The Repentant Lieutenant in Othello Essay -- Othello essays

The Repentant Lieutenant in Othello  Ã‚        Ã‚   Othello, a William Shakespeare classic, sees the attempted ruination of the general’s right-hand man on more than one occasion by the insidious and jealous ancient. Let’s achieve a better understanding of the lieutenant’s case in this paper.    Cassio’s biggest fall is with the Iago-schemed incident of inebriation. In The Riverside Shakespeare Frank Kermode explains the total meaning of the loss which Cassio’s drunkenness cost him:    Cassio, cashiered, thinks he has lost what Othello is soon really to lose, his reputation: â€Å"I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial† (II.iii.263-64). (We must think of â€Å"reputation† as meaning not merely the good word of others, but that self-respect which is indispensable to social beings, and without which they cannot function well in private or public life. Without it, a man is no more than a beast.) (1200)    Cassio is a blend of good and bad elements, a potpourri of positive and negative features. Kenneth Muir, in the Introduction to William Shakespeare: Othello, explains the ins and outs of Cassio’s personality:    Cassio is defined partly by the exigencies of the plot, which require him to have a poor head for drinking and to have a mistress; but his chivalric worship of Desdemona, his affectionate admiration for Othello, which enable him even at the end to call him ‘Dear General† and to speak of his greatness in heart, and his professional reputation, which only Iago impugns, build up a complex portrait of an attractive, if flawed, character. In spite of his weaknesses, we can understand why Iago should be envious of the ‘daily beauty in his life’ and why Desdemona should speak so warmly ... ...d, a little later, in his sincere regret about the loss of his reputation after he has partaken of the wine which Iago has forced upon him. (85-86)    WORKS CITED    Bevington, David, ed. William Shakespeare: Four Tragedies. New York: Bantam Books, 1980.    Bradley, A. C.. Shakespearean Tragedy. New York: Penguin, 1991.    Coles, Blanche. Shakespeare’s Four Giants. Rindge, New Hampshire: Richard Smith Publisher, 1957.    Kermode, Frank. â€Å"Othello, the Moor of Venice.† The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974.    Muir, Kenneth. Introduction. William Shakespeare: Othello. New York: Penguin Books, 1968.    Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.    The Repentant Lieutenant in Othello Essay -- Othello essays The Repentant Lieutenant in Othello  Ã‚        Ã‚   Othello, a William Shakespeare classic, sees the attempted ruination of the general’s right-hand man on more than one occasion by the insidious and jealous ancient. Let’s achieve a better understanding of the lieutenant’s case in this paper.    Cassio’s biggest fall is with the Iago-schemed incident of inebriation. In The Riverside Shakespeare Frank Kermode explains the total meaning of the loss which Cassio’s drunkenness cost him:    Cassio, cashiered, thinks he has lost what Othello is soon really to lose, his reputation: â€Å"I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial† (II.iii.263-64). (We must think of â€Å"reputation† as meaning not merely the good word of others, but that self-respect which is indispensable to social beings, and without which they cannot function well in private or public life. Without it, a man is no more than a beast.) (1200)    Cassio is a blend of good and bad elements, a potpourri of positive and negative features. Kenneth Muir, in the Introduction to William Shakespeare: Othello, explains the ins and outs of Cassio’s personality:    Cassio is defined partly by the exigencies of the plot, which require him to have a poor head for drinking and to have a mistress; but his chivalric worship of Desdemona, his affectionate admiration for Othello, which enable him even at the end to call him ‘Dear General† and to speak of his greatness in heart, and his professional reputation, which only Iago impugns, build up a complex portrait of an attractive, if flawed, character. In spite of his weaknesses, we can understand why Iago should be envious of the ‘daily beauty in his life’ and why Desdemona should speak so warmly ... ...d, a little later, in his sincere regret about the loss of his reputation after he has partaken of the wine which Iago has forced upon him. (85-86)    WORKS CITED    Bevington, David, ed. William Shakespeare: Four Tragedies. New York: Bantam Books, 1980.    Bradley, A. C.. Shakespearean Tragedy. New York: Penguin, 1991.    Coles, Blanche. Shakespeare’s Four Giants. Rindge, New Hampshire: Richard Smith Publisher, 1957.    Kermode, Frank. â€Å"Othello, the Moor of Venice.† The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974.    Muir, Kenneth. Introduction. William Shakespeare: Othello. New York: Penguin Books, 1968.    Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.