Othello
“Jealousy is both reasonable and belongs to reasonable men, while envy is base and belongs to the base, for the one makes himself get good things by jealousy, while the other does not allow his neighbor to have them through envy.” Aristotle
I find this quote very fascinating. It stats that jealousy is a very dangerous emotion and is often responsible for destroying all the good things that we have. It drives us mad, blinding us, making us forget our morals, leading us towards our selfish goal. We can clearly see jealousy controlling and destroying many lives in Othello.
Othello, a play written by William Shakespeare, an English poet and playwright regarded as the greatest writer in English language. He wrote Othello in 1604 to be performed to the new King, King James I and for that reason; he included the themes such as Turkish history, witchcraft, manipulation, race etc. for the Kings liking. The play is named after one of the main characters who is a trustful man. The character is Othello, the Moor of Venice, an honorable and faithful member of the Venetian community and a general of the Venetian army. Although the play was named after Othello, Shakespeare brings in a true villain whose name is Iago. At the time, Spain was England’s enemy and Iago being a Spanish name made it clear that Iago is evil. Iago could arguably be the main character – manipulation of Roderigo, false friendship with Othello and treatment to his wife etc. Shakespeare seems to suggest in the play that white Iago is a very negative character and black Othello is a hero. The audience would have questioned these views at the time as Shakespeare may have been trying to make social comments and putting forward a negative attitude towards racism.
The play was based around Giraldi Cinthio, an Italian writer’s story. The play starts in Venice, Italy, a nice and civilized city and moves to the chaotic war in Cyprus later on. The change has a lot of significance and relevance in...