Essays on Othello

Shakespeare’s tragedies are based on the culmination of the recklessness of his protagonists. For example, suspicion was the major cause of Othello’s downfall; Pride was the cause behind King Lear’s tragedy. As said by Aristotle, the protagonist’s weakness is the major reason for the tragedy to happen in the play. Shakespeare’s plays are based on the concept of Aristotle’s tragedy. The tragic hero according to Corrigan (206) is the good man who faces trouble due to his errors or shortcomings. The shortcomings or errors are the real motivators behind the action of the ...

There can be no denial of the fact that literary works provide the creative artist with the utmost liberty to delve deep into interpersonal relationships and depth of emotions, thereby exploring the very true essence of human nature through the creative works of art. If one takes into consideration the famous play, Othello, penned by the acclaimed playwright, William Shakespeare, the quintessential exploration and depiction on the part of the creative artist can very well be comprehended as the play deciphers the subtleties of emotions and interpersonal relationship between the two sexes through the apt portraiture of the main ...

Introduction

If an individual were to compare and analyze the film “Othello” written by Allen Parker with the film “O” which was directed by Tim Blake Nelson, they would find a variety of similarities and differences amongst the two pieces of works. Though both the film “O” and the film “Othello” is based off of the original play done by William Shakespeare, there are distinct differences between the two films in context and basic thematic elements. There is also an array of similarities correlating to social context that are prominent throughout both films. Whereas; most viewers will notice right away ...

Introduction

William Shakespeare is one of the prolific authors in literature, because he employs many devices that give his character depth. These devices can be manifested in the speech of the characters; as an author, Shakespeare effectively plays on words to give them multiple meanings which can be left to the reader’s interpretation. One example of this is in his play Othello, a story about the titular character and his conquests amidst the attempts of a traitorous comrade named Iago to destroy him. In this play, Iago delivers a series of soliloquies which reveal a lot about his character— ...

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For many years, people have associated Shakespearean plays with racial prejudices, mabe in an effort to determine whether Shakespeare was a racist or not. Shakespeare’s use of characters of color has raised controversies an curiosity on what role does race contributes to his plays. It should be noted that racism or the belief that one’s race is superior to another was already observed in 16th century Europe. It was during this time when Europeans become increasingly engaged with people of different racial origins through greater trade with Asia and Africa and the discovery of the ...

In Coriolanus, the titular character’s mother tells him “You are too absolute” (Shakespeare). Volumnia, in this case, is trying to convince her son to approach the common plebeians for their votes to the Senate. Coriolanus is a proud man and an excellent soldier, but he struggles throughout the text with problems associated with his pride and his unwillingness to engage in political maneuvering. His mother, who ostensibly wants to see her son elected and placed in power, tries her hardest to convince him that he should participate in the process of trying to woo the people (Shakespeare). By “ ...

Othello is a Shakespearean classic tragedy that has been adopted into different modern day versions in cinema and theatre. It is a tragic tale of envy, revenge, manipulation and murder. The 2001 British modern day adaptation of Othello sticks with the classical themes of jealousy, envy and murder. The Geoffrey Sax movie is set in modern day London that is witnessing riots due to police brutality. This paper seeks to explore the treatment of the theme of evil and revenge in the two disparate versions of Othello. Understanding the depiction of evil also means understanding the inner workings and ...

The play Othello composed by William Shakespeare portrays the tragedy of a character whose blind jealousy deprives him of everything he has. Due to its complexity and controversy, Othello was and remains a stumbling point for a lot of critics and researchers. Difficulty in the interpretation of this tragedy is caused by its characters` questionable morals. Moreover, with further analysis one may see that the theme of marital issues and betrayal in this tragedy is supported by another theme of morality and amorality which will determine the actions of not only the main character but that of everyone else. ...

Abstract

The book The Tragedy of Othello, The Moor of Venice was written by the most famous poet of the world, William Shakespeare. This is a story about love, jealousy, and revenge. Othello, the protagonists in the story, is a Moor and a general in the army. His role in the Venetian army makes him a significant figure. Upon his promotion, Othello became the main victim when Iago and Rodrigo connived against him in order to destroy him. The jealousy of Rodrigo powered his hatred towards the man. Othello’s downfall was almost assured because of Iago’s flawless plotting ...

Introduction:

general overview of the research project; outlining of the main objectives of the work.

Project 1: Theoretical part.

Examination of Aristotle’s theory of tragedy, represented in his treatise “Poetics”; outlining the main points delivered by the authors; giving definitions to the philosophical concepts of Aristotle’s theory explaining their essence in artistic context.

Project 2: Practical Part.

Matching the main principles of tragedy to the play written by the great Shakespeare; analyzing the congruence of the tragedy principles delivered by the philosopher of the Antiquity to the tragedy produced be the Medieval playwright; the researches own speculation about the concept of tragedy its main features in ...

People can be blind to love, truth, or reality in general. The reason can be strong emotions or an intention to escape a traumatizing situation. At the same time, the outcomes of such blindness are usually tragic. Euripides was a master of creating dramatic plays that encapsulated the strongest emotions of a person by engaging them into the traumatizing actions and experiences. Particularly, the topic of blindness is particularly vividly represented in Euripides’s “Medea” (Euripides 17). She is overwhelmed with her frustration and anger on Jason’s betrayal and humiliation. In the swirl of a blind rage Medea ...

The concept of self has been viewed differently throughout the periods of cultural development. People always were trying to focus or omit the concept of their self personality and relationship with their self-esteem. The concept of self representation has been quite researching by the literary critiques. Many of them have addressed the issue. Eurocentricity is a part of Renaissance and its development, at least in the literary world. Eurocentrism is the practice, cognizant or something else, of putting accentuation on European (and, for the most part, Western) concerns, culture and values to the detriment of those of different societies. ...

In the historical time, women had few roles within the community, diminishing their effect towards the practices, laws, and structure of the society. Historical information characterizes women as housewives, whose main work was to take care of the family and its needs such as food, clothes and water among other things. However, there were women who made great progress in changing the stereotypes set by the community by exerting their knowledge towards the current affairs and way of life. Some of the men felt intrigued by their presence while others saw them as equals. Hence, it was a struggle ...

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One of the most popular Shakespeare’s tragedies is Othello. It is often called a tragedy of betrayed faith. Even these most intelligent and noble people are not able to resist deception, stealth and agility of others! A gallery of images, which is a different generation of Venetian civilization, crowned by the image of the worst of its representative, Iago. Personally I believe that his actions made him the most dangerous villain of all the Shakespeare’s plays. The essence of Shakespeare's tragedy lies in the clash of two principles, the humanistic feelings (pure and noble ...

Iago hates Othello because Othello received the promotion that was supported to be for Iago. Feeling disgusted over Othello’s promotion that he referred him to be “one Michael Cassio” because it is the job that is fitting for him and to be as Iago’s military lieutenant. Iago feels that he is more qualified than Cassio because the experience of Iago experience is on the battlefield where the real action takes place. Iago cannot contain his jealousy over his non-promotion because he believes that he possesses all qualities and skills suitable for the coveted position. However, the real ...

The master craftsman, William Shakespeare, in his Othello and The Winter’s Tale portrays some curious facets of femininity, maybe deliberately or not. Desdemona in Othello is a Venetian beauty with astute and resolute individuality, while Hermione in The Winter’s Tale is mysterious and majestic. When we take the reality aspect, the former is more realistic and true to life, which has implications even in this modern present. The latter is to an extent unreal, and somewhat fantasy. Character is everything in Shakespeare’s plays; the works have no existence apart from the characters. In Shakespeare’s plays, ...

Othello, the 1603 masterpiece of the master playwright William Shakespeare is more psychological than artistic, derived from Donald Metzer’s “Concerning the Stupidity of Evil”. Dr. Johnson says that his [Shakespeare’s] drama is the mirror of life; that he who has mazed his imagination, in following the phantoms which other writers raise up before him, may here be cured of his delirious ecstasies, by reading human sentiments in human language, by scenes from which a hermit may estimate the transactions of the world, and a confessor predict the progress of the passions (Johnson. p. 14). Shakespeare portrayed life ...

The difference between appearance and reality has been a theme in literature for just about as long as people have been putting paper to pen and writing stories. In many of William Shakespeare’s plays, this is one of the more common themes, particularly in the comedies and tragedies. Macbeth and Othello are two Shakespearean tragedies that explore the difference between what central characters think they see and what is real, and the chaos that this difference brings to their lives. In Macbeth, the gap between appearance and reality comes from two sources: the bottomless ambition that Lady Macbeth, ...

19th of April 2016

Thesis Statement Many scholars and critics have sought to find some hidden meaning and messages in the works of Shakespeare. However, despite the abundance of allegory, sarcasm and on satire, the reader’s attention should not be diverted from the main problem that the author shows in “Othello” and this is the issue of race and discrimination within the society of those days. This topic has not yet been fully described and is of interest as it shows some controversial noted in terms of the understanding of racism as we know it now, and how people understood it in ...

In Shakespeare’s tragic play Othello, the real villain is Iago. While many of the other characters, particularly Othello himself, commit actions that go against humanity, these events are orchestrated by Iago. On his quest to extract revenge against the Moor of Venice, Iago manipulates, tricks, and lies to everyone in the town to ensure that his plan falls into place. He shows no regard for anyone else, or for the moral code that resides within every human being. Iago is a villain because he only cares about himself, and his own happiness. He is bitter about Cassio being ...

In his play “Othello” Shakespeare shows how dangerous it might be to blindly believe a person. Othello truly believes Iago and never hesitates about the villain’s honesty. In fact the theme of honesty may be considered as one of the central themes in the play that moves the plot. Thus, the fact that throughout the play Othello totally believed the main villain and lier creates suspense and irony in the story. It is worth considering that the word honesty is used about fifty times in the play. Moreover, this word is mostly used in connection to the character ...

It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul.

Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars, It is the cause. Yet I’ll not shed her blood, Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow And smooth as monumental alabaster. Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men. Put out the light, and then put out the light. If I quench thee, thou flaming minister, I can again thy former light restore Should I repent me. But once put out thy light, (Othello V.ii. 1-10). In this scene, Othello prepares himself for the heinous act of murdering Desdemona. Before he does so, ...

Gender is the most evident theme that Othello explores. Swordplay is used as the primary device, and it plays a role in depicting different perception about women. Swordplay is also apparent in Goodnight Desdemona. Ann Macdonald’s parody of Shakespeare is classic. Similarly to Shakespearean view, the use of Swordplay in Macdonald’s play objects to represent women in the modern-day society. Swordplay was originally limited to men in Shakespeare’s early play. Swordplay was used to depict men who are aggressive, dominant, bold, and violent as compared to women who are submissive and docile. Swords are weapon that ...

The handkerchief is white with red strawberries representing beauty, fertility and purity. It is important because it had belonged to Othello’s mother. It had been given to his father by his mother as a way to ensure his faithfulness to her. The handkerchief symbolizes loyalty, and faithfulness as well as family history to Othello. Othello implies that the handkerchief has magical properties when he says “there’s magic in it” (cite). This gives the implication that the handkerchief has a darker side to it. Later events seem to indicate that the magic/ power of the handkerchief lies in ...

Othello is a tragedy play by William Shakespeare written in 1603. The play is based on the story Un Capitano Moro by Cinthio that was published in 1565 (Bert 2). The play revolves around four major characters namely Othello, Desdemona, Cassio, and Iago. Othello was a Moorish general in the Venetian army while Desdemona was his beloved wife. Cassio, on the other hand, was Othello’s trusted but unfaithful pennant partner while Iago was a close working colleague to Othello, who has constituted to the development of major themes in the play due to his character. The cunning character ...

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For many years, people have been keen in associating Shakespearean plays with racial prejudices, perhaps to determine whether Shakespeare was a racist or not. Shakespeare’s use of characters of color, for instance, has raised controversies and even curiosity on what role does race contributes in his plays. It should be noted that racism or the belief that one’s race is superior to another is already observed in 16th century Europe. It was during this time when Europeans become increasingly engaged with people of different racial origins, especially with the dark skinned people of the East. ...

Othello is one of William Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy plays and this may be because it has as its central theme an experience feared by everyone and yet common to everyone and that is betrayal. The Oxford Dictionary gives three definitions of ‘to betray’: “to treacherously reveal (information), be gravely disloyal to” and to “unintentionally reveal; be evidence of” and through the use of dramatic irony, metaphor and antithesis, all of these definitions of betrayal are shown in the play. The character that best represents betrayal in Othello is clearly Iago who exemplifies the first two definitions cited ...

Criticism entails proper analysis, judgment, and inferred thoughts on a person’s opinion. The main aim of criticizing other people’s opinion or publication is to shed light on the work. It should compose of opinion, personal view and both positive and negative thoughts about the literature. A good critic should be free and fair without necessarily forcing points or views. The paper looks into one of Shakespeare’s outstanding works Othello. It will focus on the general plot, its flow, the characters and their skill set. It concludes with personal opinion and perspective towards the writer’s symbolic ...

Lago, in Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’, can be construed to be a malevolent character. It is he, who plotted the downfall of the hero. He deceived Othello into believing that Desdemona had been unfaithful to him to seek revenge. Othello, the protagonist, loved Desdemona, and finally, with the consent of the elders, married her. Their love was the talking point of the people of Venice. However, their bonding in love that culminated in their marriage ended barely three weeks later in a treacherous murder. Othello was a great Moorish general who was well respected and admired by all, while Desdemona was considered to ...

Reputation as extremely important thing for some of Shakespeare’s characters. What Shakespeare might have been communicating to his audience about it?

Reputation is something which always have place in our world as it reflects the person`s alignment to the specific social group, its physical activities, educational background and origin as well as the position in the social hierarchy. It was present many thousand years ago as well as will be present in the far future. A lot of writers choose this topic for their masterpieces as one of the most important problems during people’s life ...

Introduction

Literature has for long time been used as a communication's path in society from one generation to the other. It is widely used as a way of expressing one’s thoughts and sentiments. Moreover, scholars use literature as a platform to criticize their opponents’ style of approaching issues and propose alternative solutions to the underlying issue. Literature could be expressed orally or in written form in the current century; literature is preserved as video and audio tapes, published articles or scholarly books.

In-depth Analysis

William Shakespeare is one of the ancient scholars who expressed their feelings, opinions and intuitions through writing. In one ...

In the play of Othello by William Shakespeare, the theme of uncertain vision clearly comes out in the story through the characters. Othello, who is the main character in the play, and his wife Desdemona bring out clearly the theme of uncertain vision in the story. On the other hand, in the play of Oedipus the king, the king is eager to get the truth about the murder of Laius. King Oedipus consults every available source in order to establish the truth about Laius’s murder. In Othello, a play by Shakespeare, Othello is a soldier; based on his introduction from ...

The novels, “The Scarlet Letter, “Othello”, and “Snow Falling on Cedars” all have a common theme. All three examine the impact the lies can have on one’s life. In “The Scarlet Letter”, Hester, the main character, endures imprisonment and a public shaming for her crime of adultery. She also must take her baby with her to jail. The Reverend Dimmesdale insists that she reveals the name of the father, when she refuses she is sent back to jail (Hawthorne, 1986).After three years she is let out of prison, but is forced to live on the ...

Othello, a play written by William Shakespeare begins in Venice, a powerful center of banking and commercial activities and also known for its military prowess. The plot of the play revolves around Othello, a black Moor who is also an army general, Iago, his aide, Desdemona, his wife and Cassio who became his lieutenant. After Othello marries Desdemona, her father is opposed to it and takes the matter to the Duke. It is ruled that what Othello did was wrong and he is sent to war as a result. His wife accompanies him to Cyprus as well as Cassio and Iago.

Because Iago ...

If Othello had simply been willing to use a similar thought process to that which helps the characters in the film Get Shorty make their complex ethical decisions, the play would have been a lot shorter. Othello might still have been thoughtful in the way he went about finding whether or not Desdemona was cheating on him or not with Cassio, but he definitely would have capped Cassio when Cassio wandered into a scene, drunk as usual, instead of just moping with Iago scene after scene, letting the wily Venetian ply his drama. After all, as Hamlet (the protagonist of another Shakespeare ...

The two plays, namely Henrik Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ and William Shakespeare’s Othello treat women as victims during their contemporary era due to the dominance of men . The plays give an account of how women disobeyed male superiority due to the circumstances they faced in their life. In ‘A doll’s House’, Nora enjoys a successful marriage as Torvald, her husband is economically good and does not wish Nora to work. However, Nora becomes disappointed by the behavior of her husband and his superiority. She feels bad about her husband speaking in a superior voice and imagines herself ...

Othello

What is honor and how is one supposed to restore it when it is jeopardized? Should one place one’s honor (or whatever he or she considers to be his honor – reputation, pride or suchlike) above all the other interests? The will to restore one’s honor is a praiseworthy feature, but too often it becomes a weak spot for people who consider it to be the most important aspect of their lives. Very often we can see people, striving to keep or restore their reputation, or not willing to let anything that shows them in an unfavorable light, to ...

According to Aristotle's theory, a tragic hero is a character that falls from glory to misery and suffering. He usually makes a tragic mistake that becomes fatal for his destiny. Then, a hero understands his mistakes, recognizes them and eventually the audience stops feeling any negative emotions towards the hero. Shakespeare's Othello is one of the greatest tragic heroes of all times. Othello is a bright example of a tragic hero. He experiences a moral downfall. In the beginning of a play he looks very confident and strong. Othello is respected even by his enemies. People see him as a reliable and brave man. When he is ...

The aim of the essay is to analyze the literature work «Othello, the Moor of Venice» and to find out what topics and problems are described in this work. In addition, it can be said without doubts that those problems are actual nowadays. The task is to understand how and in what situations. Moreover, it is essential to understand the main idea and topic of the play, and what the narrator wants to claim through the characters and their actions. The essay includes the summary and characterization of the events and protagonists. Othello, the Moor of Venice is a ...

Major Events

In this act, Roderigo intends to hurt Cassio but instead, Cassio’s leg is hurt by Iago. Othello hears the cries and the first impression is that Iago has wounded Cassio. He declares to resolve avenging on his wife while exiting. Gratiano and Lodovico also hear Cassio’s cries but Iago pretends not to do know what is going on. Iago stabs Roderigo when Gratiano and Lodovico are looking away but Roderigo does not die immediately but ends up incriminating Iago through the letters present in his pocket. Iago tries to frame Bianca which is an indication that he ...

Theater is one of the most ancient forms of art. The beginning of Western civilization, ancient Greece, lived a very important part in the development of this form, with many plays reaching classical status, like Oedipus King and the Oresteia trilogy. Aristotle, one of the most important Greek philosophers, offered six elements of drama in his work Poetics: setting, characters, theme, plot, language and music. These have served as a reference to study these types of works of art from antiquity to this day. The first three will serve as a guide for the analysis and comparison of important works from two ...

The aim of this essay is to present you with the analysis of Bassanio’s character in the Shakespearean play ‘The Merchant of Venice’. The ‘Merchant of Venice’ proves the magique talent of Shakespeare to depict the mystery and paradox which characterizes the mysterious complexity of the human soul. The aim of this essay is to prove the power and talent of Shakespeare to shed light in the mysterious maze of the paradoxes of the human soul through the reflections drawn upon the reading of ‘The Merchant of Venice’ and the specific character of Bassanio. The essay will prove ...

Thesis: Based on Aristotle’s definition of not only a tragic hero but also of tragedy, Shakespeare’s Othello, the Moor of Venice could rightly be described as a tragedy due to the main character’s lack of knowledge as well as due to the play’s depiction of a community and adherence to tragic guidelines. - Othello as a Tragic Hero - Noble and Admirable Characteristics - Common, Human Elements - The Issue of Race in Separating Othello from Other Characters - Othello’s Tragic Flaw or Mistake - Adherence to Greek Tradition - Presence ...

Literary Criticism

15th of December Beautiful Minds Literal analysis is crucial elements that help in critical analysis of the works of literature. In the context of the play ‘Goodnight Desdemona, good morning Juliet' is an indication of a play that can be applied with the help of the theories. A vindication of the right of women according to Mary is evident in the play. Critically, we seek to understand the cries of women in the play and their seeking to find out the root causes of their problems and the best way to curb them. Her thought indicates that women ...

Literal analysis is crucial elements that help in critical analysis of the works of literature. In the context of the play ‘Goodnight Desdemona, good morning Juliet' is an n indication of a play that can be applied with the help of the theories. A vindication of the right of women according to Mary is evident in the play. Critically, we seek to understand the cries of women in the play and their representing to find out the root causes of their problems and the best way to curb them. Her thought indicates that women should have access to education to ...

Introduction

The book, “Tragedy of Othello, The Moor of Venice,” written by William Shakespeare, was written in 1603, which is based on the Italian short story known as “Un Capitano Moro (“A Moorish Captain”) which was written by Cinthio. The main character in the book is Othello, a Moorish general who worked and served in Venetian army. In the book, there are also other major characters such as Desdemona and Cassio. The book carries a variety of themes ranging from racism, jealousy, betrayal, love, repentance, and revenge. In this section, we shall focus on the theme of race as depicted from the ...

William Shakespeare’s famous play, Othello, is deemed as one of the best literary works in the history of literature. The play being one of the most interesting works of literature portrays the most intricate characters. The character of the protagonist of the play, Othello, stands out with its traits and expression of emotions. The playwright weaves the character with sheer genius, and it leaves an everlasting mark on the minds of the audience and the readers of the play. The play exposes the very subtleties of emotions of Othello with the course of events that take place ...

Facilitator’s Name

Introduction Shakespeare is regarded as the greatest writer in the history of English Literature. The literary piece by Shakespeare is still regarded as masterpieces and myriad playwright takes the major inspiration from him. In the initial days of his efforts, he mainly focused on comedies and histories, but later his focus was on tragedies. Othello, King Lear, Hamlet, and Macbeth were his finest works on tragedies (Gielgud & McEvoy 187). Later in his career, he focused on tragic comedies that can also be titled as romances. He wrote numerous manuscripts. Among them, only those were survived which were in ...

Sometimes the world of theatre and literature may seem straightforward in what it aims to tell the target audience, but usually there is a hidden meaning to what is told or shown on the stage. In other words, every play needs a deep analysis in terms of context and author’s intentions. The aim of this essay is to analyse August Strindberg’s play “The Father.” The play is analysed in terms of the sociological and gender issues posed in it. One of the most important themes discussed in the play is the process of infantilisation of young adults by ...

Tartuffe

Moreover, the following comments of Orgon’s mother about Elmire reflect the disapproval of her behaviour: A woman who would please her husband's eyes Alone, wants no such wealth of fineries (Moliere Act 1). A woman should behave according to a great number of rules to be approved by society. Also, here Moliere shows strained relationship between the mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law that is of interest nowadays as well. Madame Pernelle claims that Elmire is a bad example for her step children, she constantly compares her with Orgon’s departed wife, constantly saying that she was a great mother ...

In Othello and Oedipus we see characters that are vain and incapable of coming to peace with the truth that their lives have reached because the truth is deeply tragic. Both feel compelled to punish themselves. The manner of punishment that they inflict on themselves is different. This difference is revealing of the personalities of the two characters. When we compare literary characters, many considerations must be taken into account. What the plot of the story is; where does the character figure among other characters in the plot; and what the personality traits of the characters are, are few ...

GRA #2

Othello In this paper such important issues as the theme of civil disorder, status of a person as an outsider in adopted culture, issues of race, gender and class are viewed on the example of Shakespeare’s tragedy “Othello”, alongside with symbolic meaning of the setting in the tragedy. Civil disorder is defined as a public disturbance that involves acts of pressure, violence, damages, immediate danger and injuries to people and their property. For example, signs of civil disorder in “Oedipus Rex” by Sophocles are revealed in the very beginning and go through the whole tragedy. Thus, committing many ...

It is clear that a modern and ancient audiences use different concepts and words to express their emotional credentials with tragic characters. According to Aristotle concept of pity and fear in more detail, that indicates why ancient audience may not apply to the modern theater. Aristotle legendarily recognized characteristic emotions produced by tragedy as eleos and phobos which simply means pity and fear. The concept explanation provides a valuable idea as to how ancient audience replied to tragedy. However, to take advantage of his insight, we must clearly understand his concept of pity and fear. Words, after all, change their meanings ...

The play, Othello, penned by the stalwart playwright, William Shakespeare, is one his most intricately written works of art. The play delves deep into the subtleties of human emotions and explores the psyche of the human mind. The play goes on to look into the changes of the human heart, and also the factors which influence a man to change over the course of time. The character of Othello, the protagonist of the play, goes through several such events that make him evolve as a person over the time. His psychological journey is manipulated by several events that work as catalysts ...

“Othello” is one of Shakespeare’s most intense plays and reflects the Aristotelian ideas of the perfect tragedy. According to Aristotle, “A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious,” (From Poetics, p.1). In addition, the tragedy has a “magnitude [that is] complete in itself; in appropriate and pleasurable language [and] in a dramatic rather than narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear,” (From Poetics, p.1). In other words, an outstanding tragedy looks at a single issue that is very important in the play and allows the reader to feel pity and fear for the hero as he heads ...

Introduction

Review of the Shakespeare play “Othello” considers the subordinate role of Emilia. The attentive audience sees her character seemingly morph during the play from a silent sphinx-like shadow among the animated characters strutting and fretting their (hour) roles upon the stage (Macbeth 5:5) emerging with wisdom and misplaced loyalty to her sinisterly driven husband Iago. A critical analysis of this character from the perspective of the professional psychologist reveals her critical behavior regarding the infamous handkerchief forsaking her devotion to her mistress Desdemona resulting in the tragic end of this drama she is the victim of the most typical and ...

Introduction:

As in Oedipus the King, a major theme in Othello is man's inability to reliably distinguish between what seems to be and what actually is. Explain how this shared theme of "uncertain vision" is treated somewhat differently in Othello than it is in Oedipus the King.

In this land, said the god; "who seeks shall find; Who sits with folded hands or sleeps is blind."

Thesis: The shared theme of "uncertain vision" is treated somewhat differently in Othello than it is in Oedipus the King Argument: Oedipus and Othello both suffer because they believe lies that others told. However the motivations behind those lies, and the reasons for believing them are different. Iago lies out of ...

Introduction

Race, gender and power are issues that affect our day-to-day life and can hinder or promote progress, depending on how they are handled. Race and gender are issues that a person has to live with as he or she has no choice once found to belong to a particular group. There am2qare challenges that comes with being born in a certain gender depending on expectations of the society. Power, on the other hand is an occurrence that can happen or disappear depending on the circumstances. Since the issues of gender, power and race are part of our life, it is necessary for ...

Othello is one of the Shakespearean works which exhibit the themes of love and jealousy. It tells of a story in which Othello is a Moorish North African general who gets into a marriage with a Venetian woman Desdemona. Iago is another character in this piece of work that clearly spells out how jealousy is portrayed. According to Bradley, sexual jealousy comes with a sense of shame and humiliation and this is what makes it hidden. By internalizing it humans being to have a feeling of shame and will always want to avoid such occurrences. When this jealousy is exposed it stirs contempt and pity. ...

Shakespeare writes his play in an era where males are not accepting of women in power and authority. While the Elizabethan Age had Queen Elizabeth at the throne, many critics did not accept women in these positions readily. As a result, Shakespeare’s works reveal women in both negative and positive ways. Males controlled aspects of the society such as power and authority while women were expected to be submissive or weak and follow the orders as stipulated by these males. This submission was important to their survival in the society and within their families. During the Renaissance period, the ...