‘Once upon a time’ tales are the classic stories told to children for generations. Such stories involving, usually, poor miserable souls like Cinderella who eventually find happiness and riches which give those less fortunate souls a sense of hope. Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ however is on the opposite ends of the spectrum. It shows the downfall from grace of the ‘hero’ through the chink in his armour being infiltrated, by Iago, a jealous officer who through a series of one to one conversations is able to gain the trust of all of the characters in the play and then abusing it. Although through use of dramatic Irony this can only be recognised by the audience, which allows this play to become an interactive masterpiece.
Shakespeare begins the play with a highly charged atmosphere between two characters, Iago and Roderigo. Who are discussing their General Othello when Iago slanders him
‘An old black ram’
It is from this conversation that our image of this Othello is one in which he is lustful, devious and altogether loathed by all.
This conjured image is instantly discredited at the start of scene two, through the use of dramatic irony as Iago, who was formally plotting with Roderigo, against Othello, hypocritically tells Othello that he would love to have killed Roderigo when he abuses his generals honour.
‘I had thought t’have yerked him here under the ribs’
‘But he prated
The Essay on Othello Iagos Causes And Effects Of Jealousy
... with it a certain way. All three characters Iago, Othello, and Roderigo had such cases and in the end dealt ... Roderigo. This opening scene sets forth the key elements to understanding Iagos basic character and the plays conflict.The scene revealed Iagos deep resentment toward Othello ... heathen must be beleed and calved (1.1.29). Iago stated this to Roderigo trying to prove his worthiness and experience ...
And spoke such scurvy and provoking terms
Against your honour,’
It is now that the audience can decide on their own judgement of Othello, through his speech, his actions and his words. When challenged by Brabantio and his guards with almost imminent bloodshed, Othello, clears the air with a joke,
‘Keep up the bright swords, for the dew will rust them’,
It is here that Othello displays his self-control and also his leadership qualities. Which is again demonstrated when he defuses the situation again,
‘Hold your hands, both you of my inclining and the rest.
Were it my cue to fight, I should have known it without a prompter,’
Before our eyes a magnificent character is being created which is more further contributed to by his speech – He respects the senators and disparages his own perfect speech, which adds modesty to the tally of his already long list of virtues,
‘Rude am I in my speech and little blessed with the soft phrase of speech,’
The audience are now converted from Iago’s original comments of Othello being hated as we can see through the way he conducts himself and how the duke and senators hold him in high regard, that now Othello can be established as the ‘hero’ of the play.
‘If virtue no delighted beauty lack your son in law is far more fair than black.’
Also he is referred to by the senators as the,
‘Brave moor’
So now that Othello has been established as the hero. We look at where ‘the chink’ in the armour is located the Achilles’ heel of the hero. And we find it in the most unpredictable location; it is his good nature. He is trustworthy. When people try to understand what others are thinking, they look to themselves, try to understand what they would do in that position. It is in this that Othello finds his trust for others because he himself is so trustworthy. He refers to Iago as,
‘His trusted ancient’
‘Honest Iago’
When in reality Iago is his enemy, the secret conspirer, a personified curse placed on Othello. These two main characters show a conflicting personality- good against evil. Yet through the tragedy of ‘Othello’, Shakespeare shows that life does not conform to the rules of ‘fairy tales’ and that life is unpredictable and that sometimes evil can overcome good.
The Essay on An Analysis Of Othello And Iago
In his analysis of the popular Shakespearean play Othello, Tale of the Moor of Venice, Champion focuses most of his criticism on Othello s naive ways and the evil, which Iago portrays. According to Champion, Othello is heroic and noble, but naively egotistic. (253) This is shown when Othello easily believes Iago s foolish lies about Desdemona s infidelity with Othello s true and loyal friend ...
