Preview

Othello's Response To Power

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1183 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Othello's Response To Power
Othello Extended Response –
Othello written by William Shakespeare is one of the most famous plays ever written. Shakespeare’s use of language to convey deeper meanings in lines that appear to be quite superficial or simple. A deep analysis of Othello reveals the play is essentially about power. Shakespeare clearly demonstrates the concept of power through human emotion and language. As well as using language he illustrates the power of social conventions such as reputation. Shakespeare also uses different symbols to visually express power and the monstrosity associated with it. The play’s story is largely based upon shifts in power that eventually leads to Othello’s demise.

Iago is the plays most vicious villain and this is majorly due
…show more content…
But as the play moves forward and Iago starts gaining a greater control of the characters, the power is shifted as Othello starts succumbing to jealousy. The audience identifies Othello as a powerful figure early on because of personal qualities but as he begins losing them, he starts to lose this power. Othello loses his self-control and he is not as calm and collected as he was at the beginning of the play. Othello’s language becomes less elegant and it slowly becomes much like Iago’s language. This is displayed in Act 3 Scene 3, “Arise, black vengeance, from thy hollow cell! Yield up, O love, thy crown and hearted throne to Tyrannous hate! Swell, bosom, with thy fraught, for ‘tis aspics’ tongues.” The audience can observe the contrast between Othello’s language in the first act, and in this scene, in which he includes dark and grim imagery. “O, blood, blood, blood!” The huge amount of passion he has towards Desdemona is shown as he is clearly destroyed and heart – broken. If it were not for this passion, Othello’s reaction may not have been this large and hence the eventual demise of Desdemona may never have happened. The shift in power is further evident in this quote and the audience is given the feeling this is the point in which Othello has finally shifted over from hero to villain. Othello’s elegant language only returns after he has killed Desdemona and realizes what he has done. His beautiful language is shown in his last words before he kills himself, “Of one that lov’d not wisely, but too well; of one not easily jealous. Act 5 Sc ln

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Othello is a tragic hero whose jealousy is cleverly manipulated by the maleficent Iago, transforming him from a noble figure to a disturbed murderer. In keeping with the tragic genre, Shakespeare depicts a sequence of events through which bring about Othello’s decline. The playwright slowly escalates the emotional intensity of the play as Othello becomes more obsessed and less rational. The audience experience a range of emotions as the emotional escalation created is at last over.…

    • 2160 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Othello’s prestige (that of a dark, tall, African Moor), joined with his particular charisma, aids him in achieving the admiration and loyalty of the Venetian people and senators. Othello, subsisting as a soldier for a large interval of his life, is viewed as an exceptionally honourable gentleman. His status as a governor-general itself displays an aura of aristocracy, poise, and potency. The identity portrays someone who is sustained in tremendously high reverence by the people of Venice. In addition to him exhibiting pronounced characteristics and courage, Othello also exhibits pride. He retains his composure during the initial confrontation with the senators when he is accused of witchcraft when Desdemona's father faces Othello about his courting his daughter: “Most potent, grave, and reverend signiors,/ My very noble and approved good masters,/ That I have ta'en away this old man’s daughter,/ It is most true. True, I have married her./ The very head and front of my offending/ Hath this extent, no more,” ( I.iii.76-81). Though Iago is the venomous serpent of the play, it is Othello’s tragic faults of gullibility and jealously that convert him from an aristocrat into a venomous creature himself, which inescapably carriages him to his demise. Although Iago fuels the fire that is Othello’s jealously through his tactics of…

    • 1259 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Love, jealousy and power. A deadly combination, some would say. The American Players Theatre production of Othello emphasized these themes, making it relatable to the audience. Othello has been performed for centuries with many different interpretations. The American Players Theatre production of Othello directed by John Lang shows the harmful influence of power, and how it leads to deception and corruption. By highlighting universal themes of love, jealousy, and power, the American Players Theatre production of Othello made this play relatable to a modern day audience.…

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Despite having done his services to the state, he reveals his foolishness as someone who existed within and outside Venetian society giving rise to a series of contradictions. In line 342, he asks others to speak of him as he truly is being, “nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice.” The first contradictory sentence reveals that he does not wish for his guilt to be lessened as suggested by the diction “extenuate.” Nor does he want be considered evil which he would feel ashamed for as Iago is the real villain in the play. Othello reveals in the next line that he has “loved not wisely, but too well” indicating that he was unable to convey the same amount of affection back to Desdemona as she had done to him. Othello’s love for Desdemona reveals a sensitive part of Othello despite his military background. It was Othello’s love for Desdemona, however, that acted as a catalyst to…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The premise of, ‘Othello’, and its 2001 contemporary film adaption, ‘O’, is that those who seemingly sit atop the social hierarchy, dominate power, and therefore have control and authority throughout society. The theme of ‘power’ in the form of status and position is explored throughout Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ and Nelson’s ‘O’. Reputation is a very important value held by all characters in ‘Othello’ and also by the people of Shakespeare’s time. The film ‘O’ has been able to…

    • 1286 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Miss

    • 532 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Throughout act one, two and most of three, Othello is the same calm, strong character who is in love with his wife. In Act 3, Scene 3 is where everything changes, Othello goes from being a noble figure to a disturbed murderer, Iago is to blame for this. Iago pushed Othello to turn his feelings into jealousy and anger, this lead to him wanting to kill his wife and Cassio. Othello also says that when he stops loving Desdemona, there will be ‘chaos’, by the end of this scene he is already plotting her death.…

    • 532 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Shakespeare’s “Othello,” Othello is highly respected and looked up to but later is influenced by the antagonist, Iago, resulting in a jealous insecurity ultimately leading to his murdering of his own wife and the plotting of murdering of his ex-lieutenant, Cassio. The reader first notices Othello’s shift in character…

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Foils in Othello

    • 1326 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Othello, the play's protagonist, is the most dynamic character of them all due to the fact that he is a complete foil of himself by the final act of the play. In the second act Othello is introduced as confident, esteemed general of the Venetian army and a “valiant Moor,” (1.3), but by the end of the play he becomes overcome with insecurity and jealousy because of the rumors fed to him by his general. Throughout the play the audience witnesses the subtle shift in Othello’s feelings toward his wife, Desdemona, and his former lieutenant, Cassio. Othello’s suspicion soon drives him to insanity because he cannot figure out what the truth is. He says “I had been happy, if the general camp, Pioners and all, had tasted her sweet body, So I had nothing known.”(3.3) exclaiming how he would rather Desdemona sleep with the entire army without him knowing than being uncertain of her rumored affair with Cassio. The lie that Iago tells Othello ruins the Moor’s life. Othello goes from a respected commanding officer to an emotionally distraught killer. Iago had made the Moor a mirror image of himself.…

    • 1326 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Deterioration In Othello

    • 1202 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Othello by William Shakespeare is a tragedy that depicts the fall of an honourable man through the deliberate deception and manipulation of a dishonourable man. The play describes the protagonist Othello’s disintegration and the tragic consequences of his moral deterioration. In the tragedy Othello, Shakespeare develops themes of trust and betrayal and employs dramatic conventions such as irony, the fatal…

    • 1202 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    At the beginning of the play, Othello has such confidence in his skill with language that he can claim that he is “rude” in speech, knowing that no one will possibly believe him (I.iii.81). He then dazzles his audience with a forty-line speech that effortlessly weaves words such as “hair-breadth” and “Anthropophagi” into blank verse lines. But in the moments when the pressure applied by Iago is particularly extreme, Othello’s language deteriorates into fragmented, hesitant, and incoherent syntax. Throughout Act III, scene iii, Othello speaks in short, clipped exclamations and half-sentences such as “Ha!” (III.iii.169), “O misery!” (III.iii.175), and “Dost thou say so?” (III.iii.209). There is also notable repetition, as in “Not a jot, not a jot” (III.iii.219), “O, monstrous, monstrous!” (III.iii.431), “O, blood, blood, blood!” (III.iii.455), and “Damn her, lewd minx! O, damn her, damn her!” (III.iii.478).…

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During a conversation between Othello and Iago, we see Othello become frustrated then fall into a trance. By the time Act V rolls around, destruction takes place everywhere. Othello loses his reputation among the Venetians by first slapping Desdemona. Then, Iago convinces Othello to murder his wife in the sacred bed sheets. There is still some care left for Desdemona from Othello because he does not want to harm her beautiful white skin, and he cares about her soul asking, “Have you prayed tonight, Desdamon?” (2.26). Next, Othello is stripped of his position in the army and to be put on trial. In the end, Othello stabs himself leaving everybody disappointed and his deceiver to be tortured.…

    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Conflict in Othello

    • 867 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Othello is a play which contains many conflicts between the characters. The main conflicts in ‘Othello’ are between friends and foes. Othello’s inner conflict, cultural and racial differences which lead to racial judgement and discrimination, to express these conflicts; Shakespeare uses many techniques such as soliloquies, dramatic irony, imagery foreshadowing and symbolism.…

    • 867 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Othello Language

    • 441 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In “Act 1 scene 1”. Othello's mind is poetic but simple, he is not observant. His nature tends outward. He is quite free from self examination, and is not given to reflection. Emotion gives him his imagination, but it confuses and dulls his intellect. In “Act 1 Scene 2” Shakespeare’s use of poetical linguistics limits Othello’s views on other characters “honest Iago”. One of the main contrasts of language in Othello is “Act 1 Scene 2”. This is when the audience became aware of Iago’s duplicitous nature, at the beginning of the play he speaks of his resentment filled hate “I know my price, I am worth no worse a place. But he (as loving his own pride and purposes)” but he warns Othello of Brabantio’s “bad intentions”. Shakespeare showed the transformation in Iago’s language when he was interacting with other characters. This presented the audiences growing distrust. However articulate Othello is commanding, but arrogant “Keep up your bright swords for the dew…

    • 441 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Othello’s notable tragic flaw is, as Iago states himself, “The Moor is of a free and open nature”, meaning that he takes people and things at face value, not expecting any hidden vendetta or betrayal. This can be emphasized since Othello was interpreted by Shakespeare as being a soldier since he was seven years old. This would mean that he would expect to recognize his enemy simply by looking at his face, and not expect any attack from his supposed allies. This is where the audience gets the impression that Othello is hopelessly naïve, which can be seen at how he describes the man who hates him the most, “my ancient: A man he is of honesty and trust.” In the following quotation Othello asks Iago to look after his most prized possession: his wife, Desdemona. This moment can be considered significant as it could symbolize Othello placing Desdemona’s and his own life in Iago ’s hands. “Honest Iago, My Desdemona must I leave to thee.” One example of Othello’s tragic flaw leading to his downfall is when he mishears the conversation between Cassio and Iago, and by his own thinking, contemplates murder. “How shall I murder him, Iago?” Although Iago does succeed in convincing Othello to kill Desdemona, there is no quotation before Act 4 Scene 1…

    • 1326 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    2008 Othello Question

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Othello’s character changed dramatically throughout the play. My view of Othello morphed for the duration of the play, he transformed from a vigilant, immaculate, congenial and amorous man to naïve, imprudent, rash and violent man blinded by envy. Othello allows himself to be “led by the nose” when he believes that “honest Iago” would never lie to him.…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays