Othello is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare about Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army who marries Desdemona, daughter of a senator. Othello murders his wife, Desdemona, after being tricked into believing she has been unfaithful. Othello’s claim to fame as a main character is not so much the tragic love story, but more so a tragedy of Othello’s racial identity. Othello is from Venice and he is very dark-skinned for a Venetian.
Othello speaks with a thick accent that renders him as an outsider to many characters in the play. Othello falls in love with Othello and they get married. Othello then becomes a general in the Venetian army when Othello is attacked by his enemies in battle, Othello brings Othello in to help him win the war. Othello’s victory helps Othello become a main player of political importance in Venice.
Othello is given the task of overseeing the safety of Othello ‘s daughter from a previous marriage when her husband dies. In reality, it was all a trick because Iago wanted power for himself, so he convinced Othello that Desdemona had been unfaithful with Cassio. Feeling betrayed and full of rage after finding out that Iago was behind the false information, Othello kills Othello in Othello’s bed. Othello is eventually tricked into committing suicide by Othello.
Othello is also the protagonist of the story. Othello is an African general in Venice who falls in love with and marries Desdemona, only to suspect her of adultery and murder her. There are many Othellos out there who don’t know that Othello actually represents Europeans in Africa specifically the English and French people such as Othello’s friend Michael Cassio who was an Englishman. Othello has this dark black exterior which represents the black population of Africa while Desdemona has a white exterior which represents the white European population of Europe.
Othello kills Desdemona because he believes she betrayed him with another man even though he never saw it happen. Othello kills Desdemona because he suspects her of cheating on him. Othello represents the African people who hate Europeans and Othello also represents the European population, Othello seems to be killing his own kind or race which is hypocrisy, Othello accuses Desdemona of betrayal but Othello has done the same thing to Africa by enslaving them Othello commits suicide at the end of the story because if Othello was to kill himself then there would be no one else left to accuse his dead wife Desdemona of adultery.
Shakespeare’s audience would have been able to relate Othello with what happened between England and other non whites around that time period especially Africans. Othello is still being performed around the world now by many different cultures and Othello is now a famous playwright all because Shakespeare made Othello into a great protagonist of the story, Othello is not just Othello anymore Othello has grown into something more than that he represents what happened to Africa and all of the suffering they went through.
William Shakespeare’s purpose for writing Othello was to show his audience how Europeans were treating Africans at around that time period. Othello would make people look at things from a different perspective such as Othellos’ life which shows how he used to be trusted by everyone but towards the end of his life no one would trust him because it felt like Othello changed after he married Desdemona Othello became a different man.
Othello is one of William Shakespeare’s masterpieces and it shows what happened to Africa, Othellos’ life would show the audience how Africans were treated by Europeans in Africa during that time period. Othello was one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays that influenced many other writers because Othello has this hidden meaning about what happened in real life when Europe invaded Africa with their African slaves which makes Othello a very controversial masterpiece by William Shakespeare.
Othello is the classic tale of Othello’s downfall. Othello, a black Moroccan general in the Venetian military, has just wedded Desdemona, daughter of a respected Venetian senator. They are deeply in love and Othello trusts her unconditionally. Othello’s whole world is about to be shattered by Iago, Othello’s comrade who holds an obsessive grudge against Othello for promoting Cassio over him. Iago convinces Othello that his new wife is having an affair with Cassio and Othello succumbs to his anger, killing both Desdemona and Cassio in one fell swoop.
This play isn just written about jealousy however; Othello has deeper meanings within it. Othello is about slavery and the racism that took place during its time. Othello was a black man who had just married into one of the most prestigious families of Venice, thus creating outrage amongst many of Othello’s peers. Othello wasn’t originally written as what he is now; originally Othello was Scottish and named Thaddeus (which means “good”).
Shakespeare changed Othello’s nationality to fit what the audience would probably think of him after reading his name, for they would probably connect him to Othman, also known as Otho or Othmar, who was one of Venices military generals whose followers regularly plundered villages in the Balkans. Othello was, in a sense, Othman’s successor. Othello is also representative of the Roman general Marcus Antonius, who led Rome to many victories before being turned on by his fellow senators and then dying at their hands.
Othello’s name in this sense is ironic because Othello didn’t have anything to do with Othman or Otho but everyone thinks he is directly related to him just due to the similarity of names. It isn just Othello that has hidden meanings behind it though; most characters have been translated from their original concepts which only adds more depth to each character and play as a whole. Iago was originally an Irish name meaning “fertile land” whereas Roderigo was originally named Otho which means “wealthy. ” The Hidden Meanings of Othello are not always easy to spot, but they are prevalent throughout the play.
Othello’s name means Othman or Othmar, who was one of Venice’s military generals whose followers regularly plundered villages in the Balkans. Othello is representative of Roman General Marcus Antonius who led legions to many victories before being turned on by his fellow senators and then dying at their hands. Othello’s marriage to Desdemona is seen as a step up for Othello because he has married into a respected Venetian family. However all this does is create outrage amongst Othello’s peers because he is marrying the Senator’s daughter and Othello is a Moor.
Othello, as well as everyone else in Othello who is apart of Venice’s social structure such as Desdemona, Othello (whose name originally was Thaddeus), Iago (who instead of being called Othello was originally Irish), Brabantio (Desdemona’s father whose name means warlike) and Roderigo (whom Othello would probably consider a step up because Roderigo comes from an affluent family) all come from different cultures but Shakespeare uses the names to make associations with what each character would look like based on their cultural background.
