A Shakespearean play always includes a typical villain character. He is boisterous, egotistical, sometimes witty, and all too eager to seek revenge. In William Shakespeare Othello, Iago is the well-liked, trusted, and brave ensign of the great Venetian general Othello, or so it appears. Iago actually possesses all of the typical villainous qualities, however Iago conducts himself with great composure, and by manipulating his counterparts, he makes people believe he is on their side. I find this characteristic to be a very intriguing one that is not easy to perform. It is perhaps Iago’s villainous actions throughout this play that lead me to believe that he is the hero rather than the typical villain.
In the first scene of the play, we learn that Iago is jealous of Cassio because he has just received the rank of lieutenant, which Iago was expecting to receive. It is also obvious to the reader that Iago is contemptous of Othello who granted Cassio such a high ranking. From this point on Iago is able to It is from this scene on that Iago uses his brilliance to capture the attention of the people, both onstage and off.
In order to do this Iago begins by informing the Moor that his new father-in-law has found out about his new relationship to Othello, and in turn he is very angry. However, a scene earlier Iago is the one who skillfully informs Barbantio that his daughter has run off with the Moor, but he did not actually do the telling. Instead Iago used more convincing words in order to get Roderigo to think he would win the new brides heart, if only he attempted to break up the marriage first by telling the father. When Iago finally tells the Moor that Barbantio is coming for him, we …
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…ns, he does not have to be a nice man, he just has to be able to act like one. A man who can change his entire demeanor with the wind, does not have to be viewed as a role model, but he is a hero in my mind.
Works Cited and Consulted
Bloom, Harold, ed. Modern Critical Interpretations: William Shakespeare’s Othello. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.
Jones, Eldred. “Othello- An Interpretation” Critical Essays on Shakespeare’s Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy
Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994. (page 39-55)
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venice.” The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces.
Ed. Sarah Lawall. New York and London: W. W. Norton
Hester and the Puritans in The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Hester and the Puritans in The Crucible
Hester Prynne’s life was difficult and unique, with many trying events and circumstances that changed her and separated her from the common people. Great rifts eventually formed between her and the community in which she lived. These differences could be put into two categories: the outward distinction, and the inward change. The outward distinction is easy to identify. It is Hester’s adultery, and it is signified in the scarlet letter A and her daughter Pearl. The inward change is much more subtle and harder to express. It is the alteration in Hester’s mind and soul that could be said to have originated from the day of her public shame. Outwardly she seemed to have repented and reformed, embracing the Puritan theology wholeheartedly, but in her mind and heart she was a different person and had turned away from the Puritans’ way of life. Not only had she turned away from the Puritans, but she had turned away from God, too. This was shown in some of the things that she did.
To first understand how Hester was separate from the society around her, one must understand the society itself. The Puritan way of life, which was supposed to be unique, was not really all that different from the societies found everywhere in Europe at that time. Probably the most distinctive thing about it was that, though elsewhere this was a big part of society, the Puritan life was based almost entirely upon religion. The Puritan life was almost entirely ruled by laws, being that one of their beliefs was that strict discipline was good for people. “He [the Puritan] thought God had left a rule in His word for discipline, and that aristocratical by elders, not monarchical by bishops, nor democratical by…
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…dland.”
5 Hawthorne, 183.
6 Hawthorne, 116.
7 Hawthorne, 154.
8 Hawthorne, 157.
9 Hawthorne, 158-159.
10 Hawthorne, 159.
Bibliography
Bancroft, Seth. “Puritan Theology: A Four-Part Primer” http://www.neo.Irun.com/12teachers/Netp4M/PuritmOancroft.html.
Buckingham, Rachel. “Anne Hutchinson: American Jezebel or Woman of Courage?” http://cpcug.org/user/billb/hutch.html.
Crawford, Deborah. Four Women in a Violent Time. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1970.
Geree, John. “The Character of an Old English Puritan, or Non-Conformist” http://www.cet.com/ -mtr/GereeChar.html.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Logan, Iowa: The Perfection Form Company, 1979.
Rollmann, Hans. “Anglicans, Puritans, and Quakers in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-century Nefoundland” http://www.mun.ca/rels/ang/texts/ang 1.html.