![]() Cassio has physical beauty and grace Othello has calculating finesse and wisdom. Both men serve as loyal soldiers of the Venetian crown, but Cassio seems to represent the impishness of youth, the suave, debonair, and eye-catching gallantry that attracts lady folk to military men, whilst Othello represents the wisdom, experience, and backbone - both the brains and brawn - of any army’s foundation. Iago acknowledges to Roderigo that Cassio knows not “the division of a battle” (I, i, 23), is “without practice all his soldiership” (27), and is in, the opposite vein, a philosophizer, “a great arithmetician” (19). Indeed, the Venetian council acknowledges his masterful approach to the battlefield as they call him to take command of their fleets against the Turks: “…though we have a substitute of most allowed sufficiency, yet opinion, a more sovereign mistress of effect, throws a more safer voice on you” (I, iii, 222-224).Ĭassio, on the other hand, is a young pup by comparison. The hardships of his enslavement and the experiences of war have made him a calculating, reserved leader who looks at a situation from every angle, who never acts rashly or without understanding all sides. His first entrance on the stage presents him as a wise man, a leader whose experiences have made him all the more observant and patient with the world around him. Harold Bloom goes so far as to say that “Othello has a touch of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in him…there is an authentic nobility in the language of his soul” (Bloom 445). Othello is one of the most dignified and sumptuous characters in Shakespeare’s writings, rivaling such men as Henry V or King Lear in his superiority and aloof grandeur in both mind and body. Most notably in this comparison is young Michael Cassio, a beautifully written foil character to the general in the fact that where Othello possesses these three qualities (and others), Cassio either lacks them entirely or enhances them to the betterment of those around him. This observation demonstrates that these three main traits-grandeur, self-control, and nobility-are key to understanding Othello's complex character, and even more helpful in understanding the contrasts between him and his subordinates. ![]() ![]() F.Theodore Spencer wrote of Shakespeare's Othello, “In presenting the character of Othello to his audience, Shakespeare emphasizes very strongly his grandeur, self-control, and nobility” (Spencer 127-28). ![]() He is not observant and the schemes of Iago work well on him. With this dark side, he is also very outgoing, and not very bright. He is mysterious in that he believes there is magic everywhere. Not only because he is black, but also because his whole person is very mysterious. The power shown here is quite astounding.The nature of Othello's character is of a dark man. Were it my cue to fight, I should have known it without a prompter" (I, ii, lines 97-100). In Act I, Othello has a scuffle with Brabantio, who has come to kill him, but before anything could happen, Othello said: "Hold your hands, both of you of my inclining and the rest. The control is not only of power but also of the sense of his being who he is, a great warrior. He is very proud and in control of every move throughout the play. Othello, the Moor, as many Venetians call him, is of strong character. Iago knows Othello is a proud man, Othello’s open and trusting nature in the beginning of the play lets Iago- cunning, untrustworthy, selfish, and plotting use him as a scapegoat. He has certain traits which make him seem naive and unsophisticated compared to many other people. Chronologically through the play, Othello’s character changes from a flawless military leader, to a murderer. As the play continues, his character begins to deteriorate and become less noble. Othello is first shown as a hero of war and a man of great pride and courage. The tragedy of Othello is not a fault of a single villain, but is rather a consequence of a wide range of feelings, judgments and misjudgments, and attempts for personal justification exhibited by the characters. His destruction is essentially precipitated by his own actions, as well as by the actions of the characters surrounding him. He is a character of high stature who is destroyed by his surroundings, his own actions, and his fate. In William Shakespeare’s Othello, Othello is the tragic hero.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |