Oh, I am spoiled, undone by villains!

“Othello” ends with an outpouring of death and sadness. The characters that died did not deserve their fate, but I do not have great amounts of sympathy for them. Othello’s death is tragic, but he was a fool to blindly accept all that Iago told him, even if Iago seemed trustworthy. Right after Iago told Othello of Iago’s “suspicions,” Othello should have gone to Desdemona and asked her for her story. If he loved her as much as he claimed, he would have waited for her reply and considered her word the truth and forgotten Iago’s falsities. If Othello had chosen to actually communicate with Desdemona, his death and the deaths of others would have been circumvented.

Like Othello, Emilia acted unwisely throughout the play, especially when she gave Iago Desdemona’s handkerchief. She knew of her husband’s slipperiness and yet blindly aided in his plan. She should have asked him what he wanted the handkerchief for before allowing him to snatch it. Roderigo showed signs of doubt in Iago’s plan and yet continued following him. Despite their lapses in judgment, Emilia and Roderigo died unjustly. Desdemona is the only character completely free of sin and fault in “Othello.” Her death is wholly and thoroughly wrong. She loved Othello with great fervor, and I felt awful when Othello strangled her because she deserved light and happiness, not terror and murder. Iago, however, deserves nothing but murder. He is quite one-dimensional as a character, focused entirely on himself and his own gains. He is cruel and manipulative and semi-psychopathic in how he feels no remorse for his victims. I can only hope he gets the torture the governor alludes to at the end of the play. I never really connected with Cassio, and so I feel neither pity nor sorrow nor joy for him. He survives the bloodbath and is named commander of Cyprus, and I think he deserves this new role. He seems to be a good man and will make a strong ruler.

Nothing in my life is like “Othello.” Iago and his plan spur on “Othello," and I do not know anyone evil or jealous enough to concoct and carry out such a scheme. Jealousy is a major theme in “Othello,” and jealousy plays some role in everyday life, but not to the extreme it does in the play. Sometimes I say things to people that are born from jealousy, but I’ve learned to evade the green-eyed monster, and mostly the serpent forgets me. The jealousy that is felt by Iago, Othello, and Roderigo is exaggerated and unlike anything ever seen or experienced by me.

Birdlime

At the end of Act I, Iago explains that he will tell Othello that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. Othello believes Iago to be a good man and so will believe what Iago tells him. Othello will be crushed by Desdemona’s apparent unfaithfulness, and Cassio will be discredited. With Cassio and Othello in the throes of scandal, Iago hopes to be nominated lieutenant, and Roderigo hopes to get with Desdemona.
After the first two scenes of Act II, Iago’s plan seems to be coming together. When Desdemona arrives in Cyprus, Cassio greets her by taking her hand and kissing his own fingers, considered a sign of politeness. These gestures of courtesy seem very innocent, but if looked upon in hindsight through a lens searching for infidelity, Cassio’s greeting will appear telling. Cassio also leans his head forward to whisper something to Desdemona, which could appear suspicious. Iago believes that Cassio has some amount of affection for Desdemona, which only makes Iago’s plan more possible. Iago is intelligent and quite manipulative, able to make people think he’s an honest person when the opposite is true, and his plan will likely work.