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By: Ikedi Ani-okoye.

Othello as a play

Some characters are more easy to analyze, but there are those that are complex at first glance but once one realizes the key powers that drive that character, one can understand the play even more. Such a character is Othello from Shakespeare’s Othello, a play about a man in conflict with his self identity and social interpretation of who he is. This essay will look further into the character of Othello and bring out the crucial obstacles and objectives that form him into the man that he is.

Tradgic heros in Othello

Taking a look at two characters, in this example Othello from Shakespeare’s Othello and Doctor Stockmann from Ibsen’s Enemy of the People, one can see how the different combinations of traits, beliefs and actions lead to a character fulfilling the requirements to be a tragic hero or falling short of such a goal.

Othello Brief

In Othello, the insane Iago poisons Othello’s heart with lies about his beautiful wife, Desdemona. The Moore is driven into the blackest of rages over Iago’s tales of infidelity and kills her in a fit of anger. He learns of her innocence after it is too late, and, like Lear, he dies a tragic death.

Some Othello

And indeed, the first act proves us right. After having explained why they love each other the world seems to accept this alliance.

But Brabantio`s comment tells us that everything is not all right: (I.iii.293-4) "Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see:/She has deceived her father and may thee." By disobeying her faher Desdemona has shown herself able to betray the person she is supposed to love and--according to Venetian norms--obey.

The phrase "look to her" suggests several things: that Desdemona needs to be watched closely, in other words; she cannot be trusted, or that Othello should notice what a deceiver looks like and lastly, if Othello looks at her he may find that she is not as fair as he thought--the opposite of fair being black.

Othello film review

To condense Othello into a reasonable, two-hour running time, writer/director Oliver Parker has lopped approximately 50% of Shakespeare's original text from the screenplay. Yet, even with so much gone, the movie remains faithful to the play's central themes and conflicts, and the streamlined narrative is surprisingly easy to follow (well, as "easy" as anything written by Shakespeare can be). For sheer impact, this Othello can stand side-by-side with the versions brought to the screen by Orson Welles (as restored in 1992) and Lawrence Olivier.

CONCLUSION

Othello, the drama’s vain hero, is a Moor--traditionally interpreted as a black man--who wins the heart of Desdemona with his rollicking tales of battle and adventure, much to the dismay of her father and the Venetian court of which they are a part. Othello is a military man, ill at ease with public pomp and circumstance. The plot speeds up quickly when Iago, a subordinate of Othello, vows revenge after he has been passed over for promotion.