The Character of Othello Essay -- GCSE Coursework Shakespeare Othello

The Character of Othello Shakespeares Othello is not simply a play which embodies the conflict between insider and outsider. The paradigm of sharpness presented in this play is more complicated than the conclusion, Othello is contrasting therefore, he is bad. Othellos character is to be revered. He is a champion among warriors an advisor among councilmen a Moor among Venetians. Yes, Othello is a Moor, but within the initial configuration of the play, this concomitant is almost irrelevant. His difference is not constructed as otherness. Othello, by his nature, is not an otherized character. Besides being the dark-skinned Moor, Othello varies in no real way from the other characters in the play. Further, Othello and Iago can be seen as two sides of the same destructive coin. With Iago as a foil and subversive adversary, Othello is not faulted for the indiscretions he commits. It is the invention and projection of otherness by various characters in the play, especially Iago, which set the stage for the tragedy of dissimilarity which is to ensue. Continually confronted with his difference, and apparently associated inferiority, Othello eventually ingests and manifests this difference in a scarlet rage against the symbol and defining emblem of his otherness, Desdemona. Yet, who is to blame? Which character is redeemed through our sympathy so that another can be condemned? Othello, the dark-skinned murdering Moor, himself. The musical interval of his otherness from explicit and innate evil contrasted with Iagos free-flowing and early-established taste for revenge and punishment, alleviates Othello from responsibility. Surely, Othello has wronged and is to be held reprehensible--with his death--but even this is a self-infli... .../www. Galileo pechnet.edu Bloom, Harold. Introduction Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea hearthstone New harbor CT 1987. C. W. Slights. Slaves and Subjects in Othello, Shakespeare Quarterly v4 8 Winter 1997 382. J. Adelman. Iagos Alter Ego Race as Projection in Othello, Shakespeare Quarterly v48 Summer 1997 130. Jones, Eldred. Othello- An Interpretation Critical Essays on Shakespeares Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994. Neely, Carol. Women and Men in Othello Critical Essays on Shakespeares Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994. Norman Sanders, ed. Othello. Cambridge New York, 1995 12. Snyder, Susan. Beyond the Comedy Othello Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987.