Othello is a play written by William Shakespeare in the
1600’s. It highlights the issues of racism, loyalty, friendship, trust,
jealousy and many more topics that commonly occur in the society we live in
today. Othello is the main character who experiences such a wide spectrum of
emotions and feelings, which change who Othello is as a person. In the play it
is also evident of how Othello’s language changes and the way he speaks changes
throughout the play as Iago and his corrupt ways influence him.
At the start of the play Shakespeare creates a character
who is collected and seems to have it all together. This is evident through the
way that he speaks, “my services which I have done, the signiory shall
out-tongue his complaints.” He speaks in a structured poetic way that shows his
intelligence and his extensive range of vocabulary proves to the reader that he
is a capable man who deserves his high status in society as a Venetian Military
officer. Othello says, “I shall promulgate – I fetch my life and being From men
of royal siege, and my demerits may speak.” Through his language it is evident
of what the character Othello is actually like. He speaks about his love for
Desdemona, “I love thee gentle Desdemona shows how he really loves his wife and
cares for her like a loving husband should. His poetic linguistic style proves
to the reader that he is smart, capable and knows his own strengths.
Over the play, Iago and their society, convince Othello
that he will always be just a “moor” and that his wife Desdemona even believes
this so she is cheating on him. Othello believes all of these lies and they
bring down his stable and capable character and he starts to think and act like
his ‘friend’ Iago. This change of language is evident in Act four Scene 1 as he
is finally convinced that someone is lying “with her, on her, what you will”,
referring to Desdemona. He exclaims, “First to be hanged and then to confess: I
tremble at it.” Othello’s corruptness and brokenness is revealed as he speaks
unstructured and un-poetically talking in circles, mimicking the way Iago
speaks as he refers to aspects of heaven and hell, “O Devil!”. He repeats the
idea of the handkerchief and repeats himself a lot without making clear focused
points in his speech. Shakespeare does this to show how Othello’s way of
speaking has changed dramatically.
The language of Othello’s changed throughout the play
because Othello’s insecurities of being a black man, “moor”, in a white
populated society are exposed. His language changed to symbolize how Othello’s character
had changed throughout the play. The parallels of Iago’s speech and Othello’s
speech at the end of the play are clear evidence of the change of Othello’s
character and their new-founded alikeness. How Othello speaks represents how he
is feeling at each point in the play, for example he speaks in an Iambic
pentameter rhythm at the start of the play to show his structured point of view
and idea. The end of the play shows Othello stumbling throughout his sentences
giving his audience an inside eye on his troubled mind.
The reasons for Othello to under-go such an immense character
change are to show Shakespeare’s audience, that when unexpected events occur,
people act in drastic, extra-ordinary ways that they didn’t think were
possible. Othello is a play that symbolizes many everyday events that
happen in society today because many of the themes will always be relevant
through time. Shakespeare shows this character change to show relevance of how
different people handle different situations.
Othello, by William Shakespeare highlights the idea of
character change caused by events in life. Othello’s life is an example of what
can happen to people who thought they had life under-control, yet it seems to
get the better of them. It is when people are pushed into different situations
that cause us as humans; to behave in a way we thought was impossible.
Shakespeare gives us his readers’ insight on the possibility of character
change as we struggle through the positives and negatives of life.
By Anna James
