A Close Reading In Shakespeare's Othello: A Close Reading

Zhu Yongpeng (Roger) Mrs. Todoric ENG 4U 20 March 2018 How Marginalization and Racism Destroy Othello It is very hard for someone’s identity to not falter when they face bias and discrimination. Staying true to one’s roots requires a large amount of willpower which Othello has unfortunately lacked.

'Put the moor in a jealousy so strong judgement cannot cure ' speaks Iago in Shakespeare 's play Othello. Iago achieves this not by his action, but rather a few spiteful words whispered into his master 's, Othello 's ear, hence unleashing in Othello a jealousy that overpowered his ability for rational thinking. Through this, Shakespeare shows us the danger of Iago’s words compared to his actions. As Iago 's spiteful plotting demonstrates, all it takes is a few words to unravel a person, which we see through the demise of Othello and the jealous mess he transformed into.

Throughout a persons life there will be countless ups and downs, and the determining factor if a person has good morals is if they choose to dwell on the negativity and let the ugly side of human nature take over. The play, “Othello,” written by William Shakespeare, is an obscure and theatrical tragedy that highlights human flaws such as envy, discrimination, and sexism. The play takes place in Venice and Cyprus during the Renaissance and is about a Moor general named Othello, who has married and run off with Desdemona, the daughter of a Venetian nobleman. There are numerous bizarre and comic scenes that repeat and reflect the serious substance of the play, such as perhaps the most significant scene in which Desdemona and Iago argue over Iago’s

Act 3, Scene 3 of Shakespeare’s Othello embodies a pivotal point in the play, as it is a transition act that grounds the foundation of Iago’s development as an antagonist and the play’s development as a tragedy. In fact, Othello is written by William Shakespeare in the early 17th century. In Act 3 Scene 3, Iago begins his insinuations of an affair between Cassio and Desdemona, which petition Othello to consider the likelihood of Desdemona’s infidelity and Cassio’s disloyalty. In this particular scene, Shakespeare makes meticulous use of linguistic and dramatic techniques to characterise Iago as an scheming, deceptive and hypocritical antagonist.

In William Shakespeare’s play, Othello, he uses duality and paradoxes to reveal parts of human nature that people wish to ignore. Othello is about a man named Othello who marries above his station and wrestles with his insecurities as the antagonist, Iago, uses them and his own reputation for candor as mean to enact his revenge for Othello’s alleged affair with his wife, Emelia. Iago embodies the paradox of a truthful man who uses his honesty to manipulate people, which contradicts a core human idea that honest people are the most righteous or virtuous.

The following passage is significant to the play ‘Othello’ in retrospect to the plot progression, as it reiterates themes and introduces important facets to the plot development. Through Iago’s cunning manipulation and Shakespeare’s crafting of language, this passage is constructed as a pivotal point of the play, marking the transition of Othello’s personality and revealing his deepest insecurities that eventually lead to his downfall and tragic ending.

When people of one race believe themselves to be superior to those of another, only catastrophe can result. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, racism was extremely prevalent, and white supremacy was much more pronounced. In William Shakespeare’s play Othello, both covert and overt racism, assimilation, and jealous dispositions all foreshadow the untimely death of Desdemona and Othello. Most characters in Othello display both covert racism and overt racism towards Othello.

The tragedy of Othello written by William Shakespeare presents the main character Othello as a respectable, honorable, and dignified man. However, because of his insecurities and good nature he is easily taken advantage of and manipulated by his alleged friends. Shakespeare is known for his exceptional ability to compose plays full of deceit, revenge, and jealousy. Jealousy is an underlying theme throughout the tragedy and has been represented by many of the main characters, such as Iago, Roderigo, and Othello. The topic of jealousy will ultimately lead to the demise of many characters throughout the tragedy.

During the Elizabethan Era, drama began to flourish in Western Europe. Plays have become more violent and dramatic as well as new ways of driving a performance. William Shakespeare’s Othello involves a man named Iago who wants to get revenge on Othello who is known as ‘the Moor of Venice’. Iago is able to get Othello to fully trust him and manipulates Othello to believe in false claims which eventually brings both of them to their downfall. A soliloquy acts as an aid to the audience in order to understand a character’s internal thoughts. Shakespeare utilizes this technique frequently throughout the performance especially for the antagonist for the play, Iago. The soliloquies enhance Iago’s villainous characteristics by giving him moments to

Just as in Sophocles' timeless Antigone, in Othello, hubris proves again to be a great man's hamartia. Similar to King Creon's tragic fall, Othello's blind killing of his soulmate, Desdemona, displays that pride can only lead in one's implosion. No ending is as quintessentially Shakespearian as watching a once loyal subordinate become disparaged to the point of blind fury by his formal idol. The fatal concoction of hubris and the desire to excel can land in disaster, and the ends rarely justify the means.

ASSIGNMENT THE THEME OF “OTHERNESS” AND RACISM IN THE TRAGEDY OF OTHELLO: THE MOOR OF VENICE SUB: ENGL-403 ELIZABETHAN DRAMA Submitted by: AFEEFA Reg. No:15356004 1 MA ENGLISH Submitted to: Dr.T.Marx Dept. of English

The common aim of playwrights of any time or location is to capture and hold the attention of their audience; this is what Shakespeare has clearly done. The tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, is one of Shakespeare 's most renowned plays. Through construction of intriguing characters, exploration of universal themes, use of comic relief and a well-written script featuring a compelling plot, Shakespeare ensured the tragedy of Othello would hold the interest of the audience; despite being over four centuries old. It possesses so many conditions that can be accentuated to hit nerves with both a Shakespearean and modern audience. The entire plot of Othello is very much like the attitudes and methods of our modern day society.

This extent of hostility and aggression coming from several other sources in the play was enough to ruin Othello. Thus, Othello’s downfall was more of a result of his race being that the main underlying motive behind the characters’ efforts to destroy him was racism.   It is inadequate to bypass the sociology behind racism, the concept of race, prior to defining what racism actually is. The common understanding of race suggests the division of groups based upon the color of one’s skin, hair, eyes, etc. “Although biologically meaningless when applied to humans – physical differences such as skin color have no natural association with group differences in ability or behavior – race nevertheless has tremendous significance in structuring social reality” (Clair).

Olson, Rebecca. “ €Too Gentle: Jealousy and Class in Othello.” Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies, vol. 15, no. 1, 2015, pp. 3–25.

This encounter takes place earlier in the play, right after Iago and Roderigo have convinced Brabantio into believing the scandalous and provocative gossip they have fed him. Othello speaks these words in an attempt to placate Brabantio, who has just stormed into the Duke’s council, agitated by Iago’s claims concerning his daughter. Additionally, his monologue is addressed to everyone present in the chamber so that he may prove his innocence more widely. He confirms that he has married Desdemona, but denies the allegations that he has won her through trickery and that this is the extent of his “crime.” Othello goes on to explain that he won Desdemona’s love through stories of his seven years at battle, but will nevertheless tell the tale of these stories.