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Othello

Othello Victim or Villain

July 22, 2022 by Essay Writer

Othello allowed Lago to push him to this limit resulting in the death of Othello’s wife. Lago knew Othello’s strengths and weaknesses and played the two against him. There is no uncertainty that his passionate untruthfulness, envy and arrogance all total up to make him a definitive villain.

It is up for debate if Othello is the perfect victim or the villain. Othello was known as noble, conceited, military man and a good leader. He still fell into the trap of Lagon, his childhood friend. Othello had a big ego, and this caused him a lot of trouble to come.

Othello was a great man, he had a wife named Desdemona and a daughter. He quickly despised of his daughter getting married and didn’t take to this well. Othello is a Moor and former slave who has managed to overcome racism through his military heroism, becoming a general for Venice. He is known for his sound judgment and valor (Shumaker 2018). This is significant because race could be another motive for Desdemona. Although Othello, was a black man Desdemona still loved him for who he was. Regardless, of what her parents had to say about the situation. In Scene 1, Act 3 Lines 246-255 Desdemona describes her love for Othello. That I love to Moor with him, My down right violence and storm of fortunes, May trumpet to the world. My heart’s subdued, Even to the quality of my lord. I saw Othello’s visage in is mind, And to his honors and his valiant parts(qualities), Did I my soul and fortunes consecrate, So that, dear lords, if I be left behind, A moth of peace, and he go to the war,  The rites for why I love him are bereft me, And I a heavy interim shall support.(Othello 1:3:246-255) Regardless of Othello’s decision to lead the military, Desdemona is declaring her love and support. She may not fully agree with his decision to go out and fight. Her love for him is so strong that because may despise of how she feels; her love is endless and will always be there.

Othello is much known of his abilities as a great warrior and had great sword wielding abilities. But he allowed jealousy to get the best of him. Othello allowed Iago to persuade him to believe lies about Desdemona having an affair with Lieutenant Cassio. Othello thought if he gave Desdemona the opportunity to apologize or confess her sins.

If you bethink yourself of any crime  …  

Unreconciled as yet to heaven and grace

Well, do it, and be brief; I will walk by:

I would not kill thy unprepared spirit. (Shakespeare 5:2:26)

Once Desdemona caught wind of what accusations were, she was furious. Determined to prove her innocence and advocate for herself. She denied any loving or even her caring for Cassio. And have you mercy too! I never did offend you in my life; never loved Cassio. (Shakespeare 5:2:60) She even told Othello that he could send for him and ask him his self.

Throughout the play, characters repeatedly call Othello “the Moor,” making it impossible for him to forget that they see him as an outsider in terms of his race, religion, and ethnicity; even Desdemona calls him “the Moor,” so why should Othello doubt that the prejudice against Moors that her father and society taught her might gradually reemerge to estrange her from him? (Shumaker 2018). Realizing that race could have played a role in the anger and rage behind Othello. Was it because he couldn’t escape being reminded who he was? In Bell’s view, Othello, as a black converted Christian recently married to a white woman, ultimately suffers from his inability to completely assimilate into a community that deems him a racial outsider. Turning to Iago, maintains that the stage ancestry of this generally despicable character derives from dramatic representations of the Devil, rather than from the allegorical figure of vice, a staple player in the medieval morality play tradition. (LeBlanc 2004) This is stating that Bell believes Othello has an issue with fully committing and joining the whites and adapting to fit in to their culture.

Othello was seen as an enthusiastic man yet thereafter gets frantic and dishonors Emilia as a “straightforward bawd.” (Shakespeare) since she says the Desdemona is steadfast to him. This represents his affection being no more than a tragic figment, basically a fixation no doubt. His enthusiastic untruthfulness is associated with all his different indecencies and feeds of them making an unsafe beast out on a once delightful and excellent man. Anyway as much as Othello is the antagonist of the story, at in excess of one example he has seemed to resemble the injured individual also. He gives off an impression of being a casualty of his general public and appears just as Iago toys with his crabby nature at his pleasure. Othello is by all accounts exceptionally na??ve and on occasion extremely far off from reality. He is guiltless to the working disorders and fiendish plans Iago thinks of. Othello loses his tempers effectively as a kid does when baffled and Iago realized how to play with his unsteady inner self that produced because of the prospect that his better half is warming on him. Also, obviously that is conspicuous lie. All the beauty and tenderness that was Desdemona was effortlessly confused with teases to the clueless Othello. His wild temper and the confirmation caused the inconvenient passing of his ever devoted spouse. His response resembled that of a kid whose most loved toy had been grabbed away. His resentment does not give him an opportunity to hear her outside of the story and declines to hear her out requests of blamelessness. In spite of the fact that he has a malicious side to him, Othello had transformed into a crazy perspective and one could really express that he probably won’t have acknowledged what he was doing until the point that it was somewhat past the point of no return.

Although Iago knew what he was doing and what he was persuading Othello to believe. Is it corrupt that throughout the story Iago began putting rumors in Othello’s ear? Knowing that Othello may act the wrong way or that his jealousy is so strong it may cause an outburst. At the point when Othello requests “living reason” that Desdemona’s been “unfaithful,” Iago informs him concerning a hot dream that Cassio as far as anyone knows had one night while he was lying in bed beside Iago. As per Iago, Cassio talked in his rest while having a mischievous dream about Desdemona. That, as well as gotten Iago, folded his leg around his thigh, and made out with him all while imagining about Desdemona. He starts off by reminding Othello that Desdemona did deceive her family by marrying a black guy. Iago: She did deceive her father, marrying you; . Othello: And so she did. (Shakespeare 3:3:208; 211). At the point when Iago needs to make Othello presume Desdemona’s been unfaithful, he proposes a lady who resists and deceives her dad is probably going to screw around on her significant other. Othello’s reaction infers that he feels a similar way. Rather than seeing Desdemona’s choice to run off with Othello as an indication of his significant other’s faithfulness to him, Othello sees Desdemona’s eagerness to abscond as a prelude to her unfaithfulness. It appears that Othello’s misogynist suspicions abandon him truly powerless against Iago’s plotting.

Iago used his knowledge and knew the weaknesses of Othello and tested him. Once Iago told Othello about Desdemona, Iago knew that Othello would be instantly jealous and upset by this news. Iago had a plan set up to ruin Othello and it worked.

Although Othello killed Desdemona could it be justified? While he is very wrong for killing her, would Lago be the blame? Othello was pushed over the edge after being told his wife laid down with another man. This wouldn’t be easy for anyone to believe. Although it was a lie, Othello was quick to believe what he was told. He never believed his wife after she told him several times. It is justifiable that he can be foreseen as a victim and villain. He was a victim as far as his friend lying to him, but he is a villain as far as the killing. 

Iago thusly just needs to make an open door for Othello’s desire to start his ruin. At long last, we observe his passionate untruthfulness. When Iago plants his considerations, Othello’s head and heart rapidly tops off with scorn and harshness. He transparently admits his adoration for Desdemona yet he is effortlessly persuaded generally by Iago because of his unscrupulous nature meaning he was not being honest about his affection for Desdemona. He says,In the event that she be false, O, Heav’n ridicules itself: I’ll not trust it” (Shakespeare pg. 825). While Othello may have some ethical characteristics, there is no uncertainty that his passionate contemptibility, desire and vanity all whole up to make him a definitive antagonist of this Shakespearian great play. At last it is the accidental prescience Iago makes that works out as expected, “O, be careful, my ruler, of envy; It is the green-peered toward beast which doth deride the meat it benefits from; that cuckold lives in rapture Who, sure of his destiny, cherishes his wrong. But rather, O, what condemned minutes tells he o’er who gushes, yet questions, suspects, yet emphatically loves!”(Shakespeare page 881). Truly, Iago ought to be the lowlife, however we immensely expect this of him, and he subsequently satisfies exactly what we would anticipate… The genuine miscreant, who gives this play its wind is Othello the guileful, suspicious and the pleased Moor of Venice.

In conclusion, Othello can definitely be named the villain. But so can Lago. He used Othello’s weaknesses against him and caused a life. If Lago wasn’t jealous or being spiteful Desdemona would be alive. Othello wasn’t the best guy nor the worst, he made the wrong decision based on lies. His ego was big and he didn’t want to believe anyone but Lago.

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