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The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, often shortened to Othello (/ ɒ ˈ θ ɛ l oʊ /), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus , the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulated by his ensign , Iago , into suspecting his wife Desdemona of infidelity.
"Shakespeare stands out singularly, linking the old and new in a lush. Wish and duty trying to put itself in balance in his plays; both are faced with violence, but always so that the wish is at a disadvantage." "Perhaps no one has made so great as the first major link of wish and duty in the individual character as Shakespeare did."
Iago is a major character in William Shakespeare's 1603 play Othello. His role is one of Othello 's outwardly loyal courtier and friend, who in fact hates him and schemes his downfall. He also manipulates his friends and master into doing his bidding, eventually persuading Othello to believe that his wife, Desdemona , has been having an affair ...
Another scholarly analysis of Shakespeare's problem-plays by A.G. Harmon argues that what the problem-plays have in common is how each consciously debates the relationship between law and nature. Many of the problem-plays address a disorder in nature, and the characters attempt to mitigate the disorder in varying manners. [4]
Shakespeare's immediate source may have been one of Matteo Bandello of Mantua's Novelle ("Tales"), possibly the translation into French by François de Belleforest, [6] which dealt with the tribulations of Sir Timbreo and his betrothed Fenicia Lionata, in Messina, after Peter III of Aragon's defeat of Charles of Anjou.
Shakespeare's work is also lauded for its insight into emotion. His themes regarding the human condition make him more acclaimed than any of his contemporaries. Humanism and contact with popular thinking gave vitality to his language. Shakespeare's plays borrowed ideas from popular sources, folk traditions, street pamphlets, and sermons.
There is debate among critics as to Emilia's character nature in Othello, with some deeming her a villain and some as the true hero of the play.This is because her allegiances initially seem to lie with her husband, and she displays the typical “wifely virtues of silence, obedience, and prudence" [2] of the Elizabethan period (as seen in her theft of the handkerchief in 3.1).
The German critic Schlegel showed an appreciation for Shakespeare of a kind that no one in Hazlitt's country had yet demonstrated, and Hazlitt, sympathising with many of Schlegel's ideas, felt there was a place for a whole book that would provide appreciative criticism of all of Shakespeare's plays. Such a book would provide liberal quotations ...