Short Overview of Othello Play

I-III

In the first two acts Othello shows that he is an extraordinary person by showing us how far in the ranks of the military he has risen after overcoming many obstacles. While racial slurs are said to him by many he keeps a level head in every situation. Othello also professed his love for Desdemona even though he knew of the consequences that would follow, and despite his race he associates with high ranking men around him.

Iago's motivations to destroy Othello, Cassio, and Roderigo is revenge based. He is jealous of their military rank because the Moor overlooked him on position for Lieutenant. His motto for life is we choose our own fate. Roderigo is handled differently because Iago appeals to his desire of Desdemona and manipulates him into thinking he will end up with her. With Othello and Cassio, Iago gets Cassio drunk and into trouble with his boss which happens to be Othello by getting into a fight with Roderigo. Which leads to Desdemona intervening and making Othello jealous. Iago only does this to get revenge.

The technique Iago uses is deception. With him manipulating Othello into thinking Cassio is having an affair with Desdemona, and making Cassio believe, while he is drunk, that Desdemona will take his side in defending him over Othello. It makes each party get mad at the other by having a woman they all share feeling for take the side of another. Roderigo does not take much effort from Iago to convince him if he does things he will get Desdemona.

Throughout the entire play she remains loyal to her husband despite the accusations of being unlawful against her. Where Emilia is experienced, takes the world for how it is,and older, Desdemona is extremely naive and believes everything could be like a fairytale. After Othello is already suspicious of her activities concerning Cassio she tries to bring up again how he should be forgiven which really makes him mad. She is not close to being discreet about it by lying about her handkerchief which leads Othello to believe Cassio is truly her secret lover. She lies to make him less upset with her but in the end he only gets more heated and storms out on her. 

IV-V

One of the most impactful moments where fate is involved is when if Othello had been born white there would have been no objections to his and Desdemona's relationship. If he had been white her father would have been proud of Othello where as he is ashamed to have his daughter associating with him. An example of chance was the Turkish fleet being destroyed in the storm. If they had not been destroyed Othello would have had less time to worry about Desdemona and her affair and more of focusing on not dying at the hands of said fleet. The coincidence is when desdemona loses her handkerchief and Othello accuses her of being unfaithful because he believes she gave it to her secret lover

The difference between Othello and Desdemona that Iago plays on most is

that of color, and, reading the play today, we may be tempted to see the play as being centrally about race relations. However, only one other character, besides Othello, makes much of this difference in color. Which one? Is this character sympathetically portrayed?

 The character more suspicious of human nature is Othello.

 In Othello's final soliloquy he talks about his mishaps and all of his sins he has caused and how he has mistakenly killed his wife for no reason. He uses his words to convey to the audience, more likely the male audience, that he was justified in his actions. In his soliloquy he mentions how he loves Desdemona and implies he does not know how bad his actions actually were. In the end othello is more obsessed with the way he will be remembered to the masses rather than seeing how what he did was wrong. He eventually compares himself to a savage outsider which shows how internally he has admitted to the racism of others around him.

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