Paper Summary:

The paper asserts that the success of Shakespeare's "Othello" lies in the fact that it reveals the true nature of man. The paper goes on to analyze both characteres, Othello and Iago, and shows how while it takes time for Othello to become a monster, Iago is born one. The paper emphasizes the lesson these characters teach us, that no matter how far mankind may come, the essence of humanity does not change.

From the Paper:

"One of William Shakespeare's greatest achievements is Othello, a play that reveals the true nature of man. Critics agree that Othello is successful because it focuses on aspects of humanity that are timeless. While the world around us might change, mankind changes very little. Human beings are driven by the same emotions and passions we were thousands of years ago and Othello is a man that becomes a victim of his own emotions and another man's passion. Othello will always be popular because, whether or not we want to admit it, we know people like Othello and Iago and this scares us. A. C. Bradley notes that Othello is the "most painfully exciting and the terrible" (168) of Shakespeare's plays. The play succeeds because the "reader's heart and mind are held in a vice, experiencing the extremes of pity and fear, sympathy and repulsion, sickening hope and dreadful exception" (168)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bloom, Harold. Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. New York: Riverhead Books. 1998.
• Bradley, A. C. Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. New York: Penguin Books. 1991.
• Heilman, Robert. Wit and Witchcraft in Othello." Shakespeare: Modern Essays in Criticism. Dean, Leonard, ed. New York: Oxford University Press. 1977.
• Kernan, Alvin. Introduction: Othello. Kernan, Alvin, ed. New York: Signet Classics. 1963.
• Shakespeare, William. Othello. Kenneth Muir, ed. New York: Penguin Books. 1968.

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