Othello - themes

Othello - themes

1. Heroism

   • Othello = soldier
     • army general = power
       • Allows Othello to gain Venetian acceptance
         • All Venetians honour and respect him as a soldier
     • Often puts Desdemona on the back burners to attend to more 'pressing' matters
     • Preoccupied with being a soldier
   • Emilia = Iago's wife
     • When she realises what Iago has done to Othello and Desdemona she is furious with her husband.

2. Love

   • Othello is happiest when he is with Desdemona
   • No love shared between Iago and Emilia
     • Iago uses her like any other character in the play

3. Jealousy

   • Iago is jealous of Cassio
   • Iago suspects Othello of sleeping with his wife
   • Othello cannot bare that his wife might be committing adultery with another man.

4. Revenge

   • Iago plots revenge on Othello and Cassio because Cassio was made lieutenant when he believed that he was due a promotion.

5. Appearance vs Reality

   • Iago is as far from what he appears to be as possible.
     • In his first soliloquy we see that Iago is going to do anything he can in order to cause the downfall of Othello
   • Othello believes that Iago has "exceedingly honesty"