Violence in Othello

396 Words2 Pages
In Shakespeare’s play “Othello”, violence exists in many different scenes. The violence exhibited in the last scene of the story is key to the meaning of a play. “Othello” is about manipulation, retaliation, and rage. These three elements are shown in the scene where Othello kills Desdemona. Iago manipulates Othello. Iago leads Othello to believe that his trustworthy lieutenant is having an affair with his wife, Desdemona. Cassio is innocent, but is also controlled by Iago. Iago leads Cassio to loose Othello’s trust, and this allows Iago to create lies to tell Othello about him. Once Othello begins to believe Iago’s lies, Iago realizes the control he has over him. Iago manipulates Othello’s mind and eventually Othello wants to kill Desdemona. The manipulation from Iago persuaded Othello to smother Desdemona to death. Retaliation is also a major element in this book. Violence always has a background of vengeance. Othello fells that Desdemona deceived him. He wants to take revenge on his wife and Cassio. Iago makes him believe that they are lying to him. Othello believes that murder was the only option to retaliate with. This plays back with the meaning of the work by showing that Iago’s controlling ways cause the death of Desdemona because of Othello’s thirst of revenge. Rage is an important part because most violence never occurs if one is happy. Othello kills Desdemona out of hatred and anger. He does not even get a chance to talk with Desdemona about all the rumors. Desdemona could calm him down and tell him they are all false. Iago tells him all the lies to cause him to be angry. His anger floods him and he wants to kill Desdemona and Cassio. Rage can over power people. Rage took a major position in this story. If Othello stayed calm and talked about the rumors with Desdemona, his rage would not force him to murder his wife. Violence is cause by

More about Violence in Othello

Open Document