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Othello
Act IV scene II of Othello begins with Othello asking Emilia if she has seen anything suspicious between Desdemona and Cassio. Emilia insists they never did anything improper, and Othello bids her...
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Othello
Iago is almost entirely responsible for Othello's downfall. From beginning to end, Iago orchestrates the entire dastardly scheme that brings about Othello's disgrace and demise, starting with the...
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Othello
Othello itself is not a racist play, but Shakespeare depicts both Iago and the world in which Othello lives as racist. This racism has an important impact on the plot of the play, because Othello...
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Othello
In short, Venice represents civilization and order in Othello, and Cyprus symbolizes barbaric actions and chaos. In Venice, the Duke uses logic to rectify the situation with Othello and Desdemona's...
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Othello
Your question could be addressed a number of ways; I will focus on one that I think will be easy to support with lines from the play (focus on the dialogue between Iago and Othello and Othello's...
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Othello
This question has been asked and answered. See the link below, and thanks for using Enotes!
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Othello
see Link below for othello's downfall... http://www.enotes.com/q-and-a/search?m=qa&q=othello%27s+downfall
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Othello
It has often been said that jealousy is the central theme of William Shakespeare`s play, Othello. The first level on which jealousy operates is sexual, with Othello being persuaded by Iago to...
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Othello
We can easily see a lot of similarities and differences between Desdemona in Shakespeare's Othello and the two female characters, Porphyria and the duchess, in both of Robert Browning's scandalous...
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Othello
In the opening scene of Shakespeare's Othello, Othello's ensign, Iago, learns that he's being passed over to be Othello's second-in-command, and that Othello is assigning the position to his...
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Othello
Othello is a play in which racism is explored along with other themes, notably the harmful effects of envy and jealousy. Othello, the protagonist, is a tragic hero whose downfall is partly caused...
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Othello
Othello is the titular protagonist of the play Othello by William Shakespeare. The play Othello is a tragedy in which Othello, a moorish General in the army of the city-state of Venice, is...
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Othello
A number of scholars have seen Desdemona as a feminist ahead of her time for standing up to her father and making her own decision as to whom she wants to marry. Desdemona is a spirited,...
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Othello
In Shakespeare's Othello, Desdemona's death comes as a result of Othello's blind, unreasoned jealousy, a manifestation of his insecurities and injured pride. In act 3, scene 3, Desdemona...
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Othello
Quite simply, Iago can be blamed, at least in part, for many of the deaths that occur in Othello because of the way he orchestrates the narrative from the beginning of the play. As a master...
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Othello
Othello and Desdemona's marriage is an expedient one. They forego society's standard preparations for a wedding, not even asking Desdemona's father for his blessing. They do this because they know...
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Othello
In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Iago is a highly effective villain because he is an effective liar and master manipulator. Iago is very skilled at planting the germ of an untrue idea in the other...
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Othello
In William Shakespeare’s Othello, the two primary female characters, Desdemona and Emilia, offer a strong contrast. The elite Desdemona has been protected from much of the world’s corrupting...
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Othello
Iago's reasoning for doing what he does is notably inconsistent, almost as though he were lying even to himself. He claims reputation is overrated and means nothing in the long run, but much of...
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Othello
In the first act of Othello, Iago is upset that Othello and Desdemona have gotten married. He uses racist and inflammatory language to incite Brabantio to rage, apparently hoping he can manipulate...
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Othello
Considerable attention has been paid to the representation of race and nationality in Othello. These aspects of William Shakespeare’s play are probably the ones that have the greatest continued...
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Othello
One of the most famous lines in Othello comes in act 3, scene 3, when Iago says, Oh beware, my lord, of jealousy!It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mockThe meat it feeds on. Perhaps the...
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Othello
Shakespeare's Othello is full of deception. Iago is upset that Othello gave a promotion to Cassio instead of him, and so he seeks to bring both of them down. In act three, his strategy is to plant...
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Othello
Emilia is Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s maid. By nature she is a straightforward, outspoken person. However, she is placed in a complicated position because she is torn between her loyalty to her...
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Othello
At this point in the play, Iago and Roderigo are outside Brabantio''s house, shouting up to him about his daughter, Desdemona. They tell him that his daughter, a white woman, has eloped with...
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Othello
This line appears in act 3, scene 3 of Shakespeare's Othello. The scene begins with Cassio talking with Desdemona, asking her to intercede on his behalf with Othello, who has recently demoted...
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Othello
While Emilia is quite accurate in figuring out what is happening, she does not have all of the pieces of the puzzle in place. More experienced than Desdemona, Emilia suspects that Othello’s mind...
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Othello
In act 5, scene 2, Othello accuses Desdemona of giving her handkerchief (which was a gift from Othello) to Cassio and, by implication, of having had an affair with Cassio. Desdemona's initial...
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Othello
Michael Cassio is depicted as a handsome, capable Florentine soldier who is promoted to the position of lieutenant over the more experienced Iago. Iago resents Michael Cassio for his promotion and...
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Othello
I'm not sure what themes you are working with, but Iago is certainly presented as the villain and the mastermind of the schemes in Shakespeare's Othello. From the start of the play, we know that...
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Othello
Othello is presented as a strong, noble character who seriously falls victim to the machinations of Iago. Othello's faults become obvious late in the play, and they lead to a tragic fall for...
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Othello
The personality of a character in a play is revealed primarily by (1) what the playwright says about the character, (2) what other characters say about the character, and (3) what the character...
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Othello
Othello opens with Iago complaining bitterly that Michael Cassio has been appointed Othello's lieutenant, a position Iago had coveted and actively sought. Cassio, he protests, is not a soldier but...
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Othello
From the introduction to the Folger library edition of Othello: "Othello is a drama of pathos and pity rather than a tragedy of character in which some tragic flaw brings about the doom of the...
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Othello
Othello's jealousy over his wife's supposed adulterous affair with his newly appointed lieutenant, Michael Cassio, is evident in many excerpts from the play. They often appear in his scenes with...
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Othello
Characters in a play generally function to forward the plot, explain what is going on, and illuminate the drama's themes. Emilia does all three, making her a significant character in Othello....
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Othello
Michael Cassio is very courteous towards Desdemona. This is because he wants her to intercede with her husband Othello on his behalf. Cassio recently got into an unseemly drunken street brawl, for...
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Othello
A "plot device" is a technique or method that moves the plot forward. The primary plot device found in Emilia's part in Othello is the handkerchief. The handkerchief becomes the center of Iago's...
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Othello
An example of Othello's growing lack of self-confidence—thanks to the vile machinations of Iago—comes in act 3, scene 3: Haply, for I am black And have not those soft parts of conversation That...
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Othello
Othello has no direct proof of Desdemona's infidelity. He has only Iago's insinuations and the workings of his own imagination as basis for his belief that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him with...
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Othello
In Shakespeare's Othello, Iago has ambiguous motivations for his behavior towards other characters. Even his reasons for his avowed hatred for Othello are unclear. He might hate Othello because...
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Othello
Irony of all types exists within Shakespeare’s tragic play. However, there are multiple examples of situational irony—irony that exists when something different happens than what is expected. One...
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Othello
In William Shakespeare’s play, Iago goads Othello into extreme jealousy over his wife’s supposed involvement with Cassio. Othello considers her behavior—which is not proven, and about which he does...
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Othello
Othello's status as husband, high-ranking soldier, and Moor help him rationalize his decision to honor kill Desdemona and Cassio. His roles as husband and military commander are both positive...
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Othello
For all of the renown that Othello has gained as a successful general, he is still a very insecure character in several ways. His many insecurities are what Iago preys upon as Iago convinces...
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Othello
First, to be clear, I don't think Othello is justified in killing Desdemona, and I think most modern readers are appalled by his actions. However, in the society in which the play is set, women...
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Othello
Minor characters are used for many different purposes in Shakespeare's Othello. First, people who read the play should remember that it was intended for performance. This means that spectacle was...
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Othello
In Othello, Cassio and Roderigo are handsome, ambitious young men who are advancing well in their military careers. They are also similar in being confident of their appeal to women. Cassio has...
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Othello
In Shakespeare's play Othello, the title character is a conflict of personality traits—at once physically strong, respected, well spoken, a leader, and yet simultaneously easy to prey on due to his...
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Othello
The theme of jealousy is central to Shakespeare's Othello. Jealousy drives the plot and subplots forward, and it is the primary motivation for the central conflict of the play. IAGO: O, beware, my...
