Essay Examples on Othello

Writing a good essay on Othello requires you to get an idea of what to write about. To get inspiration, please go through our essay examples on this topic.

Othello Character Analysis Essay

Othello is a very sympathetic character. He is tricked into thinking that his wife is having an affair with another man.

Several other characters in the play, especially Iago, have such a grudge against Othello that they simply hate him and want to ruin his life. They don’t care who gets hurt in the process and are motivated by nothing but sheer selfishness.

Iago is also highly duplicitous, and Othello actually trusted him. The audience has to feel sorry for Othello because he is severely persecuted, tricked, and deceived. He seems like a decent individual, too, in spite of the tragic ending of the drama.

Othello stays strong throughout most of the play, defending himself gracefully in front of the court and only losing his temper at the end. He might not be aware of Iago’s plot but he might sense the persecution.

He becomes weak at the end mainly because he buckles under the pressure of feeling deceived even though he believes Desdemonda deceived him and not Iago. When he commits suicide it is because he cannot live with himself after killing Desdemonda; he does not kill her out of cruelty but out of anguish.

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2. One of the reasons why Othello believed that Desdemonda was unfaithful was because their relationship was new. They had not yet developed the trust that requires many years of marriage.

Because their relationship was new, Othello was more inclined to trust his friends: who he thought were his friends. When confronted with the false evidence of the affair, Othello leapt to a conclusion without offering Desdemonda a chance to defend herself and without being willing to listen to her. His actions also suggest some sexism on his part: being more able to trust males than females based on the ingrained notion that females are morally corruptible. If I were in Othello’s place I would of course not commit murder.

Othello by Shakespeare Essay

Othello is a play made by the great Shakespeare. It is about a tragic hero Othello and the lies and deceits surrounding him. Othello is a noble, honest character and still has the rugged qualities of a great soldier. He is truly one of the greatest characters in all literature. He has such outstanding characteristics, which makes this tragic end so painful.

But it a tragic play and in the end Othello loses some of his outstanding qualities. In the beginning of the play Othello has it all. He is about to become the General and has the love of the fair Desdemona and they are getting married. Othello is manipulated by Iago just like everyone else in the play and is brought down to Iago’s level. The downfall of Othello starts with the words of Desdemona’s father Brabantio.

“Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see: She has deceived her father, and may thee.” this puts in the back of Othello’s mind the thought of Desdemona cheating on him. Iago will use that later on to help convince Othello that what he is saying is true. Othello acts as if he never heard it but he heard it all right. It will haunt him near the end of the play. The next step in Iago’s plan and Othello’s downfall is the scene where Cassio gets in a fight with Montano.Iago sets up Cassio, so that Othello will see Cassio drunk and might take away the title of lieutenant from Cassio.

This begins the actual plan of Iago. From this point on Iago is thefirst person Othello will turn to for advice since Othello’s once best friends and most trusted officer is found drunk and disrespectful.Othello’s biggest weakness is his trust in everyone. Othello can not see the evil in people, which is the opposite of Iago. Iago will start to abuse this weakness and manipulate Othello to his liking. This is where we see another side of Othello.

Othello as a Tragic Hero Essay

Othello is a play made by the great Shakespeare. It is about a tragic hero Othello and the lies and deceits surrounding him. Othello is a noble, honest character and still has the rugged qualities of a great soldier. He is truly one of the greatest characters in all literature. He has such outstanding characteristics, which makes this tragic end so painful. But it a tragic play and in the end Othello loses some of his outstanding qualities. In the beginning of the play Othello has it all. He is about to become the General and has the love of the fair Desdemona and they are getting married. Othello is manipulated by Iago just like everyone else in the play and is brought down to Iago’s level.

The downfall of Othello starts with the words of Desdemona’s father Brabantio. “Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see: She has deceived her father, and may thee.” this puts in the back of Othello’s mind the thought of Desdemona cheating on him. Iago will use that later on to help convince Othello that what he is saying is true. Othello acts as if he never heard it but he heard it all right. It will haunt him near the end of the play.

The next step in Iago’s plan and Othello’s downfall is the scene where
Cassio gets in a fight with Montano.Iago sets up Cassio, so that Othello will see Cassio drunk and might take away the title of lieutenant from Cassio. This begins the actual plan of Iago. From this point on Iago is thefirst person Othello will turn to for advice since Othello’s once best friends and most trusted officer is found drunk and disrespectful.Othello’s biggest weakness is his trust in everyone. Othello can not see the evil in people, which is the opposite of Iago.Iago will start to abuse this weakness and manipulate Othello to his liking. This is where we see another side of Othello.

Othello’s Reputation Essay

The reputations of the main characters in Shakespeare’s Othello are very important in what makes this story such a tragedy.Reputation is so important in the play because it gives the readers insight into characters and allows for character manipulation and the tragedy of Othello to unfold. Othello’s reputation among the citizen’s of Venice is one of a great and respected fighter and military man.While Othello has done many good things to build a reputation in Venice, as his story goes he destroys his it withfew actions. Thefirst of Othello’s bad choices is his elopement with Brabantio’s daughter Desdemona.While Barbantio is certain Othello stole Desdemona by using witchcraft, “That thou hast practisted on her with foul charms, Abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals That weakens the motion.” he calls on the Senate and Duke to discipline Othello for his actions.

As Othello tells the Duke how he wooed Desdemona with stories of fighting on the battle field “She loved me for the dangers I had passed And I loved her that she did pity them” the Duke replies to Barbantio that “I think this tale would win my daughter too”.Desdemona is called in to the senate to Othello’s account of what has happened.With Desdemona’s support and Othello’s reputation the Duke sends him to the battle with the Turks without punishment.As Othello arrives in Cyprus Iago, (Othello’s good friend) begins to unravel his plans to destroy Othello’sand Michael Cassio’s life and reputation. Iago has a sound reputation with all the characters in the play as Othello’s ensign or right hand man. This is how Iago conceals his devilish intentions and organizes his plan to destroy Cassio and Othello’s lives. While Iago never comes out and tells the other characters of his plans he does not outright lie either.

Othello and the Soul Essay

In Othello, Shakespeare repeatedly uses strong imagery for literary effect. We constantly read about heaven and the heart, each with a multitude of meanings. The word soul is another symbol used very often in the play. This essay is dedicated to the word soul, and the different ways Shakespeare uses it to depict characters, and set scenes.

The first reference to soul is very early in the play. In Act One, Scene One, Lines 50-51 Iago states, “Do well thrive by them, and when they have lined their coats / Do themselves homage. These fellows have some soul.” These lines are in the middle of a 30-line rant, and Iago uses soul to mean audacity. He is saying that there are many false soldiers who fight for the glory they might later receive. He is also saying these soldiers have a lot of nerve to address their kings as honest men, instead of glory-seekers. Ironically, Iago turns out to be the most dishonest character in the play.

Shortly after, Iago uses the word soul to mean family. He has alerted Brabantio that Desdemona has absconded from their home. He tells Brabantio, “Your heart is burst, you have lost half your soul” (I.i.79). Simply, he is saying that of the two people who should be asleep inside, only one (half) of them is there. Again, Iago is a frequent user of the word soul, but in this line he is, again, being duplicitous.

By Scene 2, Othello is using the word soul. He says to Iago, “Not I. I must be found. / My parts, my title, and my perfect soul / Shall manifest me rightly. Is it they?”. Here, Othello is referring to his conscience. He is saying that he has a clean conscience. Iago turns Othello’s clear conscience into a murderous one; so, again, it is ironic that Othello is using the word in this manner.

Othello uses the world soul interchangeably with the word life, too. He tells Iago, “He that stirs next to carve for his own rage / Holds his soul light; he dies upon his motion “. Othello’s tone is ominous in this scene. This is a part of Othello’s charm – his ability to take control of the battlefield, and the men under his command. Emilia uses the word to mean life, as well. Vouching for Desdemona’s fidelity, she tells Othello that she will “lay down my soul at stake” . She is offering to give up her life in testimony to Desdemona’s faithfulness. Both these characters use the word soul to mean life, but in each case death is at the heart of their comments.

In Act 3, soul is used instead of discretion. Iago says to Othello, “There are a kind of men so loose of soul / That in their sleeps will mutter their affairs”. Iago is setting Othello up to believe that he has proof of Desdemona’s indiscretion with Cassio. There seems to be a pattern of irony in many of the scenes where the word soul is used. Iago is talking about men who lack discretion, or morality, as he is actively engaged in tricking Othello into believing that his wife is unfaithful.

These three characters are not the only ones who use soul to symbolize something else. The references to soul, and with definitions that are different, still, than the ones listed above, leave room for the theory that soul is important to Shakespeare. His frequent reuse of any word is a hint that there is something that needs to be paid attention to, even if he isn’t saying the exact same thing each time.