Othello is a tragic hero because of his tragic mistake. There are many unwanted behaviors in Othello, like his jealousy and lack of caution. Nevertheless, the center of these troubles and his major tragic mistake is his lack of confidence because he is the only black character and an outsider in Venice. His weakness makes him an effortless objective for Iago to use his mind; he starts to accept as true that he is poor for Desdemona: “She’s gone, I am abused, and my relief must be to loathe her. Oh, curse of marriage that we can call these delicate creatures ours and not their appetites!” (3.3.283-286).
The animalization of Othello by Iago because of his race is ironic because, as pinpointed in an article by Alexander G. Gonzalez, Iago takes advantage of Othello’s vulnerability by surpassing his own animalistic identity. Within Iago is a dangerous creature, “like a beast”, wildly obsessed with sex (Gonzalez
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.
Discuss Shakespeare 's Use of Imagery in Othello to Reveal Character A lack of empathy makes for a true villain. In Shakespeare’s tragic play Othello, the nature of Iago’s character is revealed through the use of animal, plant, and devil imagery. Iago is revealed to view others as less than him, manipulating them with a lack of conscience, and having a desire for the destruction of others. The imagery enforces his role as the villain of the play, one who manipulates others for his own self interest. Firstly, Shakespeare uses animal imagery to show that Iago views others as less than him.
Throughout the play, both covert and overt racism, assimilation, and jealous dispositions all foreshadow the untimely death of Desdemona and Othello. Throughout the play, Iago, Roderigo, and Brabantio display covert or overt racism towards Othello. At the beginning of the play, Iago, Othello’s ensign, and Roderigo, a wealthy man in love with Desdemona, discuss Othello’s marriage and their hatred for Othello. During their dialogue, the first references made of Othello are “his Moorship” and “the Moor,” which is how most of the characters refer to Othello (Shakespeare 687). Rather than referring to Othello nominally, they refer to him by his ethnicity, showing their inherent racism.
The play Othello is, at its core, a tragedy defined by the weakness of men and their complete vulnerableness to an (imaginary) anxiety over women, the male characters presented in the play present men in a degrading way. Men in the play view women’s value as reliant on how effectively they meet gender role because of this they see women as objects and extension of themselves. When women behave in a ‘not appropriate way’, it tears away the manhood of each character. Men crippled by this fear, turn into monsters swept away by their vicious jealousy. In this day and age, these inaccurate depictions of men help to continue the cycle of sexism by telling boys that machismo and hyper-masculinity are things to be desired.
He thinks of himself as no one, someone on the periphery of social and political power. Furthermore, he also believes that being black will impact his interactions with people, especially his relationship with Desdemona. The critics who believe that Othello’s skin color is important for the character and for the interpretation of the play also suggest that this is in fact the reason why he experiences lack of confidence. Racism is a powerful issue as Shakespeare presents the color and ethnicities as social constructs that can be made to havoc with one’s own sense of self. The author shaped his character in that way in order to assert that race and implications of being an individual in the position of power push Othello’s into his own self-destruction nature rooted in doubt and fear.
In order for Othello to be as effective as it is, the depiction of Iago as the perfect example of evil itself was essential, and is accomplished with his particular characteristic traits. His extreme deceitful nature is made known within his many soliloquies; Shakespeare used these to evoke frustration within the reader; during these dramatic and extended asides, the true dramatic irony is revealed. Iago’s lies and underhanded nature however is never uncovered by the people he seeks to destroy. He confides in them, and is intelligent and deceptive enough to gain their
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.
The use of the word honest to describe both Iago and Desdemona allows Shakespeare to heighten the dramatic irony in Othello. The use of the word honesty enhances the contradiction between people’s opinions of Iago, and his true nature, therefore; it magnifies the dramatic irony. Othello often describes Iago