character analyses for othello

7/26/2019 Character Analyses for Othello

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Character Analyses for Othello

Othello’s character is first introduced ambiguously through racial epithets as he is referred to as ‘the

Moor’ and ‘thick-lips.’ Furthermore, derogatory animalistic imagery of ‘an old black ram’ and a

‘Barbary horse’ strip away his individuality and accentuate his different physical and ethnic

background. Despite the negative initial references to Othello, he is characterised as noble and

refined as he suggests men should ‘keep up their bright swords.’ However, his internalised fear of

being considered ‘other’ in Venetian society is channelled through his increasing jealousy. He

rationalises Desdemona’s apparent betrayal by condemning all women and reducing his opinion of

them to ‘strumpets’ with insatiable ‘appetites’, a view reflective of the patriarchal Jacobean era.

Iago is the deceptive ancient of Othello who manipulates people to further his own ends through

using their emotions against them, particularly jealousy. He is the instigator of most of the issues

that arise during the play, from causing Othello's doubt in Desdemona's faithfulness to convincing

Cassio to enlist Desdemona's help in recovering his position. During the play, he is ironically said by

various characters to be "honest", "loyal", "faithful" and "true", demonstrating to the audience the

depth of Iago's duplicitous nature. This is done in contrast to Othello's initial "noble", "valiant" and

"brave" nature, which Iago slowly corrupts through jealousy and suspicion, an emotion Iago already

experiences towards Othello having supposedly "'twixt [his] sheets" and performed lewd acts with

his wife. Similarly, Iago "[fears] Cassio with [his] night cap too", displaying his inherent ignobility

through his suspicious, baseless thoughts. Iago, through his unjustified actions, is what "causes all

the destruction in the play", as expressed by David Suchet (1988), as he "represents Jealousy, is 

Jealousy" and all that comes with it. Emilia further asserts the baselessness is a requirement of

 jealousy, that people are "jealous for they're jealous" and not for a good reason. This is contrasted

with Othello's need for verification -- "be sure to prove my love a whore" -- during the early stages of

his corruption.

Desdemona is the wife of Othello, who at first loves her unquestioningly, but later begins to despise

her as he feels increasingly insecure and doubtful of her faithfulness as he takes Iago’s manipulative

advice. She is one of the few characters in the play who is completely blameless and is simply a

victim of circumstance. Throughout the play, she is repeatedly characterised by Cassio as “divine”,

“virtuous” and a “most fresh and delicate creature”, embodying how women were valued for their

physicality in the patriarchal society of Shakespeare’s time. Furthermore, in this male-dominated

society, men often thought of women as their possessions, with women owing duty to both their

fathers and their husbands, exemplified in how Desdemona owes a “divided duty” to both her father

and her husband. While it is plain to see that Desdemona is loyal and faithful to him, Othello himself

begins to question whether this is true, with Iago working him up into “a jealousy so strong that

 judgement cannot cure” as he plans in his soliloquy. His change in attitude toward Desdemona, now

that he suspects that she has been unfaithful to him with Cassio, is illustrated when he compares her

face, “that was as fresh as Dian’s visage” to being “no begrimed and black as mine own face”, the

comparison of similes effectively demonstrating her decline in value. Additionally, this shows

Othello’s internalisation of the negativity associated with being “black”, a racial prejudice prevalent

in the Jacobean Era when black was the colour of “degeneracy and damnation”, according to Elliot-

Butler Evans (1997).