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Public Image And Reputation In Shakespeare's Othello

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The public image and reputation of a person is directly related to their status in a society. Society determines a person’s worth based on whether a person manages to satisfy the expectations and obligations attached with a public image. The public image of a person projected through behavior, professions, and speech will determine how society mentally views that person, even when they are not present. Shame of a tarnished reputation results from a person’s public image becoming exposed as incongruent with reality. Reputation becomes the main driving force behind the characters in Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello, which motivates them to not only act in accordance with societal expectation but also with internal expectations. Professions …show more content…

After being accused of seducing Desdemona with black magic, Othello proclaims he has spent most of his days in battle and Brabantio, prior to charging him with using charms, invited him to enquire ardently about “the battles, sieges, fortunes that I (Othello) have passed” where Desdemona also fell in love with him by hearing his adventures (Act 1, Scene 3 130-131). Othello derives honor and respect from society by facing adversity for the Venetian state as a soldier not as a poet, so he feels no shame in lacking of oratory skills. Even after Venetians recognize how surprisingly elaborate his tale was, he still doesn’t take pride in his speech because Othello’s identity is not directly based off his eloquence. His reputation as a brave warrior led Desdemona to fall in love with him, as Desdemona “loved me (Othello) for the dangers I had passed,” and Othello reciprocated her love for “that she did pity them” (Act 1, Scene 3, 167-168). Othello is no longer only a general, but also a husband to Desdemona. Othello’s excessive concern for his reputation grows because the love in his marriage bases itself on his public image, so Othello would become more passionate about his love for Desdemona. Through misinterpretation of seeing Cassio offer Desdemona’s handkerchief to Bianca, Othello goes from being the composed warrior to a jealous, enraged fool …show more content…

Ludovico bemoans how Othello was “once so good, fall’n” (Act 5, Scene 2, 291-292). In the final speech when it is revealed Desdemona was never unfaithful, Othello continues to try to preserve his reputation by trying to convince everyone he was a victim of manipulation more than a vicious criminal. Othello refers to smothering Desdemona as an “honorable murder” to deny the act of murder was hateful, and he did it to preserve his own honor (Act 5, Scene 2, 294-295). Othello’s reputation, like anyone else’s, depends on how well a person fits into a society. After committing a heinous crime Othello curses out Iago for manipulating him into committing a transgression against Desdemona and society, so he recognizes his actions as shameful in the eyes of society he was trying so arduously to be approved by. Othello deviates from murdering Desdemona in his final words to describe how saw a turbaned Turk beating a Venetian and “I took by the throat the circumcisèd dog, and smote him, thus.” (Act 5, Scene 2, 355-35). Othello as a Moor, would be expected to have helped the Turk since his north African culture is closer to the Turkish culture, but his final words reveal Othello views himself closer to the Venetians. Othello tells the story to convince the Venetians he was one of

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Othello’s mental state needs to be deteriorating quickly compared to yesterday’s assessment. While everything seemed to be promising in our previous session, Othello now looks to be more stressed and overly emotional. Particularly, he is questioning his recent marriage to Desdemona and her faithfulness due to certain recent conversations with his Ensign, Iago. Impassioned and distraught, Othello confided in me, stating, ”Why did I marry? This honest creature doubtless /Sees and knows more, much more, than he unfolds.

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In a society reputation symbolizes who we are and what we stand for, a person's reputation can be seen as bad or good based on their behaviour and how they treat others. In the play Othello, reputation is a strong component that shapes how some of the characters base their decisions and respond to events that occur. There are many people in the world that have a good reputation but have created a plastic image of themselves that doesn't represent who they are as a person, the importance of social status has become such a key role in how people act and motivate them to work so hard just to have people think highly of them. In Othello, William Shakespeare demonstrates how one's reputation may not be how it appears, the character Iago appears

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It is clear that throughout the play we see Othello change from being confident in his relationship with Desdemona to rapidly becoming more insecure and paranoid about being cuckolded by Desdemona, which, in the Shakespearean era would have been an insult to his reputation and honour as the woman would have been in control of the

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Iago uses very clever methods of persuasion and manipulation aimed to use Othello’s hamartia against him, pointing out that “ “She (Desdemona) did deceive her father, marrying you,” so much so that Brabantio “thought ’twas witchcraft”. Through this, Iago is subtly raising the issues of Othello’s cultural differences with Desdemona; a root cause behind Othello’s insecurities with his wife – along with inadequacy due to race, degree of sophistication and age. As Iago prompts Othello to think the worst, his utterances are short and uneasy, revealing the beginning to his downfall, whilst Iago’s dialogue is at length highlighting his growing power of

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Reputation and honor creates for the most riveting theme in Shakespeare’s Othello. Evidently, no character speaks of themselves as an honorable person; instead they boast and use their reputation to unveil their superiority. Foremost, it defines a character and how they are perceived in society. Allows for the influencing or manipulation of others at the same time, concealing any wrongful acts. Eventually, in the long run it even determines the ending results.

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The trust and love he had for Desdemona was so much that he was able to give her the last thing his mother gave to him which in this case also led to his downfall with him getting angry at Desdemona because he thought that she had given the handkerchief to Cassio when in all clarity she didn’t. Othello had so much love for her that he was able to sacrifice his rank and image to others by marrying Desdemona despite what others were saying about him. Everybody was talking bad about Othello because he had married a white woman. Even Desdemona’s father hated the fact and he had loved Othello despite him being of color. Brabantio took the case to court and claimed that Othello had used magic to get Desdemona to fall in love with him although that was not the case.

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First, Shakespeare reveals Othello’s motivation through his desire for Desdemona. Othello’s secret marriage with Desdemona is no longer secret as her father, Brabantio, finds out and is interrogating Othello for drugging Desdemona to marry him. For example, Othello

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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

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In the following paragraphs these behaviours will be analysed and to depict the consequences of following the rules or to lie, to rebel and to be honest had in each of them. To begin with, the protagonist of Othello, Desdemona, plays an important role in the works of Shakespeare. From the first moment, Desdemona shows an unbecoming behaviour in a period in which the three above values were indispensable to be worthy of social recognition. Even before the play begins, Desdemona has already violated one of the codes from the Elizabethan society: she has married Othello in secret and without the consent of her father. Marrying Othello without the consent of the parent could be considered an offence to the patriarchal figure, which, together with the figure of the king and god, it was compulsory to obey.

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Also, each relationship in Othello provokes jealousy in one partner. In a typical Venetian society, a woman was considered to be a man’s property, so if a woman was disobedient, it negatively impacted the man, while also questioning his masculinity. The hyperbolic soliloquy as Othello expressed he would “rather be a toad” than “keep a corner of the thing I love” is Othello’s justification of killing his wife, as her untrustworthiness challenged his masculinity and reputation. Referring to Desdemona as a “thing” emphasises the idea of women being property. Iago’s jealousy of Desdemona and Othello’s relationship is emphasised through the degrading comment of Othello, “an old black ram” “tupping” Brabantio’s “white ewe”.

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I will a round unvarnish 'd tale deliver Of my whole course of love; what drugs, what charms, What conjuration and what mighty magic, For such proceeding I am charged withal, I won his daughter. (1.3.79-99) Othello’s actions in this scene show is undeniable love for his wife, he knows that he could be killed or fired for expressing his feelings for Desdemona. Othello also trusts his second in command, Cassio, very much. He admires him very much and thinks of him as a brother. Othello has a close relationship with Iago, as well.

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Othello’s This rage at Desdemona’s infidelity signals destmetion of his identity as a successful and loving man. It shows that he now completely loses control of himself, he no longer is that gentle man. He has become so poisoned by the manipulation of Iago, he no longer hears out for his “fair

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The story “Othello,” (rpt. in Greg Johnson and Thomas R. Arp, Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 12th ed. [Boston: Wadsworth, 2015] 1251-1343) is about a moor man in Venice who has just married a white woman named Desdemona. Othello’s servant, Iago, upset with him due to Othello’s race and disregard for promoting him, notifies Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, of his daughter’s secret marriage with a black man. In an increased effort to seek revenge, Iago uses help from Roderigo’s desire to be with Desdemona, Cassio’s good looks, and Othello’s own open and free nature to ruin Othello’s own life. Othello is a unique, one of a kind character who changes throughout the story in how he talks and what 's he says, his appearance, his actions, and his interactions with characters.

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