Othello shows growth mindset. When Othello is around Iago he gets into a negative environment which changes his view on Desdemona. Othello’s many accomplishments as commander and a soldier in the battle shows that is determined to accomplish many things . Iago is filled with hate,jealousy and envy. He would do anything to get Desdemona away from Othello and to have her himself .It is clear that Iago is jealous because he goes out of his way to tell Desdemonas father Brabantio a lie.
In “Othello”, the main character, Othello, shows many flaws. But throughout the story, Othello isn’t the only character that shows character flaws. Most of the characters have some sort of flaws. The major flaws that are shown throughout the story are: Cassio’s fight, Desdemona’s loyalty, and Emilia’s loyalty are all character flaws that lead to the play’s tragic outcome. All of these flaws are connected also.
The characteristics of Othello includes passion, obligation, courage, jealousy and intelligence. These are great characteristics to have, but proves to eventually lead to Othello’s demise. Othello was a foreigner from Africa who was sort of accepted into the Venetian society, only because of his excellent track record of winning wars, but he was an outsider and never fully accepted. Othello enjoyed the status and luxuries of being a General and leading the defense of Venice. He also understood that he
Othello’s tragic downfall is a result of his overly trusting character, vulnerability to jealousy, and his inability to foresee the consequences of his own actions. Othello’s biggest characteristic flaw is trusting people around him by assuming they respect his position and power. Othello trusts Iago as both his friend and Standard-bearer. However, Iago has proved to be selfish as he only follows Othello to benefit himself. “I follow him to serve my turn.”
The tragedy of Othello written by William Shakespeare presents the main character Othello as a respectable, honorable, and dignified man. However, because of his insecurities and good nature he is easily taken advantage of and manipulated by his alleged friends. Shakespeare is known for his exceptional ability to compose plays full of deceit, revenge, and jealousy. Jealousy is an underlying theme throughout the tragedy and has been represented by many of the main characters, such as Iago, Roderigo, and Othello. The topic of jealousy will ultimately lead to the demise of many characters throughout the tragedy.
Character can be broken despite how strongly it is shaped. In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Othello, Othello was a brave Moor who was quick to marry his lover Desdemona. His sinister ensign Iago deceived him into believing his loyal wife had committed adultery. Although Othello believed the alleged accusations, he also gave up his moral character to Iago. Regardless of the lack of trust from Othello, Desdemona did deceive her father prior to the situation.
Unfortunately, he trusted the wrong person due to his growing lack of self-esteem. Iago, a hypocrite who hid his evil thoughts by appearing as a man of extreme honesty, saw that he could erode Othello’s self-esteem because of who he was, a moor living in European society. He realized he could manipulate Othello for his own evil ends. He slyly used pathos to gain his trust, saying, “My Lord, you know I love you” (III.iii.118) to convince him of his honesty and reliability. Then he suggested the unpredictable nature of Desdemona by saying, “Ay, there’s the point: as, to be bold with you, not to affect many proposed matches of her own clime, complexion, and degree, whereto we see in all things nature tends - Foh!”
Shakespeare 's Othello centers around the power of jealousy and how it can end up causing the death of a couple and some of those around them. Othello seems to grow incredibly jealous of his wife, Desdemona, and his lieutenant, Cassio’s fake affair that Iago, the villain, has convinced Othello of. As an act of jealousy, Othello decides to kill Desdemona to prevent her from hurting more men and then after realizing everything was part of Iago’s plan he kills himself due to the guilt he feels after having killed his wife. Shakespeare’s use of figurative language and symbolism in act 5 scene 2 reveals how even though Othello truly loves Desdemona, his jealousy for what he believes she has done has completely clouded his judgment and taken over
Knowing how jealousy eats someone up, Iago uses that upon Othello by introducing doubt in one of the greatest things he had, his love in Desdemona. The way Iago worked into Othello’s head is that he made it seem like he was helping him by thinking of different possibilties, which only fed the green-eyed monster in Othello. “Their best conscience is not to leave ‘t undone, but keep ‘t unknown,” (III,iii. 235-236)said Iago, which exaplains exactly how he functions. He tells Othello what he wants to hear, which is what builds the doubt of Othello.
In the play Othello, William Shakespeare creates an elaborate tragedy with various in depth characters, enhancing the story with powerful characterization. Iago, the main antagonist of Othello, exemplifies Shakespeare’s use of characterization to create in depth and complex characters. Using his manipulative nature, intellectual mind, egotistical attitude, and dishonesty, Iago controls the other characters in order to achieve his goal, leading Othello to succumb to an overwhelming jealousy causing his downfall. In order for Iago to gain control of the characters in the play, he manipulates Othello, Roderigo, Cassio, and more to believe false information and turn on one another.
Shakespeare’s play, Othello, deeply explores the effects of jealousy on a person. Shakespeare also portrays the different types of jealousy and alludes to the causes of them. Othello is a tragic play written by William Shakespeare around 1603, about a man, Iago, who plots to take revenge on a Moorish soldier, Othello, for he has “done my (Iago’s) office”. The deaths of several people, including Othello’s wife Desdemona, Iago’s wife Emilia, Othello and Iago’s companion Roderigo, were all directly linked to Iago’s actions. Othello illustrates that jealousy often leads to revenge, jealousy can prevent a successful relationship, and jealousy leading to one’s downfall.
Jealousy in Othello leads to his insecurity after his mind being onslaught by Iago. Nordlund reasons, “The typical interpretation of Othello’s jealousy…, is that it arises from low self-esteem” (Theorising Modern Jealousy 154). His internal complication was actually created by external force—Iago. Othello shows proud and confidence to his achievements, he is aware that he is being loved and admired; furthermore, he is sure that he deserves Desdemona. Iago intelligently recognizes the moment of Othello’s anxiousness starts and exploits it.
I have always felt that I have never read a more terrible exposure of human weakness - of universal human weakness - than the last great speech of Othello. After quoting Othello 's valedictory utterance, Eliot went further to say: What Othello seems to me to be doing in making this speech is cheering himself up. He is endeavouring to escape reality, he has ceased to think about Desdemona, and is thinking about himself ... Othello succeeds in turning himself into a pathetic figure, by adopting an aesthetic rather than a moral attitude, dramatising himself against his environment.
Throughout the play Othello’s blind trust in Iago led him to a perplexed state in which he was vulnerable to flaws that he did not usually struggle with. In a perplexed state Othello “becomes jealous and eventually a murderer” (Kliger 222). Without Othello’s blind trust in Iago Othello would never have become perplexed and would not have led to flaws that resulted in the murder of Desdemona. Othello recognized his growing problem as he said “There is no more but this: Away at once with love or jealousy” and yet Othello was still unable to shake his jealousy as Iago kept feeding him lies (Shakespeare III.iii.222-223). Othello became so jealous that he began to think he would be “happy if the general camp, pioneers and all, had tasted her sweet body, so [he] had nothing known” (Shakespeare III.iii.397-400).
William Shakespeare reveals Othello’s tragic flaw, irrational jealousy, as the plot builds to his downfall. Irrational jealousy begins when Iago tells Othello “why go to then! She that so young could give out such a seeming” (III, iii,207-208). Iago makes Othello jealous regarding the supposed affair between Cassio and Desdemona by constantly hinting about it to Othello. Throughout the play, Iago manipulates Othello’s insecure and jealous mind.