Othello, the Moor of Venice

Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragic play written by William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare is the greatest writer in the English language and the most well known dramatist in the world. Shakespeare wrote many well known plays and poems. Many of his plays have been considered some of the finest works in the English language, such as Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and Macbeth (Wikipedia). His writing is so unique; he revolutionized the way of writing in English. Moreover, with a deep understanding of human nature, Shakespeare created many great characters in his plays. People are amazed by these great characters, and this made Shakespeare the greatest author of all time.

Othello, the Moor of Venice is one of the most well known plays of Shakespeare. Othello takes place in Venice and Cyprus. Othello was a black general. He secretly fell in love with Desdemona. Iago wanted to split them so he told Desdemona’s fatherly marry with Othello Desdemona secretly marry Othello. Desdemona’s father was strongly opposed to their marriage. However, of course they were in love with each other so they finally got married. Iago was jealous of his companion Cassio because Othello trusted Cassio more than Iago and Othello gave Cassio a promotion. Iago, in order to eradicate Cassio, deceived Othello by saying; Cassio and his wife have adultery. Othello believed what Iago said and began to doubt Cassio and his wife. In the end, Othello killed his wife, but Desdemona did not blame him. In the ends, Iago’s wife has told the whole truth. After Othello knew everything, regretted his action, and killed himself on the side of Desdemona.

There are many themes in Othello, one important theme is race. Race plays a very important role in the play. It has great influence on how people treat Othello. Othello is a black Moor. Even though he is the general in the military, he is disrespected by many people just because of his race. Those people who distrust and disrespect black people never like or trust Othello. For example, Senator Brabantio, Desdemona's father, does not want his daughter to marry Othello because Othello is black moor. Another example is one reason Iago hates Othello is that Othello is black but has more power than him. Othello's race sets him apart from the society. Race also makes Othello perceive himself as an outsider in the white society. Since Othello is a black Moor in a white society, he needs to work harder than others to get what he wants and to gain his reputation. Moreover, race is also the most important element that leads Othello to kill Desdemona. During the play, Othello lost self-confidence because his race. Then he started to question himself, and question Desdemona, finally he killed Desdemona.

The theme in Othello I just talked about, race, does somehow relate to my personal life. My personal life is similar and different from Othello's. I am an immigrant from China. My identity makes me an outsider of the American society. Like Othello, as an outsider I need to work harder than others to achieve my goal. For example, I work very hard to learn English, so I can communicate with others and get good grades in school. At the same time, my life is also different from Othello's because of the social setting. One thing I need to say is that I am luckier than Othello. I live in a modern American society. In this multi-cultural society, I do not have problems with racism, and I do get more opportunities than Othello. Right now, I am studying in this class, a special class for an outsider whose first language is not English. This is an example of an opportunity I got that makes my life easier. Othello could never get this kind of opportunity in his society.

In conclusion, my life does somehow relate to Othello's. We are similar in being outsiders of our own society; but different in that I get more respect from others and get more opportunity from the society, but Othello doesn't.