Ominous Evil in Othello :: Othello essays

Ominous Evil in Othello In William Shakespeares tragic drama Othello the presence of ominous sin is present in the play from opening scene to closing scene. allow us discuss this concept of abomination as manifested in the drama. H. S. Wilson in his book of literary criticism, On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy, addresses the character of the normals ancient With such a man everything is food for his malice. on that point is no appeasing him. His ego feeds upon the misfortunes he contrives for others, and what he feeds on save makes him hungrier. He is proof against pity and remorse alike, as his last audience funh Desdemona and his sullen defiance of his captors at the end only too sorely show us. In short, he is the demi- r each(prenominal) that Othello finally calls him, half a d sin and half a man yet the littleness in each of his components is formidable, spider-like, and appallingly human besides. (54) In the essay Wit and Witchcraft an plan of attack to Othel lo Robert B. Heilman unveils the evil awaiting the reader in Othello Reason as an ally of evil is a subject to which Shakespeare keeps returning, as if fascinated, but in different thematic forms as he explores different counter-forces. . . . Although Iago, as we saw, does non take earnestly the ennobling power of love, he does not fail to let us know what he does take seriously. When, in his fake oath of homage to wrongd Othello, he vows The execution of his wit, hands, heart (III.3.466), Iagos words give a steer to his truth his heart is his malice, his hands literally wound Cassio and kill Roderigo, and his wit is the genius that creates all the strategy. (338) By an extraordinary composition of character Shakespeare has make Iago, literally or symbolically, share in all these modes of evil. And in Iago he has dramatized Dantes summary analysis For where the instrument of the mind is joined to evil will and potency, men can make no defense against it. alone he has also dram atized the hidden springs of evil action, the urgency and passion and imperativeness of it. He contemplates too the evildoers potency and mans defenselessness but these he interprets tragically by making them, not absolute, but partly dependent on the flaws or desire of the victims themselves. (343) scratch of all, Iagos very words paint him for what he is.