The Character Othello by William Shakespeare

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venetians. He must have longed for more sincere friendships and Iago

wanted that spot in his life. This friendship slowly disintegrates Othello’s personality, including

his moral ethics and language.

In the first act, the words that Othello used were words like peace, love and beauty.

Those words, and the frequency in which he uses them shows how he feels about life. It shows

that he is both trusting and trustworthy and looks for the best in people at all times. If these lines

are set side by side with the phrases that Othello uses when on the topic of his wife Desdemona

and his friend Cassio in the first scene of the fourth act, when he calls his wife a whore, or when

he asked Iago how should he end Cassio’s life, it could be hard for a person to believe that the

same character said those things. That is because seeds of doubt, betrayal and adultery were

planted in Othello’s mind by Iago.

So in summary, there is a sequence in which the changes of Othello’s heart take place.

At first, Othello shows passionate love for his wife Desdemona and even refers to her as the joy

of his soul. Throughout the acts of 2 and 3, Iago gets into Othello’s mind and influences him to

believe that his wife Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. Later Othello asks Iago if he has

any actual proof so Iago constructs a plan to also manipulate Cassio to make it seem as if Cassio

is actually having an affair with Desdemona and Othello believes the entire thing. At this point

Othello no longer has the same feelings towards his relationship with his wife ad is extremely

angry with her and Cassio.

In the end Othello kills Desdemona in a rage and regrets it dearly. This man who was

noble, trusting, and fair changed to an irrational murderer. He even requests death for his

punishment for killing his own wife. The funny thing about it is that the man who wanted

Desdemona for himself cannot even have her anymore because she is dead and Othello murdered

his wife over a well thought out and planned lie. In the beginning of the play he makes love to

his wife, he compliments and praises her for her love for him and her personality. The

appreciation that she has for him makes him love her the most. Now later on he strikes her in

front of other venetians, he calls her a harlot, and he even murders her. Her murder was pre-

meditated by Othello when Othello said he would “tear her to pieces” (Act 3/Scene 3).

From beginning to end, Othello changes personalities in many different ways. The

comparison between his first and final traits have a huge contrast, as he went through a complete

transformation. Not only do the examples of what Othello went through show an individual

metamorphosis of a person, but the ability for evil to replace good when one is faced with certain

conditions. Manipulation and peer pressure can have intense negative influence over a person,

especially when fused with the forces of jealousy.