Cinderella's Obstacles

When reading a story, people tend to identify with the hero. They like to think of themselves as heroes in their own lives and the success of a hero in a story makes them feel better about their chances of success in their own lives. However, a hero is only as great as the obstacle he can overcome. The obstacle can be a natural disaster or even a wild animal but it is a human villain who himself develops and changes as the story unfolds that can be the most challenging, and therefore interesting obstacle to overcome. In fact, it is the villain who makes the story exciting. What is a story without a villain? For example, what would the story of Cinderella be without the ever-present evil of Cinderella’s wicked stepmother and stepsister’s. And
However, he has no real feelings for her. When Gertrude is about to drink from the poisoned cup, Claudius warns her with a tepid “Gertrude, do not drink (Hamlet 5.2.291).” Maurice Charney calls Iago a master of a withering and dismissive contempt (Charney, 256). Even as he is setting up Roderigo to kill Cassio, he refers contemptuously about Roderigo saying, “I have rubbed this young quat almost to the sense (Othello 5.1.11)”, calling Roderigo by a derogatory term meaning boil or pimple. In fact, Iago would be just as happy if Cassio kills Roderigo as he says “Now, whether he kill Cassio, or Cassio him, or each do kill the other, every way makes my game (Othello 5.1.12).” He wins either way. Villains are also inevitably forces of decay and instability. Whenever a villain practices his craft, chaos immediately follows (Geitzen, 3). As a result of the scheming of Iago, Desdemona and Emilia are murdered, Roderigo is murdered indirectly by retribution, and Othello and Barbantion have committed suicide. Cassio only survives because the attempt on his life is unsuccessful. Villains can never build up order, never create, but may only
Villains understand this and know how to alter people’s perception in a way that aids the villain (Geitzen, 4). Desdemona’s father might have been overjoyed at her marrying Othello, but Iago presented the information to him in a way that made the situation unbearable. When Roderigo discovers that Iago has been pocketing his money, he screams at Iago and threatens him. However, when Iago tells him some fanciful plot to capture Desdemona’s heart, Roderigo forgets Iago’s threat and agrees to kill Cassio. Iago himself admits to fooling people. As he says about Othello: The Moor is of a free and open nature That thinks men honest that but seem to be so, And will as tenderly be led by th’ nose As asses are (1.3.390-93) The ability to say the right things at the right time is what makes a villain so successful (Charney, 254). Claudius and Iago have a lot in common, but they are also quite different. Both Iago and Claudius use poison as a tool of their evil schemes. However, the poison that is used by Claudius is physical poison in the liquid state. He kills the king, Hamlet, by pouring poison in his ear. He also poisons the sword he is to use to fight Hamlet as well as the water that Hamlet may