othello theme analysis essay

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• Act IV: Scene 3
• Act V: Scene 1
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Critical Essays Major Themes

Explore the different themes within William Shakespeare's tragic play, Othello . Themes are central to understanding Othello as a play and identifying Shakespeare's social and political commentary. In Othello , the major themes reflect the values and the motivations of characters.

In Othello , love is a force that overcomes large obstacles and is tripped up by small ones. It is eternal, yet derail-able. It provides Othello with intensity but not direction and gives Desdemona access to his heart but not his mind. Types of love and what that means are different between different characters.

Othello finds that love in marriage needs time to build trust, and his enemy works too quickly for him to take that time. The immediate attraction between the couple works on passion, and Desdemona builds on that passion a steadfast devotion whose speed and strength Othello cannot equal.

Iago often falsely professes love in friendship for Roderigo and Cassio and betrays them both. For Iago, love is leverage. Desdemona's love in friendship for Cassio is real but is misinterpreted by the jealous Othello as adulterous love. The true friendship was Emilia's for Desdemona, shown when she stood up witness for the honor of her dead mistress, against Iago, her lying husband, and was killed for it.

Appearance and Reality

Appearance and reality are important aspects in Othello . For Othello, seeing is believing, and proof of the truth is visual. To "prove" something is to investigate it to the point where its true nature is revealed. Othello demands of Iago "Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore, be sure of it, give me the ocular proof" (Act 3, Scene 3).

What Iago gives him instead is imaginary pictures of Cassio and Desdemona to feed his jealousy. As Othello loses control of his mind, these pictures dominate his thoughts. He looks at Desdemona's whiteness and is swept up in the traditional symbolism of white for purity and black for evil. Whenever he is in doubt, that symbolism returns to haunt him and despite his experience, he cannot help but believe it.

Jealousy is what appears to destroy Othello. It is the emotion suggested to him by Iago in Act 3, Scene 3. Iago thinks he knows jealousy, having rehearsed it in his relationship with Emilia to the extent that Emilia believes jealousy is part of the personality of men, but Iago's jealously is a poor, weak thought compared to the storm of jealousy he stirs up in Othello.

Iago has noticed Othello's tendency to insecurity and overreaction, but not even Iago imagined Othello would go as far into jealousy as he did. Jealousy forces Othello's mind so tightly on one idea, the idea that Desdemona has betrayed him with Cassio, that no other assurance or explanation can penetrate. Such an obsession eclipses Othello's reason, his common sense, and his respect for justice.

Up to the moment he kills Desdemona, Othello's growing jealousy maddens him past the recall of reason. Upon seeing that she was innocent and that he killed her unjustly, Othello recovers. He can again see his life in proportion and grieve at the terrible thing he has done. Once again, he speaks with calm rationality, judging and condemning and finally executing himself.

Iago's scheme would not have worked without the underlying atmosphere of racial prejudice in Venetian society, a prejudice of which both Desdemona and Othello are very aware. Shakespeare's Desdemona copes with prejudice by denying it access to her own life. Her relationship with Othello is one of love, and she is deliberately loyal only to her marriage.

Othello, however, is not aware how deeply prejudice has penetrated into his own personality. This absorbed prejudice undermines him with thoughts akin to "I am not attractive," "I am not worthy of Desdemona," "It cannot be true that she really loves me," and "If she loves me, then there must be something wrong with her."

These thoughts, inflamed by Iago's hints and lies, prevent Othello from discussing his concerns and fears directly with Desdemona, and so he acts on panicked assumption. In order to survive the combined onslaught of internalized prejudice and the directed venom of Iago, Othello would have had to be near perfect in strength and self-knowledge, and that is not fair demand for anyone.

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Read our detailed notes on the play Othello by William Shakespeare. Our notes cover Othello summary, themes, characters, and a detailed analysis.

Introduction

Othello, also titled The Tragedy of Othello, The Moor of Venice, is a tragic play written by William Shakespeare in 1603 (as accepted by most scholars). The play was first staged on November 1st, 1604 and 1st published in 1622 by Thomas Walkley. The idea of comes from Italian writer’s play The Moorish Captain, published in 1565. Shakespeare molded the play and fit it according to his own age and place.

The time and place of the setting of play is the 16th century during the war between Venice and Turkey and set in Venice, respectively. Othello is the protagonist of the play who marries to Desdemona despite the difference between their ages. Iago, the antagonist of the play, interrupted the play by convincing Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful. The main themes of the play include love, an inconsistency of the military heroism, and fear of isolation. The symbols of the play are the handkerchief, and the song “willow”.

Othello by William Shakespeare Summary

The play opens on the street of Venice, in the mid of conversation between Roderigo, a wealthy man, and Iago, the antagonist. Earlier Roderigo has been remunerating Iago to help in marrying Desdemona, however, now they have learned that Desdemona has just got married to Othello, a general whom Iago served. Iago claims that he hates Othello as he, in favor of soldier Cassio, has promoted to the rank of lieutenant and passed over Iago.

Iago and Roderigo go to inform Brabanzio that his daughter Desdemona has been kidnapped and married to Othello, the Moor. Brabanzio gathers some officers in search of Othello. Iago plays a double game and goes to Othello before Brabanzio finds him out, not wanting that his hatred for Othello reveals to him.

Meanwhile, Cassio comes to Othello in an emergency with a message from the duke that his (Othello’s) helps is needed in a matter of Turkish invasion. Soon Brabanzio, along with Roderigo and some other officer, arrives at Othello’s place to accuse him of stealing his daughter via witchcraft. There they find out that Othello is gone to have a meeting with the duke so Brabanzio decides to accuse Othello in front of the duke and accumulated senate.

The plan of Brabanzio backfires. The Senate and the duke are on the side of Othello and shows sympathy toward him. Othello is given a chance to defend himself. He explains that he doesn’t marry Desdemona through witchcraft but impressed her through his stories of travels and adventures in wars. The duke seems to be convincing with Othello’s explanation.

Moreover, Desdemona herself enters and defends her choice and her husband. Disappointed Brabanzio acquiesces and lets the meeting to resume. The duke, in the meeting, expresses that Othello must go to aid the protection against the Turks. Desdemona insisted to accompany her husband on the war.

The following day, in Cyprus, the news arrives that the Turkish Fleet has been worn-out at sea. In the meanwhile, three of the ships from Venice arrived safely and didn’t suffer the same fate. Cassio, Iago, Iago’s wife (Emilia) Roderigo, Desdemona, and Othello all landed safely at Cyprus.

Othello was in the last ship and arrives late from his wife, Desdemona. When he arrives, he meets his wife and announces they will celebrating their triumph over Turks this evening.

After the announcement, everyone leaves for their rooms, but Roderigo stays and complains to Iago that he will not be able to break up Othello’s marriage. Iago guarantees him that soon Desdemona will get bored of Othello as he is ugly and will find someone else for sexual satisfaction.

Moreover, he warns Roderigo of that “someone” and claims him to be Cassio. Iago, at the same time, directs Roderigo to have a fight with Cassio at the celebration by disgracing him. To ruin Othello, the 1st step should be to eliminate Cassio from Othello’s life, says Iago in isolation.

At the evening celebration, Roderigo does what he was directed to do. The drunk Cassio starts chasing Roderigo across the stage. When Governor Montano attempts to calm Cassio, Cassio bashes at him. Roderigo is sent by Iago to raise alarm in the town.

Rodrigo rings the alarm due to which Othello arrives in an emergency to investigate the matter (Othello had left the party earlier in order to celebrate her marriage life with his wife, Desdemona). When Othello inquires about the matter, Iago pretends as if he doesn’t want to involve Cassio, however, conveys the matter indirectly.

Consequently, Othello asks Cassio to surrender his rank of lieutenant. Extremely dishearten by this treatment, Cassio laments before Iago that his reputation has been ruined forever. Iago cunningly convinces Cassio that if he wants to restore his position before Othello, he must use the favor of Desdemona as an intermediary person. Iago plans that he will frame Desdemona and Cassio as lovers to Othello to make him jealous and his target, simultaneously will be achieved.

For reconciliation with Othello, Othello arranges some instrumentalists to play underneath Othello’s window. Irritated with this, Othello asks his clown to go and send the instrumentalists away. Cassio asks Othello’s clown to send Emilia to him in order to arrange a meeting with Desdemona.

When the clown departs, Iago again fills in Cassio’s mind that he should meet Desdemona in complete isolation. For this Iago will help him to get Othello out of the way. Iago makes Othello and another gentleman to inspect the town’s fortification.

Desdemona seems to be quite sympathetic to Cassio when he tells her the whole story. Desdemona assures him that she will help him so that Othello forgives him and return him his former rank of Lieutenant. When Cassio was leaving Desdemona’s room, Iago and Othello reaches there and watch him leave. On Othello’s confirmation that whether he was Cassio or not, Iago starts igniting a fire of jealousy in Othello.

Due to this, Othello turns out to be upset and moody. Iago, to achieve his goal, suggests to Othello that Cassio and Desdemona might have some affair. On the other hand, Desdemona’s favor toward Cassio adds to Othello’s conviction that Desdemona is unfaithful to him.

Soon after a conservation between Othello and Iago, Desdemona comes to call Othello for a dinner where she finds that Othello is feeling unwell. She offers her handkerchief that he find too small and eventfully it fells down. This handkerchief is picked by Emilia remembering that Iago always wanted her to steal it from Desdemona.

Emilia gives the handkerchief to Iago that makes him overjoyed. Iago places the handkerchief in Cassio’s room as proof of Desdemona’s affair with Cassio. On Othello’s demand for evidence for the unfaithfulness of his wife, Iago tells him that he sees Cassio wiping his beard with the handkerchief that he gave Desdemona as a gift. On that point, Othello vows to avenge Desdemona and Cassio, while Iago vows to help him in this regard.

Later that evening, Othello demands from Desdemona to return him the handkerchief he gifted her, Desdemona says that she doesn’t have it and changes the topic. This makes Othello super angry and burst out. Later, Cassio comes across the handkerchief in his chamber and wonders about it. He gives that handkerchief to Bianca, a prostitute to copy its embroidery for him.

Too much consumed by jealousy, Othello falls into abstraction and has fits of epilepsy. Othello writes something on the ground, meanwhile, Cassio enters but Iago tells him to return a few minutes back. Here Iago plays another game. He, on the one side, tells Othello, as he recovers, that he is going to arrange a meeting with Cassio where he will confess his affair with Desdemona while on the other side he asks Cassio to say something about Bianca.

This creates a misunderstanding once more and Othello’s suspicions were confirmed. The scene catches fire when Bianca herself enters with the handkerchief chiding Cassio for making her a copy of it for him and he received it as a token of love given by some other woman. Desdemona also enters and gives Othello a letter from Venice. Othello is called back to home and instructed to appoint Cassio in place of him. This makes Othello super angry and strikes Desdemona.

Desdemona and Othello have fought and Othello accuses her of being a whore. Desdemona protested that was accompanied by Emilia but he ignores her and asks her to wait for her in the bedchamber tonight. Desdemona waits for him while sends Emilia away. Meanwhile, Iago convinces Roderigo that if he wants Desdemona he should kill Cassio.

Roderigo was instructed by Iago to kill Cassio, However, in an attempt to kill Cassio, Roderigo gets wounded by Cassio. Watching the scene and taking advantage of the moment, Iago attacks Cassio but fails to kill him rather wounds him. Othello, by hearing Cassio’s cry, assumes that he has been murdered by Iago as he had promised him to do so. Shortly after they discover that Roderigo has been killed. The clown takes Cassio to dress his wounds.

Meanwhile, in the bedchamber, Othello prepares himself to kill his sleeping wife. Desdemona wakes up and begged Othello. She confirms him her innocence but Othello oppresses her. Emilia enters with the news of Rodrigo’s death and Othello asks her if Cassio is dead or not that Emilia negates.

Soon Othello wounds Desdemona, she cries out claiming that she has committed a suicide. Emilia returns hearing the cries and asks Othello that what happened. He tells her that he has killed Desdemona for her faithfulness that was brought into attention by Iago.

Everyone else comes to the bedchamber. Emilia realizes immediately that what has been done by Iago and speaks up. Iago tries to silence Emilia. Othello, at first sided Iago and refers the handkerchief as a proof.

However, this confusion soon dispatches when Emilia tells him that she found the handkerchief and gave it to Iago. The crushed Othello attempts to kill Iago but he soon flees away after killing Emilia. He is immediately caught by the clowns. Othello tries to kill Iago but is disarmed. Othello makes a speech and kills himself. The ended with Lodovico’s speech who announces to hand over Othello’s house to Graziano and orders the execution of Iago.

Themes in Othello

Love and the discordancy of military heroism.

As Othello was a soldier, we see throughout the play that his married life is much affected. Just as he gets married, he is sent to Cyprus. In Cyprus when he tries to enjoy his marriage, an emergency alarm is rung in the whole town, though the matter was not that serious. We see that he asks for “fit disposition” for his wife.

While, on the other hand, we see Desdemona be very compromising a d compassionate wife. She only accompanies Othello to Cyprus but supports her and seems to be calm and untroubled with his husband’s going war. She doesn’t mind when she is awakened by the emergency alarm, however, was more curious than furious. Desdemona supports Othello in every situation and never let him feel down regarding any matter. She may also be called as Othello’s “rational warrior” and he, too, feels happy when she is around during everything.

Othello’s marriage to Desdemona provides Othello a certificate to enter to a Venetian society, previously, this society, in the play, seems to be fearful of Othello’s social status in white society; however, his marriage earn him a respect in Venetian’s society as a soldier.

Othello, consider that his success in love is just because he is a successful soldier, as he wins Desdemona’s heart by telling him the stories of wars, military travels, etc.

Moreover, Othello goes to Cyprus to fight against Turks, however, they are drowned by the natural disaster and Othello doesn’t get a chance to show his battle skills to Desdemona.

In Cyprus, they have nothing left to do. The last time we find him doing a military action is when he views fortification and that too was an extremely short scene in Act Ⅲ. Othello starts feeling uneasy in his private setting for not getting a chance to prove his manhood in public or in court.

Moreover, Iago takes advantage of the situation by calling his “epilepsy fit” the passion most unsuitable for such a brave soldier. Moreover, Iago also backbites Cassio and mentions him to Othello that Cassio has a very low opinion of him and think him as an enfeebling dream.

Othello confuses his identities (being soldier and lover) while desperately adhering to his former identity i.e. of a soldier.  The manifestation of his possessiveness rapidly transfers from the conformist i.e. “Farewell the peaceful mind” to the bizarre. One can easily guess that Othello is leaving bad habit and is completely occupied with his identity as a soldier.

However, his attitude to discerning is rather warranted by its seductiveness to the spectators as well. The audience and the Critics both seem to find comfort and nobility in the final speech of Othello plus the anecdote he tells but still, he depends upon his identity as a soldier to deliver that speech not a lover and attempts to make the audience forget about his disastrous marital life.

The Danger of Isolation

In the play Othello, the action shifts to Cyprus from the city of Venice. The city of Cyprus faces little some external dander that is why it is highly protected by military defenses and natural forces as well. the army of Turks is destroyed by the natural disaster and once Othello, Desdemona, Iago, Roderigo, Cassio, and Emilia, the main characters of the play, reach Cyprus, they have nothing else to do but to spy and make prey on one another.

Throughout the play, isolation among characters imparts special effect, for instance. The soliloquies of Iago provide us knowledge of what he is going to do; the standing apart of Othello while the conversation between Iago and Cassio is going on. Everyone leaves the stage while Othello is alone with dead bodies of Emilia and Desdemona for some time.

More importantly, Othello is considered a man from another nation and is subject to isolation because of his physical appearance and the color of his skin. Iago manipulates the distance among character to achieve his cunning plans.

The characters in the play cannot be isolated, however, the play delivers a lesson that to isolate oneself in order to preserve oneself causes an ultimate self-destruction. In the play, such isolation causes the disastrous deaths of the main Character: Iago, Othello, Roderigo, and even Emilia falls in this category.

Othello Characters Analysis

He is the protagonist and the hero of the play. Othello, a Moor, and an army general at the city of Venice, has an expressive personality and powerful stature. He is respected by everyone around him. Despite his high status, he never gets rid of his insecurities due to his age, race, and life as a soldier. He is master of “free and open” nature that has been used by Iago to screw his love for his life partner, Desdemona, and changes it to prevailing and disparaging distrust.

She is the daughter of the senator of Venetian society, Brabanzio. When the plays open, we come to know that Othello and Desdemona are married secretly. However, in many ways, we see that Desdemona is stereotypical, pure and humble. Desdemona is very strong-minded and confident. She defends her marriage by jesting bawdily towards Iago and responds to Othello’s jealousy with dignity.

He is Othello’s ensign (an ancient job), and the antagonist of the play. He is about Twenty-eight years old. He deliberately hates Othello just because he has been promoted to the rank of lieutenant. Iago’s seeks revenge from the Othello by making him against his dear ones. His motivations, throughout the play, are never expressed clearly as if they originate in obsessive and he seems to find aesthetic joy in destruction and manipulation people.

A young and inexperienced soldier and Othello’s Lieutenant, whose higher status position is begrudged by Iago. He is truly faithful to Othello and is extremely ashamed of being caught up in the brawl and consequently loses his position as lieutenant. His youth, good looks, and friendship with Desdemona are being used by Iago to make Othello jealous of him and play on Othello’s insecurities.

She is Iago’s wife and attendant to Desdemona. She is a pessimistic and worldly woman, deeply attached to Desdemona and suspicious of her husband.

He is a jealous person and wants to marry Desdemona. He is a young, foolish and rich person who is assured that if he offers some money to Iago, he will help him to marry Desdemona. He gets frustrated when he knows about Desdemona’s marriage with Othello and then Othello takes her to Cyprus. Desperate enough to get Desdemona, he agrees to help Iago to kill Cassio.

She is a prostitute in Cyprus who is much more interested in Cassio, his regular customer. Cassio makes her believe that he will marry her.

He is Desdemona’s father. He is senator of Venetian society who is somewhat loudmouthed and arrogant person. Othello was also his friend who marries his daughter.

Duke Of Venice

He is the only official authority in the city of Venice. He has the great respect for Othello for being a soldier and military servant. In this play, his role is limited to the reconciliation of Othello and Brabanzio in act 1 and then direct Othello to Cyprus.

He was the governor of Cyprus before Othello was appointed. He appears in Act 2 when he verifies the status of the war and waits for Venetians to come.

He is a kinsman of Brabanzio and acts as a messenger from Venice to Cyprus. He appears in Act 4 with a letter for Othello to return to Venice while placing Cassio in his place as the governor of Cyprus.

He, too, is a kinsman who escorts Lodovico to Cyprus. In the middle of the final he reveals a news that Desdemona’s father, Brabanzio has died.

He is Othello’s servant. He only appears in two scenes i.e. Act 3 scene 4 and Act 4 scene 1. His arrivals echo and twist the action and confrontations of the main plots. For instance, his jests on the word “lie” and forestall Othello’s muddle of two connotations of that word.

Othello Literary Analysis

The play  Othello  is a story of a soldier who is an honorable and principled army general who encountered much military success, but due to errors in judgment and status as an outsider in the Venetian society, destroys his most cherished relationship and himself. The play opens in the grandeur style of military romance reciting on the Mediterranean Sea.

Conversely, the drama ends with a suffocating end in a bedchamber where the protagonist, Othello, kills himself after murdering his innocent wife. The play transfers from huge facades that deliver a background for Othello’s valor to central spaces that offer, both factually and metaphorically, no possibility to breathe.

The contracting trajectory of the play suggests that deleterious sentiments like distrust put a sensitive choke hold on an individual, throttling their capability to think undoubtedly and therefore averting them from performing rationally. The play distinctions the grounds in which Othello is self-assured and influential, such as the external world of an encounter, with the internal spaces in which he is less confident and able to be effortlessly operated.

The tenor of the play  Othello  mainly mirrors Iago’s view of the world that is considered as pessimism and misgiving. Iago couriers his pessimism often, and predominantly in opening acts of the play. When Roderigo comes to know about Desdemona’s marriage with Othello, he feels so shameful and calls it his virtue, however, Iago condemns him that virtue is a fig and reject the idea that person’s character is set in stone. Iago’s pessimistic attitude of life averts him from feeling regret or sorrowful for his deeds.

According to Iago, he just workouts his willpower on others and cannot be seized responsible if those others are deficient of their inborn disbelief and doubt. To Iago, Othello’s unexperienced confidence in a “truthful Iago” is the real trick, not Iago’s deceitfulness.

The pessimism of Iago sets the platform for the suspicious tone in the second half of the play. When Othello progressively drops in Iago’s influence, just like Iago, he too instigates to speak wary remarks that boom Iago’s skeptical worldview. Othello, not only starts referring to the falseness and unfaithfulness of women but also calls Desdemona a “whore” on her face. His growing uncertainty echoes an all-consuming obsession that strengthens the fervors of distrust.

As he develops progressively paranoid, he inclines into a close to schizophrenic misperception. In an instant of no reason, he suggests that nature would devote herself is such a surveillance passion without some directions. Othello claims that he would not feel so intensely bothered if nothing had actually occurred amid Cassio and Desdemona. Consequently, since he does feel troubled, the custody of infidelity must be well started. Othello who usually is so rational, eloquent, and self-possessed, here employs a disordered reason that platforms the tone of fear that surpasses the play.

More From William Shakespeare

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• The Merchant of Venice
• Twelfth Night
• The Taming of the Shrew
• As You Like It
• Much Ado About Nothing
• The Comedy of Errors

Master Shakespeare's Othello using Absolute Shakespeare's Othello essay, plot summary, quotes and characters study guides.

Plot Summary : A quick review of the plot of Othello including every important action in the play. An ideal introduction before reading the original text.

Commentary : Detailed description of each act with translations and explanations for all important quotes. The next best thing to an modern English translation.

Characters : Review of each character's role in the play including defining quotes and character motivations for all major characters.

Characters Analysis : Critical essay by influential Shakespeare scholar and commentator William Hazlitt, discussing all you need to know on the characters of Othello.

Othello Essay : Samuel Taylor Coleridge's famous essay on Othello based on his legendary and influential lectures and notes on Shakespeare.

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Home › Drama Criticism › Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Othello

Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Othello

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on July 25, 2020 • ( 0 )

Of all Shakespeare’s tragedies . . . Othello is the most painfully exciting and the most terrible. From the moment when the temptation of the hero begins, the reader’s heart and mind are held in a vice, experiencing the extremes of pity and fear, sympathy and repulsion, sickening hope and dreadful expectation. Evil is displayed before him, not indeed with the profusion found in King Lear, but forming, as it were, the soul of a single character, and united with an intellectual superiority so great that he watches its advance fascinated and appalled. He sees it, in itself almost irresistible, aided at every step by fortunate accidents and the innocent mistakes of its victims. He seems to breathe an atmosphere as fateful as that of King Lear , but more confined and oppressive, the darkness not of night but of a close-shut murderous room. His imagination is excited to intense activity, but it is the activity of concentration rather than dilation.

—A. C. Bradley, Shakespearean Tragedy

Between William Shakespeare’s most expansive and philosophical tragedies— Hamlet and King Lear —is Othello, his most constricted and heart-breaking play. Othello is a train wreck that the audience horrifyingly witnesses, helpless to prevent or look away. If Hamlet is a tragedy about youth, and Lear concerns old age, Othello is a family or domestic tragedy of a middle-aged man in which the fate of kingdoms and the cosmos that hangs in the balance in Hamlet and Lear contracts to the private world of a marriage’s destruction. Following his anatomizing of the painfully introspective intellectual Hamlet, Shakespeare, at the height of his ability to probe human nature and to dramatize it in action and language, treats Hamlet’s temperamental opposite—the man of action. Othello is decisive, confident, and secure in his identity, duty, and place in the world. By the end of the play, he has brought down his world around him with the relentless force that made him a great general turned inward, destroying both what he loved best in another and in himself. That such a man should fall so far and so fast gives the play an almost unbearable momentum. That such a man should unravel so completely, ushered by jealousy and hatred into a bestial worldview that cancels any claims of human virtue and self-less devotion, shocks and horrifies. Othello is generally regarded as Shakespeare’s greatest stage play, the closest he would ever come to conforming to the constrained rules of Aristotelian tragedy. The intensity  and  focus  of  Othello   is  unalleviated  by  subplots,  comic  relief,  or  any  mitigation  or  consolation  for  the  deterioration  of  the  “noble  Moor”  and  his  collapse into murder and suicide. At the center of the play’s intrigue is Shakespeare’s most sinister and formidable conceptions of evil in Iago, whose motives and the wellspring of his villainy continue to haunt audiences and critics alike. Indeed, the psychological resonances of the drama, along with its provocative racial and gender themes, have caused Othello, perhaps more than any other of Shakespeare’s plays, to reverberate the loudest with current audiences and commentators. As scholar Edward Pechter has argued, “During the past twenty-five years or so, Othello has become the Shakespearean tragedy of choice, replacing King Lear in the way Lear had earlier replaced Hamlet as the play that speaks most directly and powerfully to current interests.”

Shakespeare derived his plot from Giraldi Cinthio’s “Tale of the Moor,” in the story collection Hecatommithi (1565), reshaping Cinthio’s sensational tale of jealousy, intrigue, and murder in several key ways. In Cinthio’s story, Alfiero, the scheming ensign, lusts after the Moor’s wife, named Disdemona, and after she spurns his advances, Alfiero seeks vengeance by accusing her of adultery with Cassio,  the  Moor’s  lieutenant.  Alfiero,  like  Iago,  similarly  arouses  the  Moor’s  suspicions by stealing Disdemona’s handkerchief and planting it in Cassio’s bed-room. However, the Moor and Alfiero join forces to kill Disdemona, beating her  to  death  with  a  stocking  filled  with  sand  before  pulling  down  the  ceiling  on her dead body to conceal the crime as an accident. The Moor is eventually captured,  tortured,  and  slain  by  Disdemona’s  relatives,  while  the  ensign  dies  during torture for another crime. What is striking about Shakespeare’s alteration of Cinthio’s grisly tale of murder and villainy is the shift of emphasis to the provocation for the murder, the ennobling of Othello as a figure of great stature and dignity to underscore his self-destruction, and the complication of motive for  the  ensign’s  actions.  Cinthio’s  version  of  Iago  is  conventionally  driven  by  jealousy  of  a  superior  and  lust  for  his  wife.  Iago’s  motivation  is  anything  but  explainable in conventional terms. Dramatically, Shakespeare turns the focus of the play from the shocking crime to its causes and psychic significance, trans-forming Cinthio’s intrigue story of vile murder into one of the greatest dramatic meditations on the nature of love and its destruction.

What  makes  Othello  so  unique  structurally  (and  painful  to  witness)  is  that  it  is  a  tragedy  built  on  a  comic  foundation.  The  first  two  acts  of  the  play  enact  the  standard  pattern  of  Shakespeare’s  romantic  comedies.  The  young Venetian noblewoman, Desdemona, has eloped with the middle-aged Othello, the military commander of the armed forces of Venice. Their union is opposed by Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, and by a rival for Desdemona, Roderigo,  who  in  the  play’s  opening  scenes  are  both  provoked  against Othello  by  Iago.  Desdemona  and  Othello,  therefore,  face  the  usual  challenges of the lovers in a Shakespearean comedy who must contend with the forces of authority, custom, and circumstances allied against their union. The romantic climax comes in the trial scene of act 1, in which Othello success-fully defends himself before the Venetian senate against Brabantio’s charge that  Othello  has  beguiled  his  daughter,  “stol’n  from  me,  and  corrupted  /  By spells and medicines bought of mountebanks.” Calmly and courteously Othello recounts how, despite the differences of age, race, and background, he won Desdemona’s heart by recounting the stories of his exotic life and adventures: “She loved me for the dangers I had passed, / And I loved her that she did pity them.” Wonder at Othello’s heroic adventures and compassion for her sympathy have brought the two opposites together—the young, inexperienced  Venetian  woman  and  the  brave,  experienced  outsider.  Desdemona finally, dramatically appears before the senate to support Othello’s account of their courtship and to balance her obligation to her father and now to her husband based on the claims of love:

My noble father, I do perceive here a divided duty: To you I am bound for life and education; My life and education both do learn me How to respect you; you are the lord of duty; I am hitherto your daughter. But here’s my husband; And so much duty as my mother show’d To you, preferring you before her father, So much I challenge that I may profess Due to the Moor, my lord.

Both Desdemona and Othello defy by their words and gestures the calumnies heaped upon them by Roderigo and Brabantio and vindicate the imperatives of the heart over parental authority and custom. As in a typical Shakespearean comedy, love, tested, triumphs over all opposition.

Vindicated by the duke of Venice and the senate, Othello, accompanied by Desdemona, takes up his military duties in the face of a threatened Turkish invasion, and the lovers are given a triumphal wedding-like procession and marriage ceremony when they disembark on Cyprus. The storm that divides the Venetian fleet also disperses the Turkish threat and clears the way for the lovers’ happy  reunion  and  peaceful  enjoyment  of  their  married  state.  First  Cassio lands to deliver the news of Othello’s marriage and, like the best man, supplies glowing praise for the groom and his bride; next Desdemona, accompanied by Iago and his wife, Emilia, enters but must await news of the fate of Othello’s ship. Finally, Othello arrives giving him the opportunity to renew his marriage vows to Desdemona:

It gives me wonder great as my content To see you here before me. O my soul’s joy, If after every tempest come such calms, May the wind blow till they have wakened death, And let the labouring barque climb hills of seas Olympus-high, and duck again as low As hell’s from heaven. If it were now to die ’Twere now to be most happy, for I fear My soul hath content so absolute That not another comfort like to this Succeeds in unknown fate.

The scene crowns love triumphant. The formerly self-sufficient Othello has now  staked  his  life  to  his  faith  in  Desdemona  and  their  union,  and  she  has  done the same. The fulfillment of the wedding night that should come at the climax of the comedy is relocated to act 2, with the aftermath of the courtship and the wedding now taking  center  stage.  Having triumphantly bested  the  social and natural forces aligned against them, having staked all to the devotion of the other, Desdemona and Othello will not be left to live happily ever after, and the tragedy will grow out of the conditions that made the comedy. Othello, unlike the other Shakespearean comedies, adds three more acts to the romantic drama, shifting from comic affirmation to tragic negation.

Iago  reviews  Othello’s  performance  as  a  lover  by  stating,  “O,  you  are  well tuned now, / But I’ll set down the pegs that make this music.” Iago will now orchestrate discord and disharmony based on a life philosophy totally opposed to the ennobling and selfless concept of love demonstrated by the newlyweds. As Iago asserts to Roderigo, “Virtue? A fig!” Self-interest is all that  matters,  and  love  is  “merely  a lust  of  the  blood  and  a  permission  of  the will.” Othello and Desdemona cannot possibly remain devoted to each other, and, as Iago concludes, “If sanctimony and a frail vow betwixt an err-ing barbarian and a super-subtle Venetian be not too hard for my wits, and all the tribe of hell, thou shalt enjoy her.” The problem of Iago’s motivation to destroy Othello and Desdemona is not that he has too few motives but too many. He offers throughout the play multiple justifi cations for his intrigue: He has been passed over in favor of Cassio; he suspects the Moor and Cassio with his wife, Emilia; he is envious of Cassio’s open nature; and he is desirous of Desdemona himself. No single motive is relied on for long, and the gap  between  cause  and  effect,  between  the  pettiness  of  Iago’s  grudges  and  the monstrousness of his behavior, prompted Samuel Taylor Coleridge in a memorable phrase to characterize Iago’s “motiveless malignity.” There is in Iago a zest for villainy and a delight in destruction, driven more by his hatred and  contempt  for  any  who  oppose  his  conception  of  jungle  law  than  by  a  conventional  naturalistic  explanation  based  on  jealousy  or  envy.  Moreover, Shakespeare, by deliberately clouding the issue of Iago’s motive, finds ever more sinister threats in such a character’s apparently bottomless and unmerited hatred and capacity for evil.

Iago will direct the remainder of the play, constructing Othello’s down-fall out of the flimsiest evidence and playing on the strengths and weaknesses of Othello’s nature and the doubts that erode Othello’s faith in Desdemona. Act 3, one of the wonders of the stage, anatomizes Othello’s psychic descent from  perfect  contentment  in  his  new  wife  to  complete  loathing,  from  a  worldview  in  which  everything  is  as  it  appears  to  one  in  which  nothing  is  as it seems. Iago leads Othello to suspect that love and devotion are shams disguising the basest of animalistic  instincts.  Misled  by  the  handkerchief,  his  love  token  to  Desdemona,  that  Iago  has  planted  in  Cassio’s  room  and  by a partially overheard conversation between Iago and Cassio, Othello, by the end of act 3, forsakes his wife and engages himself in a perverse version of the marriage ceremony of act 2 to Iago. As the pair kneels together, they exchange vows:

Iago: Witness you ever-burning lights above, You elements that clip us round about, Witness that here Iago doth give up The execution of his wit, hands, heart To wronged Othello’s service. Let him command, And to obey shall be in me remorse, What bloody business ever.

Othello: I greet thy love, Not with vain thanks, but with acceptance bounteous, And will upon the instant put thee to’t. Within these three days let me hear thee say That Cassio’s not alive.

Iago: My friend is dead. ’Tis done at your request; but let her live.

Othello: Damn her, lewd minx! O, damn her, damn her! Come, go with me apart. I will withdraw To furnish me with some swift means of death For the fair devil. Now art thou my lieutenant.

Iago: I am your own for ever.

This scene has suggested to some critics that Iago’s true motivation for destroying the marriage of Desdemona and Othello is a repressed homosexual love for Othello. An equal case can be made that Iago here completes his role as Vice, borrowed from the medieval morality plays, sealing the Faustian bargain for Othello’s soul in this mock or black marriage scene.

The play moves relentlessly from here to catastrophe as Othello delivers justice to those he is convinced have wronged him. As he attempts to carry out  his  execution  of  Desdemona,  she  for  the  first  time  realizes  his  charges  against her and his utter delusion. Ignoring her appeals for mercy and avowals of innocence, Othello smothers her moments before Emilia arrives with the proof of  Desdemona’s  innocence  and  Iago’s  villainy.  Othello  must  now  face  the  realization  of  what  he  has  done.  He turns  to  Iago,  who  has  been  brought before him to know the reason for his actions. Iago replies: “Demand me  nothing;  what  you  know,  you  know:  /  From  this  time  forth  I  never  will  speak  word.”  By  Iago’s  exiting  the  stage,  closing  access  to  his  motives,  the  focus remains firmly on Othello, not as Iago’s victim, but as his own. His final speech mixes together the acknowledgment of what he was and what he has become, who he is and how he would like to be remembered:

I have done the state some service, and they know’t. No more of that. I pray you, in your letters, When you shall these unlucky deeds relate, Speak of me as I am. Nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice. Then must you speak Of one that loved not wisely but too well, Of one not easily jealous but, being wrought, Perplexed in the extreme; of one whose hand, Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away Richer than all his tribe.

Consistent with his role as guardian of order in the state, Othello carries out his own execution, by analogy judging his act as a violation reflected by Venice’s savage enemy:

And say besides, that in Aleppo once, Where a malignant and a turban’d Turk Beat a Venetian and tradu’d the state, I took by th’ throat the circumcisèd dog, And smote him—thus.

Othello, likewise, has “tradu’d the state” and has changed from noble and valiant Othello to a beast, with the passion that ennobled him shown as corrosive and demeaning. He carries out his own execution for a violation that threatens social and psychic order. For the onlookers on stage, the final tableau of the dead Desdemona and Othello “poisons sight” and provokes the command to “Let it be hid.” The witnesses on stage cannot compute rationally what has occurred nor why, but the audience has been given a privileged view of the battle between good and evil worked out in the private recesses of a bedroom and a human soul.

Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Plays

Othello Oxford Lecture by Emma Smith

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Shakespeare’s Othello: Essay Samples - Links & Essential Info

If you want to write a paper on any topic related to Othello , this article will be your life-saver. Our team collected various free samples on one page. See what Othello essay interests you and click on the link to read it.

✍ Othello: Essay Samples

• Theme of Jealousy in Othello by Shakespeare Genre: Research paper Words: 1643 Focused on: The issues of jealousy, manipulation, and jealousy Characters mentioned: Iago, Othello, Roderigo, Desdemona, Brabantio, Cassio
• The Tragedy of Othello Genre: Research paper Words: 1651 Focused on: Othello’s tragedy and whether it was self-inflicted Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago, Cassio, Desdemona, Roderigo, Brabantio, Emilia, Bianca
• Othello by William Shakespeare Genre: Essay Words: 888 Focused on: Catastrophe, race, and misrepresentation Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago, Cassio, Desdemona
• Irony in “Othello” by Shakespeare Genre: Analytical Essay Words: 907 Focused on: How irony drives the plot of Othello Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago, Desdemona, Emilia
• Summary about Shakespeare’s Othello Genre: Essay Words: 837 Focused on: Retelling of Othello Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago, Cassio, Roderigo, Desdemona, Emilia, Brabantio
• Othello by William Shakespeare Genre: Term paper Words: 1141 Focused on: Comparison of the play with Tim Nelson’s 2001 movie O Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago, Desdemona, Cassio
• Shakespeare’s Othello, the Moor of Venice Genre: Research paper Words: 1404 Focused on: Character traits of Iago and Othello, and how they drive the story Characters mentioned: Iago, Othello, Desdemona, Cassio, Roderigo, Emilia
• The Downfall of Othello Genre: Essay Words: 1687 Focused on: Comparison of Othello’s and Oedipus’s downfalls Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago, Brabantio, Cassio, Desdemona
• “Othello” by William Shakespeare Genre: Essay Words: 548 Focused on: The role of minor characters in Othello Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago, Cassio, Emilia
• Character of Iago in “Othello” by Shakespeare Analysis Genre: Essay Words: 1080 Focused on: Character analysis of Iago and his evil nature Characters mentioned: Iago, Othello, Cassio, Desdemona, Emilia, Roderigo,
• Critical Analysis of the Tragedy of Othello Genre: Essay, Critical Writing Words: 971 Focused on: Stage directions , the play’s modernity, and geographical symbolism Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago, Desdemona
• Jealousy in “Othello” by W.Shakespeare Genre: Analytical Essay Words: 1611 Focused on: Good vs. evil as characterized by jealousy Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago, Cassio, Desdemona, Emilia, Roderigo
• Othello as the Outsider Genre: Essay Words: 1356 Focused on: Othello as an outcast in society and how his language and behavior reflect it Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago, Desdemona
• Racism in Play “Othello” by William Shakespeare Genre: Essay Words: 867 Focused on: The theme of racism and how it’s shown in the play Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago, Cassio, Brabantio, Desdemona
• Othello and Desdemona: Emotional Strangers Genre: Essay Words: 1243 Focused on: The relationship between Othello and Desdemona Characters mentioned: Othello, Desdemona, Iago, Cassio
• What Can Lawyers Learn From ‘Othello’? Genre: Essay Words: 692 Focused on: Why lawyers should read Othello Characters mentioned: Othello, Cassio, Iago
• Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Othello: The Words and Actions of Iago Genre: Essay Words: 1421 Focused on: Why Iago is an excellent villain, comparison of Iago and Joker from The Dark Knight Characters mentioned: Iago, Othello, Cassio
• Othello and Snow Country: Personal Opinion Genre: Critical Essay Words: 994 Focused on: Love and passion in Shakespeare’s Othello and Yasunari Kawabata’s Snow Country Characters mentioned: Othello, Desdemona
• Othello’s Fall from Grace and Redemption at the End of the Play Genre: Essay Words: 1145 Focused on: Themes of jealousy and gullibility Characters mentioned: Othello, Desdemona, Iago
• Othello’s tragedy Genre: Essay Words: 830 Focused on: The cause of Othello’s tragedy Characters mentioned: Othello, Desdemona, Iago
• The issue of racial prejudice Genre: Research paper Words: 2198 Focused on: Racial prejudices, discrimination towards Othello and foreigners in general, cultural and historical context Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago, Brabantio, Desdemona
• Humiliation of Iago (Othello) Genre: Essay Words: 589 Focused on: Possible motives of Iago Characters mentioned: Iago, Othello, Desdemona
• Compare and Contrast Shakespeare’s Othello and the Blind Owl by Sedayat Genre: Compare and Contrast Essay Words: 1370 Focused on: Differences and similarities of the plots and themes of Shakespeare’s Othello and the Blind Owl by Sedayat Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago, Desdemona
• Remembrance and Redemption Relationship Genre: Essay Words: 1471 Focused on: Theme of redemption in Othello , Mansfield Park, and A Small Place Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago, Cassio
• Treatment of women by Shakespeare and Sophocles Genre: Essay Words: 1895 Focused on: Different treatments of women in Othello and Oedipus Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago, Desdemona, Emilia, Cassio, Roderigo, Brabantio
• The Feminist critique Genre: Essay Words: 2062 Focused on: The role of women in Elizabethan society as told by Othello Characters mentioned: Desdemona, Emilia, Bianca, Othello, Iago, Cassio, Duke of Venice, Brabantio
• Comparison and Contrast of the Driving Force of Plot in Medea by Euripides, Othello by William Shakespeare, and the Epic of Gilgamesh Genre: Essay Words: 568 Focused on: Heroism in Medea by Euripides, Othello by William Shakespeare, and The Epic of Gilgamesh Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago, Brabantio, Roderigo
• Violence of Shakespeare Genre: Term paper Words: 1701 Focused on: Violent behavior in Titus Andronicus , Hamlet , and Othello Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago, Desdemona
• Philosophy of Literature: Shakespearean Tragedy Genre: Essay Words: 1218 Focused on: How tragic incidences make heroes be villains as shown in Othello and Macbeth Characters mentioned: Othello, Desdemona, Iago
• Machiavelli and Othello’s Leadership Skills Essay Genre: Essay Words: 584 Focused on: Leadership skills in Machiavelli’s The Prince and Shakespeare’s Othello Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago
• The Life And Work Of William Shakespeare: His Contribution To The Contemporary Theater Genre: Research paper Words: 1371 Focused on: The contribution of William Shakespeare’s works to contemporary theater Characters mentioned: Othello, Desdemona, Iago
• Othello and Oedipus Rex Characters’ Traits Genre: Essay Words: 963 Focused on: Character and tragic traits of Othello and Oedipus Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago, Desdemona
• Iago and Othello Relationships Genre: Research paper Words: 1254 Focused on: Iago’s and Othello’s relationships and how it contributes the plot Characters mentioned: Othello, Iago, Desdemona, Emilia
• Cultural Diversity in the Play “Othello” Genre: Essay Words: 822 Focused on: The play’s reflection of society and racial prejudices Characters mentioned: Othello, Desdemona, Iago

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• Play’s Plot Explored
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William Shakespeare

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Iago refers to jealousy as the "green-eyed monster." As this metaphor suggests, jealousy is closely associated with the theme of appearance and reality. For instance, at one point Othello demands that Iago provide "ocular proof" of Desdemona's infidelity—he demands to see reality. But Iago instead provides the circumstantial evidence of the handkerchief, which Othello, consumed by his jealousy, accepts as a substitute for "ocular proof." Othello's jealousy impedes his ability to distinguish between reality and appearance. While the prejudiced characters in the play denigrate Othello as an animal or a beast based on his race, Othello's obvious honor and intelligence makes these attacks obviously ridiculous. Yet when Othello is overcome by jealousy, he does become beast-like, falling into epileptic fits that rob him of the ability to speak intelligibly.

Othello is also not the only character in Othello to feel jealousy. Both Iago and Roderigo act to destroy Othello out of jealousy, with disastrous consequences.

Jealousy ThemeTracker

Jealousy Quotes in Othello

What Are The Other Major Themes In Othello?

Back to: Othello by William Shakespeare

Table of Contents

The play Othello is driven largely by its character Iago’s unchecked ambition. When the position of lieutenant was given to Cassio by Othello, Iago is deeply affected by a wounded ego.

When Othello put a check on his desire, he becomes secretly discontent. In his ambition to become what he wanted to; he plans everything.

While falsely consoling Cassio, he says, “ You have lost no reputation at all unless you repute yourself such a loser .” It tells us how ambition in Iago works. The play reveals that ambition in wrong ones makes them “pull down the greatness of any subject that overtops.”

In the play, one gets to see how power can reside in two opposite kind of spaces. Othello is the one who is made up of elements whose nobility suits power while on the other side, there is Iago who seeks power but he is entirely unfit for it.

His means and ends are of worst kinds. The play shows how power can be transferred but, in this case, it is tried by the lesser kind.

Othello may have the power of manly courage but Iago has a deep understanding of human minds and that knowledge is the power with which he manipulates every other person in the play. 

The age, in which the play is set, had a deep obsession with the issue of identity. From the very beginning, Iago along with Roderigo keeps poking at the character of Othello. He is racially perceived for having a different origin.

The colour of his skin is constantly evoked in order to show how his identity differs as per their society. Cassio’s identity is that of a refined courtly member.

Desdemona comes from a stately lineage but it is Othello whose identity remains that of an outsider and the only thing which has an impact upon their identity is their relationship. 

The play shows the social concept of male and female of that age. Relationship of Iago-Emilia and Othello-Desdemona may differ in terms of devotion and love but in gender perception, both males suffer from the same thing.

In the end, Emilia is stabbed by Iago and Desdemona is strangled by Othello. The sexuality of both characters remained a huge threat to males. The gender is intermixed with racial prejudices.

Othello as a moor is prejudiced as someone who is “ lascivious ” and full of contamination. Overall, the play deals with gender in such a way that it shows how the female gender suffers the male prejudices and jealousy.

It is one of the various themes which can be noted in the play. Iago is seeking revenge from Othello for not giving him the position of lieutenant. Roderigo in his mean assumption of love seeks revenge from Othello for being with Desdemona.

Brabantio is inflamed with anger when Desdemona elopes with Othello. Othello at the centre of all these suffers from his own inherent vulnerability.

Iago’s whole drive is fuelled by his inhibited ambition for which he wants to revenge by taking away the love which alone keeps the chaos of Othello sane. The play shows how in revenge characters can manoeuvre beyond the calm of peace and love.

by William Shakespeare

Othello quotes and analysis.

I follow to serve my turn upon him: We cannot all be masters, nor all masters Cannot be truly follow'd Iago - Act I, Scene i

Bitter about being passed up for Cassio's post, Iago reveals he serves Othello only to serve himself. He points out to Roderigo that men cannot follow leaders if they want to lead themselves. Also, referring to Othello, Iago says that not all men are fit to lead and not all leaders should be followed. This statement is one of the few moments of honesty between Iago and another character. It also is the first seed planted in his game of deception. His suggestion is a subtle mutiny aimed at Roderigo. Iago is enlisting Roderigo in helping him "serve [his] turn" against Othello.

For when my outward action doth demonstrate The native act and figure of my heart In compliment extern, ’tis not long after But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve For daws to peck at: I am not what I am. Iago - Act I, Scene i

In pursuit of his revenge Iago will become duplicitous, never showing his true emotion to the outside world. The irony of this statement is that he is telling the truth about his dishonesty. Iago knows that if the rest of the characters knew what lurked in his heart, he would be destroyed. Othello and his loyal men would tear him apart, like birds. The idiom "wear my heart on my sleeve" comes from this line in Othello .

And, noble signior, If virtue no delighted beauty lack, Your son-in-law is far more fair than black. The Duke of Venice - Act I, Scene iii

Here, black has a dual meaning - referring to Othello's race and also, according to usage of the time, meaning "ugly". At face value, the Duke says that if virtue can be beautiful, then Othello is indeed "fair", or beautiful, as he possesses goodness. However, because Othello is black, this can be interpreted as a backhanded compliment; Othello is more fair (just, gentlemanly) than those of his race. Race is a pervasive theme in the play, as prejudice is pervasive in Venice. Othello is able to rise above the stereotypes, but he is never able to forget what others may feel about him.

I am not merry; but I do beguile The thing I am, by seeming otherwise. Desdemona - Act II, Scene i

While speaking to Iago Desdemona says that, though she pretends to be happy, she is really worried about Othello's safety. This passage shows the care she has for her husband, and also that she is capable of hiding her emotion. In this conversation with Desdemona, Iago reveals how little he thinks of women, and that they use their beauty or wit to manipulate men.

Reputation, reputation, reputation! Oh I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial. Cassio - Act II, Scene iii

After a drunken brawl with Roderigo, Cassio is stripped of his position. Without his rank, he feels like he is nothing. This sentiment is echoed by Othello, who is motivated to kill Desdemona because her affair has besmirched the reputation that he has worked so hard to craft. Both Cassio and Othello believe a man is nothing more than "bestial" without his good name.

Trifles light as air Are to the jealous confirmations strong As proofs of holy writ. Iago - Act III, Scene iii

In one of Iago's soliloquies, he observes that things that may otherwise seem insignificant are given outsized importance when they confirm an already held belief. In this way Iago, by planting Desdemona's handkerchief, will throw fuel on Othello's already burning jealousy.

O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on. Iago - Act III, Scene iii

Iago warns Othello in order to incite his jealousy, while at the same time seeming to have his best interests at heart. The idiom "green-eyed monster" comes from this line in Othello , and Iago characterizes the emotion as one that consumes the man who revels in it.

It makes us or it mars us. Iago - Act V, Scene i

Having persuaded Roderigo to kill Cassio, Iago makes it clear to him that this act will be chief to their success or lead to their demise.

Yet I’ll not shed her blood; Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow, And smooth as monumental alabaster. Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men. Put out the light, and then put out the light: If I quench thee, thou flaming minister, I can again thy former light restore Othello - Act V, Scene ii

Trying to bring himself to kill Desdemona, Othello acknowledges the finality of what he is about to do. However, though he will kill her, he will not mar her beauty in doing so, as Desdemona's beauty/whiteness/light is a symbol of her goodness. Othello believes that murder will maintain her purity, stopping her from betraying others like she has betrayed him.

I have done the state some service, and they know't. No more of that. I pray you, in your letters, When you shall these unlucky deeds relate, Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice. Then, must you speak Of one that loved not wisely but too well Othello - Act 5, Scene ii

Addressing his horrified countrymen, Othello takes responsibility for what he has done and tells them that any good he has done in the past should not pardon him for this foolish act of passion. Othello wants Venice to remember him as honorable in spite of his actions. Like Cassio, Othello believes a man's reputation is "immortal", and he hopes his name will not be sullied by this final chapter of his life.

Othello Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Othello is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

why does othello ignore the cries for help?

Othello is hurdling towards self-destruction: sadly, by the deaths of people closest to him. Like tragic heroes such as Macbeth, Othello's senses are dull to tragedy and screams of terror. Roderigo and Cassio fight, and both are injured; Othello...

what function does the opening part of this scene, with the clown, have?

The minor comic relief that is present is reminiscent of Feste's wit in Twelfth Night . As in Twelfth Night , a man entreats a servant to fetch someone hither; but since the servant is a clown, there is a bit of frustration and word-play before...

I think the opening scene is meant to introduce the cunning and deceitful Iago. The relationship between Roderigo and Iago is obviously somewhat close. Iago "hast had [Roderigo's] purse as if the strings were thine"; the metaphor shows how much...

Study Guide for Othello

Othello study guide contains a biography of William Shakespeare, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Othello
• Othello Summary
• Othello Video
• Character List

Essays for Othello

Othello essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Othello by William Shakespeare.

• Iago and Edmund: The Silence and Complexity of Evil
• Unity in Shakespeare's Tragedies
• Inevitability and the Nature of Shakespeare's Tragedies
• Witchy Women: Female Magic and Otherness in Western Literature
• Racism in Othello

Lesson Plan for Othello

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Othello
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Othello Bibliography

E-Text of Othello

Othello e-text contains the full text of Othello by William Shakespeare.

• List of Characters

Wikipedia Entries for Othello

• Introduction
• Date and sources
• Themes and critical approaches

Home — Essay Samples — Life — Jealousy — Othello Jealousy Character Analysis

Othello Jealousy Character Analysis

• Categories: Jealousy

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Published: Mar 19, 2024

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