Othello Good vs Evil - 1525 Words

Good Or Evil: A Critical Analysis of Othello’s Main Characters William Shakespeare’s Othello is a classic depiction of a struggle between good and evil. In the play,, the characters are faced with the choice to either conquer or succumb to the overpowering force of evil. Shakespeare places his characters on a sort of spectrum in which a character’s amount of god or evil can be represented by a shade of color: black representing pure evil, white representing absolute goodness, and a shade of grey exemplifying the nature of all characters that fall in between the two extremes of the spectrum. In the play Othello, the main characters are a prefect example of this technique of characterization. Through plot development, interactions with†¦show more content†¦Wyndham Lewis states in his criticism of Othello that, â€Å"For Othello there is nothing equivocal, I think; and the black fugre of this child-man is one of the poles of Shakespeare’s sensationà ¢â‚¬  (39). Here, Lewis is explaining how Othello believes only one side of the story that he hears. He has become a black figure: and evil man on the extreme end of one side of shakespeare’s spectrum. Othello ultimately loses the battle to evil because of his blindness caused by deceit and jealousy. In the end, Othello ends his sufferings by taking his own life; turning himself over as a victim of the darkness that clouded his life. The dramatic shift from good to evil in Othello is what characterizes him as being a grey character. From very early in the play, it is apparent that the character Iago represents pure evil in Othello. The first few lines spoken by Iago are those that express an absolute hate and disgust of a specific individual, who we later find out is Othello. 3It is this hatred for Othello that drives the entire action of the play, as it is based upon Iago’s diabolical scheming and malevolent manipulation of Othello. Iago, a master of manipulation, co nvinces Othello that Desdemona is having an affair. The shroud of lies Iago is able to create around Othello is too thick for him to see through and Othello is eventually convinced of the infidelity of his wife which leads to him taking her life, and shortly afterward, his own. Iago clearly has an extreme hatred forShow MoreRelated Appearnce Vs. Reality Othello Essay622 Words   |  3 Pagespersonality is quite distant from what he pretends to be. In Shakespeare’s Othello, the reader is presented the classic battle between good and evil. It is these forces of evil that ultimately lead to the breakdown of Othello. Othellos breakdown results in the murder of his wife Desdemona. Desdemona is representative of the good in nature. Good can be defined as forgiving, honest, innocent and unsuspecting. The evil contained within Othello is by no means magical or mythical yet is represented by the characterRead MoreThemes in Shakespeares Othello Essay1155 Words   |  5 PagesOthello was written by Jacobean playwright William Shakespeare in 1603. It proved a huge success when first performed in 1604, in front of a huge audience. The story is one of Shakespeare’s great tragedy themed plays. Othello is the black protagonist and highly esteemed Venetian general. Iago is the ambitious but scheming villain of the play. When Othello promotes a man called Michael Cassio over Iago, he is furious and launches a malicious campaign against Othello. Meanwhile, Othello has marriedRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Macbeth Vs. Othello1006 Words   |  5 PagesNadia Chilcoat Macbeth vs. Othello Period: â…š 12/12/2014 Macbeth vs. Othello Ancient Greeks believed that a tragic hero must be admirable but flawed, someone the audience can sympathize with, and someone capable of good and evil. The main character must also have a doctrine of free will, in which they are able to redeem themselves, but they continue to fall freely in a downward spiral from a position of superiority. The audience must also be able toRead MoreMedea and Othello1559 Words   |  7 PagesTwo tragedies from two different time period, Medea and Othello show similarities and differences in their characters, story plots and settings. Euripedes’ Medea written in the classical period and Shakespeare’s Othello written in the romantic era, the two tragedies shows different feel of what tragedies are. First of all, the most obvious difference between these two play is how Medea shows unities (time, place and action) whilst Othello has none. It’s clearly shown in the first scene, as soonRead MoreThe Eyes Can Deceive By William Shakespeare867 Words   |  4 PagesWilliam Shakespeare. Appearance vs. reality is often a theme he plays around with. In the play Othello this theme is very apparent through the plotline of the characters. Characters often believe the only truth they happen to know. However the truth is not always what is really occurring. In many instances the realities of the characters is not always existent. Iago is the main protagonist who deceives everyone in the play. Iago uses the technique of appearance vs. reality to ruin the lives of CassioRead MoreKing Lear : A Shakespearean Shakespearian Tragedy1540 Words   |  7 PagesMany people do regard it as one of the best Shakespeare tragedies, but it generally comes down to opinion. In order to determine the be st Shakespeare tragedy, it has to be stacked up against other well-known Shakespearian tragedies like Macbeth, Othello, Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, and Hamlet in multiple ways, both objectively and subjectively. When compared to these plays, it is evident that King Lear should not be counted as one of the top four Shakespearian tragediesRead MoreOthello by William Shakespeare: An Epic Play Worth Reading1406 Words   |  6 Pagesnumerous times and they apologize for something they did to you? I can think of one play that can answer each of these questions and a whole lot more. This play is Shakesphere’s Othello and it is one with an epic war between Love and Evil. While reading Othello, one encounters such diverse and dynamic characters as, Othello, Desdemona, Rodergio, Iago, and Cassio. These characters are all affected, in some way either by jealousy, or manipulated by Iago to feel jealousy. The literary techniques thatRead MoreOthello, By Willia m Shakespeare1152 Words   |  5 Pages‘Othello’ was a tragedy of incomprehension at the deepest level of human dealings as no one in the play came to an understanding of himself or any of the surrounding characters. The play ‘Othello’ by William Shakespeare focused on tragedy through the anguish of the main character ‘Othello’ which lead to the suffering and death of numerous characters including himself. Appearance Vs. Reality challenged human dealings within the play ‘Othello’ as no-one came to see anyone’s true self and no-one seesRead MoreOthello as a Tragedy of Character1649 Words   |  7 PagesOthello as â€Å"A Tragedy of Character† â€Å"Tragedy of Othello/ The Moor of Venice† is a typical of classical tragedy and is regarded as the greatest work of William Shakespeare by many critics. While writing his play in 1604, Shakespeare adapted the story from Italian author Cynthio’s novella called Hecatammithi which was written in 1565. In order to bring a comment on play’s being â€Å"a tragedy of character† it’s necessary to emphasize on these points: general characteristics of classical tragedy, â€Å"TragedyRead MoreThe Three Women Portrayed in Shakespeares Othello Essay618 Words   |  3 PagesThe basis of Shakespeare’s plays appears to focus mainly around the dominant male character and his conflicts, which tend to deal with a woman. There are only three women in the play Othello; Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca. The way in which these women behave and present themselves strongly reflects the ideological expectations of women within Shakespeare’s imagined Venetian society as well as the Elizabethan society in which he lived. This patriarchal Venetian society presented in the play depicts