Othello Essay
The analysis of the contrasting tragic hero and antagonist in the text can be impacted by the themes of an era and an individual’s personal views. This motif is evident in the play, Othello written by William Shakespeare, through the true to nature, honourable Othello and the self-seeking and malevolent Iago. Shakespeare’s works classically involve reoccurring themes, which can be left open to individual interpretation. The tragic themes of flawed human nature and race are evident in this text through the tragic hero and villain. The fatal flaw of Othello is jealousy and Iago’s flaw is his dishonesty, it is through this theme that an individual’s true understanding of the contrast between characters in the text is revealed. Similarly, the contrast between Elizabethan society’s views on Moors and how Othello is viewed in Shakespeare’s work can impact ones understanding on race. The typical views of Moors were men who were slaves or servants, not people with status or authority in society. The employment of dramatic and literary techniques that are evident in the play assist to impact on one’s understanding of the themes in the Elizabethan society and the text.
Shakespeare composes Othello as a domestic tragedy in which jealousy is seen as a tragic flaw from which everything follows. Othello is seen to be possessed and transformed by jealousy in which evokes the ideal of evil and satanic possession. This is depicted in Act 3 Scene 3 in which Iago is forewarning Othello about jealousy, “O beware, my lord, of jealousy: It is the green-eyed monster”. The personified imagery is ironic because Iago actually is counting on the demise of Othello through his fatal flaw of jealousy. The ironic contrast in the text between the tragic hero and the antagonist is that Othello’s fatal flaw is jealousy which in the end is his downfall but Iago’s flawed human nature is that he is dishonest but this characteristic is actually his uprising in the text. “Men should be what they seem;
Shakespeare composes Othello as a domestic tragedy in which jealousy is seen as a tragic flaw from which everything follows. Othello is seen to be possessed and transformed by jealousy in which evokes the ideal of evil and satanic possession. This is depicted in Act 3 Scene 3 in which Iago is forewarning Othello about jealousy, “O beware, my lord, of jealousy: It is the green-eyed monster”. The personified imagery is ironic because Iago actually is counting on the demise of Othello through his fatal flaw of jealousy. The ironic contrast in the text between the tragic hero and the antagonist is that Othello’s fatal flaw is jealousy which in the end is his downfall but Iago’s flawed human nature is that he is dishonest but this characteristic is actually his uprising in the text. “Men should be what they seem;