A Study of William Shakespeare's Othello - Book Report/Review Example

A study of William Shakespeare’s Othello “Othello” is a ical play written by the famous William Shakespeare. The play’s context is in Venice and Cyprus. The main characters in the play are Othello; the play is named after him, Iago, Desdemona, Emilia and Cassio. On the other hand, the supporting characters are Roderigo, Bianca, Brabanzio, Montano, Lodovico, Graziano, Duke of Venice and Clown. This paper presents a study of William Shakespeare’s “Othello”. Intentions: Passion vs. ReasonDifferent characters in the play display how their intentions are strikingly driven by passion instead of reason.

At first, Othello and Roderigo are powerful and rich respectively, and they have a common goal, which is to woo Desdemona. In order, for Othello, to make Desdemona fall in love with him, he woos her with stories pertaining to him previous war victories. On the other hand, Roderigo uses his riches to buy Desdemona’s love by giving Iago money to help him woo Desdemona. Roderigo’s passion overrides his reason, as he loses his riches when engaging in a blind process of wooing Desdemona through Iago’s help.

Moreover, passion overrides Othello’s reason after Iago informs him of Desdemona’s infidelity. Othello becomes obsessed with jealousy and contemplates killing Desdemona without verifying the truth of the matter (Shakespeare & Brown 56). Settings: Venice vs. CyprusVenice happens to be the main setting of the play, and the play moves to Cyprus. Venice is a developed city while Cyprus happens to be a remote island that is underdeveloped. In the play, it becomes evident that Cyprus is a colony belonging to Venice.

The two settings in the play have a lot of significance. Venice is a stabilized city full of love and peace while Cyprus is the exact opposite, as it is full of hatred and war. The above is demonstrated when Othello is sent to Cyprus to help in fighting the Turkish invasion. The hatred for Othello by Iago and Roderigo sparks in Cyprus; the two collaborate with the objective of breaking Othello’s marriage with Desdemona. In essence, the move from Venice to Cyprus displays the negative sides of the characters in the play (Shakespeare & Brown 76).

The women in OthelloThe main women characters in the play are Othello’s wife, Desdemona, Iago’s wife Emilia and a prostitute Bianca. The women show their submissive nature, as they obey the orders given to them. Desdemona also happens to be the daughter of the senator Brabanzio. In the play, Desdemona finds herself wooed by both Othello and Roderigo. However, she falls in love with Othello in spite of the riches displayed by Roderigo. Her father, Roderigo and Iago, dispute her love affair with Othello.

At the end of the play, Desdemona faces a tragedy in which Othello kills her after lago, falsely, accuses her of infidelity. Emilia, Iago’s wife and a helper to Desdemona follows all of her husband’s demands regardless of the ill motives. However, Emilia has the opinion that women are not that different to women. Desdemona and Emilia display sexual superiority in women, which highly controls men in the play. The women’s charming nature, which overwhelms men, is through their beauty and magnificent looks (Shakespeare & Brown 106).

The character of OthelloOthello is the general of the army of Venice, and he is the main character in the play. He has attained a great reputation, which has made the people of Venice respect him. However, when the play’s setting moves to Cyprus, a different side of Othello is seen. His insecurities are exposed when Iago falsely accuses Desdemona of infidelity, and Othello becomes obsessed with jealously. Othello focuses on passion instead of reason, which turns to be his downfall in the end when he kills Desdemona and finally commits suicide (Shakespeare & Brown 126).

Works CitedShakespeare W, Brown J. Othello. New Year: Applause, 2001. Print.