The Pitiful Characters of Othello :: Othello essays

The Pitiful Characters of Othello      Ã‚   In Othello, no "good" love exists between any of the characters. Shakespeare creates a cast of romantic and platonic couples whose affection is weak and unsustainable. Iago, not Othello, is master of this play; he establishes all the action. There is an underlying weakness and depravity in all the characters, or Iago would never have been able to ruin so many lives. But Iago is unswayed by the external; his black heart is his only guide.    When Iago tells Roderigo to awaken Brabantio and set the wheels of distrust in motion, he is loud and boisterous, even vulgar. He says, "Rouse him...Do, with like timorous accent and dire yell as when by night and negligence, the fire is spied..." (1.1 75, 82-84). Iago is interested only in the act of alarm. We imagine him lurking around the canals, sticking his bony finger into every soul to testing their limits and act accordingly. He has no conscience. For Iago, there is nothing bigger than he to temper his need to destroy.    Iago's bad behavior sets the tone for all other interactions in the play. He has no need for honesty or affiliation; he uses his wife to further his plot, betrays Roderigo, cares nothing for Cassio, and loathes Othello. He is a foil for characters who may know right from wrong but are not passionately committed to acting for good or evil. Shakespeare mirrors this noxious model in other characters' relationships. Desdemona rebels against her father; the Duke takes Othello's side; Roderigo is so lovesick that he will stoop to any level to win Desdemona. Even in the primary romantic relationship, Othello's and Desdemona's, the love is flimsy and easily broken.    Neither Desdemona nor Othello gush about the heavenly course their love has taken - never do they claim to be "star-crossed lovers." The origin of their love lies in the myths that Othello has fashioned from his travels and conquests, not in common interests or a compatibility of spirit. Desdemona can only imagine what Othello's life is like; she is too passive to ever truly live. Though some may argue that this love is mature and doesn't need Romeo-style proclamation, it is clear that Shakespeare has built their relationship on sand.

Married vs Single Essay

Most people would agree that getting married is a happy occasion. People think their lives are going to be better when they get married because the husband and wife are going to spend their times together. However, some people think when they are single, their lives are going to be better because of they have more freedom than when they get married. Some of the differences are social relationships and free time. The first difference is social relationships. For example, people who are married are together until they get divorced or until death. Married couples have social relationships with their children when they talk and express their inner feelings. Also, that is how parents have close relationships with their children. On the other hand, single people are living different lifestyles when I come to social relationships. In fact, single people are having social relationships when they are talking with a friend or boyfriend/girlfriend. Single people can make their own decision about who or who not to have a social relationship with. The second difference is free time. To better explain, people who get married are responsible to spend quality time with their family. They also have to spend time assisting their children with their homework. Truthfully speaking, responsible husbands or wives need to spend time together in order to avoid future problems. In contrast, single people spend their free time anyway they want to. If truth needs to be told, they don’t have to make any commitments toward anybody. Finally, married people have a busy time with their family such as working, shopping, and they can’t spend too much time with friends. In contrast, single people have their school, work, and shopping, and they have a lot of freedom to hang out with their friends In brief, married and single people are very different in many ways. As I have shown it in the above paragraphs, they are not similar in their relationship as well as their free time. In my opinion, people who believe that married people and single people are alike are fooling themselves. It is important to remember that married and single people don’t have much in common.

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