Humanities 202

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Term Paper Title	Humanities 202
# of Words	2582
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	10.33

Humanities 202
April 12, 1996

                                   My Perception of  William Shakespeare's Othello

     Othello, by William Shakespeare, is perhaps not as exciting as a ravishingly sexy poster
of Laurence Fishburne and Irene Jacob.  Yet, with its intoxicating mix of love, sexual passion
and the deadly power of jealousy, Shakespeare has created an erotic thriller based on a human
emotion that people are all familiar with.  It all depends on how those people receive it.  There is
an extraordinary fusion of characters' with different passions in this tragedy.   Every character is
motivated by a different desire.  Shakespeare mesmerizes the reader by manipulating his
characters abilities to perceive and discern what is happening in reality.  It is this
misinterpretation of reality  that leads to the erroneous perceptions that each character holds.

     After reading this tragedy, the depth of Shakespeare's characters continue to raise many
questions in the minds of the reader.  The way I percieve the character of Othello and what
concerns me, is that Othello is able to make such a quick transition from love to hate of
Desdemona. In Act 3, Scene 3, Othello states, "If she be false, O, then heaven mocks itself! I'll
not believe 't." (lines 294-295) Yet only a couple hundred lines later he says, "I'll tear her to
pieces" (line 447) and says that his mind will never change from the "tyrannous hate" (line 464)
he now harbors. Does Othello make the transition just because he is so successfully manipulated
by Iago? Or is there something particular about his character which makes him make this quick
change?  I believe that "jealousy" is too simple of a term to describe Othello. I think that Othello's
rapid change from love to hate for Desdemona is fostered partly by an inferiority complex. He
appears to be insecure in his love for Desdemona (as well as in his position in Venetian society).
Othello's race and age ("Haply, for I am black . . . for I am declined into the vale of years," 3.3.
279-282) and his position as a soldier contribute to his feelings of inadequacy.

     Othello admits to Desdemona that he doesn't have "those soft parts of conversation"
possessed by well-bred Venetian noblemen, those to which (as a senator's daughter) she has
become acclimated (3.3.280-281). Othello's speech (1.3.130-172) also conveys his feeling that
Desdemona loves him for his exploits and achievements rather than for his mind. Othello
apparentl...

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