Character Analysis of Othello Essay examples -- Papers Shakespeare Ess

Character Analysis of Othello â€Å"Othello† is a tragedy and Othello is a tragic hero. Othello is a general in the service of Venice. He is good, courageous, brave and trustworthy. However he has some weaknesses such as insecurity; he is too open, naà ¯ve, and gullible, Iago plays on his weaknesses which brings about his downfall and he kills himself. This causes the suffering of innocent people like Desdemona, Emilia, Cassio and Roderigo. The audience also feel pity for Othello and this creates a sense of wastage at the end. Iago’s main aim is to bring about Othello’s downfall. He has many reasons for this, such as his anger as Othello rejected him for the post of lieutenant and he hates the fact that a black man has such a high position, who has the power to reject him. Iago’s plan to destroy Othello is mainly motivated by racism. He suspects that Othello slept with his wife. This play was written by Shakespeare in the 17th century. During that time, the attitude of the people towards the black people was negative. The black people were treated as lower class citizens. This play is initially set in Venice in the mid 15th century. The Venetians would also have treated them worse and differently. Shakespeare wanted to show the black character in a positive light and create sympathy for him representing him as a victim of racism to make a comment on his society. Shakespeare uses various dramatic devices in this play. This essay will explain to what extent racism contributes to Othello’s downfall. Act 3 scene 3 is important because this is the scene where the character of Othello changes. Before this scene, Shakespeare has already ena... ...on as a result of Othello’s insecurities, such as jealousy. It could also be argued that these insecurities are caused mainly by the racist society. Which at its heart it is racist and sees him as an outsider as this play is set on Venice. It is not just Iago who refers to him as a moor. â€Å"I am one sir†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ moor are now making the beast with to backs†. But Brabantio also says that â€Å"Look to her, moor, if thou†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ and may thee†. Othello also recognises this as a possible reason for Desdemona’s infidelity. â€Å"For haply I am black†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  However there is one other consideration to take into account Othello acts with reason, rather then emotion when he decides to kill Desdemona; He still loves her. But his need to be in control is stronger in the end. He feels that his duty is to kill her. Finally both the factors are to be blamed.