Being a Moor, Othello finds his greatest difficulty in blending in with the Venetian society and way of life. He combats this with his military rank, and due respect from the Duke of Venice. With this appreciation, Othello feels secure. With the rank of general, Othello has high military skill and excellence. He is dependable, rational, and logical. Desdemona, the daughter of the Duke, appreciates Othello for his military experience and past adventures. They soon fall in love, Othello gives Desdemona his first gift to her; a unique handkerchief. Soon he and the fair Desdemona secretly become married, sparking the jealous and evilly creative mind of Iago.
With the Turkish, the sworn enemies of Venice, fleet approaching the coast of Cyprus, Othello is sent by the Duke to lead the army in defending Cyprus from invasion. Whilst there, Iago exercises his scheme to bring the downfall of the Moor.
Iago, having a higher rank in the army and a friend of Othello, is presumed to be extremely trustworthy. On many occasions, he gives warning to Othello, implying that his young newlywed wife is cheating on his with his friend. Using this trust, Iago essentially ‘pours poison’ in the ear of Othello. He feeds him lies, making him question Desdemona’s loyalty to him. Entranced by these lies, Othello become jealous and loses his sense of security, crippling his mental health. In this jealous state, Othello thinking is fogged. He loses his ability to rationalize. Never having felt this way before, Othello shades from the chance of risking his pride and approach Desdemona about the affair, rather listens to the lies of his friend Iago.
Unable to control the situation, Othello finally tries to get Desdemona alone to answer his raging questions. Overwhelmed by emotion, Othello strikes Desdemona, having done this, he loses respect from his authorities. Finally Iago convinces Othello that killing Desdemona is the only way for everything to get better, expecting that Othello would in turn only kill himself. This leads to his downfall of Othello. Losing his rational traits, he kills Desdemona, his true love, then takes the life of his own.
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