William Shakespeare

Othello William Shakespeare

Othello is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The story revolves around its two central characters: Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army, and his treacherous ensign, Iago. Given its varied and enduring themes of racism, love, jealousy, betrayal, revenge, and repentance, Othello is still often performed in professional and community theatre alike, and has been the source for numerous operatic, film, and literary adaptations. Othello is renowned amongst literary scholars for the way it portrays the human emotion of jealousy. Throughout the play, good-natured characters make rash decisions based on the jealousy that they feel, most notably Othello. In the early acts, Othello is depicted as a typical heroic figure and holds admirable qualities, written with the intention of winning over the favour of the audience; however, as the play goes on, jealousy will manipulate his decisions and lead him into sin. While the majority of the evil that Othello carries out in the play can be cited as coming from Iago, it is jealousy that motivates him to perform wicked deeds. When Iago highlights the almost excessive amount of time that Cassio and his wife, Desdemona, are spending together, Othello becomes filled with rage and, following a series of events, will murder the one that he loves. Shakespeare explores man's ugliest trait in this opus and perfectly represents the idea of the "tragic hero".