A Comparative Analysis of the Character of Othello in Act 1.3 and Scene 3.3
A Christian Moor and general of the armies of Venice, Shakespeare’s Othello the Moor of Venice is a tragedy that revolves around Othello’s fall from grace. Othello is an eloquent and physically powerful figure, respected by all those around him. In spite of his elevated status, he is still filled with insecurities due to his age, life as a soldier, and race. Iago uses these insecurities to twist Othello’s love for Desdemona, altering his character from the loving husband portrayed Act 1 Scene III to the irrational, violent, jealous husband seen in Act 3 Scene III. In Act 1 Scene 3, Othello describes his courtship of Desdemona in a dignified and persuasive speech to absolve the crimes of witchcraft he is accused. Othello’s defense speech is given in two parts. The first part establishes his success as a soldier of the Venetian military. The second part of the speech describes how he won Desdemona’s love with his heroic tales. Both parts of the defense speech show the reader multiple aspects of Othello’s character. Othello begins his speech by addressing the senate as his…show more content… Jealousy is an intensely self-centered emotion, and Othello spends a vast part of the play obsessing over Desdemona’s wrong doings and how he will punish her for her supposed infidelity. This could appear to a reader as a character who is obsessed with his feelings, but Othello’s derogatory remarks toward himself in Act 3 Scene 3 are similar to the racial slurs and insults of Desdemona’s father in Act 1 Scene 3. The obvious decrease in Othello’s self-worth and opinion of himself shows that his jealousy was not enabled by self-absorption, but instead it was his decreasing self confidence that allowed this jealousy to control Othello, causing the death of both