My initial reaction while reading this act was very shocked.
I couldn’t believe how Iago was planting all these different thoughts of Cassio
and Desdemona into Othello’s head. He instigates everything! In this act,
Othello reminds me of this one girl in high school who would believe anything
and was insecure about herself. She always thought she wasn’t good enough for
anyone and believed a lot of things people told her.
Although Othello is great and valiant in the battlefield, he
is very insecure about himself. Since Othello is not from the same origin as
everyone else and has a different background his insecurities about himself
gets the best of him. In the third act,
Iago’s plan to destroy Othello starts to build up. When Iago is alone with
Othello, he starts initiating these thoughts about Desdemona having an affair
with Cassio. When Othello hears all of
this, his mind starts to doubt about whether he is truly right for Desdemona. He
says “haply, for I am black and have not those soft parts of conversation..”
(III.III.263). Sine he is so different from all the other guys he is
questioning himself and his marriage with Desdemona. He questions why Desdemona
would ever choose him as a husband.
Shakespeare uses characterization through Othello to portray
how insecurities can take a huge toll on one’s life and their relationships. Othello’s
insecurities about his race and his background really question’s his love and
marriage with Desdemona. Although he never showed his insecurities in the
beginning of the play, maybe he was thinking about his differences from every
one else and was too arrogant to show it.
I agree, Othello is very insecure. I think Shakespeare created Othello's character to show everyone that insecurity only has detrimental effects. Othello shows readers that instead of dwelling on your insecurities they should trust themselves and not what others say.
ReplyDeleteYou have an excellent point! I also think he is so insecure because of all the underlying racism with the other characters. Othello has to work twice as hard to be considered tolerable to his peers.
ReplyDeleteOthello is definitely insecure about himself and Shakespeare clearly shows this in the story. He does let Iago get into his head and ends up destroying his life. I think it was ironic how even though Othello was a warrior who should have showed his stronger side in a sense of being strong minded and not deceived easily he fell for the trap. I think Shakespeare was trying to say that even a strong person can be taken down mentally.
ReplyDeleteEveryone pictured him as this big war hero. That's all he was, Its all he had. I think deep down, he knew he was not liked by many, and tried to be arrogant and deny it. He was so busy trying to make people like him and prove himself, that he never took the time to appreciate himself.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your point about Othello's insecurity. I never thought that his insecurity is because of racism also, because at first, I thought that only Brabantio is the racist in this play. I also agree on how insecurities can affect relationships in the long run.
ReplyDelete