Reason And Instinct In Shakespeare's Othello
Beautiful Disaster
Shakespearean scholar M.R. Ridley suggests that the theme of Othello centers on the conflict between “reason and instinct.” There is main reason of why did Iago go to Othello accusing his wife of cheating. And the instinct Othello had to kill his wife Desdemona due to these accusations. Shakespeare has many underlying and reoccurring themes throughout as well. One major theme is that of betrayal and loyalty. During the entire play, every character is either loyal to, or betrays another character. In the case of Othello, like all other tragedies, it is the passion of the hero that is the root of all the action of the play that destroys the hero.
Iago was the master of manipulation. Iago’s fearlessness and over-confidence while he manipulates people causes him to make mistakes that lead him to his death. As he carried traits of psychopaths with no remorse, he was obsessive towards other people’s lives, relentless on his actions, bold in his choices, and a genius in his efforts to manipulate and deceive the other characters—particularly Othello. His unclear motivations derived from the will to play on each team and play them like puppets. It all began with poor Roderigo who just wanted to win over the heart of sweet Desdemona and when he …show more content…
He never applied any logic to any situation. He was far too naive for Iago’s smart tricks. Iago puts his own evil take on how events in Othello’s life pertain to him. For instance, he tells Othello that Cassio steals away “guilty-like” from Desdemona when he sees Othello coming because he’s having an affair with her; Desdemona pleads so intensely to have Cassio reinstated because he’s her lover; Desdemona realized that marrying an old, homely, black man was a mistake, and now wants a young handsome man of her own race like Cassio. Iago uses logic to inflame Othello with jealous rage so that he’ll disgrace himself and satisfy Iago’s need to feel superior over
Shakespearean scholar M.R. Ridley suggests that the theme of Othello centers on the conflict between “reason and instinct.” There is main reason of why did Iago go to Othello accusing his wife of cheating. And the instinct Othello had to kill his wife Desdemona due to these accusations. Shakespeare has many underlying and reoccurring themes throughout as well. One major theme is that of betrayal and loyalty. During the entire play, every character is either loyal to, or betrays another character. In the case of Othello, like all other tragedies, it is the passion of the hero that is the root of all the action of the play that destroys the hero.
Iago was the master of manipulation. Iago’s fearlessness and over-confidence while he manipulates people causes him to make mistakes that lead him to his death. As he carried traits of psychopaths with no remorse, he was obsessive towards other people’s lives, relentless on his actions, bold in his choices, and a genius in his efforts to manipulate and deceive the other characters—particularly Othello. His unclear motivations derived from the will to play on each team and play them like puppets. It all began with poor Roderigo who just wanted to win over the heart of sweet Desdemona and when he …show more content…
He never applied any logic to any situation. He was far too naive for Iago’s smart tricks. Iago puts his own evil take on how events in Othello’s life pertain to him. For instance, he tells Othello that Cassio steals away “guilty-like” from Desdemona when he sees Othello coming because he’s having an affair with her; Desdemona pleads so intensely to have Cassio reinstated because he’s her lover; Desdemona realized that marrying an old, homely, black man was a mistake, and now wants a young handsome man of her own race like Cassio. Iago uses logic to inflame Othello with jealous rage so that he’ll disgrace himself and satisfy Iago’s need to feel superior over