All these traits that Othello exhibits lead him to be known as one of the most well-known tragic heroes in all of literature. And Iago is person who is full of hatred and jealousy towards anyone who is in a position higher than him; he can’t control his jealousy and begin doing actions which is not suitable to his position. This leads to destroy all the people whom around him even the people he
Racism is an important feature of Shakespeare’s Othello.The play was written in a time were ethnic minorities were so unimportant that they were almost ignored. In the play “Othello”, a black man, is a well-respected and trusted general in Venice. However, when Othello marries Desdemona, the young and beautiful white daughter of Branbantio, boundaries seem to be broken. Racism is one of the most important themes in “Othello”. Race is one of the factors that Othello feels makes him an outsider, someone who comes from a foreign land and doesn’t quite belong.
Iago let his vengeful ways and deceitful motives alter his decisions while Othello appears in the opening acts as the very personification of self control”(Harbage). The two characters are meant to balance each other out, but Iago gets too deep in Othello’s head, leaving him susceptible to lash out. Shakespeare wants to bring attention to the fact that no matter how hard one tries, the darkness creeps on eventually and wins. By this point in the play, all the character’s true colors have been shown. “Othello is forced to recognize that he lives in a tragic world, and he pays the price” which causes him to have his tragic downfall(Harbage).
In Othello by William Shakespeare, Iago deceives others, mainly Othello and Roderigo, due to his desire for revenge, an improved reputation, and power. Throughout the play, Iago uses his desire for revenge to deceive others, like Othello. Iago’s desire for revenge shows when he states, “For “Certes,” says he, / “I have already chose my officer.”/ And what was he?/ Forsooth, a great arithmetician, / One Michael Cassio, a Florentine” (1.1.17-21). Othello’s choice reveals Iago’s jealousy of Cassio earning the position which fuels Iago’s desire for revenge on not only Othello, but also on Cassio. Another time Iago deceives someone to build up his plan is when he tells Roderigo, “When she is sated with his/ body she will find the errors of
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. In the beginning of the play, during the initial dialogue between Brabantio and Roderigo, the first references made of Othello are “his Moorship” and “the Moor,” which is echoed by most of the characters.
196-197). He speaks of it in a way that captures how it affects man because that is what he was going through after Cassio got the lieutenancy. Knowing how jealousy eats someone up, Iago uses that upon Othello by introducing doubt in one of the greatest things he had, his love in Desdemona. The way Iago worked into Othello’s head is that he made it seem like he was helping him by thinking of different possibilties, which only fed the green-eyed monster in Othello. “Their best conscience is not to leave ‘t undone, but keep ‘t unknown,” (III,iii.
Iago’s constant animalistic language shows that he views others as animals rather than people, thus, Iago dehumanizing the other characters. In Act One, scene one, Iago describes Othello as an “old black ram” (Shakespeare 1276). This description of Othello is comparing him to a ram, and such animalistic references show that Iago does not view Othello an equal. In his view of Othello as unhumanistic, Iago is most likely willing to treat him as an animal. The audience sees this treatment through his constant manipulations of Othello’s mind, planting seeds of jealousy.
The Root of All Evil People have a tendency to act crazy when power and love do not go their way. Shakespeare’s Othello is a classic tale of jealousy that negatively influences all actions of each character. However, unlike a dramatic chick-flick watched on Friday nights, jealousy acts as an animal that creates racism, distrust, eats away at the identity of characters, and leads to death within the play. Steve Criniti references Caroline Spurgeon in a book written saying, “the animal images found in Othello are of ‘low status’: ‘insects and reptiles, swarming and preying on each other, not out of special ferocity, but just in accordance with their natural instincts’” (Criniti 117). What he does not mention is jealousy and the devil that is
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.
In my opinion, it is Iago’s hatred towards Othello that strongly motivate him, and this hatred comes from a variety of causes. Before we analyze the causes of hatred, there is one thing of certainty: Iago does hate Othello. He uses the word “hate” to describe his feeling to Othello without hesitation at the beginning of play 1, scene 1: “Though I do hate him as I do hell pains, Yet, for necessity of present life, I must show out a flag and sign of love— Which is indeed but sign. (Shakespeare 1.1.171)”. At the same time, he starts to think about revenge: “I have told thee often, and I re-tell thee again and again, I hate the Moor: my cause is hearted; thine hath no less reason.