Essay: Othello by Shakespeare
Shakespeare has used the first act of Othello to
introduce characters into their archetypes and to allow characterisation to
take place. Characterisation is predominantly seen for Iago in the first act,
mainly through the use of his soliloquy. It has been used to show his true
intentions, to take Cassio's position as lieutenant and to take revenge on
Othello. His inner evil is also displayed and thus it places him into the vice character
or villain archetype. "Thus do I make my fool a purse” shows this
manipulative nature and how he can so easily trick someone into doing what he
wants. This can be said to have biblical overtones in relation to the snake in
the Garden of Eden which tempted and manipulated Adam and eve to eat the apple
from the forbidden tree. This allusion is set in place to allow further
emphasis and characterisation later on in the play and to display to the
audience that Iago is evil and a villain. In Elizabethan times it was believed
that people were either good or evil and that they belonged to certain
archetypes that were out of their control. Biblical overtones were aplenty as
there was still heavy belief in God and in heaven as well as preordained social
statuses.
Through their belief in God, many people tried
heavily to be good or appear as 'good' for their entry into heaven. This is
present in the emergence of the theme "appearance vs. reality" which
is also heavily linked to Iago’s character, as he is the villain. Iago is
described to have been "honest" and trusted by practically every
other in the play but we see, through not only his soliloquies but also his
small commentary that he puts on a front "I am not what I am". This
paradoxical admission of his own two-faced nature and such is exacerbated when
he states "To be produced, as if I stay I shall, against the moor".
In addition, the themes, such as the one of "appearance vs. reality"
allows the audience to see the conflicts that can arise in the play later
onwards, foreshadowing possible effects such as the distrust that Othello will
have of Desdemona. Furthermore it reinforces the motif of the Snake in the
Garden of Eden, one of temptation and two-faced nature.
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