Referring to Iago's soliloquy at the end of Act I scene III, examine what Shakespeare shows the audience about his character
Referring to Iago's soliloquy at the end of Act I scene III, examine what Shakespeare shows the audience about his character Iago is one of the central characters within Shakespeare's 'Othello' and is introduced extremely early in the play, Act I scene I. It is generally assumed from even this early in the play that Iago is cunning, plotting man as he converses with Rodrigo. Throughout the centuries the common opinion on Iago is that he is an insidious, misogynistic, materialistic, dissimulating character, among other things. Few critics have spoken in appraisal of Iago's character and actions. In act I scene III, Iago ends the scene with his first soliloquy. Soliloquies generally reveal a lot about a person's character to the audience, but this is the first time the audience gets a taste of his thoughts. He begins by discussing Rodrigo: 'My fool my purse' This is particularly dissimulating as he had just been talking to Rodrigo, planning how to match make him with Desdemona. This is a running theme, Iago's manipulating, and two-faced dealings. This links with: 'That thinks men honest that but seem to be so' As Rodrigo is not the only character in the play that falls for Iago's deceptions. The next part of the soliloquy that reveals a lot about Iago's character is his admittance to using Rodrigo for his own benefits: 'But for my own sport and profit' Iago can use
In Othello, Shakespeare creates characters who reinforce social stereotypes and others who abandon more traditional roles. Discuss.
In Othello, Shakespeare creates characters who reinforce social stereotypes and others who abandon more traditional roles. Discuss. In this essay I aim to discuss the way Shakespeare creates characters who reinforce social stereotypes and others who abandon more traditional roles and how it helps his play by looking at the language form and structure. In Shakespeare's time there were different standings in class, race and in gender, men were above women and whites were above blacks a character that reinforces this stereotype of the time is the character of Brabantio, he is the father of Desdemona who is the object of Othello's heart. Othello is black and Desdemona is white, these two being together let alone married would've been a great shock to audiences in Shakespeare's time, so Shakespeare needed a character to represent the way most people think and this was Brabantio. An example of Branbantio as being stereotypical is when he says where hast thou stowed my daughter? Damned as though art, though hast enchanted her. This shows him as being stereotypical in a varied number of ways the first being he believes that Othello has used magic to make his daughter love him which shows the belief of the dark arts at this time but also the only reasons he believes Othello has used dark arts to enslave his daughter is because he is black, black people at this time were very much
Comment on Shakespeare’s portrayal of Othello. Do you think that it is fair on unfair (i.e. does he present Othello as a real person or a simple stereotype)?
Elizabeth Wood Comment on Shakespeare's portrayal of Othello. Do you think that it is fair on unfair (i.e. does he present Othello as a real person or a simple stereotype)? In Shakespeare's time black people were classed as second-class citizens. They were often looked at as devil-like and evil. This was, however, a stereotypical view, often accepted by the people of Shakespeare's day. People looked at the Bible to show that black people were devil-like and evil. The Bible tells the story of Noah and the Ark. In the Ark it was forbidden to have children, as there would not be enough food. However, Ham, one of Noah's sons, decided to disobey these rules, as he wanted to have the son who would be ruler of the world. When Noah found out and they returned to land, Noah banished Ham to Africa. Ham had committed sin and was evil and devil-like because he had disobeyed his father for his own self-interest, risking the lives of others in the Ark. As black people were said to have originated form Africa, where Ham was banished, they could be descendants of Ham, who was evil, and therefore black people were evil and devil-like too. Black people were also said to be over-sexed, unstable, irrational, suffer from fits, and be devil-like. In the prejudiced mind, Shakespeare presents Othello to match all of these stereotypical categories that black people were said to be. People with an
Double Knaves, Why Are These the Worst Villains in Society
Bradley Alvelo Mr. Small British Literature 1/07/04 Double Knaves, Why Are These the Worst Villains in Society Shakespeare believed the worst villain was the two faced person. Not the person who outright showed they were a villain. The underhanded villain the villain that hides in the shadows and doesn't show their true colors were the worst rogue of all. Shakespeare created characters that were realistic. To do this he received insight from the world around him. In Shakespeare's time he must have been inspired by many rouges of his time. In most of Shakespeare's plays you find the use of double knaves. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Hamlet, and Othello you find great examples of the use of double knavery. In Shakespeare's "Macbeth" Ross a Scottish nobleman was the double knave. In Shakespeare's "Hamlet" the elderly Lord Chamberlain Polonius was the double knave and in Shakespeare's "Othello" the double knave was Iago Othello's ensign, the worst scoundrel of the three plays. Double Knaves are two-faced. They change sides to who ever they think they will benefit most from. Double Knaves are the complete opposite of chivalry-a medieval code which stressed truth, generousness, honor, and courtesy. Double Knaves are devious villains that will destroy anyone that gets in there path. In Shakespeare's "Macbeth" the double knave was Ross. Ross is a very manipulative person and
Othello: Explain the important and effectiveness of 'Act three, Scene three'.
GCSE English - Coursework Othello: Explain the important and effectiveness of 'Act three, Scene three'. In the 17th century, Shakespeare found the plot for 'Othello' in Giraldi Ginthio's collection of tales 'Hicatomithi' (1565). The play itself is set in the 16th century Venice and Cyprus. At the time of Shakespeare, Turks were considered to be barbarians as opposed to the Christians who represented civilization and morality. In the play there is a reference to a Turkish naval attack on the Venetian controlled land of Cyprus. It's because of this battle that most of the plot takes place in Cyprus. The third scene of the third act in the play is an intense and important scene, which displays the turning point of events that begun in the previous two acts. Such events as the migration of Othello, the moor, Desdemona, Othello's wife, Iago, Othello's ensign, Cassio, Othello's lieutenant, Roderigo, Iago's friend, and many Venetian men and women, from Venice to Cyprus. This change of location for the characters and the plot led to opportunities for later aspects of the play; in particular the evil plan created by Iago began to take shape as things fell to place in his favour. In act three, scene three, and the audience can witness Iago's newly found control over the general, Othello. Iago manages to convince Othello that Desdemona is having an affair and is a false woman. This
Critical Analysis of Act 1 Scene 1, Othello.
Critical Analysis of Act 1 Scene 1, Othello: The opening scene of Shakespeare's Othello lacks in detail, many things about what is happening between the two characters present, Iago and Roderigo. They seem to be arguing and there is a sense of disagreement between the two. The play immediately opens with an oath, "Tush" which has the effect of alerting the audience to the aggressive tone. We learn that Roderigo is angry with Iago and that he has lent him money. We do not know why and this raises questions for the audience who are not able to piece the events together at this point. Othello is not introduced at the beginning of the play and when Roderigo says "Thou told'st me thou didst hold him in thy hate" the audience does not know who they are talking about. Shakespeare does this to create an atmosphere of tension in the opening act and by doing this, we are informed of Iago's intention to try and destroy the Moor right from the start. By line forty, the audience is already able to make a clear judgment about Iago's character. We discover from the sneery, critical, and sarcastic tone that he is not very pleasant and that he is "affined/ To love the Moor". From this line, we are able to predict that one of the prominent themes of the play will be betrayal. The general tone of Act 1 Scene 1 is quite sarcastic on Iago's part. It is clear that he feels contempt towards
Imagine you are the director of "Othello". What advice would you give the actor playing the part of Othello at 3 key points in the play.
Imagine you are the director of "Othello". What advice would you give the actor playing the part of Othello at 3 key points in the play. 'Othello' is a typical example of a Shakespearean play, in which a noble, well-respected individual is reduced to a mere mortal, all because of a fatal flaw in their personality. 'Othello' tells the story of a highly respected army general, who is happily married, and is used to the high life, but the cause of his downfall, is that while training and working in the army, he did not learn the true meaning of love and trust. This left him very gullible to the deceitfulness and lying of others. 'Othello' is set in Venice, which at the time was the height of glamour and culture. It was set here to give the audience an idea of just how much of a commercial center one place can be. Nowadays, we could associate the then popular Venice, to a modern day Paris, or Sydney, because these are the places that are the height of 'good living', and are developing new ideas all the time, just like Venice was over 400 years ago. Othello was a black, well-trained army general. The colour of his skin left him vulnerable to racism, as this was very frequent at the time. He would sometimes be referred to as 'the moor', and would be regularly teased, all because of the colour of his skin. Othello was happily though married though, with Desdemona, even
How effective is Act 1 as an introduction into the play? Consider characters, dramatic devices, language and setting - Othello
How effective is Act 1 as an introduction into the play? Consider characters, dramatic devices, language and setting. Shakespeare begins Othello with Iago, the main character of the play conversing with Rogerigo, Iago's pawn in the plot against Othello. Here Shakespeare has immediately brought in the two characters that will bring about Othello's downfall. The next character on stage is Brabantio. The audience sees Brabantio's hatred for the "The Moor" which is a representation of Venice's hatred since Brabantio is a representative of powerful Venetian. Iago mentions the wedding of Othello and Desdemona in the first three lines as well as the war, the fact that they are soldiers and "The great arithmetician" Cassio. Shakespeare uses this remark to portray Iago's sarcasm and his bitterness toward Cassio for being awarded a higher post. The first mention of Othello's race is in line 33 highlighting its importance to the play. The use of "his Moorship" is mocking Othello but indicates his position in society, that of power. Shakespeare also uses "God bless" as one would in adoration but here hinting at sarcasm and bitterness on Iago's side showing he resents Othello's power and status above him. Shakespeare does not use the decasyllabic line style but prose. This may show the emotions of the characters especially Iago and Brabantio who though intelligent are highly
Iago's pure hatred for Othello
Othello: Coursework Essay "Though I do hate him as I do hell pains." In Shakespeare's play "Othello", Shakespeare introduces one of the most complex villains ever seen in the world of literature. Iago's pure hatred for Othello convinced his own mine to tamper with Othello's life, manipulating him into causing the ultimate tragedy. Iago is portrayed to have many motives into why he does what he does to Othello. He is shown to be racist towards Othello, due to his black skin, Iago is also shown to be jealous of Othello because he has a better life style than himself. Because of this, Iago seeks to have revenge against Othello, and is obsessed with hurting him. Iago is also shown to be power crazed, and because of this he wants to remove any threat to himself and his job. This makes himself seem as though he has lost his grip on reality, and maybe a little mad. This could also be the reason why he is portrayed as a Machiavellian villain. All of these motives are in one human being - Iago; this suggests that iago could have been written into Othello as the Devil, as he enjoys bringing pain and suffering to other's lives. The Orson Welles "Othello" film shows Iago's character as power hungry, as he controls everyone else in the film. Whereas the Olivier version of Othello, interprets Iago as the Devil. This suggests that Iago's character is pure evil and that he has no
How does Shakespeare explore jealousy in Othello?
How does Shakespeare explore jealousy in Othello? Is Iago jealous of Othello and his relationship with Desdemona? He definitely hates him for something. Is Othello jealous of Cassio's good looks etc? Is this what makes him crazy? Roderigo talking of Othello - 'What a full fortune does the thick lips owe, if he can carry't thus!' 'What a lucky nigger he is, getting away with that' Iago, by referring to Cassio as a 'counter-caster' is expressing his contempt and jealousy at not being promoted and continuing to work as Othello's 'ancient' (ensign). 'Jealousy is a sign of weakness in love, not of strength; it takes its source in fear, guilt and hate, rather than in love.' 'There is no love without jealousy; and jealousy is a measure of intense love. Its opposite is indifference.' In act five, scene one, when Roderigo stabs Cassio, Othello displays his sexual jealousy Iago on jealousy - 'O beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on. Othello - 'of one not easily jealous', 'of one that lov'd not wisely, but too well', and 'but, being wrought...' Jealousy At the end of his tale to Roderigo about how he was passed over for promotion to lieutenant, Iago displays his jealousy of Cassio. He says that Cassio, a "counter-caster"(1.1.31) (our phrase is "bean counter"), has the job Iago wanted, while Iago has to keep on being
