‘Othello’ ‘Othello’ was written by one most influential writer in all of English literature, William Shakespeare during his great tragic period. Othello is set against the backdrop of the wars between Venice and Turkey that raged in the latter part of the sixteenth century. The subject of Othello is ‘Love and Death’, while the theme suggests ‘The Incompatibility of Military Heroism & Love’. ‘Othello’ consisted of three major characters including: Othello, Desdemona, and Iago, each of which play a key role in the play. Othello is the protagonist in the play ‘Othello’. Othello is the general of the armies of Venice, He’s a supreme and powerful figure with extreme charisma.
Because of Othello’s race and age, one must biel ive that Othello had to work his way up, and be a dominating soil der to hold such ranking. Due to the jealousy towards such a character, Othello was the target of the tragedy. Although Othello possessed a strong and calm character, his obvious weakness was shown through trusting and being gu liable towards Iago. After many mind games and destruction that Iago used against Othello, Othello’s strong character became weak as he committed suicide at the end of the play. Iago is known for being the most heinous villain in Shakespeare. Iago is fascinating for his most terrible characteristic: his convincing others to fall into his plans and seems to work against them.
In the first scene, he claims to be angry at Othello for having passed him over for the position of lieutenant, which seems almost worthy of an excuse for his behavior. Soon the reader realizes that there are no justifications for the actions of Iago. Iago seems to be the most intelligent character in the play because of his manipulative abilities. Iago is compared to some as Satan because of his powerful and compelling ways of manipulating the minds and thoughts of nearly all characters presented in ‘Othello’. Iago uses Othello’s most lethal trait against him, trust. Desdemona is the wife of Othello.
She in many ways seems like Iago’s tool to use against Othello. Desdemona is obviously a beautiful woman because of her charisma towards the men. Desdemona is a truthful and submissive character. She seems almost willing to accept responsibility for her own murder which she was in no way the cause of.
When Emilia, (Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s attendant) asks her ‘O, who hath done this deed’ Desdemona reply’s ‘Nobody, I myself. Farewell.’ Othello’s obviously love for Desdemona and her qualities was the key conflict in making the play a tragedy. Without the qualities possessed in Othello, Iago, and Desdemona the play ‘Othello’ couldn’t have been a tragedy. Each character played a major role in making ‘Othello’ one of Shakespeare’s most loved and famous tragedy’s.