Analysis of othello - Essay Example

In order to make the paper more clear and easy to understand, I will start by giving a brief biography of the author. What is rather interesting is that nobody knows Shakespeare's true birthday. The closest date the bibliographers came up with is the day of his baptism on April the 26th, 1564. Traditionally, a child is baptized three days after his birth, thus we may assume William to have been born on April the 23rd. There are only two portraits of William at present, the engraving by Martin Droeshout and the monument in Stratford's Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.

William married when he was 18 to Anne Hathaway who was much older. The couple had eight children who later inherited Shakespeare's wealth (William Shakespeare Facts). Shakespeare started writing at the age of 29, composing the first of his 154 sonnets Venus and Adonis in 1593. His last play The Two Noble Kinsmen was written in 1613 when he was 49 years old. The dramatist died in 1616 at the age of 52. It is remarkable that he had composed on average 1.5 plays a year since he first started in 1589 (William Shakespeare Facts).

As I have mentioned earlier, in my paper I will give a literary analysis of the Shakespeare's tragedy Othello, before starting to analyze the main characters that are: Othello, Iago, and Desdemona, I would like to present a brief summary of the play. The main purpose of Shakespeare in tragedy Othello is to produce a mood that defies a way a person perceives his/herself and the world. The play thoroughly develops such subjects as racism, chauvinism, jealousy, love, hatred, enviously, arrogance, and fraud.

Shakespeare begins Othello, presenting a story about a black general, Othello, who falls in love with and later marries, Desdemona, a young white daughter of a Venice politician. Being a general, Othello appoints Cassio to be chief lieutenant, unintentionally creating an enemy in face of Iago who thinks he is more liable for the position. Being in rage, Iago develops a plan to destroy both Cassio and the gullible Othello, who considers Iago to be a reliable and honorable friend and companion.

To begin with, Iago does everything in order to cause the dismissal of Cassio from his position. Later in the tragedy Iago directs all his efforts to ruining the life of Othello. Knowing Othello's naivety and being familiar with his weak sides, Iago hints Othello that his wife, Desdemona, has engaged in relations with Cassio. At first Othello is unwilling to believe Iago's accusations, though Iago manages to confirm his words when, with the help of machinations, Desdemona's handkerchief is found in Cassio's possession.

Being temperamental by nature, Othello enrages and throttles Desdemona. Emilia, Iago's wife, finds out about her husband's crafty designs and reveals them to Othello. Othello, realizing his horrifying and uncorrectable mistake, and commits suicide.