Critical analysis on is othello a good man - Essay Example

Othello: Is Othello A Good Man Othello is one of the greatest works for which William Shakespeare is well known. Othello is a noble Moor under the service of the State of Venice. In Act Two of the book, he is made a General, but his life is not so smooth after Iago makes him believe that his wife is having an affair with another man. I get the impression that Othello is a good man, whose circumstances force him to do things that may be considered evil in society (Mussari 7). However, I believe that he is a truly good man, who despite being a Moor, or an Arab, has what it takes to prove himself, his goodness and self worth to the people of Venice. I believe that Othello is essentially a good man with good intentions, whose only crime lies in trusting an evil man. Othello is a good man who conducts himself with dignity and respect. Shakespeare sets up Othello quite perfectly as the tragic hero of this play. Despite the fact that he is one of the minority groups in Venice, he happens to be one of the most sought after by the city’s high and mighty, including the duke himself. The Duke and a city senator even refer to Othello using words such as “valiant, brave and our noble and valiant general” (Kolin 11). Such characteristics are often only found in good people. He is eloquent and well loved and respected by the people, which only goes to show that he is a truly good man in his heart. It is through his good nature that he gains a leadership role in the army and ultimately in Venice. In the first part of the play, Othello shows his good-natured side by claiming and showing his love for his wife to all and sundry. He is a good man who expects everyone else to be as good as he is. It is for this reason hat he never examines his friendships, always expecting those who call themselves his friends to have the same good intentions that he does. This is major undoing at the end and not because he is evil. He trusts too easily, but then he trusts the wrong people (Barthelemy 45). He might be a good and just leader, but he has his own shortcomings. He is unbelievably gullible for a man at his position, and I think that is the reason that evil comes so easily to him. Another of the things that make me think that Othello is a good man is the way he handles the case with Brabantio. Brabantio is the man who falsefully accuses Othello of bewitching his (Brabantio’s) daughter. If Othello was a bad man, he would have found a way to foil the man’s accusations and plans to get back at him. However, Othello is wise enough to deal with the matter as it should be dealt with. He does not fight Brabantio, but instead, he agrees to prove to all concerned that his marriage is one based on love and not witchcraft as is being alleged by Brabantio (Hankey 24). His good intentions towards people around him enable him to save himself and Brabantio from possible embarrassment. Othello is not an evil man, but that does not mean that he is perfect either. He is just a noble man in the unfortunate position of being sandwiched between good and evil. The good angel in this case is Desdemona and the evil angel is no one else but Iago (Lester 36). His inability to see through Iago’s treacherous schemes only makes him vulnerable to making the wrong choices, which he does. For a man who had early in the play confessed to so much live for his wife, he could have exercised better caution when dealing with the false accusations that were being leveled against her (39). It is not hard to see who the evil one is in this play, and it is definitely not Othello. He himself knows that he is not a bad person. He lays the blame on some evil entity that took over his good nature: “And say besides, that in Aleppo once, Where a malignant and a turbaned Turk Beat a Venetian and traduced the state, I took by th throat the circumcised dog, And smote him, thus” (Barthelemy 19). Othello’s good nature is what makes him fall for all the lies that Iago feeds him. It seems that he trusts Iago more than he trusts his wife. This is the biggest mistake that Othello makes, and he ends up killing his wife. He realizes what he has done too late and he takes his own life. I think that what Othello does in a moment of blinded rage and misplaced pride should not be used to judge whether he is evil or good (Hankey 67). When one considers what Othello has achieved in whole lifetime, it is easy to deduce that he truly is a good man. In fact, his good nature made him to be so remorseful about killing his wife, and that is why he decided to end his life as well. It is quite unfortunate that he had to go this far, but the fact that he was a good man in most of his life cannot be disputed. He is truly remorseful for what he did to his loyal and loving wife. In his anguish and self-disgust, he says: “this look of thine will hurl my soul from heaven, and friends will snatch at it.” (Kolin 17) I do not think that Othello is an evil man, that trait is well reserved for Iago. I just think that he suffered from weaknesses, like all humans do. It is just that his weaknesses were fueled by an impossibly evil man who was hell bent on destroying the goodness of Othello (Mussari 48). Othello falls to the temptation of murder only because of the cunning treacherous planning of Iago. Though a good man, Othello is ultimately destroyed by the powers of evil, into whose hands he played by not trusting and listening to his loving and loyal wife. His own tragic flaws led to the equally tragic end to his life. Works Cited Barthelemy, Anthony Gerard. Critical Essays on Shakespeare’s Othello. New York: G.K. Hall, 1994. Print Hankey, Julie. Othello. Cambridge: Cambridge University press, 2005. Print. Kolin, Phillip. Othello: New Critical Essays. New York: Routledge, 2002. Print. Lester, Julius. Othello. Boston, Mass: Turtleback Books, 1998. Print. Mussari, Mark. Othello. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2010. Print. Read More