Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the play "Othello" by William Shakespeare, focusing on the main character of Othello and how he torments himself with the thought that Desdemona may be unfaithful. The paper focuses its analysis on two speeches in Act 3, Scene 3, which demonstrate how Othello has gone from confidence in Desdemona's love to suspicion that she is now unfaithful. The paper explores Iago's role in fostering Othello's jealousy and how he manipulates racial tension to accomplish his aims. The paper concludes that both Desdemona and Othello are tragic heroes because their fate is sealed despite their fine qualities. Desdemona is blind to what is happening around her, while Othello is blinded by his own insecurity. The play further asserts that the play has universal resonance because all human beings are subject to the feelings of jealousy and insecurity, and are easy prey to those who choose to manipulate them, like Iago did to Othello.

From the Paper:

"Although the conventional belief is that Othello is about jealousy, some scholars believe that jealousy is merely the lynchpin upon which Iago's hatred is transferred to Othello. In the middle of Iago's speech there is a line that is designed to undermine Othello's innate self confidence in a particularly repulsive way: "One may smell in such a will most rank,/ Foul disproportion, thoughts unnatural." (248-249) He has skillfully introduced into Othello's consciousness the disgust some feel for a person of another race."

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