Othello

Symbols are important throughout Othello. Early on in the play Brabantio is woken from his sleep by Iago who even at this point is portraying Othello as a threat “Brabantio! Thieves! Thieves! Thieves! Look to your house, your daughter, and your bags! Thieves! Thieves! … Even now, now, very now, an old black ram/Is tupping your white Ewe” (Shakespeare I.i.79-81; 89-90). Iago will later purposefully drive Othello to the belief that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him in order to get revenge on Cassio. He is able to do so because Othello is already perceived as a black, old, suspect foreigner and because this perception makes Othello more vulnerable to his treachery.

The play is filled with binary determinism, i.e., black versus white, good versus evil, jealousy and envy versus love and integrity. These opposing contrasts are significant to Desdemona’s fate because Othello is perceived as an outsider, black, and, because of his military experience, a brutal foreigner.

. . .
goats, as hot as monkeys,/As salt as wolves in pride, and fools as gross/As ignorance made drunk” (Shakespeare III.iii.405-407). Whereas Othello has internalized some of the negative associations made of his being because he is a Moor, Iago has accepted that if there is no justice for him in society then he will gladly and wholly accept his position as deviant. He is more than willing to accept the condemnation of others for what he truly is because he has accepted this as his role and it does not make him feel vulnerable or awkward like Othello’s outsider status does to him. Iago is no fool and plays on this when he tells Othello of the dream Cassio had during which he spoke in his sleep. One of the things he did was use the word Moor in a derogatory manner “’Cursed fate that gave thee to the Moor!” (Shakespeare III.iii.427). Iago works Othello into such a jealous pitch that he admits he is ready to tear Desdemona into pieces. However, Iago is not done yet. He wants to ensure Othello will accept wholly the infidelity of his wife and betrayal of his friend. To do so he now tries to supply the “ocular” proof Othello earlier demanded of him to prove he has been cuckolded. However, all Iago does is use words and lies to tri
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Shakespeare Ii79-81, Iago Othello, Othello Iagos, Moor Iago, IVi199 Othello, Moor Othello, Harold Bloom, Iagos Desdemonas, Shakespeare IVii79, Othello Fetch, iago othello, othello handkerchief, othello handkerchief desdemona, handkerchief desdemona, thieves thieves, ocular proof, desdemonas handkerchief, othello believe, drive othello, desdemonas infidelity, shakespeare othello, ocular proof othello,
Approximate Word count = 1278
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Othello