Honor vs. Reputation: How Do These Effect the Characters Ear?
Othello, a play written by William Shakespeare, is full of suspense and drama. Desdemona falls in love with Othello, a black man that her father does not accept. Othello, the general of Cyprus, hires Cassio, an inexperienced man, to be the lieutenant which causes Iago, an experienced man, to be jealous. This jealousy drives Iago to create a plan that hurts Cassio’s reputation, so that Iago can have the lieutenancy that he deserves. The principles of honor and reputation cause the men in Othello to become arrogant and self-absorbed blunting their sense of empathy; these men need to help and listen to others to become honorable men.
“Honest Iago,” a two-faced, manipulative, man is …show more content…
He is a handsome, wealthy man that other men can’t help to be jealous. With Cassio and Desdemona being friends all of their touchiness and laughter is assumed as flirting, which is of course how the jealous Othello sees it. Cassio being Othello’s lieutenant - has a lot to lose. Once Cassio was drunk he lost all responsibility that Othello saw in him, Othello therefore cut him loose of the job. Once he was unemployed all he could think about was his “Reputation, reputation, reputation!”2.3.281) and how it was lost in the alcohol. Repeating the word ‘reputation’ three times shows Cassio needed to put emphasis on how much he felt that he has lost. After Othello saw Cassio with the handkerchief he was infuriated- thinking that Desdemona gave it to him. Cassio felt so guilty for the misunderstanding and tried gaining trust back in Othello by sincerely apologizing, “I with all the office of my heart. Entirely honor.”(3.4.131) Cassio’s reputation is reflected in this apology because he is kissing up to Othello to possibly get his job back, which he has for the ‘higher ranking’ compared to being seen as anything lower. At the beginning of the play Cassio had the reputation as loyal and powerful, but once he got drunk his reputation was trashed and was now seen as dishonest and irresponsible. Because Cassio cares so much of what others think of him, especially Othello, he tries to avoid him at all points because …show more content…
While lacking empathy these men are not aware of what is going on around them and they just care about their honor. If these men listened to the problems people were going through then all the tragedy would not have happened. Shakespeare has taught the readers that listening can go a long way because when these men didn’t listen they didn’t hear the full stories. For example, Othello just listened to what Iago was saying about Cassio and Desdemona which caused him anger, instead of asking Desdemona what was happening, so she could clear up the misunderstandings. Because of the misunderstandings Othello killed her and then himself, if he just would have been upfront with her she would have gotten the opportunity to tell Othello what was happening and how to make no further
Othello, a play written by William Shakespeare, is full of suspense and drama. Desdemona falls in love with Othello, a black man that her father does not accept. Othello, the general of Cyprus, hires Cassio, an inexperienced man, to be the lieutenant which causes Iago, an experienced man, to be jealous. This jealousy drives Iago to create a plan that hurts Cassio’s reputation, so that Iago can have the lieutenancy that he deserves. The principles of honor and reputation cause the men in Othello to become arrogant and self-absorbed blunting their sense of empathy; these men need to help and listen to others to become honorable men.
“Honest Iago,” a two-faced, manipulative, man is …show more content…
He is a handsome, wealthy man that other men can’t help to be jealous. With Cassio and Desdemona being friends all of their touchiness and laughter is assumed as flirting, which is of course how the jealous Othello sees it. Cassio being Othello’s lieutenant - has a lot to lose. Once Cassio was drunk he lost all responsibility that Othello saw in him, Othello therefore cut him loose of the job. Once he was unemployed all he could think about was his “Reputation, reputation, reputation!”2.3.281) and how it was lost in the alcohol. Repeating the word ‘reputation’ three times shows Cassio needed to put emphasis on how much he felt that he has lost. After Othello saw Cassio with the handkerchief he was infuriated- thinking that Desdemona gave it to him. Cassio felt so guilty for the misunderstanding and tried gaining trust back in Othello by sincerely apologizing, “I with all the office of my heart. Entirely honor.”(3.4.131) Cassio’s reputation is reflected in this apology because he is kissing up to Othello to possibly get his job back, which he has for the ‘higher ranking’ compared to being seen as anything lower. At the beginning of the play Cassio had the reputation as loyal and powerful, but once he got drunk his reputation was trashed and was now seen as dishonest and irresponsible. Because Cassio cares so much of what others think of him, especially Othello, he tries to avoid him at all points because …show more content…
While lacking empathy these men are not aware of what is going on around them and they just care about their honor. If these men listened to the problems people were going through then all the tragedy would not have happened. Shakespeare has taught the readers that listening can go a long way because when these men didn’t listen they didn’t hear the full stories. For example, Othello just listened to what Iago was saying about Cassio and Desdemona which caused him anger, instead of asking Desdemona what was happening, so she could clear up the misunderstandings. Because of the misunderstandings Othello killed her and then himself, if he just would have been upfront with her she would have gotten the opportunity to tell Othello what was happening and how to make no further