Othello & Conflict

934 Words4 Pages
English Essay
Conflict exists across all levels, places and people in the world; it is a universal concept that has been served under a myriad of different contexts throughout history. The conflict in William Shakespeare’s drama text, “Othello”, and Edgar Allan Poe’s Poem, “The Raven” employs the notion that conflict in essence isn’t uniform, and rather, it is a multifarious experience that people encounter in numerous ways.
In Othello, the character Iago plays the role of the Machiavellian villain and is ultimately the driving force behind the conflict in the play. Iago’s impetus to bring about the downfall of Othello is driven by self-conflict caused by a cloud of emotions, mostly envy and hatred towards both Othello and women. Othello and Desdemona’s marriage is sabotaged by Iago’s deceit, which in the end succeeds in deteriorating Othello’s mentality to the point that he murders his own wife Desdemona despite her innocence. Iago’s malignant, misogynistic persona is unveiled in his Soliloquy when he declares “I hate the Moor”. His resentment in Othello and women as well as his inner torment is seen when he envisions to “…make the net that shall enmesh them all” leading to the act of evil, Iago also claims that he had “Never found a man who knew how to love himself,” which further emphasises and suggests his narcissistic and misogynistic personality.
Despite being a flawed character himself Iago highlights the flaws in other characters and exploits them for his own desires. Othello, despite his noble characteristics and valiant conduct, is shown to have weaknesses vulnerable to Iago’s hidden agenda. Othello’s noble traits of being easily influenced leads into his own downfall, a De Casibus tragedy. Othello being the tragic hero who’s mental condition decays into their own downfall due to outside forces, in Othello’s case jealousy and hate which have sprouted

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