"Othello"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how the tragedy of "Othello" is one of the four great tragedies written in what literary historians call Shakespeare's "period of despair." It looks at how out of the four tragedies, ("Hamlet," "King Lear," "Macbeth," and "Othello") "Othello" might be said to be the most ill-motivated. It shows how Iago, the villain of the play, is perhaps the most sadistic and overall evil character in all of English literature. It also examines how, in "Othello," the plot line and the theme are intertwined with love triumphing over evil and hate and how the love of one woman for another is instrumental in bringing the villain to his "poetic justice."

From the Paper:

"A prime example of this "fatal flaw" associated with jealousy occurs when Othello begins to suspect that his wife Desdemona has been unfaithful to him. In Act III, Scene 3, he states that "I had rather be a toad/And live upon the vapor of a dungeon/Than keep a corner in the thing I love/For others uses" (270-73). This also points out Othello's noble pride and his self-esteem, both of which are closely related to his jealousy. Leonard F. Dean adds to this by mentioning that Othello's jealousy, part of the ongoing war of love against hate, leads to the final ingredient of uncertainty, for at first, Othello, "thinks that the solution to his jealousy is bound up in converting love to hate" but then discovers to his dismay that "the two emotions are inextricably linked, for he cannot give up loving his wife whom he now hates" (167)."

More papers on "Othello":

• Analytical Essay # 144824 : "Racism as a Theme in "Othello"
• Persuasive Essay # 133459 : "Iago's Successful Moral Degradation of Othello"
• Analytical Essay # 88465 : "Oedipus and Othello"
• Analytical Essay # 33531 : "Othello As A Tragic Hero"

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