Othello - Characters

I'll be handling question number 3 with this post, which essentially deals with characters. Really, I don't feel like rewriting the whole question, because it's a long'n.

Well, like most works in which the title is the name of a character, the protagonist of this particular play happens to be Othello. He fulfills the role of tragic hero absolutely perfectly, which really makes my job of designating a protagonist fairly easy. He goes about the beginning of the play as a good and decent person, but throughout the course of the play, his hubris begins to grow and eventually it defeats him, and he dies. He is portrayed as being wise, loving, and level-headed, but he eventually starts to show a jealous side and begins to show a tendency to misread people, as he begins to distrust those truly loyal (Desdemona and Cassio) and starts to trust people who are just out to get him (Iago).

Iago, naturally, is the antagonist. This play is kind of interesting in that the antagonist gets far more screentime than the protagonist. The one who really drives the plot along is actually Iago. Very interesting. Anywho, Iago was a decent antagonist. He was sexist, racist, and very very sneaky, which makes him very hateable, always a good quality to have in your token bad guy. However, I didn't really like how his greatest quality seemed to be simply...luck. Honestly, perfect opportunities just kept falling into his lap. Now, he did manage to do some things on his own, getting Cassio drunk for example, but most of the time, he just managed to find himself in a good situation and managed to swing it around for his own benefit. Emilia just happened to find the handkerchief and give it to him, Bianca just happened to confront Cassio with the handkerchief while Othello was watching, and Roderigo just kept rolling back to him just in time for him to put him to use. Really, I just didn't care much for how conveniently everything worked out for him.

There are several foil characters. Iago and Cassio are foils to each other. Cassio is a truly honest person who respects women and is liked by pretty much everyone. Iago is a sneaky evil scumbag who treats women like crap and is also fairly racist, and most people just don't much care for him. Iago even says himself that Cassio "hath a daily beauty in his life that makes me ugly." In comparison to the totally awesome Cassio, Iago just kinda looks like trash. Now Othello kind of switches throughout the course of the play. At first, he is foiled with Iago as he is not outwardly suspicious of his wife and actually treats her decently. In the beginning, he really resembles Cassio. However, by the middle to end of the play, Othello really resembles Iago in his tendency to suspect others and his treatment towards Desdemona. Now, Cassio is his foil and shows him how far he has really fallen.

I don't feel as though I should use the term "Minor Character," because really they play a major role in the progression of the plot. Bianca, a tiny minor character is actually the one who puts the last nail in the coffin and provides the last shred of evidence that Othello needs by giving the handkerchief to Cassio while he watches. As for Roderigo, who is essentially nonexistent through the whole play except when Iago conveniently has the need for a patsy, is used quite effectively. He provokes Cassio and gets him fired and eventually attacks Cassio and wounds him. As for Emilia, she acts as a mildly useful character for Iago when she gives him the handkerchief, but after Desdemona dies, she explodes into a ball of almighty fury as she tells off Othello, Iago, and anyone else within the range of her voice. At the end, she ultimately serves as the deliverer of the totally necessary "Hey by the way, you screwed up" message after Othello kills his wife. Othello, now with the knowledge that Desdemona was innocent after all, Othello takes his life, and Slam, Bam, now you've got a tragedy.

I do not understand the purpose of the clown.