeare uses all of these traits to depict his characters in Othello and exaggerates their personalities throughout the play. In this essay, it will be proven that the characters Othello, Desdemona and Iago, are all metaphorical representations of human emotions and characteristics.
The character Othello, whose story is the focus of the play, starts out as a highly regarded general in the Venetian army who is greatly respected by the Duke of Venice. He is married to the lovely Desdemona, daughter of a senator, and is very much in love with her. The way he is treated by those who resent him for being a Moor evokes the audience's sympathy for him and makes him seem to be the victim in the story. It is only after he is in Cyprus, after his victory over the Turkish fleet, that he shows his true colors. It only takes a mere suggestion from his "honest" ancient, Iago, to make Othello suspicious of his wife's infidelity. He worries that she is cheating on him with his lieutenant, Cassio, even though he has no evidence to prove that his suspicion has any basis in fact. His fear is based solely on the fact that he doesn't want to be a cuckold and he is worried what others might think of him if they find out that his wife is having an affair. His reputation is so very important to him that after he is told that Desdemona may be cheating on him, he tells...
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...speare's Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994. (page 1-19)
Bloom, Harold. "Introduction" Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987. (1-6)
Jones, Eldred. "Othello- An Interpretation" Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994. (page 39-55)
Muir, Kenneth. Introduction. William Shakespeare: Othello. New York: Penguin Books, 1968.
Neely, Carol. "Women and Men in Othello" Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994. (page 68-90)
Shakespeare, William. Othello. Toronto: Pocket Books, 1993.
Snyder, Susan. "Beyond the Comedy: Othello" Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987. (page 23-37)
Both writers register powerful emotion at seeing the Alps for the first time. Both also make an effort to give this important moment a particular context. Williams stresses the subjective, that is, the importance of the Alps in her own personal 'narrative,' and in this way contextualizes for the reader the emotional rapture, or 'transport,' which she relates to us of the moment of the first view: "It was not without the most powerful emotion that, for the first time, I cast my eyes on that solemn, that majestic vision, the Alps! - how often had the idea of those stupendous mountains filled my heart with enthusiastic awe! - so long, so eagerly, had I desired to contemplate that scene of wonders, that I was unable to trace when first the wish was awakened in my bosom - it seemed from childhood to have m...
Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Print
Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Print
Bloom, Harold. "Introduction" Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987. (1-6)
Crawford, Alexander W. Hamlet, an ideal prince, and other essays in Shakesperean interpretation: Hamlet; Merchant of Venice; Othello; King Lear. Boston R.G. Badger, 1916. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2009. (April 30 2014) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/othello/othelloessay2.html >.
Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespear. Othello. Dir. Grenblatt, Cohen, Howard, and Eisaman Maus. (second ed.) New York. 2008.
Jones, Eldred. "Othello- An Interpretation" Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994.
In The Tragedy of Othello, William Shakespeare tells the tale of the “noble Moor” whose honor and innocence bring about his downfall. Shakespeare writes of the power of jealousy, and the art of masterful deception and trickery. The story primarily takes place in Cyprus, during a war between the people of Venice and the invading Turks. In this play Shakespeare shows the feelings of Othello’s embittered right-hand man of, Iago, who feels he is passed over for a promotion and swears his revenge. He proceeds to manipulate his friends, enemies, and family into doing his bidding without any of them ever realizing his ultimate goal. He makes Othello believe that his new wife, the innocent Desdemona, is committing adultery with his newly promoted officer Michael Cassio. After this seed of jealousy has been planted, Othello’s mind takes its course in determining the true outcome, with a little more nudging from Iago. The course of action he proceeds to follow is one that not only ends his own life, but also the life of his wife and others. In Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Othello, Othello is a man who is still truly honorable, despite the course of action he takes to resolve his perceived problem.
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.
William Shakespeare’s drama Othello is one concentrated contest between the forces of the morally good and the morally bad. Let us analyze this contest in detail in this essay.
Shakespeare, William. "Othello". The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997.
Golden, Leon, “Othello, Hamlet, and Aristotelian Tragedy” Folger Shakespeare Library in association with George Washington University, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2869923.
- - -. Othello. 1968. Ed. Kenneth Muir. The New Penguin Shakespeare. London: Penguin Books, 1996.
"Othello." Shakespeare for Students: Critical Interpretations of Shakespeare's Plays and Poetry. Ed. Anne Marie Hacht. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2007. 649-87. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 30 Oct. 2013. .
...or, from the nest of banditti into which they somewhat naively stumbled, again through only his wit and courage. From this perspective, if there is a hero in the novel, it cannot be the largely absent Valancourt, but the steady and reliable Ludovico. While it may be a stretch to claim that Radcliffe had any intention of secretly 'glorifying' the lower class, or subverting class conventions, it seems to me the text itself offers up ambiguous evidence. She does not grant the labouring classes the privileged position of an aesthetic observer, and can even be seen as complicit with the exclusionary nature of aesthetics conventions in this regard - yet, perhaps the several contrasts between the 'real' characters (the upper-class) and their 'foils' (the servants and peasants), and one moment of near self-parody, are enough to question the surface appearances of the work.