Hi, could I please have some feedback and ideally a grade for my Othello 1.1 essay?
The question was “Describe at least one memorable idea in the text. Explain why this idea was memorable to you”.
Shakespearian tragedies highlight the flaws in human nature. Jealousy is a poison which eats away at humans. A memorable idea in the text is jealousy, and this will be proven through the use of imagery, personification and emotive language.
The idea of jealousy in ‘Othello’ is memorable to me because Shakespeare uses various language features to highlight the importance of the idea. THis can be seen in the quote “The Moor already changes with my poison”. SHakespeare’s constant use of imagery highlights Iago’s evil nature and the nature of Jealousy. The quote highlights Iago’s evil nature as the use of ‘poison’ shows that Iago likes to slowly kill and torture his victims , as opposed to killing them quickly and painlessly. The quote also highlights the evil nature of jealousy by comparing it to poison. This is because Jealousy, similar to poison, slowly tortures and kills its victims by corrupting their minds. This links to Shakespeare’s purpose of making jealousy a memorable idea by showing the readers and audience how it slowly corrupts Othello throughout the course of the play. Shakespeare does this by showing how Othello is a noble general and loving husband at the beginning of the play, however as Iago’s poison (Jealousy) corrupts Othello, he turns into a jealous monster who eventually kills his wife.
This point is furthermore proven when Shakespeare uses personification: “O, beware my lord, of jealousy; It is the green eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” Shakespeare’s use of personification highlights how Jealousy is vicious, by making it a monster who devours any human that comes its way. The personification makes it scarier, particularly when it is described to feed on meat (which implies humans). This links to Shakespeare’s purpose of making the idea of jealousy memorable. Shakespeare highlights how Jealousy can ‘devour’ a person, and does this through the example of Othello.
This point is finally seen when Othello is fully manipulated by Iago. This can be seen when Othello states: “I’ll tear her to pieces!” Shakespeare’s use of emotive language highlights how Othello has been completely conceded by Jealousy, and his violent and aggressive nature is revealed. This highlights how Jealousy has taken over Othello’s mind, because at the beginning of the play Othello is shown to be a noble general and a loving husband, however now he is threatening to violently murder his wife. Similarly, the use of emotive language highlights how Othello is completely acting on emotion rather than a clear head, which has been building up since the fight between Cassio and Roderigo when Othello stated “My blood begins my safer guide to rule”. This links to Shakespeare’s purpose of making jealousy a memorable idea by showing the short term yet vicious effect of jealousy, which is how throughout the course of the play Jealousy is made a memorable idea because we can see how it has corrupted Othello.
Throughout the essay, it has been seen that Jealousy is a memorable idea through the use of imagery, personification and emotive language. This has also proven that Jealousy is a poison that eats away at humans. Shakespearian tragedies highlight the flaws in human nature and society by showing how troubles such as jealousy can turn into major issues which can cause people to break.