...Olsen Othello Essay Intro to Lit 4/14/12 Instructor: The Opinionator The handkerchief plays a central role in Shakespeare’s Othello. It was given to Othello by his mother, and then given to Desdemona by Othello. It may seem farfetched that something as simple as a handkerchief could make a person murder someone else, but when I look back at the story that is exactly happens. The handkerchief symbolizes the relationship and trust between Othello and Desdemona. This seemingly normal handkerchief has a very deep meaning to Othello, and when he finds out who has possession of it towards the end of the play he goes into a frenzy. The whole reason that the handkerchief becomes an object of evil and jealousy is because Iago uses it as a tool to persuade Othello that Cassio is seeing Desdemona. The whole circle of betrayal begins when Desdemona drops the handkerchief and Emilia picks it up. Iago had told Emilia to do so for quite some time. Once Emilia turns it over to Iago, he almost immediately goes to work in his evil ways. He plants the handkerchief in Cassio’s apartment. Cassio can’t figure out whose it is and takes it. Cassio ends up giving it to Bianca. Iago sets the second part of his plot into action when he talks to Othello later on when they are alone`. He tells Othello that he suspects Desdemona is being unfaithful to him with Cassio. Othello demands proof of the affair, and Iago informs him that he saw Cassio give the handkerchief to Bianca...
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...Ryan Perrin Research Essay 12/12/13 Othello William Shakespeare’s Othello could be viewed as an allegory that represents the frailty of human reason and the ease as to which a person can manipulate rational thought through the utilization of skillful rhetoric and deception. In the essay Allegory and Irony in ‘Othello’ by Antoinette B. Dauber, she says “he [Shakespeare] is not committed to the maintenance of allegory, and so he freely dramatizes the internal weaknesses and external onslaughts that lead to its destruction.” The readers, or viewers of the play, then are meant to be able to apply the stories moral problems to everyday situations and realize the harm that can be done by using rhetoric and deception to manipulate others. Rhetoric, when used as a tool of deception, can lead others to come to “reasonable conclusions,” yet these conclusions may be based upon irrational reasons and emotion; which in turn makes such a conclusion irrational. In reality these irrational reasons are only as rational as a persuader can convince a person to believe. In Othello, Shakespeare shows that even in the minds of people that are most confident of themselves, there is a self-doubt that can be increasingly apparent by very simple means of ignition. Iago ignites, or maybe even re-ignites this self-doubt by leading Othello to believe that Desdemona would prefer Cassio over him, which could cause Othello to believe that he is not worthy of having Desdemona since he is black. This situation...
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...Senoria Mitchell Timothy Crowley ENG 315 April 29, 2015 Essay 2: The Tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venice William Shakespeare’s play entitled Othello contained many striking scenes that contributed to the play’s climax and its relevance as a whole. The climax was Othello killing his wife over his jealousy. Othello’s jealousy stemmed in part from his own insecurities and also from Iago continuing to plant more doubt in him. These things collectively caused Othello to murder his wife, Desdemona. To get Othello to the point of murdering someone he loved so dearly, Iago conjured up accusations of infidelity against Desdemona. Certain scenes play different roles in leading up to Desdemona’s death. This paper will discuss the scenes and prove that they directly lead to the death of Desdemona. In act 5 Scene 2, Othello commits murder against his wife Desdemona as part of a bond he made with Iago, the deal was that Iago would kill Cassio and then Othello in turn would have to murder Desdemona. In this scene, Othello has an intimate conversation with himself and then speaks to his wife when she awakes. With himself, he talks about how fair and pure she looks. She is beautiful and seemingly untainted to him he is hesitant to kill her. He talks to her about praying that Heaven have mercy on her soul for her sins. He does not want to kill her soul as well as her body. It is obvious that he does not want to do anything to hurt Desdemona at all, but he feels that it is his duty as an...
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...In the Shakespearean play Othello, the “Green – Eyed Monster”, otherwise known as jealousy, is nothing but a killer. It is a creature that drove Iago to his monstrous revenge plot. During the duration of the play, jealousy was one of the main motives Iago had as a foundation in his plot to destroy Othello. As the lowest ranking officer, Othello’s ancient, Iago wanted to be promoted to the lieutenant position. In the opening scene of Act I, Iago described his jealousy towards Michael Cassio to Roderigo. He described how Cassio had, “never set squadron in the field” and that his knowledge of battle is only known through books (I.I.23). Unlike Michael Cassio, Iago had been in the army for years and felt betrayed by none other than the General himself, Othello. Iago hated Othello, there was no question about it. When speaking to himself, or to others, Iago only called Othello “the Moor.” As said in the critical essay Othello’s Alienation, saying the racist term “the Moor”, it was Shakespeare’s way of playing into the mindsets’ of the audience; Iago and the audience had at least one thing in common, they were racist of people that were not Caucasian (Berry). According to Charles Boyce, Iago only thought Othello as a thing not a person and a “brick wall” to what he really desired, power. Othello, had so much power in the army that Iago felt he deserved after all of his years of service. Iago said that Othello had a, “free and open nature” that was to be tested by his...
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...Kyle Randall ENGL 1302 03 March 23, 2014 Othello Essay Iago from Othello the Play The play Othello by William Shakespeare is a play all about deception, betrayal, and lying. It starts out with two men talk one is Iago, and he seems to be jealous of one of his fellow Italian country men, Othello. Othello just got a military promotion that Iago felt he deserved or at least wanted. Recently Othello just secretly married a senator’s daughter, so the man and Iago are plotting on how to get him in trouble for this. It starts to make the reader wonder is Iago evil. It turns out throughout the rest of the story he makes everybody turn on their own friends and loved ones, to the point they kill each other, even convincing Othello to kill his new wife. So it makes me come to the conclusion Iago is most definitely evil, not only that he is knifing, and very persuasive. This is how evil he is, Othello gave his new wife this handkerchief, and it is supposed to be their handkerchief of love. Iago uses this sacred madrigal token, to turn Othello against his wife. By planting it in one of Othello’s friend’s quarters. Once Iago persuades Othello to go in the other mans quarters he sees it and becomes very angry, and jealous thinking the two have slept together. Iago convinces Othello he must kill his own wife for cheating on him. So eventually Othello does the deed and kills his own wife. This scene shows exactly how evil Iago is, he has enough evil in his heart to turn a lover against...
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...Project Othello, the Invisible Wound, To Kill a Mockingbird July 30th 2014 By Eileen Harford Everyone has had a time in their life when they have misjudged a situation. Whether it was assuming someone took your pencil when it is actually in behind you ear, or assuming which character is the killer in our favorite movie, we all have misjudgements all the time in our lives. When was the last time you have mistaken a situation? The theme of false judgement demonstrated in the play “Othello” by Shakespeare, the short story “The Invisible Wound” by Karoly Kisfaludi, and the film “To Kill a Mockingbird”. In these three storylines, the author exhibits the theme of false judgment through a character of innocence that is poorly misjudged and ends tragically for them. Othello accuses his wife, Desdemona of adultery, while the unnamed protagonist in “The Invisible Wound” also inaccurately assumes his wife is cheating. In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, the jury accuses Tom Robinson of a crime that he did not commit all because of the colour of his skin. Given the above, it is clear that these three story lines hold the same theme of an error in judgement occurring. Throughout the play, “Othello” by William Shakespeare, a few of the characters are condemned on untruthful information. Desdemona and Cassio are victims of poor judgement. Accusations towards Desdemona seem to be the most prominent to any reader – which all begin when Othello falls to Iago’s manipulation that causes Othello to poorly...
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...****Analyzing Jealousy In Othello English Literature Essay**** Shakespeare’s play of Othello is largely driven by a grand love story, and filled with jealousy. Through the juxtaposition of Othello’s credulous nature and Iago’s pernicious villainy, the image of jealousy is truly personified as an all-consuming “green-eyed monster”. Because of this venomous nature of the beast of jealousy, the events of the play manage to unfold in Iago’s lustful authority, which bring down the eponymous character to his tragic downfall. In human psychology today, the modern definition of jealousy remains relatively unchanged from Shakespeare’s time, albeit being expressed in more modern scientific terms. It is defined as “a complex of thoughts, feelings, and actions which follow threats to self-esteem and/or threats to the existence or quality of the relationship ... generated by the perception of a real or potential attraction between one's partner and a (perhaps imaginary) rival." (White, 1981, p. 24). In scenes of jealousy, there are typically a triad of people involved: a jealous and threatened individual, a partner of the opposite gender, and his/her third party rival. In the case of Othello, there are certainly three important people involved at the beginning: Iago being the jealous individual, Desdemona being the partner, and Othello being the third party rival. Iago definitely feels threatened by Othello’s dominance over him, both in his military rank and his relationship...
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... Analytical Essay Othello is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, he wrote this masterpiece in 1603. The play mainly revolves around four central characters: Othello, the Moorish general in the Venetian army; his wife, Desdemona; his lieutenant, Cassio and his ancient, Iago. In this play, by not showing Othello at the beginning of the first scene, Shakespeare creates an uncomfortable feeling to the story. Furthermore, he foreshadows the conflicts to come later in the plot. One of the conflicts is Iago becoming the archetypal evil villain who ruins Othello and Desdemona’s relationship. Iago manipulates Othello’s weakness his jealousy; Iago hates and does not respect women which is one of the main reason of his plan for revenge against Othello. Firstly, Iago knows how to observe people and uses human psychology to manipulate people’s minds. Iago manipulates Othello’s weaknesses which make Othello feels insecure. For example, after Cassio looks for help with Desdemona, Iago gets a golden chance to talk to Othello in private. Iago starts to plant the seed of jealousy in Othello concerning Desdemona and Cassio. Iago tells Othello to “beware …of jealousy” (III/III/l.195) which makes Othello nervous and start to suspect that Desdemona is cheating on him. Moreover, Iago warns Othello to “observe her well with Cassio.” (III/III/l.228) which causes Othello believes from the bottom of his heart that Desdemona is being unfaithful to him. Furthermore, he tricks Othello into believing...
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...“Othello is the most domestic of Shakespeare’s tragedies. Its focus is not on the fall of a king, or the collapse of a nation… Rather it is about the end of a marriage and a husband’s murder of his wife. It is intimately concerned with the details of sexual jealousy.” (McLeish and Unwin) A production of Shakespeare’s “Othello”, was presented as “The Twisted Othello” at Bishop Anstey High School East auditorium on November 15th, Saturday. It was directed by Janieka Tudor and captured a new take on the Shakespearean classic. The play is centered on the eminent jealousy of Iago (Renaldo Briggs) directed to Micahel Cassio who had been promoted by Othello (Daniel Waldron). Iago, who coveted the position as Othello’s lieutenant; weaves an intricate web of lies around the ubiquitous and notorious ‘handkerchief’ and ensnares Desdemona (Mishael Martineaux), Othello (Waldron) , Rodriego( Tevin Butler) and other actors. Ultimately Iago (Briggs) plays on the green-eyed monster within Othello (Waldron) and causes his cataclysmic demise. In a review of ‘The Apologetics of Evil: The Case of Iago’ by Richard Raatzsch it is mentioned that, “Iago is memorable and exciting, and universally hated by audiences of ‘Othello’ …. Being cold, manipulative, and impervious to anything but his own perverse will.” (McGinn) In conjunction, at ‘The Twisted Othello’ Renaldo Briggs gave a resounding performance and a new finesse to the character of Iago. Briggs a student of Bishop Anstey Trinity College East...
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...May 2013 Othello Humans are tend to behave a certain way, some people are more peaceful than others, everyone is different in a way, but there are times when human behavior can be change drastically from good to bad, when someone is influenced by another person, they tend to change the way they see or think about certain things, and as a result people change their personalities and behaviors. In Othello we can clearly see a change in personality and behavior from the main character who is Othello. He was transformed from a peaceful and well-spoken person, to a savage who end up killing his wife. In the play of Othello is easy to identify that “jealousy” is the main theme. Othello who is a general from the Venetian state is one of the most respected and well-spoken person in the play, In the first acts we can see that Othello is a faithful and powerful general who is married with Desdemona, she is the daughter of Brabantio, Brabantio is against the marriage of her daughter and Othello because of his skin color. Iago is the villain in the play who hates Othello because he was not promoted, and instead Othello decided to promote a young and inexperienced men named Cassio. Iago decide to seek revenge by manipulating everyone in the play. Iago devise a plan that will cause a tremendous amount of chaos. His plan is to lead Othello to believe that his wife, Desdemona has been cheating on him with another man. In Act Three we can see the drastic change of Othello personality...
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...Yahaira Rosario Comp. II Othello Essay November 2, 2012 Old Black Ram Othello one of many of the great works of William Shakespeare and a very interesting piece of English literature considering it was written in the sixteenth century. It is the epic tale of a moor that is brought to Venice and serves as a general for the Italian army, though it is his private life away from worldly affairs which is much more interesting. Othello marries the daughter of a wealthy lord by the name of Brabantio a Venetian senator, and is living in a serene world of joy with his newly wed wife Desdemona. As far as he knows it is perfect until one of his officers by the name of Iago seeks to destroy him by placing false idea's about his wife and a fellow officer in his head slowly driving Othello insane and into a murderous and passionate rage. Othello is a very narrow minded and simple character. It is as a direct consequence of his inability to change that he is able to be so easily manipulated by Iago. At the beginning of the play Othello states, For since these arms of mine had seven years’ pith Till now some nine moons wasted, they have used Their dearest action in the tented field; And little of this great world can I speak More than pertains to feats of broil and battle. (1, 3, 83-87) Othello acknowledges his naivety and lack of knowledge of life. “My parts, my title, my perfect soul” (1, 2, 30). Othello states when Iago informs him that Brabantio is coming to confront him. Alongside...
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...Harlem Duet-Modern Play Essay Despite of being declared free and living in a free society, many times characters remain restricted due to their own conflicting matters. This can be seen evidently in the play Harlem Duet through the main character, Billie. Despite all blacks being declared officially free from slavery by the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, Billie still feels ‘enslaved’ many times due to pressures of external factors, such as racism that still exists in society, and internal factors such as her inability to remain in control of a situation. There are many instances where a character is not in control of the situation and yet it affects them on a regular and frequent basis. These external factors, such as a racist society, can be seen affecting and challenging Billie’s identity in the play. Due to this factor, Billie feels like she is constantly looked down upon and automatically is considered inferior by the society just because she is black, but this doesn’t weaken Billie’s identity, but further strengthens it. The quote in Act1 Scene 4, “I don’t have that...that luxury. When I go into a store, I always know when I’m being watched. I can feel it. They want to see if I’m gonna slip some of their stuff into my pockets. When someone doesn’t serve me, I think it’s because I’m black. When a clerk won’t put the change into my held-out hand, I think it’s because I’m black,” clearly emphasizes the pressures Billie deals with on a regular basis yet she continues to...
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...Othello: Tragic Hero? Michael Charles Robinson ENGL 102 October 17, 2011 Ms. Charity Givens Othello: Tragic Hero? I. Introduction Thesis statement A. Thesis Statement II. Brief overview of Othello III. Aristotle and Othello A. Peripeteia B. Hamartia C. Anagnorsis D. Catharsis IV. Othello a tragic hero? A. Evidence supporting B. Not supporting V. Brief overview of “O” A. Comparison to original VI. Conclusion THESIS STATEMENT: Othello is a tragic hero because he mostly satisfies Aristotle’s four requirements for a tragic hero: peripeteia, hamartia, anagnorsis, and catharsis. Othello: Tragic Hero? The tragic play Othello, written by William Shakespeare has caused constant dispute on whether the main character Othello can be considered as a tragic hero or not. Othello is a tragic hero because he mostly satisfies Aristotle’s four requirements for a tragic hero: peripeteia, hamartia, anagnorsis, and catharsis. The exploration of different aspects of the Othello character will give the readers of this essay insight regarding whether Othello is a...
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...accurate than Othello. Militarism, racism, gender, spousal abuse, colonialism, the occult, the pathology of the inexplicably evil person, these are all woven into the web of the play, .and they are among the issues that haunt the world at the end of the twentieth century. Even our most sensational crime, the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, and the trial of o. J. Simpson, with significant differences, replays the Othello story to a remarkable degree, down, to an almost identical cast of characters. Othello is almost perfect for a case history of how one might usefully connect today's headlines...
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...ALLEGOR AND IRONY IN 'OTHELLO' Y ANTOINETT B. DAUBER E Othello is Shakespeare's Spenserian tragedy, in which the theme of slandere d chastity becomes a vehicle for exploring the problems of an allegorica l art . Allegory is the mode of selfconscious faith, and Spenser's corpus may be rea d as a portrai t of the artis t as allegorist , wrestling first with the burdens of selfconsciousness and then with the burdens of faith.l In Othello, Shakespeare compresses and objectifies this struggle. Unlike Spenser, he is not committed to the maintenance of allegory, and so he freely dramatizes the interna l weaknesses and external onslaughts that lead to its destruction. What I am calling the 'Spenserian ' quality begins with the chivalric elements in the tragedy. Truly, Othello is a kind of Savage Knight, Desdemona, the absolutely, almost miraculously, worthy lady, and Iago, something of a manipulator like Archimago.2 But more particularl y I would call attention to a specific engagement with Spenserian rhetoric . Consider Cassio' s words of welcome to the disembarking Desdemona: Tempests themselves, high seas, and howling winds, The gutter'd rocks and congregated sands, Traitors ensteep'd to enclog the guiltless keel, As having sense of beauty, do omit Their mortal natures, letting go safely by The divine Desdemona. (2.1.68-73)3 He sets her in the line of Spenser's heavenly allegories . As a parallel , we may recal l Una , slandere d by the arch-magician , abandone d by 123 her...
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