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Shakespeare's The Tragedy Of Being Othello

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The Tragedy of Being Othello
To have trust towards another person can develop a strong relationship. Shakespeare created a tragic hero who gave his trust to an unworthy man in his play Othello. The tragic hero, name Othello is a governor general that made a mistake of being loyal to a friend. His trust towards the unworthy man leads to his own death.
The citizens of Cyprus need Othello to protect them. During the war, the Duke send Othello to Cyprus to fight. The Duke states to the governor general "the fortitude of the place is best known to you"(Shakespeare 1.3.219-220). He knows that Othello is a well experienced fighter and is able to be in the position to fight in Cyprus. A governor general must be reasonable of their actions. The tragic hero knows that his actions will make an impact on everyone around him when he states "I'll see before I doubt; when I doubt, prove"(3.3.190). Othello would need proof to make a rational decision. The governor general must be wise to make sure his decisions won't affect anyone in a negative way. …show more content…

The tragic hero's flaw is being gullible to people's lies. Othello constantly refers to the dishonest person as "My friend [...] honest, honest, Iago" (5.2.151). Calling Iago honest is an error because he doesn't recognize the lies that are told. His judgment of determining an honest person leads him to further mistakes. Othello doesn't believe the truth due to him being a loyal friend. After, Desdemona died, Emilia calls the tragic hero "As ignorant as dirt"(5.2.161) because he thought he did the right thing by trusting Iago. His decisions leaded towards his downfall in the

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Othello’s confidence for a loyal man to maintain honesty and morals are contradicted through Iago’s actions: “in a man that’s just / They are close dilations, working from the heart, / That passion cannot rule” (3.3.123). Iago, due to the understatement to his name, is not perceivable as hateful. Othello’s willingness to sense Iago’s distress, and to believe his accusations, is because of the lack of awareness Othello has for his vengeance. Iago is of such little power and relevance within societal ranking that if he were to have intentions to sabotage anyone, which he does, are not considered, thus making him easily trustworthy to those of greater dominance. Society’s view of an individual determines how others consider and surmise their persona, though these conclusions may be false.

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It’s a scoffing moment for Othello, as he questions how could Iago be that? It’s something that is very difficult to explain, but because Iago is recognizing his own “crazy” thoughts, but what readers also know to be true thoughts, it manages to open the door for Othello to recognize them as well. After Othello recognizes that Iago could not be what he is describing, does Iago perpetrate honesty into absolute solidarity between them. As Iago is creating the illusion of honesty with Othello, he also lays the foundation of the “honest” ocular proof, that he is going to soon give to

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The idea of honesty plays a prominent role in other Shakespeare works, with the word honest appearing multiple times in many of them. However, the word honesty plays the largest role in Othello. The use of the word honest to describe both Iago and Desdemona allows Shakespeare to heighten the dramatic irony in Othello. The use of the word honesty enhances the contradiction between people’s opinions of Iago, and his true nature, therefore; it magnifies the dramatic irony.

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In this paper, I will explore the contributing factors as to why Othello places more trust in Iago than he does his wife. The interactions in Act 1 quickly establish Othello's implicit trust of Iago. He holds firm belief and reliability in Iago's statements and thoughts, and confides in him regularly. This is evident in how Othello continually refers to Iago with positive modifiers such as "honest Iago" (2.3.177; 2.3.6; 5.1.31). When the Duke tells Othello he must leave immediately for military duty in Cyprus, Othello tasks Iago with delivering important documents from the senate because "A man he is of honesty and trust" (1.3.284).

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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!”

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Iago embodies dishonesty using lies and deceit to entangle everyone in his trap. In Act 1, Roderigo questions Iago’s faithfulness to Othello. Iago answers by saying, “Whip me such honest knaves,” meaning he only pretends to be faithful and loyal to Othello, fooling him into trusting Iago (1.1.49). As the play progresses, people describe Iago as honest; however, Iago decieves everyone into believing his word. Othello frequently describes Iago as “A man he is of honesty and trust” (1.3.284) as well as “most honest” (2.3.6).

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Making hard decisions fast and precisely is a valiant trait possessed by this noble character who gives his all to any task. His leadership ability is so admired by the Venetian state that he is appointed general of Cyprus when it is under threat of invasion by the Turks – an achievement when one considers that he is Moorish and not Venetian. Othello has also fought in several wars in various parts of the world, and most of the high politicians recognize his abilities including his closest worker, Iago. Brabantio also admired Othello greatly and this is what prompts him to invite Othello to his home so that he can listen to stories of his adventures in different parts of the world.

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More than half of the time that honest is used in the play, Othello; it is used as “honest Iago”. This is ironic because honest is seen in the play as loyal, trustworthy, a man of his word, etc and Iago is anything but all of those characteristics. There is not character in the play that does not think that Iago is an honest man. When you look at the name of the play, Othello, you can see that the name implies that Othello is an outsider in the

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Shakespeare’s novels are consisted of two categories between tragedy and comedy, as the novel Othello falls into the category of a tragedy. For a piece of literature to be considered a tragedy it must acquire a tragic hero that experiences a tragic fall. The protagonist, Othello, represent the acts and characteristics of a tragic hero. Othello is known for his jealousy and trust leading him towards his personal ruin. The jealousy caused by assuming his partner has committed infidelity led him to a state of madness.

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The flaw is inborn to the person. He must have that flaw throughout his life and it will play a primary role in his downfall.” William Shakespeare uses the relationship between of appearance and reality to showcase the flaws of Othello himself and he often gives two sides of the character’s personality. The tragic plot of Othello links onto the ability of the villain, Iago, to mislead other characters, Roderigo and Othello in particular, by encouraging them to misinterpret what they see. Othello is susceptible to Iago's plots because he himself is so honest and straightforward.

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that 's fulsome.” Everything that Iago kept telling him kept building up anger in him until one day he had enough. He told Desdemona that she should confess her sins before he killed her and she said’ never did Offend you in my life; never loved Cassio’ however, he still didn 't believe her.

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517 Words | 3 Pages

He is manipulative and tells Othello to “observe her [Desdemona] well with Cassio” (Shakespeare, 3.3:197). Iago feeds Othello with countless lies and makes him miserable with something that is not factual. He is determined to get revenge and he does not realize Iago stands insincere. Furthermore, Iago is selfish when he tells Othello, “I am yours for ever” (3.3:479). He betrays Othello yet still let’s him depend on him for his own

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844 Words | 4 Pages

Othello starts to believe Iago’s lies about his friends and wife, leading Othello to change his behavior towards his closest allies. Iago instigates a fight between Cassio and Montano, and Othello must take charge of his soldiers, he says: Thy honesty and love doth mince this matter, Making it light to Cassio. Cassio, I love thee But never more be officer of mine. (2.3.210-213) Othello makes the decision to fire Cassio, and things get worse when Iago makes his wife, Emilia, steal Desdemona 's handkerchief.

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The Moorish General Othello is an accurate definition of a tragic hero. Not only is Othello a very successful general in the Venetian army, he is also seen as a respected, honorable, noble hearted man. These traits are admired greatly amongst the characters found within Othello. This includes Iago who admiringly states that Othello is “of a constant loving, noble nature [and] will prove to Desmona a most dear husband’ (2.1.290-292). In order to truly feel the tragic downfall, an understanding of “high estate” being not of royalty or of noble stature, but one that “gives him a place of dignity to fall from and perhaps makes his fall seem all the more a calamity” (Kennedy & Gioia 856) is needed.

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The play Othello is one of Shakespeare’s great tragedies. Since its first performance in 1604 (Kermode 165) the play has always held immense appeal for all its audience. This appeal is partly due to the relative simplicity and tangibility of its plot and argument (It is the least

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