Power Of Death In Othello

The Power of Death After reading Shakespeare’s play Othello, one can easily conclude that it is primarily about jealousy and revenge. While that may be true, there are other aspects of the play that are not as transparent such as the underlying struggles of power and class. Power and class have a fundamental role throughout the play because it motivates character behavior. A character’s behavior in any type of written work is dependent upon what they seek to gain and can be motivated by many different variables. Some characters, such as Othello and Desdemona, seek to gain something as abstract as love while other characters such as Iago seek to gain something more concrete like power. The power struggle between the characters in Othello is …show more content…
Iago’s egotistical quest of power may have led to his own downfall but his death cannot be viewed as a failure but more as a success because he achieved his goal of obtaining power even after his death. Iago’s death immortalized him because he will always be remembered for the tragedy he caused as well as the evil, manipulative behavior used in order to achieve the power he sought over everyone and the situation. Iago was able to gain even more power when he refused to speak at the end of the play so that he could control the known details of the tragedy he caused. Iago’s actions caused many catastrophic tragedies such as the death of multiple characters-Othello, Desdemona, and Emilia-but he gained what he wanted most which was power. The extreme measures that Iago went through cost him the ultimate price, which was his own life, but he was able to achieve the power he sought through the evil, manipulative behavior he used throughout the play. He was also able to leave his legacy behind as well as keep the extent of what he went through confidential in order to gain what he wanted. Iago’s behavior on his quest for power is only example of the extreme measures a character would go through in order to achieve the power they want or a rise in rank of class. Understanding that Iago gained more power from his death than when he was alive allows us to see that his death was not a failure but more of a