What is Othello described as?

A Christian Moor and general of the armies of Venice, Othello is an eloquent and physically powerful figure, respected by all those around him. In spite of his elevated status, he is nevertheless easy prey to insecurities because of his age, his life as a soldier, and his race.

How is Othello as a person?

Othello is a trusting, honest person who expects that his own good character, if embodied clearly and earnestly, will save him from others' prejudice. He demonstrates this belief in the first act; presenting himself so nakedly in the name of justice and common sense will be his great misstep.

What is Othello considered?

Othello is a tragedy because it tells the story of a noble, principled hero who makes a tragic error of judgment, leading to a devastating climax in which most of the characters end up either dead or seriously wounded.

Is Othello an admirable character?

One of Othello's admirable qualities is that he believes that men should be transparent and honest as he is; “Certain, men should be what they seem” (Act 3 Scene 3 Line 134). This juxtaposition between Othello's transparency and Iago's duality identifies him as a sympathetic character despite his actions.

Is Othello a good person?

Othello is essentially a good man. From early in the play we learn that he is a trusted soldier and a loving husband who remains calm under pressure and is held in high regard in Venice.

Othello by William Shakespeare | Characters

How is Othello presented?

Othello is an outsider who is intelligent and confident in military matters but socially insecure. He leads an intense life, swinging between triumph and dread. He is different from those around him, due to his origins and his life history, but he shares their religion, values, and patriotism to Venice.

Is Othello a villain or victim?

Othello is primarily a victim in the play, although it's important to remember that he is a villain to the extent that he kills Desdemona. Othello is the victim of both Iago's manipulations and his own insecurities, both of which work together to produce tragic results.

What are Othello's character traits?

As a skilled soldier and general, Othello is brave, confident, smart and physically strong. Unfortunately, he is also a racial outsider, insecure about his Moorish background, emotionally out of control and naïve. Othello's insecurity is his fatal flaw, a weakness in his personality.

Is Othello misguided or cruel?

Othello was madly in love with Desdemona and they were compassionate for each other but he was misguided and confused with jealousy and hatred which steered him off course to his sinister fate.

What is Othello's tragic flaw?

Some say that Othello's tragic flaw was jealousy which flared at suspicion and rushed into action unchecked by calm common sense. A more modern interpretation would say that Othello's tragic flaw was that he had internalized, that is taken into himself, the prejudices of those who surrounded him.

How is Othello presented as a villain?

He's a strong and skilled fighter, and an eloquent speaker, and a loving partner (at least for a time). His characteristics, role in society, and relationships with those around him, unfortunately, make it easy for Iago (generally considered to be the true villain of Othello) to manipulate him.

What kind of tragedy is Othello?

Othello is also a domestic tragedy: the tragedy of marriage. Othello and Desdemona have a passionate love which could be seen as a threat to the rules established by patriarchal order: their intense, emotionally charged and equal marriage challenges ideas about class, race and the conformity of women.

Is Othello a tragic character?

Othello is a tragic hero for several reasons. A tragic hero is the protagonist of a story who has a fall from grace. A tragic hero is a character who has everything going for him or her, however, they have flaw that sparks their downfall.

How does Othello perceive himself?

When he sees himself through society's eyes, as a barbaric interloper, Othello begins to despise himself, and it is that self-hatred that allows him to kill what he loves most.

Is Othello a weak character?

Othello is a combination of greatness and weakness. Certain obstacles cause him to fall from grace, most especially the fact that he is an outsider to Venetian society.

How do you analyze Othello?

Othello is a play about sexual jealousy, and how one man can convince another man, who loves his wife dearly, that she has been unfaithful to him when she hasn't. But Shakespeare does several very interesting, and artistically quite bold, things with this basic plot, and the characters he uses to tell the story.

Who is the real villain in Othello?

Iago is the antagonist of the play; in fact, his character is often cited as one of the clearest examples of an antagonist in all of literature. Iago actively works to thwart Othello by convincing Othello that Desdemona is being unfaithful to him, knowing that this belief will torment Othello.

Is Othello respected for his bravery?

Desdemona is deeply impressed with him after she learns his story and how brave he is. Both fall in deep love and elope. Othello is a valiant soldier, deeply admired for his courage but still with vulnerabilities. He is vulnerable to lies and while he is fearless he cannot resist being jealous.

Is Othello abusive?

Having been mistakenly told that Desdemona is having an affair with his lieutenant Cassio, Othello repeatedly verbally abuses Desdemona in sexual terms – he calls her a public whore, a commoner, a strumpet and a devil. He makes increasingly violent threats to harm and kill Desdemona.

How is Othello a complex character?

The combination of Othello's character traits makes him a complex hero. He is a foreigner from Africa, different by race and culture. That makes his status more complicated. On the one hand, he is an experienced soldier who won the post of general by intelligence and excellence in the military.

Is Othello a black character?

There is no final consensus over Othello's ethnicity; whether of Maghrebi origin as in the generally accepted definition of "Moor", or of Sub-Saharan African. E. A. J. Honigmann, the editor of the Arden Shakespeare edition concluded that Othello's ethnic background is ambiguous.

How does Iago describe Othello?

Iago uses a lot of animal imagery to describe Othello. In Act 1 Scene 1, he calls him a 'Barbary horse' and an 'old black ram', using these images to make Desdemona's father angry and telling him that Othello and Desdemona 'are making the beast with two backs'. This continues in Iago's soliloquies.

Was Othello a monster?

To Iago, Othello was always dangerous and considered a monster. Iago's lying and meddling, while unwarranted, turned Othello into the beast that everyone secretly thought he was.

What makes Othello a victim?

Othello is taken in by Iago's lies and is ultimately a victim of his trickery. Iago plays upon Othello's personality and exploits Othello's tendency to be overly proud. Ultimately, Othello's death is ultimately fitting but he is both a victim of Iago's designs and a victim of his own hand.

Who is the hero in Othello?

Iago as the Hero of Shakespeare's Othello

He is boisterous, egotistical, sometimes witty, and all too eager to seek revenge. In William Shakespeare Othello, Iago is the well-liked, trusted, and brave ensign of the great Venetian general Othello, or so it appears.