Kayleigh Messner 10/27/13 4th hour AP Lit Othello Essay Powerful stories always make the reader think

and Othello by William Shakespeare is one of those stories. The themes of Greed, jealousy, and loyalty take large parts in how the play ends and it makes the reader take thought in who they should trust and who they should not. The characters are very relatable in their situation and are changed by the themes, but some of them are just plain evil while others are just taken down by their faults. Hidden in the story are symbols and in Othello there is one symbol that changes how the characters see each other and the setting also gives a reason why they act in such irrational ways. The play opens the eyes of everyone who reads it and every part of it from the themes, characters, symbols, and settings have a major impact on how the story will result. Greed is the route of all evil.This is the theme of The Pardoners Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer and it goes hand and hand with Othello as well (Chaucer.) It describes the theme of Othello perfectly because it eventually leads the characters to act in evil ways. The characters are so consumed by jealousy that they do many evil things that ruin their lives and the lives of the people around them. The reasons that lead to the jealousy in the story were usually something small that did not even matter that much. Iago wanted a position he obviously did not deserve, Roderigo wanted Desdemona and to get back at Othello for marrying her, and Othello wanted to get back at Cassio fort taking Desdemona from him. They all wanted something they could not have and that lead to a master plan to somehow get to what they wanted. These are plans of

revenge, which is another one of the main themes. Revenge comes along with jealousy and greed and it always has a bad outcome. In this case it took the lives of many innocent characters. Although these were two of the main themes there is another that had a major impact and that is loyalty. Every single person in the play was loyal to another person that they thought they could trust. Unfortunately they were all blindsided by betrayal. Iago, the one who started all the problems in the first place, betrayed every one of his friends. His actions and the themes of this play prove that loyalty is not always accurate; it also proved that jealousy, greed and loyalty are true enemies. The characters in Othello were very important to the storyline because all of their actions worked against each other to create the mess that ended the play. Iago is one of the first characters that the reader is introduced to and right away it is clear that he is a very evil man. He was jealous that he did not get the position he wanted, but the reader could guess that he is angry about so much more. He has lived in the shadow of Othello for many years because he was in charge of him, but his actions also make the reader process the fact that maybe he was born evil like Cathy in East of Eden. He kept developing a web of lies that never ended and he showed that he was just a very deceiving man. Iago strung people along because he acted as a friend, but he really knew everyones faults and used them against his own friends. His friends did not see that he was evil and repeatedly labeled him as honest and Othello was the main culprit of this saying variatios of, A man he is of honesty and trust (Shakespeare.) Othello received the most punishment from Iago, but maybe that was his own fault. He was way too trusting and should have asked more questions. The reader sees that Othello is really a very self centered man and he chooses not to find out the truth, but this is because he is very insecure. His insecurity makes him vulnerable in Iagos eyes. Iago pushes Othello to his breaking point by telling him his wife is

having an affair and because loyalty is very important to Othello, he cracks and decides to murder her. Othello is actually more innocent than he seems, but he is definitely not innocent. Desdemona is the innocent wife of Othello who gets the short end of the stick when it comes to Othellos trust. She stays loyal to him throughout the entire storyline and he does nothing but treat her like she is a disease. After Othello kills her she tells Emilia it was her fault when she asked who commited her murder saying, Nobody. I myself. Farewell. Commend me to my kind lord. Oh, farewell! (Shakespeare.) She was a very faithful character and the reader sees that it is a shame that Othello does not see the real her because he is caught up in a false accusation. There are many other characters, but Othello and Iago were the two main characters that changed the path of the storyline the most. Symbols are often hidden within the story and in this story there are a few different ones, but the most important is the handkerchief. Othello gave it to Desdemona as a sign of love when they first got married and he knew that if she ever lost it she did not truly love him. To Desdemona, the handkerchief was a token of his love and she kept in her possession at all times, but she eventually lost it when she was trying to take care of Othellos headache. She did not lose it on purpose or give it away; she was thinking about her husbands health and at that moment he was more important than the handkerchief. When the handkerchief drops to the floor it symbolizes the relationship between Othello and Desdemona falling apart. It hit the floor right when Othello learned that his wife was having an affair so it foreshadows how their marriage will end. Later in the story, the handkerchief symbolizes the purity of Desdemona. When Othello sees Cassio with the handkerchief the reader knows that he believes that Cassio has taken her purity away from her. The handkerchief was very important to Othello for numerous reasons and

when Desdemona lost it he took it as a sign that she had chosen someone else over him and when he saw Cassio with it he ultimately broke. The setting of the Othello shows how different people acted in that time, which is estimated to be in the 1600s. In todays time period people who are going through the same situation Othello was going through would confront the people involved. Othello just assumed that whatever his so-called friend said was true and never bothered to get Desdemonas opinion. Now people always want to get the whole story in any situation even if they are not involved in it. Loyalty was also very important back then and it showed in the story. Othello trusted his best firend because he was always there for him and Desdemona was loyal to her husband because she loved him, but both of those relationships were ruined because Othellos loyalty towards Iago was being taken advantage of which ruined his marriage too. Emilia was also majorly blindsided by Iagos lack of loyalty which she thought he had because she gave him the handkerchief knowing that he wanted it, but instead he used it to kill her friend. Loyalty was known as one of the best characteristics back then, but it is clear that the characters needed to be more cautious about who they considered loyal. Another thing that is different from the setting of Othello and todays time would be the reason for killing someone. Most people do not think that because one person told them that their spouse is cheating on them is a very good excuse for murdering someone. Othello claims that he must murder Desdemona by saying, Yet she must die, else shell betray more men (Shakespeare.) The characters in the play just make irrational excuses for everything they do and this is because in that setting thats what they knew how to act. The setting completely changes the story depending on what time period it takes place in and where it is located.

All of the aspects of Othello by William Shakespeare are important in some way. The themes, characters, symbols, and settings are all connected to each other and they all make the reader think. Whether they are thinking about how the themes affect how the characters act or how the symbols make the purpose of certain details more clear, the reader understands the plot easily. Without these aspects within the play, the reader would not have insight on the details that are not directly stated. Othello was a very powerful story that makes people think about things they would not have before and it is important that they see and understand the things that move the plot along.

Works Cited Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Print. Shakespeare, William. Othello. Print.