We
begin to see Iago’s plan coming forward as he tells Othello of the
interactions of Cassio and Desdemona, and through his craftiness
presents it to Othello in a manner that causes doubt in the faithfulness
of Desdemona. It is at this time we see the start of Othello’s assumptions and jealousy coming to light.
Shakespeare
uses characterization to show how the insecurities of an individual
affects relationships. Cassio relationship has a unusual relationship
with Bianca, a prostitute, she loves him, but he uses her for pleasure. Regardless
of their odd relationship there is still evidence of how Bianca’s
insecurities affect their relationship. She sees the handkerchief that
was planted in Cassio’s room by Iago and begin to assume it’s from some
other lover, and that she has been replaced. Another great
example is Othello, with the distorted truths fed to him by Iago he
begins to form bitterness towards Desdemona and his love for her begins
to falter. His insecurities come from the possibility of losing his reputation, ruined by her adulterous acts.
Through structure Shakespeare uses repetition of characters to show that speaking out at inopportune moments can cause more trouble than good. We
see this clearly in Desdemona’s petitioning for the reinstatement of
Cassio as lieutenant. In act three she continually brings up Cassio and
her care for his position to Othello and the time when Iago starts
poisoning Othello. She even gives him reason to feel she would prefer
Cassio over him, “Sometimes I would criticize you to him, and he’d
defend you”. Though good intentioned she is losing Othello’s trust in where her loyalty lies.
When Desdemona was begging for Cassio to be reinstated, I thought to myself that she was just asking for trouble. I believe the author used this to his advantage, because it helps build the story. No one in real life would keep doing that. I mean, it made her look so guilty, or like she was up to something.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you emphasized how relationships are hugely affected by insecurity. I also agree when you mention in your analysis how Shakespeare used foreshadowing to the point that we could tell that Iago's plan of making Othello jealous is working. Moreover, I never really thought of the use of repetition in this play is to emphasize the trouble, great point!
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