Othello - page 1
Keywords: Othello's tragic downfall
By Shefan on 04/05/2010
Level: A Level (Year 13)
Page Number: 1 of 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6
Othello is one of William Shakespeare’s most well-known plays and is considered one of the finest tragedies he ever wrote. It is a tale of jealousy, personal motivation, and betrayal. The characters of Iago and Othello are set against each other in a relationship rife with jealousy and suspicion that brings out the worst in each man. Shakespeare illustrates vividly how the spiteful actions of others against us can bring out our own negative character flaws, and how both of these elements can contribute to one’s undoing. In the play, it is Iago’s greedy drive for revenge and his need to watch Othello’s disgrace that lead to Othello’s downfall, but Othello’s own tragic character flaws of jealousy and distrust contribute equally to his undoing.
Othello tells the story of a black man, or Moor, who is a military general and married to a woman named Desdemona. The antagonist in the play is Iago, an ensign serving under Othello who is jealous of Othello’s ranking and his marriage to the lovely Desdemona but also resentful that Othello has passed him over for promotion to lieutenant in favor of Cassio. Iago is determined to ruin Othello. Iago makes several strong statements that indicate that his jealousy towards Othello is mostly sexual in nature. Shakespeare conveys the crudeness of Iago’s thoughts and feelings towards the relationship between Othello and Desdemona by using a lot of animal imagery and references to sexual relations between common animals when describing talking to others, including Desdemona’s own father. He tells Brabantio, “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe” (1.1.90-91, 6) and refers to, “your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs” (1.1.118-19, 7). This crude imagery serves to debase the loving relationship between Othello and Desdemona and also incenses Brabantio into believing Iago that the relationship between the two of them is not legal and that Desdemona has been seduced or kidnapped. Othello later manages to convince Desdemona’s father that he won her over with tales of war victories, not with seduction, and Iago, seeing that Brabantio is not going to be an ally in his war against Othello, moves on to manipulating Cassio.
Iago’s dislike for Othello is racial as well as sexual. Iago repeatedly makes disparaging comments about Othello’s race to others, referring to him as, “the lascivious Moor” (1.1.129, 8) to
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