The theme of Othello is jealousy. Othello, a Moor who is an honored Venetian general, secretly marries Desdemona. On the night of their marriage in Venice Othello is ordered to Cyprus. Desdemona sails after him for Cyprus and they meet there again. Desdemona’s father is very angry about their marriage, though. As they arrive at Cyprus the whole story begins. Iago, Othello’s ancient, is very disappointed at not being promoted. He hates his rival Cassio, Othello’s lieutenant, and Othello. Iago decides to revenge on both of them. He makes Cassio drunk and consequently, Cassio is dismissed from the army. He tries to explain everything to Desdemona, who asks Othello to take Cassio back to the army. But in the meantime Iago makes Othello believe that Desdemona is Cassio’s lover. Othello is enraged by jealousy. He strangles Desdemona and kills himself. Iago stabs his wife Emilia because she discloses Iago’s plot. Iago is arrested.
The main characters in this tragedy are: Duke of Venice, Brabantio (a senator), Gratiano (brother to Brabantio), Lodovico (kinsman to Brabantio), Othello (a noble Moor in the service of the Venetian state), Cassio (his lieutenant), Iago (his ancient), Roderigo (a Venetian gentleman), Montano (Othello’s predecessor in the government of Cyprus), Clown (servant to Othello), Desdemona (daughter to Brabantio and wife to Othello), Emilia (wife to Iago), Bianca (mistress to Cassio).
That was a short synopsis. Actually, the action of this play is more complex but let’s try to understand and explain the behavior of the main characters:
At the beginning of the play we learn about Othello that he is aware of his military achievements, his service to the state, his personal …
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…a mistress (a not very honest girl) is morally superior to Iago.
Although I think that Desdemona doesn’t deserve such punishment as Othello performs at the end of the play I mean that Desdemona is not entirely faultless. She intervenes unwisely on Cassio’s behalf and, as Iago calculates, it is a tactless intrusion into affairs which do not properly concern her.
To conclude, in Othello there are different kinds of jealousy. Bianca is jealous of her supposed rival in her relationship with Cassio, Roderigo begins as a lover and under the influence of jealousy ends as a potential murderer; and both the evil villain and the hero are more or less jealous.
“Man can endure earthquake, epidemic, dreadful disease, every form of spiritual torment; but the most dreadful tragedy that can befall him is, and will remain, the tragedy of the bedroom.
Tolstoy
American Tragedy: Self-Destruction in a Self-Indulgent Society
American Tragedy: Self-Destruction in a Self-Indulgent Society
“The boy moved restlessly from one foot to the other, keeping his eyes down . . . . [and he] appeared indeed to resent and even to suffer from the position in which he found himself” (p.9). Clyde Griffiths always wanted to be somebody—anyone but who he was. Growing up in a poor home of evangelizing, exhorting missionaries, he was not drawn to God but pushed away from Him and his family. Clyde was looking for a way to escape from his haunting reality to both a place and position in life that were more attractive. He was ashamed of his looks, his attire, his social position and his poor education. American Tragedy (1925) by Theodore Dreiser is the tragic story of a man whose fate is sealed and ambitions are shaped by society’s values.
Clyde, in trying to fit in with the norms of society, gets into more trouble than he could ever imagine. His trouble begins in Kansas City, where he works at a hotel and runs with some boys who are not all bad, yet are not good either. When these rowdy boys “borrow” a car and pick up their girls for some fun, they hit and kill a little girl. Rather than remain at the scene, they all run. When Clyde finds himself with nowhere to go, he roams until he runs into an old friend from Kansas City. He gets a job at another hotel where he meets his rich uncle. Uncle Samuel tells Clyde that he can come up and get a job in his factory. While working in that factory, he meets Roberta and falls very much in love. However, their love affair must be a secret because he is not, as a department head, supposed to date an employee. As time goes on their relationship becomes physical. In the midst of this physical relationship, Clyde accid…
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…ams of getting on and up, was in danger of death. . .” (p.623)! His mother has always known that he is driven to become more like the Griffiths of Lycurgus, but still never imagined that he would become a murderer with this drive.
Clyde’s desire and ambitions to be something great with the help of society’s twisted thinking is what brought about Clyde’s demise. The selfish, self-centered thinking of this “high society,” and their teaching Clyde these thoughts makes him feel like he has no choice if he wants to obtain his goals. Being corrupted by values which he accepts in order to be successful does nothing more than seal his fate and send him to the electric chair. An American Tragedy is Clyde’s story about vice and greed, and the resulting catastrophe.
Bibliography
Dreiser, Theodore, An American Tragedy, N.Y., The World Publishing Company, 1953.