The Downfall of Othello

The Downfall of Othello

Shakespeare's Othello is a play with a bounty of unique characters. One such character is the one for which the play is named after, Othello. In the play, Othello disintegrates rapidly from a respected, confident leader to a raging, homicidal murderer. Linguistic changes throughout the play attest to this demise.
In the opening scenes, Shakespeare portrays Othello as a noble character. When Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, seeks vengeance (for "stealing" his daughter) on Othello, Othello expresses his actions would "tongue out his [Brabantio's] complaints". His calmness against the verbal slander of Brabantio is shown and received. Throughout the remainder of this scene, Othello remains calm and noble. Moreover, he, rather humbly, tells the story of his relationship with Desdemona. Othello in no way flaunts the situation over Brabantio, but speaks modestly.
In the following act, Othello continues to maintain his calm demeanor. He even speaks poetically of seeing his "fair warrior" Desdemona. Continue on in this scene, and Cassio fails his military duties. Even though this hurts and offends Othello, he remains composed. Othello lovingly dismisses Cassio from service saying, "Cassio, I love thee; but never more be officer of mine". Othello continues with this calm demeanor until the Temptation scene in 3.3.
Othello begins this scene in his previous manner but Iago's words joust him into a monstrous state. At first, he is still “chill” and is just beginning to doubt his wife's fidelity. He asks Iago to observe Desdemona's actions. Then Othello goes to his wife. Although he does seem ill, his speech does not show or express his change, but the next time Othello meets with Iago, Othello is a different character. He begins to use the animal imagery Iago had used throughout the play. Additionally, Othello calls Desdemona a "lewd minx". As the tale progresses, he begins using this animal imagery more and more.
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