Othello+Analysis

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=Summary of “Othello” By William Shakespeare =  Othello is a play that investigates the tragedy of love and friendship when dictated by a man of dishonesty and hatred. Othello begins with the characters Iago and Roderigo. Iago is the ensign of a black man named Othello, the “Moor.” He is angry because Othello promoted Cassio to the position of his lieutenant, when he has never physically been in battle like Iago has. Cassio knows his information about war only from books. This is where Iago begins his evil plan to ruin Othello’s life because of his jealously. Roderigo is Iago’s tool that he takes advantage of to help him complete his plan. Roderigo is in love with Desdemona, Othello’s wife. Therefore, Iago makes Roderigo think this whole plan is to help Roderigo get Desdemona’s hand. The first action the two men take is to bother Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, about her sexual desire for the Moor. Iago and Roderigo are very graphic and vulgar with their description which drives Brabantio mad to the point where he believes Iago and goes with Roderigo to find Othello. Meanwhile Iago goes to warn Othello, playing the two-faced best friend of Othello that he is so well known as throughout the play. Once Othello is found all of the men travel to speak with the government concerning the war between Venice and the Turks on Cyprus because Othello was called to go to battle. Once the men get there, Brabantio complains to the Duke about Othello, and Desdemona makes her entrance to tell her father that she is devoted and loyal to Othello. Brabantio is not pleased, warning Othello that she has deceived her father and will deceive Othello in the future.

From them on Iago’s plan works marvelously. Iago gets Roderigo to anger Cassio while Cassio is drunk; making Othello strip Cassio of his lieutenant position. With Cassio gone, Iago begins his most destructive part of the play: he begins to put the idea in Othello’s mind that Desdemona is infidel and is sleeping with Cassio. He uses Roderigo, Emilia, Iago’s wife, and Bianca, Cassio’s prostitute, without their knowledge to escalate his plan. He makes Roderigo believe every action they take is to get Desdemona to fall in love with Roderigo. Iago has Emilia retrieve a handkerchief that Desdemona dropped, and plots it in Cassio’s room; making Othello think Desdemona gave this token of love that Othello gave her to Cassio, which is the ultimate betrayal. With Iago’s persuasive nature that makes everyone think he is their friend, and kind and honest mask, everyone thinks everyone else is the villain, when he is the real villain that distorts the truth. His character is smooth, sly, and sneaky, and with these characteristics he makes his plan move without getting caught until the very end.

Once Othello is convinced of Cassio’s suit to Desdemona, he tells Iago to kill Cassio, and that he is going to kill Desdemona. Roderigo complains to Iago that he has no hope with Desdemona, and that Iago’s plan is not justified or working. Iago convinces the weak Roderigo that Othello will be going to Africa with his wife because Cassio is going to be taking Othello’s position of Governor, so the only way to keep Desdemona in Cyprus is to kill Cassio. Othello smothers Desdemona with a pillow, giving this long speech before he does declaring his love for her and saying that he will suffocate her because he does not want to ruin her beautiful face. His repetition of “the cause” indicates his deep internal conflict or uncertainty with his decision as he is a victim of following a false perception from a two-faced “friend.” While Othello is killing Desdemona, Roderigo and Iago are outside of Bianca’s brothel, planning to kill Cassio. Cassio arrives and Roderigo fails to hurt him, and Cassio stabs Roderigo. The sneaky Iago runs out and stabs Cassio in the leg. Lodovico and Graziano enter the scene but cannot tell what is going on because it is so dark. Iago enters pretending to be clueless to the situation and cries out that someone hurt Cassio. Once they find Roderigo, Iago stabs him and kills him without hesitation. Cassio claims he has no idea who Roderigo is, and Bianca enters, crying out for Cassio.

Back in Othello’s room, after he thinks he killed Desdemona, Emilia enters telling Othello Roderigo is killed and Cassio injured. Desdemona wakes briefly and tells Emilia that she did this to herself and then she dies. Othello then tells Emilia that he did in fact murder his loyal wife, and Emilia is alarmed because he had no justification to do so. Emilia cries out for help and Lago, Graziano, and Montano come to the scene. Iago’s plan is ruined as Emilia tells Othello about the truth of the handkerchief and that all of his accusations against Desdemona were completely false. Iago then stabs and kills his wife, Emilia. Othello is ruined, and weeps as Iago is taken away. The men come back with Cassio and Lodovico. Othello stabs Iago; not killing him, and he is then disarmed. The men brought the news that Iago is in fact a liar, and have proof through a letter in Roderigo’s pocket that they found. Othello is told that he is being stripped of his position and is to being taken back to Venice to stand trial, but before anything is said Othello stabs and kills himself. Graziano is named Othello’s heir, Montano prepares Iago’s execution, and Lodovico prepares how he is going to tell the Duke of Venice about such a tragedy.

 =Main Characters and their traits: = __Othello:__ Honest, Loyal, Power, Focus on reputation and social status, Lack of self-control, Violent in nature, In love, Devoted, Insane, Angry, Lustful, Big, Strong, Black, Honorable __Desdemona:__ Honest, Loyal, Beautiful, Young, Innocent, Lustful, Devoted, Strong, Opinionated, Physically vulnerable, Kind, Caring, Ignorant, Soft, Dependable __Iago:__ Sly, Sneaky, “Honest,” Truthful, Liar, Lustful, Angry, Jealous, Smooth, Calm, Lots of Self-control, Friendly, Confident, Conscience of social position, A leader, Perceived to be dependable __Roderigo:__ Weak, Vulnerable, Instable, Lack of self-confidence, Dependent upon others, Childish, Lustful, Possessive, Obsessive, Sad, Ignorant, Clueless __Emilia:__ Opinionated, Confident, Loyal, Ignorant, Care-free, Lustful, Whoreish as perceived by Iago, Judgmental, Honest, Out-spoken, Innocent, Sneaky at times __Cassio__: Ignorant, Honorable, Drunken, Liar and Cheater as perceived by Othello, Lost, Lustful, Desirable, Focus on reputation and social status, Honest

 = Minor Characters : Bianca, Lodovico, Brabantio, Duke of Venice, Graziano, Montanto, and the Clown =

 =Themes: = Betrayal Love Death Lust-Sex-Sexual Desire-Prostitution Loyalty-Fidelity Disloyalty-Infidelity Scandal Perceptions of Women and Men within society-Gender Roles-Gender Abuse Definition of Truth vs. Lies-To what extent is truth-Honesty Definition of being villainous Tragedy-Loss of loved one Ignorance-Blindness Influence of false perceptions-Masks-Harm of being so dependable Justice-Evidence- Punishment-Lack of Emotion-Evidence vs. Beliefs Befriending One Deceit Effects of Isolation Irony  A common literary debate between critics is: who is the protagonist of the play “Othello?”  The [|All American Literary Glossary] defines a Protagonist as:  The irony of the protagonist antagonist battle is that Othello was not a hero in the end, but neither was Iago. The protagonist/antagonist role can be flipped throughout different parts of the play, but one can argue that by letting Iago’s perceptions consume Othello that it was Othello’s own fault for his and his wife’s demise at the end, and he deserved to die. But being honest and a hero in nature because of his social position, he is looked at as the “good guy.” However, the protagonist changes significantly throughout a time period, which is definitely a characteristic of Othello and not Iago. The distortion of truth, and what it means to be honest or villainous makes this debate in “Othello” simply an answer only the reader individually can decide. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">protagonist **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> (pro-TAG-eh-nist) A protagonist is considered to be the main character or lead figure in a novel, play, story, or poem. It may also be referred to as the "hero" of a work. Over a period of time the meaning of the term protagonist has changed. The word protagonist originated in ancient Greek drama and referred to the leader of a chorus. Soon the definition was changed to represent the first actor onstage. In some literature today it may be difficult to decide who is playing the role of the protagonist. For instance, in //Othello//,we could say that Iago is the protagonist because he was at the center of all of the play's controversy. But even if he was a main character, was he the lead character? This ambiguity can lead to multiple interpretations of the same work and different ways of appreciating a single piece of literature. See //Merrian Webster Encyclopedia of Literature//, //Benet’s Readers Encyclopedia of Literature//. **Khalil Shakeel, Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke**

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