Compare how Shakespeare and Steinbeck present villains and victims in ‘Othello’ and ‘Of Mice and Men’.
Compare how Shakespeare and Steinbeck present villains and victims in ‘Othello’ and ‘Of Mice and Men’.
By Bushra Begum
Both ‘Othello’ and ‘Of Mice and Men’ are tragedies about society’s villains and victims and how their pursuit of love, hopes and dreams leads them to death and destruction. William Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ (1603) is based on a Greek tragedy; the setting is in Venice and then Cyprus, which reflects Othello transforming into a powerful and dominant hero to a ‘Monstrous’ devil. Briefly, the narrative is about a white woman (Desdemona) falling in love with a ‘Moorish’ Muslim soldier (Othello). Inter-racial relationships were seen as vile and shocking and the fact that a Senator’s daughter had fallen in love with a ‘black ram’ (as he is referred to in the play) was an even bigger issue as she not only had transgressed the social taboo, but had betrayed her father’s trust and respect. However, John Steinbeck’s 'Of Mice and Men' is a novella that is based on the American Dream. It was published in 1937, while it was the Great Depression in the U.S.A. The novella shows us how life was around the 1930's and how people were affected, such as racism, violence, sexism; women did not have the same equality as men. Moreover, as the unemployment rate was high, people did not have the money to provide for themselves and their family.
Firstly, both texts bring male villains to life. In Act one, Shakespeare presents Iago as an antagonist even before Othello appears on stage; The scene begins with Iago fuming as he did not get the position he wanted or thought he had ‘deserved’ because Othello (being the General) had appointed Michael Cassio for this role – Cassio is one of Othello’s trusted soldiers and had been chosen due to his intelligence; the reason Iago is a villain is because he had planned to cause chaos Between Othello’s relationship with his beloved Desdemona by making him believe that Cassio was having an affair with her- this was in fact false. Iago
By Bushra Begum
Both ‘Othello’ and ‘Of Mice and Men’ are tragedies about society’s villains and victims and how their pursuit of love, hopes and dreams leads them to death and destruction. William Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ (1603) is based on a Greek tragedy; the setting is in Venice and then Cyprus, which reflects Othello transforming into a powerful and dominant hero to a ‘Monstrous’ devil. Briefly, the narrative is about a white woman (Desdemona) falling in love with a ‘Moorish’ Muslim soldier (Othello). Inter-racial relationships were seen as vile and shocking and the fact that a Senator’s daughter had fallen in love with a ‘black ram’ (as he is referred to in the play) was an even bigger issue as she not only had transgressed the social taboo, but had betrayed her father’s trust and respect. However, John Steinbeck’s 'Of Mice and Men' is a novella that is based on the American Dream. It was published in 1937, while it was the Great Depression in the U.S.A. The novella shows us how life was around the 1930's and how people were affected, such as racism, violence, sexism; women did not have the same equality as men. Moreover, as the unemployment rate was high, people did not have the money to provide for themselves and their family.
Firstly, both texts bring male villains to life. In Act one, Shakespeare presents Iago as an antagonist even before Othello appears on stage; The scene begins with Iago fuming as he did not get the position he wanted or thought he had ‘deserved’ because Othello (being the General) had appointed Michael Cassio for this role – Cassio is one of Othello’s trusted soldiers and had been chosen due to his intelligence; the reason Iago is a villain is because he had planned to cause chaos Between Othello’s relationship with his beloved Desdemona by making him believe that Cassio was having an affair with her- this was in fact false. Iago