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Analysis Of Shakespeare's Othello

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Shakespeare 's Othello
Othello is a tragedy play written by William Shakespeare. It was first performed in the theatre in 1604. The story is concerned about two central characters: Othello, the Moor who is a general in the Venetian army, and his disloyal ensign, Iago. The main themes in Othello reflect the motivations of characters. These themes are love, jealousy, revenge, race, reality, and appearance. Iago plays an important role in the play which made a lot of critics interpret his role differently. A.C. Bradley and F.R. Leavis are two critics who have been debating over the two characters, Othello and Iago, and both of them have a different analysis on these two characters.

Othello is the protagonist and the tragic hero of this tragedy play. Tragedy plays were so common in the Renaissance and they involve the death of the protagonist who is usually a man of high position and exceptional abilities. The death of the tragic hero is brought about by a conflict between him and some powerful force whether it is fate, God or established authority which limits his hope and ambition and destroys him at the end of the play. Othello begins as a respected warrior and hero but ends up as an irrational husband who murders his wife because of his insane jealousy after Iago deceives him and convinces him that his wife was having an affair with his lieutenant, Cassio. Othello is a Moor who has his own insecurities that he thinks of himself as an outsider in the Venetians ' society,

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