Character Analysis of Othello in The Play of William Shakespeare

Othello’s personality in William Shakespeare’s play develops from an admired and revered general to an ignominious and disgraceful murderer. This metamorphosis is encouraged by concurrent wicked events originated by Iago, an immediate friend of Othello’s. The alteration in his personality demonstrates Othello’s descend from acceptance to dishonor by the means of naivete and envy, which impels the climax of the play. This essay will analyze Othello’s personality at its two characteristics of naivete and envy, the initial Othello at the beginning of the play and the final at the end of the play, and during that time demonstrating the exact time frame that Othello’s personality took a turn for the worse.

The Othello introduced to the audience in the beginning of the play is a character that’s held in a high regard; he has achieved the accomplishment of being a notable general of the Venetians due to his reasoning, being reliable and having grand leadership skills. Even though Othello is unfamiliar with the community he’s in, he displays comprehension of the Venetian community. Othello’s understanding of the Venetian community allows him to attain the approval and goodwill of the community, despite him not being from there. What is most appealing about Othello is the way he communicates with those in the community; when speaking to the authorities of the community, Othello’s diction seems captivating and spellbinding. His diction is so powerful that Brabantio, the father of Desdemona, who at first refused the idea of marrying his daughter to Othello, ultimately gave in after hearing the rollercoaster of a journey Desdemona’s love has taken him through. Besides his love for Desdemona, Othello’s initial personality of being kind and collected can be seen through his performance in the Venetian army when protecting Cyprus from the attack of Turkish army ships. Not only did the battle prove a victory, but it showed how Othello should be effective in strategy and such.

Othello’s personality starts to change in Act 3 of the play when he miscalculates the personality of the others around him. Othello surmises that Iago is a sincere and candid acquaintance, but he is blind to the fact that lago is in fact a conspirer, prepared to take revenge on the unfairness that he believes has been done to him, which consists of Othello not giving him the position he desires, and lago will accomplish his plan through the corruption of Othello’s marriage. Othello believes in Iago and makes many of his decisions on the basis of what Iago tells him throughout the play, such as Desdemona being in an affair with Cassio. Iago also schemes to eliminate Cassio by getting him intoxicated and instigating a situation where Cassio will attack Roderigo. Iago succeeds in this, but instead of Cassio attacking Roderigo, he mistakenly attacks Montano when Montano was trying to intercede the squabble between them. It was in this instance that Othello appears, and asks around regarding who started the fight. Again it is proven in this scene that Othello believes Iago without any basis for doing so when Iago states that it’s Cassio who started the fight and Othello demotes Cassio on the basis of Iago’s statements.

The substantial personality transformation that Othello experiences ends up impacting his values as he is at the end killing his wife. Through apparent proof, such as the handkerchief of Desdemona, and the relentless brainwashing and manipulation by Iago, Othello is induced to believe that Desdemona is adulterous, and in Othello’s point of view, the single fairness in this situation would be the death of Desdemona in is hands. Contrary to his former self where he was calm and collected, Othello is seen as nervous and not being able to clearly think prior to killing his wife; he’s unable to effectively listen to his wife and to Emilia, and Iago is ecstatic because everything he’s schemed is turning out well for him. In the act of Othello killing Desdemona, Desdemona attempts to convince Othello of the truth, but Othello is unfortunately blinded by lago’s claims and the possible damage to his reputation, and kills Desdemona by suffocating her. Following Desdemona’s death, through the realization Emilia has Othello finally discovers the evil scheming of Iago, which leads him to kill himself and for Cassio to take his place in the government.

Conclusively, Othello’s personality transfigures from that of an honored warrior to an envious killer, resulting in his catastrophic plunge. Being confronted with the actualities of lago’s personality and the way he was easily fooled, Othello is completely stripped away from the initial courage his personality showed, which is proven through his suicide.

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