Humanity Revealed in Shakespeare's Othello Shakespeare knew what he was doing when he creating characters full of good and bad qualities. We need only to look at his drama, Othello, to see a wide range of them. Othello, Iago, and Desdemona are colorful creations of human nature. What they reveal is the astonishing truth that regardless of how much we "progress" as a society, we do not change a whole lot. We make find ourselves finding cures for certain diseases, playing with technological gadgets, and exploring space, but the truth remains that we are still the same kinds of human beings Shakespeare watched every day. Shakespeare highlights jealousy, trust, racism, and physiological drama in Othello and these themes are very much a part of our modern society. At the end of the day, we are still human and are driven by our basal desires, which can ultimately lead to our ruin if we allow them to do so. Othello, Iago, and Desdemona are popular not so because they are extraordinary but because they are not. It does not take much to bring the confident Othello down. In fact, it takes very little to bring him down once the recipe for destruction is figured out, it is relatively easy to destroy this noble soldier. Even Iago, in a his intelligence, is nothing...
He is simply driven by hatred and that keeps him moving throughout the play. Desdemona, too, is nothing too special. What makes her character so popular is her pure love for the man that would just as soon kill her than listen to her side of the story. These are accepted because they just like us.
Humanities 202 FINAL EXAM Emilia: the wife of Iago. She provides the handkerchief for her husband, unwittingly facilitating Iago's orchestrated revenge upon Othello. However, she sympathizes with Desdemona, regarding all men as savages. She represents the ugly side of Iago's view of women, as there are hints Iago has abused her and he openly treats her cruelly when she irritates him -- eventually he kills her when she reveals his scheme. Roderigo:
Iago paints for Othello not simply a negative picture of Desdemona, but of an entire society where men are cuckolded: "that cuckold lives in bliss/Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger...I know our country disposition well; / in Venice they do let heaven see the pranks/They dare not show their husbands; their best conscience/Is not to leave't undone, but keep't unknown" (3.3). Iago, ironically, even uses the fact
In the context of Othello, this is not such a reassuring notion because Othello and Iago represent the worst that man can be. The reality of this fact allows us to look upon Othello is disgust and with caution. These two men are known by their first names worldwide not because they are nice but because they are the farthest from it. They are human and they are evil
Othello Shakespeare's Skepticism: Unconditional Love in Othello Unconditional love is said by some to be the unobtainable but righteous goal of all living humans. When and if we are capable of generating unconditional love towards our fellow man but in particular those who are closest to us many believe we are capable of ascension to a better place, be it the Christian heaven which stresses unconditional love for one's fellow man and
Othello Of the alleged chief tragedies penned by Shakespeare, Othello has led to a certain degree of embarrassment. This 'domestic tragedy' lacks the dynastic and political consequences that characterize Macbeth, Hamlet, and Lear. The protagonist, Othello, behaves like a blockhead. Readers are led into doubting his claims to greatness right from the start. The Bard of Avon is famous for his interest in identity issues. Antagonists may cruelly impose themselves on
Most Elizabethans believed their self-identity was wrapped up in a cosmic paradigm of fate and destiny, and were somehow controlled by the stars and planets and had a power over the baser side of man -- tools of God, but with certain amounts of free will. Thus, a very central idea in Shakespeare is this central view that an individual's identity is set by God, the Planets, the Universe, the
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