Male Motivation in Othello, the Play

An Investigation Into The Male Motivation In Othello The behavior and characteristics of the male protagonists carries more significance to the details, plot and language of the play than any other characters, male or female. It is the issues of masculinity and the connotations that come with masculinity that form the basis of this play. Without Shakespeare's male characters portraying some kind of behavior that is a result of strong and false masculinity. For example it could be said that Iago's hatred of Othello lies in the truth that Othello is a stronger, younger and more powerful man than he is. Also I will explain why the actions of Othello, Iago and Brabantio are all, to some extent controlled or influenced by their masculinity and their male tendencies. Of course these assertions are not unfounded. Shakespeare projects these issues quite clearly through language and representative behavior meaning for example when Othello suffers a seizure represents his physical and physiological inability to cope with the so called `proof` provided by Iago that Desdemona is unfaithful to him. The relatively established issues about the differences in the male and female actions are of course somewhat dictated by the distinct lack of communication between the two male and female protagonists. This could be seen as a result of an inability in Othello to communicate with Desdemona

  • Word count: 1642
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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In Your Opinion Does Shakespeare Marginalise Women, or Praise Their Strengths?

Do you believe that Shakespeare victimises and marginalises women or praises their independence and strength? Shakespeare's Othello contains only three female characters, Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca. There are many ways of interpreting these three antagonistic characters and their roles in the play. However, before we can undertake this task we have to assess the reasons behind Shakespeare's inclusion of such females. Depending on whether we take a modern reading of the play or a periodic one can change our feelings towards these three women. For example, a modern day reading of Emilia standing up to Iago, means she did the right thing and therefore Shakespeare is praising her, but a periodic reading would show her as immoral and he is therefore victimising her, and pushing her to the edges of society. Despite the connection of women to Iago's schemes, they are neither the targets nor the stimulus for his revenge. Instead, they are relegated to tertiary roles. Nevertheless, the women still suffer the most from Iago's plans. Beyond Desdemona's obvious objectification, the women in the play are defined in sexual terms, for example Bianca is portrayed as a prostitute as Cassio refers to her as 'A customer'. Consequently, because women's roles are socially constructed as either the good woman and wife or the evil seductress, the male figures in their lives often suspect women

  • Word count: 1014
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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What makes Act One of Othello powerful?

What makes Act One of Othello powerful? Shakespeare's 'Othello' was first published in 1622 and revolves around four central characters; Othello, Desdemona, Iago and Cassio. The central conflict evokes contrasting emotions of passion, hatred, envy and jealousy. Act One marks the night of Othello and Desdemona's elopement but it also initiates the pattern of night and day, dark and light, black and white, which is emblematic of the polarize debate centred upon the inter-racial marriage. From Act One Scene One, Shakespeare captures the audience's attention and presents us with an incredibly powerful opening. 'Othello' opens in media res with two characters engaged in a dispute; the scene is set for conflict, and a mood of confusion and intrigue immediately established. The audience does not know what the characters are talking about because the subject of so much of their conversation, Othello, is never referred to by name, heightening our anticipation. We learn Iago's name in the second line of the play and Roderigo's soon afterward, but Othello is not once mentioned by his name. Rather, he is ambiguously referred to as "he" and "him." He is also called "the Moor", "the thick-lips", and "a Barbary horse" -all names signifying that he is dark-skinned immediately drawing the audience's attention to the racial prejudice present. The location of this scene is significant, and

  • Word count: 1837
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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The women in Othello lack power and importance; they are purely used as dramatic devices to offset the tragedy of the main character. How far do you agree with this statement?

"The women in 'Othello' lack power and importance; they are purely used as dramatic devices to offset the tragedy of the main character." How far do you agree with this statement? In Othello, a play dominated by strong, high-ranked combatant males, female characters are the minority. Critics have argued that Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca are mostly, if not only, seen in their relationships with men, whereas the male characters are also seen in their professional roles. This feeds the view that the women in Othello are employed as devices to help manipulate the men as part of Iago's plan. The mixed-race marriage between Desdemona and Othello, in context, would have been very controversial. Their relationship would stand out to an audience, not only simply for their relationship but also because of their apparent equal standing at the start of the play. When their relationship is revealed, Othello highlights their mutual respect for one another when he asks the Duke to 'send for the lady to the Sagittary, and let her speak of me before her father', challenging patriarchy and expressing that he believes his wife should be allowed to speak for herself. At the beginning of the play, Desdemona depicts the image of a powerful woman. She has publicly disobeyed her father using confident speech such as 'my noble father, I do perceive here a divided duty' which contrasts her father's

  • Word count: 1530
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Explore the way the Shakespeare Dramatically Presents Iago.

Explore the way the Shakespeare Dramatically Presents Iago. In the play "Othello" Iago is seen as a malign metaphor for all that is obscured within the play. During the course of this essay I intend to investigate many aspects and viewpoints of Iago form both the perception of characters in the play and the audience. Because of the masked instinct of Iago as a person, the audience often just see his humorous and openly malevolent sides. I however believe there are many masked faces and complexities revealed by Shakespeare's dramatic presentation of Iago purely due to the fact that almost every line Shakespeare writes has an intention. The first glimpse that the audience get of Iago is of him in Venice. In many ways this connects what has made Iago how he is, the exact product of Venetian Society. The alleyway in which "Othello" starts reflects the obscured view of Iago and connects it with Iago's ironically "honest" persona. For example, the light/dark imagery of the scene suggests secrecy and obscured events, yet Iago proclaims his open honesty with the fact he will "wear his heart on his sleeve for daws to peck at". This quote shows us that Iago is so comfortable in his surroundings; he can allow this interpersonal intimacy yet has no vulnerability with it. However, in the true style of Venetian society, the warm honesty disguises something much more sinister as Iago

  • Word count: 1414
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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In Othello Shakespeare presents a society in which there is one form of morality and justice for men and an entirely different one for women.

In Othello Shakespeare presents a society in which there is one form of morality and justice for men and an entirely different one for women. Do you agree? Examine IV.III In Othello the protagonists are subject to rigid divisions between male and female expectations and often have to sacrifice themselves for it. The play confronts traditional principles which would have been central to the Jacobean public. Throughout the play Shakespeare outlines the social obligations which drive the characters' lives as well as destinies. Men are expected to fulfil different roles in the society than women. The play challenges honesty and sexuality and tests moral values of the characters and the ideals of justice. Although initially presented as often being completely for men and women, visible links between the moralities' of the two sexes are drawn which forces the Jacobean audience and modern reader to reconsider their moral principles and judgements. In addition, Shakespeare reveals the influence of social standing on the character's morality, which often overrides that of gender. The differences in sexual morality and justice between men and women are explored in the play. The importance of sexual interactions is evident in all the relationships between the characters, however the attitude towards sexuality is not the same for men and women. In Scene IV.III during a discussion

  • Word count: 1667
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Evaluation of BBC version of Othello

In the BBC version of Othello Desdemona is portrayed as the strong, ahead of her time woman that we are introduced to in the play at the beginning. This interpretation seems to fit with the plot of the play as the events which have unfolded all stem from Desdemona agreeing to marry Othello, an action which may have been against the norm in that period of time. So as the audience we have seen Desdemona so far as a strong, own minded character and not one that worries about her position in society as a women. Although traditionally she would have done as her father told and therefore married who her father chose, she goes against this idea in marrying Othello, so we see right from the beginning hat she is not concerned with her place as a woman, she will be out spoken if he wishes. As a high class woman she puts on a brave face in public, so not to allow anyone to think that she and Othello were unhappy. Her facial expressions in public are often a smile and very gentle looking, where as when she is with Emilia it is almost as if she shows no emotion, there is a very distinct lack of feeling between the two characters. She appears also to be very calm throughout this whole scene, which suggests she is unaware of what maybe is going to happen to her. Her tone of voice is almost a drone; she shows no emotion through her voice, unlike the NUNN version. The lighting in this

  • Word count: 1615
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Examine Shakespeare's presentation of the changes of Othello's character in 'Othello'

Examine Shakespeare's presentation of the changes of Othello's character in 'Othello' Othello is a tragic play based on a foreign yet eloquent man being manipulated into changing his perceptions of others. One of the most noticeable changes in the play is the apparent transformation of Othello's character; from a "noble Moor" to a "blacker devil". Shakespeare presents this change through a number of means, such as how other characters portray him, the words used to describe his character and his actions, and the jealous situations he involves himself in. Othello is absent in the first scene of the play, allowing Shakespeare to present his character through the words of others: specifically Iago and Roderigo. They use racist terms, and mock his military acumen to degrade him, "The Moor...But he, loving his own pride and purposes" They also often refer to him using animalistic terms, such as "old black ram...Barbary horse...devil", presenting a negative view of Othello to the audience. Shakespeare purposely absents Othello from the first scene, to allow a character profile to be immediately conjured into the heads of the audience, thus creating an image of Othello's character, before we meet him, to emphasise how different he appears in person later, and to pave a way for his later acts of violence. Contradictory to earlier views presented to the audience, Shakespeare

  • Word count: 2138
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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An Exploration of Imagery in Othello

Word count: 2147 An Exploration of Shakespeare's Use of Imagery in 'Othello' Shakespeare uses imagery of hell, the devil and animals to present the corruption of Iago's character and his cynical perspective on human emotions. The changes in Othello's character are also charted through the use of imagery, as the religious images and images of military heroism used to portray his nobility are replaced with devil imagery, which reflects his downfall. The imagery he himself uses begins to change to mirror Iago's, for example Othello begins to use derogatory animal imagery to describe sexual acts. In addition, changes in Othello and Desdemona's relationship are shown through imagery as the language Othello and Desdemona use to describe their feelings changes. Overpowering emotions, such as love and suffering are conveyed to the audience through imagery, particularly imagery of the sea, a recurring motif in the play. Shakespeare uses devil, animal and poisoning imagery in 'Othello' to reveal aspects of Iago's character. Iago delights in evil and deception and this is shown through devil imagery in his soliloquy at the end of the first act, where he describes the hatching of his plan in the lines: 'hell and night/must bring this monstrous birth to the world's light.' (Act 1, Scene 3, lines 402-403). The use of the phrase 'hell and night' here shows Iago knows his plan is

  • Word count: 2231
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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How far do we see different attitudes to love presented in Othello?

How far do we see different attitudes to love presented in Othello? Othello has always been seen as a play that has love as its primary focus. Indeed, almost every main character, not just Othello and Desdemona, is somehow involved in a love affair. Not everyone treats love the same way, however. In a play that has so many strikingly different characters, it is thus natural for us to see an accordingly vast range of conceptions of love. In the next few paragraphs, I will attempt to uncover what these various attitudes to love are, hence in the process illustrate the variety that exists in the play. In many instances, characters come very close to expressing their love in a way that is similar to that by the poets following the Petrarchan tradition. The best example of this is, of course, when Cassio engages in a paean of praise for Desdemona the moment he arrives in Cyprus (Act II, Sc. 1). To him, she is to be equated with the gods and heavens - "the divine Desdemona". Even nature, usually thought to be the most powerful, is simply inferior compared to her: "Tempests themselves, high seas, and howling winds...As having sense of beauty [Desdemona's], do omit / Their mortal natures". Indeed, the language he uses to describe her is extravagant and excessive - "our great captain's captain", having a sustained appearance of hyperboles which shows his exaltation of and admiration

  • Word count: 3224
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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