Othello 5

A detailed Summary of Othello 5

'Othello is a study into the potency of evil'

Discuss this view of the play, paying careful attention to Iago's motives and destructive achievements (you should concerntrate on Act III Scene III though you will have to relate it to other parts of the play).

Potent in its literal sense means powerful. This essay therefore is based on a statement saying that the play is a study into the power of evil. Evil is conveyed in many different ways in Othello, but they all seem to radiate from Iago. Therefore it would only be appropriate if I did a study into the evil of Iago, and how it affects everything and everybody in the play.

Shakespeare conveys Iago's evil in many ways throughout Othello, and shows the methods that Iago uses in order to make Othello trust him. These methods obviously work, shown by the fact that he is repeatedly called honest; I will be commenting on these throughout my essay. He is much like the character 'Vice' from 'miracle plays' of the 16 and 17th Century that tell the audience what their plan is, and so they all become fellow conspirators in a way. This was done well in the production I saw in Manchester, as the actor playing Iago was good and convincing at talking to the crowd and making us rea

I think that one of the main themes in the text is how evil can make one do incredibly bad things, without even knowing what one is doing. Othello at the beginning was a defender of the Christian faith, and in Shakespeare's era the church had a lot of say, particularly as the puritans had nearly taken over then. 'The potency of evil' manages to turn Othello into a morally blind, senseless fool. The play is a kind of warning against evil, telling even the groundlings at the Globe to be wary. It tells them to be wary because even someone like Iago, someone who was known to be honest, and in the beginning would seem more acceptable than good Othello, can be the evil one.

Iago believes that there is no such thing as love, and that everything boils down to lust. This is shown many times, often in a subtle manor. This trait along with others, infects Othello, and this is shown where he says, 'O, blood, blood, blood!' With blood being a symbol of lust. Another sign that Iago does not understand love is in the fact that Iago does not seem to care whether Emilia has had an affair with Cassio, but sees it as a possible motive. If he loved her even half as much as Othello loved Desdemona, he would be very upset, and certainly not use it to his advantage.

Iago's style of speech and use of language also make it possible for him to convince Othello, such as by making himself seem genuine when he is lying. He is devious in that he understates information's importance, therefore making it seem more important. He also 'plays hard to get', and adds words making some things he just said sound as if he doesn't truly believe them. For example Iago says, 'I think that he is honest,' where think is the operative word. In other words, Iago is saying that Cassio might or might not be honest. Statements like this mislead Othello, making it seem as though his 'honest' Ancient really doesn't want to get Cassio in trouble.

lise that it is the enemy within we should fear most.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Othello Iago, Othello Iago', Iago Othello, Iago Iago's, Desdemona Cassio, Scene III, Othello Language, III Iago, Othello Iago's, , iii scene, act iii, iii scene iii, act iii scene, scene iii, othello iago, othello evil, potency evil', iago othello, example act iii, iii iago, othello thinking, example act, scene iii iago,

Approximate Word count = 1834
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English