All of the characters who experience misfortune in Othello bring it upon themselves. Discuss the truth of this statement.

The first 200 words of this essay...

Othello, the Moor of Venice

Essay: Character Weakness and Downfall

All of the characters who experience misfortune in Othello bring it upon themselves. Discuss the truth of this statement.

Many of William Shakespeare's tragedies, including Othello, the Moor of Venice, (c. 1601-1604), commonly portray characters that eventually experience misfortune by the end of the play. This tragic play is a prime example of depicting various characters that each come to their own downfall because of a defective critical weakness. In the play, Othello's mislead insecurities in his wife's love for him, Roderigo's foolish trusting nature, and Desdemona's submissive naivety all illustrate Shakespeare's usage of a critical weakness in causing each character's own misfortunate downfall.

Othello, who slowly becomes increasingly jealous of Cassio, begins to reveal his key weakness of being mislead to insecurity in his innocent wife's love for him. Scene three of Act three is crucial as it reveals the important transition from Othello's peaceful state of mind to constant insecurity, shown through the tone of the direct dialogue given by Othello. He starts to demand Iago many inquisitive questions such as, "Was not that Cassio parted from my wife?" (3.3.38),