StartFragmentOthello Othellois a classic Shakespearean play in his usual dramatic style. The main character(arguably) is Othello, a heroic general who courted Brabanzio’s daughterDesdemona. Other characters include Iago, an Anciene in Othello’s army, Emilia,Iago’s wife, and Roderigo, a side character with no significant additions tothe play as a whole. Theplay starts out with Roderigo and Iago discussing Othello’s new wife Desdemona,and Iago’s plan to go against Othello and claim his wife for himself. With theidea to turn Desdemona’s father against Othello, Iago and Roderigo invite himto follow them to Othello’s house. At his house Othello greets them, and afteraccusations from Desdemona’s father of Othello stealing Desdemona from him,Desdemona gives her own account of her being wooed on her own free will. Afterthis encounter, the group takes separate ships to Cyprus where the army isexpecting an Ambush by sea from the Turks. In Cyprus, Iago tells the audiencemore about his plan, and how he will turn Othello against his newly appointedLietenant Cassio by convincing Othello his wife is having an affair with him.By getting Cassio drunk, Cassio has a fight with Roderigo and Montano, theSenator of Cyprus, and Othello discharges him from his army. Backhome, Cassio tries to win back Othello’s respect, and turns to Desdemona forhelp. Iago again uses this as evidence to prove they are having a secretrelationship. The final straw occurs when Emilia takes a handkerchief fromDesdemona and gives it to Iago, who plants it in Cassio’s room to seal the dealwith Othello. Othello appoints Iago as Lieutenant, and plans to murder Cassioand Desdemona. He sends Iago and Roderigo to kill Cassio, but this plan failsand Cassio escapes with a leg injury. Othello himself goes to Desdemona’s roomand smothers her with a pillow, only to be confronted by Emilia who tells himof the actual story that Cassio never knew he had the handkerchief, and thatthere was never a relationship going on between Cassio and Desdemona. Uponhearing this Othello kisses his dead wife one last time, and dies in her arms,in their marriage sheets, kissing her lips. Accordingto himself, Othello has and is representative of a ‘pure soul’, where he existssolely in his mind, and uses his thoughts to determine his actions. Theopposite of this is Iago, who exists purely in his body, and puts littlethought into his actions, relying on his instincts to get what he wants. In themiddle is Desdemona, relying on her thoughts as well as her instincts. Desdemonais supposed to be “human” in this sense, using a combination of our animalinstincts to get what we want without regard for others, as well as our ownthoughts, putting intelligence into our decisions to make the right one. Idon’t believe that only Desdemona is human. I believe that as humans we allhave a choice, be it to exist in our mind, body, or both. Part of being humanis having no restrictions, to love who you want, to live how you want, and toexist if you want. Othello is a certain type of human, almost a “wise man”character. Certainly the elder’s in Chinese culture are just as human, if notmore so, than the villagers. Iago on the other hand, acting out of impulse, isthe soldier, another human role. His main goal in life is survival andimproving his own life at the expense of others. His instinctive ways are insome ways more human than all of the other characters, as humans are inherentlyanimals at heart, and he is more in touch with his animalistic instincts thananyone else. Desdemonais “human” in the sense that she finds the balance between these two. I believethat she is most normal out of all three characters, but I have had my ownbattles with this, and I find myself deeply on Othello’s side. I find that mythoughts influence my actions, and not the other way around. I am intenselyjealous of Iago’s ability to act on impulse, as so much of the time I feel Ihave none. Does this make me less human? You could say that it does, as I wouldgive much to share some of Iago’s animalistic instincts. However, the humanrace is not a collection of one single type. It is a collection of manydifferent races, personalities, and behaviors.EndFragment