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Othello and its Relevance to the Present

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"Othello" is a Shakespearean tragedy which follows the journey of Othello on his way to a high-level position in the Venetian army. Othello is a black man who falls in love with - and marries - Desdemona; a white woman. The marriage causes a large amount of hate, as well as creating jealousy between Othello and another member of the army, Iago. Othello trusts Iago, which is his own mistake and we come to learn that Iago is dishonest, jealous, hateful, and manipulative. This play is relevant to modern day society because there are people in the world just like Iago, who not only try to bring other people down, but are also jealous, dishonest, and manipulative. The themes presented in this play are relative to present day problems, where marriage is not approved because of color of skin, class, and others disapproval, without considering how happy the two people make each other. Another important theme is that you don’t always get what you want, and in life there will be competition in your workplace. From the very beginning, when we are first introduced to Iago and Roderigo, they are in the midst of discussing how Cassio was promoted to Lieutenant over Iago. “Despise me if I do not I know my price; I am worth no worse a place” (Act 1, Scene 1, Line 6) Iago is extremely jealous of Cassio having a better position than himself, and he hates Othello for being in charge of it all, including winning over Desdemona. After Othello has faced the Duke and Senator, by proving that his love for Desdemona is true, Iago and Roderigo enter into conversation. “I have told thee often, and I retell thee again and again, I hate the Moor” (Act 2, Scene 1, Line 366) Iago has made it perfectly clear that he strongly dislikes Othello, because he has everything Iago wants. He has the girl, the position, the rank, and most importantly the honor. In present day everyone wants to be “that man”, the one everyone wants to be, and that was Othello. It pained Iago to have to see someone who wasn’t him become so successful, and ultimately popular. “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster” (Act 3, Scene 3, Line 165) This shows the way in which Iago deceives Othello by explaining that a fortunate man knows his wife is cheating, and the unfortunate man will only suspect it. He is pretending to warn Othello not to be jealous, because it will ruin the heart of the man who falls for it. This is just another way in which Iago takes advantage of Othello’s vulnerability, and helps his plan. From the very start, Iago had a plan and he intended to follow through with it. The first instance in which we see Iago’s dishonesty is during an exchange between himself and Roderigo, after Othello has proven to Desdemona’s father Brabantio, and to Desdemona herself that he truly love

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