Othello Literature Reviews Samples For Students

Othello, a play written by William Shakespeare begins in Venice, a powerful center of banking and commercial activities and also known for its military prowess. The plot of the play revolves around Othello, a black Moor who is also an army general, Iago, his aide, Desdemona, his wife and Cassio who became his lieutenant. After Othello marries Desdemona, her father is opposed to it and takes the matter to the Duke. It is ruled that what Othello did was wrong and he is sent to war as a result. His wife accompanies him to Cyprus as well as Cassio and Iago.

Because Iago ...

Major Events

In this act, Roderigo intends to hurt Cassio but instead, Cassio’s leg is hurt by Iago. Othello hears the cries and the first impression is that Iago has wounded Cassio. He declares to resolve avenging on his wife while exiting. Gratiano and Lodovico also hear Cassio’s cries but Iago pretends not to do know what is going on. Iago stabs Roderigo when Gratiano and Lodovico are looking away but Roderigo does not die immediately but ends up incriminating Iago through the letters present in his pocket. Iago tries to frame Bianca which is an indication that he ...

Introduction

Race, gender and power are issues that affect our day-to-day life and can hinder or promote progress, depending on how they are handled. Race and gender are issues that a person has to live with as he or she has no choice once found to belong to a particular group. There am2qare challenges that comes with being born in a certain gender depending on expectations of the society. Power, on the other hand is an occurrence that can happen or disappear depending on the circumstances. Since the issues of gender, power and race are part of our life, it is necessary for ...

The sense of love, compassion and nobility is exhausted in Othello. It is replaced by a growing sense of misogyny, harshness and ignominy. Act IV of the play depicts this replacement, and we find that the principle characters are not those who act, but those who suffer.
In the first scene of the act, and after being convinced of the unfaithfulness of his wife, Othello confronted Desdemona and accused her of betrayal. His imagination is manipulated by Iago’s lies that he interprets his wife’s denial as a proof of her sin. Even though Othello does not deny his ...

Othello is introduced, at the beginning of the plays, as a black man who lives in Venice, Italy. He is known for his noble soul. Although he is black in skin, he had a white heart. In addition, he was brave and he became a leader in the Italian Army for he won many battles. However, by the end of the play, all these qualities, initially attributed to him, are put into question.
Throughout the play, Othello becomes more and more addicted to the venomous and bestial language of Iago .He swings crazily between the desire for blissful ignorance and the ...

Shakespeare’s Othello is a story of tragedy. Iago’s deeds are satanic and devilish. Throughout the play, he manages to disseminate hatred and doubt among the characters. Profiting from Othello’s faith and naivety, Iago deceives Othello and instils jealousy in him and makes him believe that Desdemona is betraying him. In act II, Iago starts working on his villainous plan.
Being alone with Roderigo, Iago reveals the first step of his plan of undermining Othello’s happiness. Othello considers Cassio as his left hand, which makes Iago jealous. As such, he uses Caasio and Roderigo to get ...

- How does Iago ultimately convince Othello of Desdemona's infidelity? Is it convincing? Why do you think Othello thinks it is? Iago ultimately convinced Othello of Desdemona’s infidelity by making up a story about Cassio. Iago narrated to Othello that while Cassio and him were sleeping, Cassio started sleep talking and started calling Desdemona’s name. Cassio began kissing and caressing Iago, imagining that Iago is Desdemona. One thinks that the story of Iago is quite believable considering that Othello is beginning to doubt Desdemona’s fidelity already. Furthermore, Iago had to remind Othello that Cassio served as a go-between ...

Music and Heritage in August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson

Music plays both an obvious and a subtle role in the action of August Wilson’s play, The Piano Lesson. The most obvious part is because of the piano itself. The piano is a part of the Charles family history. It was bought by the Sutter family during the time that the Charles family was owned as slaves by the Sutters. Robert Sutter bought the piano for his wife by trading two slaves for it; however, his wife, who plays the piano, decides she wants her slaves back because she misses them. Since the Sutters are unable to get the slaves ...

August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson

As part of August Wilson’s ten play cycle, The Piano Lesson concerns issues that African-Americans deal with in the 1930s, primarily the effect of the past, its bearing on the present, and the consequences for the future. The weight of the past in the play is represented by the piano. This piano once belonged to the Sutter family, slaveholders who owned the members of the Charles family who currently possess the piano. As Doaker reveals when he explains to Boy Willy why Berniece will not consent to the sale of the piano, members of the Charles family stole ...

Response to Question #1:

Othello’s reaction in line 35 suggests that Iago’s accusations regarding Desdemona are finally beginning to affect him. Just before, Othello is interrogating Iago with clipped lines like, “What hath he said?” and “With her?” In line 35, Othello begins talking to himself, rather than interrogating Iago. He also begins to use the same type of flawed logic that Iago has been using all along to convince him of Desdemona’s alleged betrayal. In line 40, Othello says, “Nature would not invest herself in such shadowing passion without some instruction.” He is basically saying, “I have doubt, so ...

Shakespeare’s Protests against Institutional Racism in Elizabethan England

Othello is not the only play in the Shakespearean canon that features racism, and it certainly is not the only play that challenges social mores. Whether it’s the feisty Beatrice, in Much Ado About Nothing, turning social convention on its head, in the sense that women were supposed to be prim and proper in Elizabethan England, when she wows Benedick with her powerful desire to save Hero, or whether it’s the Jew Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, endowed with many of the physical characteristics associated with the worst stereotypes associated with members of his religion but ...

Shakespeare’s times are historically referred to as the Elizabethan period. During this time, people of different races lived in England and the relations between the English people and foreigners were quite complex. Foreigners were alienated from the mainstream society and this led to their destruction. One of the factors that influenced the complex relations between Englishmen and foreigners is the issue of Skin colour. Race was used to substitute social systems with new social hierarchies created certain attitudes towards the foreigners. This means that Elizabethan England was highly racist and had prejudicial ideologies that led to the formation ...

A Raisin in the Sun and Othello are two plays with different employ of setting. In A Raisin in the Sun, setting is amongst the very significant aspects in the play; this is because the Youngers are trying to purchase another house in a different locality, their present home and neighborhood has particular importance. The play occurs in an isolated southern part of Chicago between 1945 and 1959. During this episode the majority of American-people were successful and some racial queries were beginning to be raised.

In this play, the Youngers were a plebeian black family struggling against financial hardship and ...

Othello is a tragedy play by William Shakespeare written in 1603. The play is based on the story Un Capitano Moro by Cinthio that was published in 1565 (Bert 2). The play revolves around four major characters namely Othello, Desdemona, Cassio, and Iago. Othello was a Moorish general in the Venetian army while Desdemona was his beloved wife. Cassio, on the other hand, was Othello’s trusted but unfaithful pennant partner while Iago was a close working colleague to Othello, who has constituted to the development of major themes in the play due to his character. The cunning character ...

Othello by William Shakespeare is a classic example of a Good vs. Evil story. Iago is the quintessential Evil where as Desdemona takes on the mantle of Good, pure and innocent. Caught in the battle between the two is Othello, who personifies the essence of a flawed human nature. It is up to the human to decide which side to take in the battle. Othello falls for the schemes of Iago and doubts Desdemona without just reason or cause. Hence, he is more responsible for killing Desdemona. Othello goes from a self-assured man who is successful and has the love of his wife ...

The primary characters of Shakespeare’s plays typically have an element of tragedy to them: some unfortunate outcome for them that occurs either despite their circumstances or because of them. In the case of Othello, the titular character is a tragic figure whose race leads many, including Iago, to scheme against him and lead to his downfall. In this essay, the character of Othello will be examined in terms of his race and behavior, through the lens of G.K. Hunter's "Othello and Color Prejudice." Here, Othello is presented as a black man who is a heroic figure, constantly fighting against the perceptions ...