Othello by William Shakespeare - Essay Example

Othello Othello is a great play written by William Shakespeare, who is accredited for many other works, especially during the Elizabethan era. The play revolves around the themes of wealth, racial discrimination, love, and hate among many other themes. Othello is a character in this play who serves as a general, and is in love with Desdemona, his wife. The play starts with Othello as a prince and ambassador of the Moors. However, not all are in support of their marriage since Othello is a moor. Roderigo, a wealthy man, is also in love with Desdemona and tries all he can win over her father by spoiling Othello’s name. This he does with the hope of getting Desdemona. The play ends tragically with the deaths of Desdemona, Emilia, Roderigo, Othello, and the execution of Iago. In Othello, Shakespeare displays the use of behavioral and verbal techniques to depict Othello positively. There also exist split opinions about the marriage between Desdemona and a moor in the play. Some people receive the news well while others mock it. In this paper, positive depiction of Othello will be illustrated, as well as the reception of the ‘Other’ as described by Shakespeare. Verbal positive depiction of Othello is illustrated through the many speeches of different characters in the play. Through such speeches, we discover Othello’s bravery and his integrity. He is perceived as a hero, a point that sees Desdemona greatly drawn to him with great admiration. Other characters like Cassio and Montano also praise him for his greatness and integrity. Montano refers to him as noble. Cassio, on the other hand, respects and admires him. He even prays that heavens help Othello. Being a general, Othello has a number of subordinates under him. Many of these people are full of admiration and respect for him. Just a good person with a positive influence on people can command such respect and admiration from many people. Behavioral depiction of Othello in a positive manner also occurs in several instances. At the beginning of the play, Othello is depicted positively as observed in his behavior towards Desdemona and others. He is very gentle and caring to all of them. Othello, throughout the play portrays immense eloquence in his speeches. In fact, it is revealed to the readers that this trait is responsible for his winning over Desdemona. William Shakespeare, in Othello, portrays an interracial marriage between Othello, a moor, and Desdemona. Furthermore, Othello holds a significant support of being a general, which makes him superior to many others. This causes many controversies because not everyone in the play receives this news with an open mind. As a result, there are split opinions about multicultural unions and leadership as will be described. Desdemona admires and falls in love with Othello, irrespective of his color. Instead, she concentrates on the inner beauty, as she looks beyond race and class. Because of this, she can see Othello’s nobility and strong personality beyond his color. This illustrates Desdemona’s character trait as pure in thoughts and noble. This, in turn, enhances the character of Othello as filled with integrity and the ability to lead others, despite racial prejudice imposed by others. In Desdemona’s speech to her father when the latter went to the Venetian senate to report Othello, she displays love and loyalty to her husband, just as marriage ought to be. This occurred in Act One Scene Three (Shakespeare179-188). “My noble father, I do perceive here a divided duty….and so much as to you before her father, so much I challenge that I may profess due to the Moor my lord.” From this speech, Desdemona openly defies her father, though politely, and side with her Moor. She even compares herself to her mother, who also chose her husband over her father, in an effort to convince him. Cassio, a lieutenant serving under Othello also respects and accepts his leadership role. He sees him as honorable, as he looks past his color. He prays for Othello’s protection against ‘the elements’ and even asks Jove to guard Othello. Another open-minded character in the play is Brabantio, Desdemona’s father. He is a senator in Venice and admires Othello. He only changes his mind about having Othello as a son in law after Roderigo and Iago talk to him. He further illustrates his open mindedness when Desdemona pleads with him to let her be with her husband. However, not everybody open-mindedly agrees to the rule and marriage of Othello. These include Roderigo and Iago, who are depicted as racists. Both Roderigo and Iago try to persuade Brabantio. Iago makes up a plan that will ensure the elimination of Othello from Desdemona’s life. This he comes up with after he has chatted with his wealthy friend, Roderigo. His doing this could be attributed to his dislike of Othello, maybe due to his color. His contempt for Othello and his color is evidenced in Act One Scene One (Shakespeare 90-91) when he views Othello and Desdemona’s consummation as “an old black ram...tupping …a white ewe” He is also Othello’s junior in rank, and this mortifies him further. He also calls Othello a “Barbary horse” Act One Scene One (Shakespeare 1-13). In his discussion with Roderigo, Iago comments, “The Moor already changes with my poison.” Here, he is referring to the fact that Othello is falling in his set up trap to make the latter jealous. In an effort to solidify his plan, he reports to Othello that Desdemona and Cassio has an affair. This makes him conniving and evil. Roderigo, on the other hand, is in love with Desdemona. He feels mortified that Othello, a moor, is Desdemona’s preference. His racist trait is further illustrated when both Iago and him go to Desdemona’s father to incite him against accepting Othello as her daughter’s choice as a husband. He refers to Othello as “thick lips” Act One Scene One (Shakespeare 68). Astonishingly, they manage to turn Brabantio’s against the Moor, and the former reports Othello to the Venetian senate. Even Othello himself refers to himself as “black and not those soft parts of the conversation” Act Three Scene Three (Shakespeare 279-280). The Venetian view of moors is further illustrated when Othello makes his final speech before he kills himself. He identifies himself as someone who equally been accepted and become an outsider in Venice, even with his leadership post. Shakespeare ends Othello tragically in that either many of the characters are killed, or they kill themselves. This twist is unexpected, since the majority of plays and stories today are usually given successful conclusions. This gives the notion that the villain in the play, Iago, got his way somehow. This is because he succeeds in eliminating his enemy indirectly, an implication that his schemes of lies paid off. However, the play ends with his execution orders already given. The tragic trend starts with Cassio murdering Roderigo in self-defense after the latter planned to kill him. After this, Othello goes on to murder his wife after ‘ascertaining that she was unfaithful to him. Iago cultivated this feeling of jealousy in Othello, which led to Desdemona’s murder, and Othello’s lack of trust in his wife further facilitated it. From her speech and actions before her death, Desdemona seems to be aware of her coming demise. In preparation for this, she asks her friend Emilia to spread her wedding sheets on the bed, and instructs her that she is to be buried in those sheets in case she dies first. Her reaction when she awakes to see Othello standing over her was to sing a sad song she was taught by her mother’s house help. The song “willow’, gives a premonition of what was to come. “ She was in love: and he proved mad….that song tonight will not go from my mind” act for scene three (Shakespeare 27-30). Shakespeare provides a high contrast in characterization when compared from the start of the play to the end. To illustrate this, the couple, Othello and Desdemona, is so much in love that the woman even publicly defies her father for their love. However, the story ends when the turned jealous husband smothers his wife to death. Even in death, Desdemona forgives him. The contrast brought about in character traits of the characters. For instance, Othello is gentle loving and caring towards his wife when the play starts. However, the influence of Iago turns him into a jealous and murderous husband, who is capable of killing his wife and finally himself. Upon his death, Othello give a speech where he reasserts his position in the Venetian society. Through this final speech, the audience is reminded of Othello’s eloquence and bravery at the beginning of the play. Othello is undoubtedly one of the greatest works of William Shakespeare. It stands out mainly because of its tragic ending, as opposed to other romantic plays like The Merchant of Venice, where the villains lose. Work Cited Shakespeare, W. Othello, The Moor of Venice (reprinted in Lawrence Perrine and Thomas R. Arp, Literature: Structure Sound and Sense, 6th edition Fort Worth: Harcourt. 1993. Print. Read More