Human Problems in the Tragedy of Othello - Essay Example

Human Problems In The Tragedy Of Othello The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice written by William Shakespeare in the sixteenth century is one of the glories of his artistic legacy and English literature at large. In this short essay I will dwell on the statement made by professor Carol Neely, who maintained that the central theme of the play was love, especially marital love, and claimed that the central conflict of this magnificent Shakespeare's tragedy was between the men and the woman.

The play focuses on the plot against the reputable general of the Venetian army named Othello and his wife Desdemona, the daughter of the Senator Brabantio. Othello is a dark-skinned Moorish warrior, who achieved considerable success in his field and worthily became a socially prominent and respectful member of Venetian society despite his African descend. Othello went through the hoop on the way to the pinnacle of his military career and high status but ruined his reputation and life so easily that it looks like doom at the first glance.

Since his childhood his life was full of dangers and hardships. He had to leave his home and family early to join the army, went through many trials and won a great number of battles to deserve the right to get on the inside of the Venetian public life and feel at home among Venetian people. When he met Desdemona, a beautiful white Venetian woman who tuned in the beat of his hard life and fell in love he felt as happy as a man could be. He felt that he won another battle of his life, the most important one.

This time it was the victory over the bottomless pit of chaos that fed his loneliness. At this point of his life blessed Othello confessed, " I do love thee, and when I love thee not, Chaos is come again" (Shakespeare 93). Nevertheless, when Othello's ensign, Iago, started to weave a plot against Othello and Desdemona, the feeling that their love was vulnerable and would be ruined in the end and stuck around. Iago hated Othello because, in his opinion, his master did not appreciate his capabilities having given the place of lieutenant to Cassio instead of him.

Iago fed his loathing with an assumption that Othello once slept with his wife, Emilia, that was not true; and whether Iago really believed that or not remained unclear. All in all, whatever Iago's reasons were, his misanthropy turned out to be stronger than love of two people and led to their death. He managed to poison Othello's mind against Desdemona having persuaded him that Desdemona had an affair with Cassio. The biggest irony is that Othello did not take any trouble to find out whether the accusation was true or not by speaking to Desdemona and Cassio about that.

He chose to believe Iago because it looked plausible to him that his white wife could be unfaithful with such a young and successful white man as Cassio. All Othello's prejudices and his unsettled state came to the top and led him to the bitter end. He followed his sinister affections, which took over the love to his wife, and killed Desdemona punishing her for something that she had never done. Being unable to get over his guilt Othello committed suicide in the end of this powerful tragedy. Thus, he never found his happiness and home in Venice, though it seemed so close.

And in my opinion, without Othello's permanent and well-hidden sense of self distrust and despondency found in Othello such a bitter end of the protagonists of this tragedy would be impossible to imagine. I do not agree with Carol Neely, who insists that this play focuses mainly on the story of love and the eternal controversies between men and women. I believe there is so much more in this tragedy than love and hate, jealousy and low cunning. This multilayered play expands in the darkest corners of human existence, such as racism and misanthropy, loneliness and vulnerability, chaos and order, hope and despair, honesty and bad faith.

The tragedy explores the riddles of the universe, which will always be a constant of art and literature; it opposes a human fear of loneliness and helplessness before chaos and a mere chance demonstrating how fragile everything that seems solid is. Work CitedShakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice. New York: Washington Square Press, 1993. Print.