Did Othello Get What He Deserved? Essay

Shakespeares Othello is a character who is thrown around throughout the play by the cruel-minded Iago. One would make a judgement about whether Othello did get what he deserved by analysing the relationship between Othello and Iago.

But firstly, we must see all the things going against Othello. Othello is an African black man living in Venice. Unfortunately for Othello, this means he is faced with a lot of racial slurs and judgements. Throughout the text, Othello is constantly referred to with beastial imagery and names that relate to his skin colour. For example, the first person to describe him to us is Iago in the lines an old black ram is tupping your white ewe. This gives us a very ugly first image of Othello, which is completely wrong, after we find out that he is actually a very loyal man who deserves to be seen as more than what Iago explains him to be.

Also, the reason why Iago choose to sabotage Othellos relationship with his new wife, Desdemona is because Iago thinks that Othello has slept with his wife, Emilia, without having any proof of this, and also because Othello gave the job that Iago was waiting to be promoted to Cassio, another Venetian man. This shows how unfair the targeting of Othello to be sabotaged was. These facts about the play tell us that Othello was targeted unjustly.

The way Shakespeare writes Othello as being a noble and loyal man to those people of greater status in Venice such as the Senator, Brabantio, but is played by the strings of Iago, a standard class Venetian citizen. This shows how out of control Othello was of the whole situation that unfolds with Iago.

Iago begins to tell Othello things that make Othello finally become doubtful of his wifes faithfulness. He makes him believe that she has been sleeping with Cassio. Some would argue whether Othello should have listened to him or not.

For example, Othello asks for Iago to bring him ocular proof of her promiscuousness and until then, Othello will not believe what Iago tells him, however in that same conversation, Iago tells him a story about how Cassio apparently spoke in his sleep about having sex with Desdemona. Even though this is not ocular proof, Othello decides his final judgement for Desdemona.

Should Othello have listened to Iago? Even though Othello did not receive any proof until the handkerchief, before this he became the green-eyed monster, jealousy. Some would say that because Othello became so doubtful of Desdemona without any proof, that he may have gotten what he deserved.

In the scene where Othello is hiding, and Iago talks to Cassio about Bianca, and whether he will marry her anytime soon, Othello immediately thinks that he is hearing Cassio describe his relationship with Desdemona. If he was not in such a chosen perspective, he would have realised Cassio was talking about Bianca.

Because Othello turns into this man so gullible to Iagos lies, some would debate that he may have pulled the whole thing onto himself, thinking someone as good as Desdemona could not be as she seems without a catch, or Cassio could not be as handsome as he is, and not have Desdemona be attracted to him, and only having Iago to fuel his thoughts.

By the facts that Othello did not deserve to be targeted by Iago, Othello did not deserve to die in such a tragic downfall. The whole situation was the works of a sociopath who didnt get what he wanted, so he ruins the life of the person responsible, only because he knows how the human mind works.

On the other hand, should Othello have acted so violently just from the information he had? Throughout the play, Iago constantly says that he cannot be a villain if he does not act on what he knows, he simply tell Othello what he thinks. This is saying that if someone acts on just information that they think is right, but have no real proof, they are in fact a villain. But then, is that not what Othello does in the end, act on information without any verified proof; without seeing Desdemona and Cassio in the same bed with his own eyes? Does this not make Othello a villain?