Essay/Term paper: Othello

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Shakespeare

Othello by William Shakespeare takes place in Venice

during the invasion of the island of Cyprus by the Turks. The

protagonist of the story, Othello, is a newlywed, Moorish

general with a very gullible nature. The antagonist of the

story is Iago, an officer under Othello who wishes to be

promoted to lieutenant, but the position was given to the

young and attractive Cassio. Other major characters in the

play are Desdemona, Othello's wife who is accused of

having an affair with Cassio. In addition, there are Roderigo,

a Venetian who is deeply in love with Desdemona; and

Emilia (Iago's wife) who could have prevented the death of

Desdemona. The tone of the story is tragic and serious.

Meanwhile, there isn't any point of view because this is a

play and a play doesn't normally have a narrator.

Shakespeare lets the reader make up his/her own

imagination with the characters' words and behavior. Since

Othello is the protagonist, he is explained in more detail.

Although Othello is a brave warrior, he is a jealous person;

his jealousy also prevails over his good sense. The whole

play depicts the fact that jealousy causes corruption.

There are many conflicts found in Othello, and person vs.

person is one of them. An example is when Iago seeks

revenge against Othello and Cassio because of his anger and

jealousy. Person vs. society appears when Desdemona's

father Brabantio, disapproves her marriage to Othello

because he is several years older than Desdemona, from a

different class, and a different race. An internal conflict of

person vs. himself is found when Othello is in a dilemma

about whether or not should he believe that Desdemona is

being unfaithful to him.

Othello loves and trusts Desdemona until his jealousy is

aroused by the cruel manipulations of Iago. Iago's intention

was to persuade Othello to believe that Desdemona is

having an affair with Cassio. As Iago succeeds in convincing

Othello that Desdemona is guilty of adultery, it leads to the

climax of the play. And so Othello must face emotions he

can't deal with. His jealousy drives him insane, and his

judgment is replaced with anger and hate. At this time, the

reader notices that the death of Desdemona is inevitable.

Othello smothers her, and he eventually kills himself when he

knows that Iago falsely accused Desdemona. This also

represents the tragedy of the play.

A lesson that readers learn from the play is that jealousy

causes corruption in many ways such as dishonesty which

was portrayed by Iago. As for Othello, the tragedy would

not have happened if it wasn't for Iago who was jealous of

Cassio for having the lieutenant's job and of Othello for

being a successful soldier. Iago's scheme caused many

deaths. Iago is amoral. For example, even when the innocent

Desdemona dies, he doesn't have a sense of guilt; and even

when he is about to die, he does not have thoughts of

remorse. In addition, Othello also caused Desdemona's

death due to his jealousy and his impulsiveness. As Othello

says, "I'll see before I'll doubt; when I doubt, prove; / And

on the proof, there is no more but this, / Away at once with

love or jealousy!" Even in the end, Othello doesn't know

what was his actual motivation for killing the woman he

loves.