In Othello the audience is viewing the breakdown of Othello, "a man that is neither thoroughly good nor thoroughly evil but a mixture of both-. None other then the villainous Iago achieves this breakdown.
In most stories there is a battle between evil and good and in a majority of them good triumphs over evil. Othello is an exception to this well-known mould. Throughout all of the play, wicked Iago is plotting his way to revenge. In the opening scenes, Iago begins his plot for revenge by enticing Roderigo to wake Brabantio up with cries of animal sounds and exclaiming:.
"Zounds, sir, you are robb'd, for shame put on your gown.
Your heart is burst, you have lost half your soul;.
Even now, very now, an old black ram.
Is tupping your white ewe; arise, arise,.
Awake the snorting citizens with the bell,.
Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you,.
Arise I say- (I. i. 86-92).
Iago uses an abundance of animal imagery to create a repetitive theme that animal instinct plays a vital role in human behaviour rather then the laws of society and etiquette. Iago corrupts a perfect romantic union between Othello and Desdemona. Ever since they were joined in holy matrimony he destroyed any chance of happiness that the couple had had by making Othello jealous at a make-belief affair.
Othello experiences a great man's fall into the barbarism of human nature' in Sander's Aristotelian tragic interpretation. The fall that Othello experiences are very similar to the biblical disobedience of Adam and Eve that hence, gave rise to the sinfulness of humanity. This leads to the theme that love and military heroism are unsuited. Othello has married a woman that he has upheld into such an ideal way that he becomes overwhelmed with the green-eyed monster' syndrome rapidly. Desdemona has married a man that is from a difference culture and background. Since Othello and Desdemona have a wide range of differences between them, Iago takes advantage and weaves seeds of infidelity into the mind of Othello leading him into a downward spiral into an insane judgement of his wife.
Throughout the whole book Iago is jealous. ... Othello doesn't show his jealousy until the middle of the book. ... Othello's jealousy is vague throughout the book and most times is turned into anger. ... Every event in the book is the result of jealousy. Which is why jealousy is the main theme in the book. ...
Heilman centers his argument on how critics have long called Othello's personality "simple," when it really is complex. He uses the murder scene in great context of Othello's personality. ... "(7) These are all the major reasons for Othello's anxiety about his blackness which lead to his downfall. According to Bradley, Othello is the "most painfully exciting and the most terrible" play of Shakespeare's. ... "(2) which led to Othello murdering his wife. ...
Was Othello a Good Man? In the play "Othello" by William Shakespeare, Othello had both some positive aspects and some negative aspects about him. ... Othello trusted Iago, an ensign to Othello. ... Othello's flaw was his trusting nature. ... One of Othello's negative aspects was that of jealousy. ...
The character of Othello plays the role of both the protagonist and the hero in the play of Othello. ... We see Othello regain composure during his speech in Act 5. ... Othello easily fits this definition as he is the General of Venice. ... In Act I, Scene Two, Othello and Brabantio have a brawl, yet we see Othello remain calm and collected in reaction to Brabantio's speech. ... This line displays the astonishing power of Othello's words. ...
Othello starts the play on top of the world. ... Othello is proved to be an extremely gullible person, as Iago never offers Othello legitimate proof of the affair. ... In the last few acts of Othello, the evil side of Othello's character is finally unleashed. ... Did the pressures of society get into Othello's head? Or was Othello really just good on the outside? ...
An example of illogical reasoning and thinking is present in William Shakespeare's play, Othello, where Iago, who is Othello's most trusted advisor, plans and acts out his revenge on Othello, who is the good and noble general, because he is jealous over a promotion he did not get. ... A situation where Othello commits this error in reasoning is when he demands Desdemona to give him his handkerchief: OTHELLO. ... OTHELLO. ... Othello then uses the fallacy of automatic rejection again by ignoring Desdemona when she implores him to explain why he thinks she is unfaithful: OTHELLO. ... ...
This is set up in Othello by long monologues by Othello's antagonist outlining his evil plan to ruin Othello. ... Othello's tragic flaw comes out first when the evil antagonist Iago says he will frame as lovers Othello's wife and Cassius, whom Othello has just stripped of lieutenant. ... Ironically, around Othello, Iago seems to do the opposite- for example, Iago tells Othello, "O, beware, my lord, of jealousy!... Iago points out to Othello every time his wife and Cassius have a conversation, and provokes Othello's wife to plead the issue of Othello stripping Cassius of ...
He has hatred towards Othello for giving Cassio the lieutenant title instead of him, so he plots revenge to get back at Othello. ... Hamartia is a fatal flaw that leads Othello to his downfall. In this play, Othello's hamartia is jealousy. ... Another characteristic that Othello checks off is that he is blind to reality. ... Since Othello an Iago are watching from afar but are not able to hear what they are saying, he gives Othello the idea that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair. ...
Othello trusts in Desdemona until the third scene of the third act when Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona could be messing around with another man, Cassio. ... After saying these words, Othello takes his own life. ... How one, Desdemona, can be so pure and innocent that when Othello is lied to by the devil, Iago, Othello could find infidelity and dishonesty in her. Othello truly exemplifies the fault and free will in man. ... Othello is man....
