Othello

A detailed Summary of Othello

William Shakespeare presents an excellent leader but a poor reasoner in Othello. The eponymous hero has strength, charisma, and eloquence. Yet these ideals of leadership do not bode well in real world situations. The battlefield and Senate are, at least in Othello, depicted as places of honor, where men speak truly. In addition, the matters of war and state are relatively simple; no one lies to Othello, all seem to respect him. He never even has to fight in the play, with the enemy disappearing by themselves. This simplistic view does not help him in matters of the heart. His marriage is based on tall tales and pity and his friendships are never examined; he thinks that anyone who knows him love him. Thus the ultimate evaluation of Othello must be that, although he leads well and means well, he lacks good judgement and common sense. This becomes most plainly obvious in his final two speeches, where even though the play ends properly, and in a dignified way, Othello never fully realizes or takes responsibility for what has happened.

These two last orations of Othello are noble in speech and purpose, but lack comprehension. He uses the first to attack himself for his horrible deed; certainly this is the first reaction o

Where a malignant and a turbanned Turk

Indeed, it is Othello's final soliloquy that ultimately seals his fate as a man who lacks critical thinking skills. This is because these are his final words, and they deal with fact, not emotion. He addresses the reasons behind his downfall, and decides how he wants others to see him, in terms of the story and how he takes responsibility for it. It is a noble speech, and a dubiously noble ending, but still, like Othello, flawed.

Beat a Venetian and traduced the state,

And say besides, that in Aleppo once,

And yet, for all the splendor, glory, and excellence of tongue, his final words show that he does not quite understand himself or what he has done. His goal is to tell the emissaries from Venice what has happened, but he lacks insight in his articulation. Every step of his short recitation reveals an inaccuracy or a blinding of a personal problem. Othello says he "loved not wisely, but too well." (V.2.404) It is true that he did not love wisely, but neither did he love too well. His marriage is based on storytelling and pity; he objectifies his wife at every point, and does not trust her in the least. And while it might be debatable whether Othello is "easily jealous" or just gullible, he does buy Iago's tale of deceit based on a handkerchief and words. (V.2.405) This is all Othello says in relation, besides a description of his tears - which, no doubt, are real and genuine - and begins to set up his suicide.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Indeed Othello's, Senate Othello, Turk Venetian, V2320-322 Giving, V2405 Othello, William Shakespeare, Beat Venetian, noble speech, othello's final, takes responsibility, final words, marriage based,

Approximate Word count = 1210
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English