One way of admiring and understanding Shakespeare’s plays is through critical reading and analysis. The play Othello stars a Black, Muslim—Othello, sometimes, having a character who, is by race, black in a play or story, would somehow automatically contain issues about racism. This paper uses the combination of African American and Ethnic studies to analyze the play “Othello” by William Shakespeare. Racism is clearly manifested throughout the play, Othello was written some time between 1600 and 1605. In a time were ethnic minorities were so unimportant that they were almost ignored, then suddenly a black man rises and has a position of a general in Venice, and is a well respected and trusted by his white leader. (Mahmoud, 2012) Othello was
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Every characters of Shakespeare have their own distinct characteristic but one character really caught my interest. Iago, by description, is by far the most heinous villain in all Shakespeare’s plays. He is the ensign of Othello and he desires to kill Othello as he despises him for choosing Cassio over him to become his lieutenant. Unlike any villain, Iago’s most powerful weapon is his words. He was able to accomplish his plan of revenge with his powerful and deadly words. Here’s why he’s an interesting character for me:
Iago is dangerous and …show more content…
He took advantage of Othello’s weakness, and he used innocent characters to fulfill his plan, making him somehow ‘innocent’ as he was not really the one to do the action. He managed to make his plan work using his powerful mouth. First, he was able to convince Brabantio that Othello used witchcraft to steal Desdemona. (Act I, Scene I) If it weren’t for Iago’s misleading word, Brabantio would have never opposed the marriage of Othello and Desdemona since he was once a friend to Othello. Then he managed to make Roderigo to work with him against Othello, this time he used Roderigo’s weakness, Desdemona, so he can easily manipulate him into helping him destroy Othello. He made Roderigo believe that he was helping him win Desdemona so he can order him around. He also managed to get his wife, Emila, to be involved to his plan without the knowledge of Emila. It was because of the handkerchief that he ordered Emilia to steal from Desdemona that made Othello believed him more and made him furious and decided to kill his own wife. It was also because of Iago’s deception that he made Cassio lose his position, (Act II, Scene III) but the greatest manipulation that he did was how he was able to poison the mind of Othello almost leading him to insanity as he was imagining crazy thoughts about his wife and Cassio. Iago’s words made Othello more insecure about his personality and
Every characters of Shakespeare have their own distinct characteristic but one character really caught my interest. Iago, by description, is by far the most heinous villain in all Shakespeare’s plays. He is the ensign of Othello and he desires to kill Othello as he despises him for choosing Cassio over him to become his lieutenant. Unlike any villain, Iago’s most powerful weapon is his words. He was able to accomplish his plan of revenge with his powerful and deadly words. Here’s why he’s an interesting character for me:
Iago is dangerous and …show more content…
He took advantage of Othello’s weakness, and he used innocent characters to fulfill his plan, making him somehow ‘innocent’ as he was not really the one to do the action. He managed to make his plan work using his powerful mouth. First, he was able to convince Brabantio that Othello used witchcraft to steal Desdemona. (Act I, Scene I) If it weren’t for Iago’s misleading word, Brabantio would have never opposed the marriage of Othello and Desdemona since he was once a friend to Othello. Then he managed to make Roderigo to work with him against Othello, this time he used Roderigo’s weakness, Desdemona, so he can easily manipulate him into helping him destroy Othello. He made Roderigo believe that he was helping him win Desdemona so he can order him around. He also managed to get his wife, Emila, to be involved to his plan without the knowledge of Emila. It was because of the handkerchief that he ordered Emilia to steal from Desdemona that made Othello believed him more and made him furious and decided to kill his own wife. It was also because of Iago’s deception that he made Cassio lose his position, (Act II, Scene III) but the greatest manipulation that he did was how he was able to poison the mind of Othello almost leading him to insanity as he was imagining crazy thoughts about his wife and Cassio. Iago’s words made Othello more insecure about his personality and