Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 125 views

    Othello

    Uploaded by

    forestdoll
    The document summarizes William Shakespeare's play "Othello". It discusses how Othello starts as a noble hero but his flaws of jealousy and trust in Iago's lies ultimately lead to his downfall, as he is manipulated into believing his wife Desdemona has been unfaithful. Iago's schemes completely change Othello's noble nature, driving him to madness and causing him to murder Desdemona, after which Othello realizes his mistake and takes his own life. The play follows the classic tragic plot of a hero brought low by his own flaws with the aid of temptation.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Othello

    Uploaded by

    forestdoll
    125 views2 pages
    The document summarizes William Shakespeare's play "Othello". It discusses how Othello starts as a noble hero but his flaws of jealousy and trust in Iago's lies ultimately lead to his downfall, as he is manipulated into believing his wife Desdemona has been unfaithful. Iago's schemes completely change Othello's noble nature, driving him to madness and causing him to murder Desdemona, after which Othello realizes his mistake and takes his own life. The play follows the classic tragic plot of a hero brought low by his own flaws with the aid of temptation.

    Original Description:

    An essay on Othello

    Copyright

    © Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)

    Available Formats

    DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    The document summarizes William Shakespeare's play "Othello". It discusses how Othello starts as a noble hero but his flaws of jealousy and trust in Iago's lies ultimately lead to his downfall, as he is manipulated into believing his wife Desdemona has been unfaithful. Iago's schemes completely change Othello's noble nature, driving him to madness and causing him to murder Desdemona, after which Othello realizes his mistake and takes his own life. The play follows the classic tragic plot of a hero brought low by his own flaws with the aid of temptation.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    125 views2 pages

    Othello

    Uploaded by

    forestdoll
    The document summarizes William Shakespeare's play "Othello". It discusses how Othello starts as a noble hero but his flaws of jealousy and trust in Iago's lies ultimately lead to his downfall, as he is manipulated into believing his wife Desdemona has been unfaithful. Iago's schemes completely change Othello's noble nature, driving him to madness and causing him to murder Desdemona, after which Othello realizes his mistake and takes his own life. The play follows the classic tragic plot of a hero brought low by his own flaws with the aid of temptation.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Othello is considered one of the greatest tragedies written by the famous playwright William Shakespeare.

    It is considered a true tragedy as it meets the standard of a conventional tragic play, which involves a noble hero being reduced by his own flaw(s), often aided by a certain type of temptation. Othello followed this plot since in the beginning of the play, the main character, Othello, was a valiant and noble character who spoke with authority and dignity. This is evident as Othello always spoke in verses (poetry) during the first part of the play; Shakespeare often wrote the speeches of his characters in verses to emphasize their noble and well-bred nature. Othellos noble nature was also emphasised when the Duke had referred to him as Valiant Othello in Act 1, Scene 3. However, Othellos own flaws, which were his love for Desdemona and jealousy, had eventually led him to his own downfall. The crumbling of his character was aided by the character Iago, a character Shakespeare had created to be truly vile and cunning with no remorse for his actions. Iago saw Othello as someone who was important enough to be seduced by his unfounded lies, this is evident in Act 2, Scene 1, where he refers to Othello as the moor who was of a constant, loving, noble nature (Act 2, Scene 1) From his words, it is shown to us that even the lowest of characters acknowledged Othellos gracious nature. As the play progresses, Othellos character eventually becomes the opposite of what he had once been, as Iago continues to abuse Othellos ears with lies regarding Desdemonas unfaithfulness as a wife. During Act 3, Othello has begun to use prose more often, especially during the conversations he had with Iago. Prose is often used in Shakespearean plays to show the crude or low-classed nature of a character. Within Act 4, Scene 1, Iago has even reduced Othello to a point where he is incapable of coherently speaking, which is evident from the fragments shown in his speech., In bed with her? On top of her? I would have thought people were telling lies about her rather than believe he was lying on her. My God, its nauseating! Handkerchief confessionshandkerchief! Ill kill him first, and then let him confessIm trembling with rage (Act 4, Scene 1). From the way Othello speaks during this part of the play, it reveals the amount of change he has gone through in such an amount of time. However, one of Othellos breaking points is during Act 4, Scene 1 where he is unable to contain his anger towards Desdemona, which results in him striking her in front of the company of Lodovico. From this scene it also reveals the drastic change in his character, in comparison to the person he had once been in the beginning of the play, where he would have never have it within himself to strike his beloved wife. Eventually, Iago convinces Othello to kill Desdemona. Othello himself does not seem to need anymore convincing and later murders Desdemona by smothering her. Othello does not feel remorse for what he had done not until later in Act 5, Scene 2, when Emilia reveals that Iagos honest words were in fact lies. Othellos lowest point in the play, however, was not when he had murdered Desdemona, but when he discovered that he had killed an innocent woman. At this point, this part in the play was when he had truly felt such strong remorse and regret, thus leading him to take his own life, No way but this, Killing myself, to die upon a kiss. (Act 5, Scene 2). From this passage, it is evident that Othello had never truly lost his love for Desdemona, his flaw had only overcome him with the aid of Iago.

    Othello had once been a noble man, but due to his own flaw(s) and Iagos lies in regards to Desdemonas infidelity, it had resulted in his own downfall. In conclusion, Othello is truly a tragic play as it does meet the conventional standards of a tragic story.

    You might also like