Drama Unit: Othello Major Topics Archetype of the Villain In the tradition of the Vice character from morality plays‚ Iago prizes his own self-interest above all else‚ destroying the lives of others with apparent relish. While he does not appear to possess a conscience‚ he exhibits exceptional intelligence and profound insight into human nature. Although Othello is the central figure of the play‚ it is Iago who controls the action throughout. There is a significant focus on Iago ’s
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The Smothering of Desdemona’s Will in Othello Among William Shakespeare’s vast array of deeply flawed characters‚ Desdemona of Othello stands out as remarkably virtuous and pure of heart. Furthermore‚ Desdemona’s character initially displays a sense of independence and agency that is rare amongst other female characters in literature at the time that Othello was written. However‚ by the story’s end‚ Desdemona is a much more submissive and passive character‚ accepting her tragic circumstance without
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Is the story‚ “Othello” Racist? When reading the play Othello‚ a modern day reader cannot help but wonder if the play is racist. After all‚ there are several places found throughout the story that reference derogatory terms towards people of African descent. Comments such as‚ “Blacker devil”(5.2. 131)‚ “an old black ram” (1.1.9)‚ and‚ “Moor are now making the beast with two backs” (1.1.7)‚ may leads the reader to believe that story is racist towards black people. However‚ this may not be true
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themes in Othello and Hamlet‚ honor is used in very strange ways by Shakespeare. He has a way of showing how his characters can be very honorable or have a lack there of. He displays how honor is interwoven with personal integrity and how acts of attempting to keep a reputation can be confused with the acts of personal integrity. Lastly‚ he also displays how honor relates to the foresight seen by his characters. Honor can be connected to almost any actions made by any of the characters in these
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"If Othello didn’t begin as a play about race‚ history has made it one." The Venetian society that Othello is set in is representative of the writers context. The attitudes and values that Shakespeare reveals through the text are those same attitudes and values of Elizabethan society in England in the sixteenth-century. Although Othello is set in Venice and Cyprus‚ the attitudes and values shared in the text are probably reflective of the attitudes and values of Shakespeare’s own
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Othello: The Tragic Hero In William Shakespeare’s Othello‚ Othello is the tragic hero. He is a character of high stature who is destroyed by his surroundings‚ his own actions‚ and his fate. His destruction is essentially precipitated by his own actions‚ as well as by the actions of the characters surrounding him. The tragedy of Othello is not a fault of a single villain‚ but is rather a consequence of a wide range of feelings‚ judgments and misjudgments‚ and attempts for personal justification
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Othello Essay William Shakespeare’s Othello tells a story of the tragic downfall of a man through jealousy and mistrust‚ influenced by the manipulative actions of another. Due to innumerable changes within society over time‚ it is inevitable that a wide range of critical interpretations and readings of the text will emerge. My personal interpretation of the play draws from the concepts of the traditional Aristotelian views of a tragedy. An Aristotelian interpretation concerns itself with whether
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Representations of the Tragic Hero in Othello and Macbeth One of the engaging elements of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes is that they are not monstrosities of virtue but rather people who are simultaneously accessible and elusive; they are made up of qualities and characteristics that we find within ourselves and other characters within the play while exhibiting an intensity that places them beyond our grasp. We come to realize that we have never known such a person (20). This quality of the tragedies
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What features of Othello contribute to its textual integrity? Shakespeare’s tragic play Othello has the ability throughout time to relate to the intrinsic nature of the human condition. Exposing the vulnerability of humanity‚ Shakespeare confronts the universal concerns such as racism and discrimination‚ which have a sense of timelessness still present from the Elizabethan age to the modern day. Potentially leading an eternal life‚ the play Othello is able to be interpreted by each individual
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and Reversal: Othello Aristotle classifies both recognitions and reversals as the greatest point of tragedy in a play or story. Recognitions and reversals are consistently used to develop character‚ advance the plot‚ and get a reaction of pity and fear from the audience. Recognition is the act of realization or knowledge or feeling that someone or something present has been encountered before. Reversals are a major change in attitude or principle or point of view. For the main character or hero/protagonist
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