Othello’s Evil Character Essay -- Othello essays

Othellos Evil Character William Shakespeares Othello gives the audience a full moon measure or dose of annoyance, mostly in the person of the sinister Iago, whose evil influence penetrates the lives of the victims around him. In The Riverside Shakespeare Frank Kermode explains the type of evil peculiar to the ancient Over the ancient figure of the Vice a familiar shape for abstract evil Iago wears the garb of a modern devil. Iagos naturalist ethic, as expounded to Roderigo at the close of Act I, is a wicked mans version of Montaigne, an instance of the way in which men qualify to evil the precepts of a common sense supported by no act of faith. (1200) Even the imagery in the drama has its evil aspect. Kenneth Muir, in the creation to William Shakespeare Othello, explains the instances of diabolic imagery in the play as they relate to the infecting of the Moor by the ancient The same transference from Iago to Othello may be observed in what S. L. Bethell called diabolic i magery. He estimated that of the 64 images relating to hell and damnation many of them are allusions rather than strict images Iago has 18 and Othello 26. But 14 of Iagos are employ in the first two Acts, and 25 of Othellos in the last three. The theme of hell originates with Iago and is transferred to Othello only when Iago has succeeded in infecting the Moor with his jealousy. (22) In his book of literary criticism, Shakespearian Tragedy, A. C. Bradley gives an in-depth analysis of the brand of evil which the ancient personifies Iago stands supreme among Shakespeares evil characters because the greatest intensity and subtlety of imagination have gone to his making, and because ... ...enneth. Introduction. William Shakespeare Othello. New York Penguin Books, 1968. Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http//www.eiu.edu/multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos. Wayne, Valerie. Historical Differences Misogyny and Othello. The Matter of Difference Materialist Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare. Ed Valerie Wayne. Ithaca, NY Cornell University Press, 1991. Wilson, H. S. On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy. Canada University of Toronto Press, 1957. Wright, Louis B. and Virginia A. LaMar. The Engaging Qualities of Othello. Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Introduction to The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare. N. p. Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1957.