Othello Power Analysis

In his play, 1 King Henry IV, William Shakespeare is concerned with the popular concepts of power and legitimacy, or the right to rule. Shakespeare specifically calls into question the concept of legitimacy of power through one of the main characters of his play, Prince Hal. Prince Hal’s public image challenges the notion of this concept. In this essay, through the analyzation of various passages, I argue that Prince Hal upsets the notion legitimacy of power because his public image contradicts King Henry’s mode of being and mirrors the problematic reputation and actions of Richard II, which adds to King Henry’s fear of losing the throne, and ultimately results in King Henry’s hesitancy to make him heir to the throne. Largely due to his public

Power is present in all role of the story and the character who symbolises it is Créon. But power of goods are omnipresent as well, represented by Antigone, and there is a confrontation between both of them. Following examples of passages of the book are presented to evince the presence of the authority and power in the play. Starting from the beginning, even if is not represented in the play, the first power conflict was between two brothers. Polynice betrayed his brother Eteocle when he did not want to cede the throne of Tebas, they died fighting each other and Creón became king of Tebas.

Cassius’ ambition for power is easily motivated by the decisions made by Caesar, where he believes Caesar will use his power to advance his own self and will turn his back against the people of Rome. After speaking with Decius, the conflict begins to rise when Caesar’s confused mindset immediately switches to a power-hungry king when he shouts, “How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpurnia! /I am ashamed I did yield to them/ Give me my robe, for I will go” (2.2.110-112). When deciding to go to the capital to collect his crown, Caesar’s “ambition in this regard is seen as an egocentric drive; Brutus comes to believe that Caesar wants power in and of itself, not for the benefit of the Romans” (Hacht). Caesar’s determination for power for himself, no matter how frightening the signs may be, whether it be the nightmares Calpurnia experiences or the soothsayer telling Caesar to “beware the ides of march”, is deeply influenced by the men around them.

“I am not what I am.” This entire book is based on this quote. Shakespeare is a visionary and he really capture this sense of keep your friends close but your enemies closer. No one is truly what they say they are in this book which I think is a very important that Shakespeare does to his characters. In the calamity that is Othello, by William Shakespeare he consolidate influential themes and motifs that capture the nature of said calamity, these include the themes of manhood/honor and jealousy, as well as money and animal motifs.

There is distinct ways a great political leader can be defined by the influence on human affairs; by ruling fearlessly with no morality, and being able to possess fortune. World affairs are controlled by the divine power and fortune, and that is what this chapter denotes, Machiavelli is aware that no amount of human wisdom can change that. Being aware that the notion of divine power and fortune are the factors that rule political issues also illuminates the idea that fortune is responsible to a certain degree, for either the failure or success that men have encountered with. At the beginning of the chapter Machiavelli states that fortune tends to predispose an individual’s actions, they can be influenced to a certain extent,

As the play MacBeth transitions it shows MacBeth chose poor decisions as he getting closer to his tragic end. While reading it shows clear examples of MacBeth committing hellish acts for his own gain and ambition to become the mighty king. Even though Macbeth’s fate is tragic he tries to dodge it simultaneously while trying to prosper and become king unworried, while trying to become king unworried MacBeth commits heinous and brutal acts resulting in hamartia to get the best of him, MacBeth’s hamartia is him putting ambition first which causes him to be violent and brutal. One major factor that influences the play MacBeth is that he knows how devilish his acts are and consequences he still commits them.

In the play, the author seemingly juxtaposes both Othello and his nemesis, Iago. However, upon closer inspection, Othello and Iago suffer from similar flaws. Iago, using his knowledge of his own flaws-- jealousy and vengeance--, exploits Othello’s need for reputation, ultimately ruining

Within Macbeth, Macbeth’s true colors are revealed when he states, “If the assassination/ Could trammel up the consequence, and catch/ With his surcease success; that but this blow/ Might be the be-all and the end-all here,/ But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,/ We’d jump the life to come” (I. vii. 2-7). As a character, Macbeth starts out the play sane and not willing to murder anyone so that he will make a personal gain. However, as Macbeth thought about how, if done correctly, the murder could fulfil his prophecy quickly instead of waiting patiently for the prophecy play out.

He verbalizes that his motivation for getting revenge on Othello is because Othello gives Cassio, rather than Iago, the position Iago thinks he deserved, but it goes much deeper than that. Iago is driven by jealousy to seek revenge because Othello has more power, a better marriage, and Othello has more achievements and gets more recognition for them. After Iago becomes Othello’s lieutenant, he chooses not to end his revenge at this point, even though he could have, because of his envy of Othello. Iago is very envious of the power Othello has. Othello is a foreigner in Venice, and the amount of power and respect he has acquired as a foreigner is much more than what Iago has acquired and this angers Iago very much because he thinks Othello is

Prospero asserts his own superiority or knowledge of civilization by using his magic powers and Ariel to reach his desired goals and by constantly brutalizing Caliban to weaken his claims that the island actually belongs to him. His tyrannical state is revealed when he uses verbal abuse against Caliban and threatens to imprison Ariel lest he dare disobey his commands. His tyrannical or rather, say, revengeful nature becomes more pronounced in act III, scene III when the spirits appear inviting the king and the other men to a banquet of food they’ve brought. Prospero enters at this moment, having made himself magically invisible to everyone but the audience. Just as they are about to eat, Ariel appears in the form of a harpy, who then calls himself the instrument of Fate and reprimands the men for driving Prospero and his little daughter out of Milan.

However, when the ambition in question becomes the individual’s sole focus, the outcomes can be negative, both for the individual, as well as for surrounding parties. The excessive ambition and desire of characters in William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, leads to their downfall. Characters such as Cassius Longinus, Marcus Brutus and Julius Caesar obsess over the end goal without care of how they get there and the consequences that follow. Cassius Longinus’ love for Rome is his sole focus, and when this focus becomes excessive, it impairs his judgment resulting in his downfall. When Caesar returns from the battle against Gaius Pompey, Cassius becomes aware of Caesar’s desire of becoming King.

Macbeth’s hamartia is his excessive ambition to become King, which leads to paranoia, and then leads to his death. The Fatal Flaw in Shakespearian tragedies is what classifies the play under that genre. Whilst there is death and sadness in his other plays, to be sorted with his Tragedies the plays must end in the main character’s death brought upon them due to their own faults.

In this medieval times play Marcus Brutus is an example of one who will go against a friend not out of hate, but out of a greater love for his country.


D. I disagree, in Julius Caesar the rulers break and bend the rules one after another, Julius Caesar was a powerful man that was seen as a threat, brutus didn’t agree with having Rome as a dictatorship, and in result Brutus kills Caesar in fear of Rome falling apart and becoming a dictatorship instead of a republic. Julius Caesar was a powerful man that was

The desire for power is one of the strongest human drives. In Lord of The Flies by William Golding there is a constant struggle for power between the main characters, Ralph, Jack, and Piggy. Ralph has power because he was voted chief and uses his power in an ugly way. Jack is struggling to get out of Ralph's power and gain his own power. The boys’ struggle for power is an ugly struggle and the author uses this to demonstrate the ugly struggle for power that is human nature.