Critical Analysis on Shakespeare's Othello

Critical Analysis on Shakespeare's Othello

To what extent is the exploration of evil Shakespeare’s main concern in the tragedy Othello?

William Shakespeare explores the thematic concern of evil through the incorporation of the themes of jealousy, appearance vs. reality and love. Through “honest Iago’s” vengeful soliloquies, Shakespeare presents the responder with an introspective technique that reflects the values which are a product of a person’s deceit and over-achieving desires. As a result, Shakespeare explores the nature of evil by characterising Iago's false appearances which he uses to poison his innocent victims.   By revealing the depths of Othello's love and devotion for Desdemona, Shakespeare continues to reveal how the demi-devil Iago manipulated Desdemona’s generosity and Othello's trust in human honesty to undermine them.
A universal force of evil, Iago's malevolent character serves as the quintessential force which allows Shakespeare to present the fragmentary theme of appearance versus reality. He achieves this by representing Iago's character as the main source of evil in the play who uses his poison to disconnect the people around him from reality. Although his reasons are unclear, Shakespeare welcomes the audience into a world of duplicity, false trust and immorality through his representation of Iago. In Act 1 Scene 1, Shakespeare reveals Iago's envious character through the character’s enraged dialogue; “What a full fortune does the thick-lips owe.” The use of animal imagery following this statement further highlights Iago's dark and spiteful soul; “...an old black ram is tupping your white ewe.” As a result, the audience immediately perceives Iago's character as the villain of the play; a ‘pernicious soul’ who is capable of concealing the reality and replace it with false human emotions.
By presenting the introspective technique of a soliloquy, Shakespeare reveals Iago's thoughts and thus the possible reasons for his immoral acts. He presents Iago's...