The Evolution of The Character of Othello in The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice

What could conceivably prompt a person that is devoted to their partner to flare up and come to be so enraged that he is propelled to murder her? Othello’s experience within the play The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice, written by William Shakespeare, addresses exactly this question. Othello was abundantly in inclination toward his wife, and Desdemona felt mutual feelings for Othello. What is so influential in Othello’s life experience as to thrust an enmity between himself and Desdemona, who he devotedly loves.? A tactic assembled by Iago who is propelled by his craving for control and authority in Cyprus. Iago was devoured by his underlying aspirations and goals that were derived from his envy of Othello, and thus, the comprehensive subject matter of the story is based on Iago’s envy towards Othello, and Othello’s trust in Iago and his honesty. This paper will follow the evolution of Othello’s character within the play which shows him to transfer from a respected and accepted Moor General for the Venetians that loves and cares for his wife to an unstable and easily angered authority figure that makes the life-changing mistake of smothering his wife due to his own faults of being envious and gullible.

Othello is depicted as an upscale warrior and trailblazer that was in possession of unquestionable power under the authorities of Venice. Despite Othello being exceedingly formidable and having a remarkably assertive manner about him, the play gives the implication that Othello was occasionally perceived as a stranger. For example, Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, is unimpressed by Othello due to his personal biases on the Moors, seeing them as a bunch of barbarians. Even though Othello gives off the impression that he’s constantly in jurisdiction of the events that take place around him, one can assume that he is not collected in all aspects of his life. Just because of his love to Desdemona, Othello risked challenging Brabantio by taking Desdemona with him to Cyprus to war, and also risked Desdemona’s life because at this point he wasn’t sure if the war was going to be won. A person who is so calm and collected would think these things ahead of time. Although Othello has a charming and great personality in the beginning, hints of the weaknesses in his personality can also be detected when scrutinized. It was due to these weaknesses that were already apparent in Othello’s personality that allowed Iago to find a way to manipulate him to believe that his marriage was broken by Desdemona’s cheating.

Along with the qualities of being deeply in love with Desdemona and being a grand leader, Othello was a man of honesty. Honesty is a present theme throughout the play, as one of the reasons for Othello’s fall is due to his belief in Iago’s honesty. When Iago reveals to Othello his untruthful rumors of Desdemona lying with Cassio, Iago successfully plants seeds of doubt in Othello which is permeated through Othello’s weakness of being naïve and gullible. However, it’s not until Othello comes by the treacherous handkerchief planted by Iago in Cassio’s room that the complete personality transformation takes place. With the sight of the handkerchief, Othello leaves behind any rational thought and is blinded by Iago’s claims which drives him to be controlled by his emotions rather than his intellect.

The seeds of doubt planted by Iago was seen to grow into a horrendous tree hovering over Desdemona’s life, which can be seen by the audience in the evil plotting of Desdemona’s killing by Othello. This respected general who had won battles against the magnificent Turks, who had convinced Brabantio of wedding his daughter to him, and who had gained the acceptance of all Venetia had proven Brabantio’s opinions of him being a barbarian right when he left his former self behind. In the ending scenes, rather than thinking things thoroughly through as the original Othello would, Othello is seen to constantly jump to conclusions, find himself unable to think and be easily enraged. Rather than being courageous and facing the rest of his life with this mistake he makes, Othello cowardly chooses to kill himself instead. These final qualities of Othello’s personality are completely alien to his initial qualities, and show a quick and dishonorable fall of Othello’s character. Othello who was so worried about his love for Desdemona and his reputation in Venetia that he didn’t realize he was paving his own pathway to his own demise.

As can be seen, in the start of The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice, Othello goes through a life-changing alteration in his character that ultimately drives him to not only murder his loving wife, but also to murder himself. Although Othello was shown to be self-confident, secure, intelligent and charming in the beginning of his journey, due to his own weaknesses as well as lago’s manipulation of him, Othello lead a life that he ended up regretting. Shakespeare’s critical play demonstrates a variety of lessons to its audience through the evolution of Othello’s character.

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