Essay on The Variety of Themes in Othello - 2340 Words

The Variety of Themes in Othello In the Shakespearean tragedy Othello the number and description of themes is open to discussion. With the help of literary critics, we can analyze this subject in detail. In the essay â€Å"Wit and Witchcraft: an Approach to Othello† Robert B. Heilman discusses the ancient’s instinctive reaction to the love-theme of the play: Before coming directly to the forming of the love-theme that differentiates Othello from other Shakespeare plays that utilize the same theme, I turn arbitrarily to Iago to inspect a distinguishing mark of his of which the relevance to thematic form in the play will appear a little later. When Iago with unperceived scoffing reminds Roderigo, who is drawn†¦show more content†¦Hardly. Campbell categorizes Othello as a â€Å"study in jealousy†: Othello has suffered less in its modern interpretation than any other of Shakespeare’s tragedies, it would seem. So insistently did Shakespeare keep this tragedy unified about the theme of jealousy and the central victims of the passion, so obviously did he mould his plot about the black Moor and the cunning Iago and the victims of their jealousy that no interpreter has been able to ignore the obvious intention of the author. Yet if we study the contemporary interpretations of the passion here portrayed, we find that Shakespeare was following in detail a broader and more significant analysis of the passion than has in modern days been understood. The play is, however, clearly a study in jealousy and in jealousy as it affects those of different races. (148) Can we narrow down the concept of jealousy in this play to a specific type? Helen Gardner in â€Å"Othello: A Tragedy of Beauty and Fortune† sees this play as a study in sexual jealousy: Othello is not a study in pride, egoism, or self-deception: its subject is sexual jealousy, loss of faith in a form which involves the whole personality at the profound point where body meets spirit. The solution which Othello cannot accept is Iago’s: ‘Put up with it.’ This is as impossible as that Hamlet should, like Claudius, behave as if the past were done with and only the present mattered. . . . (144) Of course, jealousyShow MoreRelatedWhy Is Shakespeares Othello Still Relevant in Todays Audiences?940 Words   |  4 PagesWhy is Shakespeare’s â€Å"Othello† still relevant in today’s audiences? â€Å"When you begin a journey of revenge, start by digging two graves: one for your enemy, and one for yourself.† – Jodi Picoult. Othello is a very well-known Shakespearian text and is still relevant to today’s audiences. 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