FREE ESSAY ON REPUTATIONS IN OTHELLO

REPUTATIONS IN OTHELLO

Reputations of the main characters and its role in Othello
In the play Othello written by William Shakespeare, the theme of reputation was a very
important part of what made the play tragic. Reputation was so important in the play that
it could have gave insight to characters or allowed characters to have manipulated others
and it allowed for the tragedy of Othello to have been unfolded. Reputation of characters
was an important factor for all the characters in Othello but reputation was most
important for Iago, Othello and Cassio. When Shakespeare wrote Othello he intended for
the reader to have scrutinized the theme of reputation so the reader could have
understood where characters and the plot of the story had developed from. 
Reputation played an important role in how the reader was meant to have perceived the
characters of the play. Iago had a flawless reputation, he was considered so loyal and
compassionate he was known throughout most of the novel as "honest"(II.iii.329) Iago.
Iago is regarded as a close companion of Othello as well as Cassio, and Iago had a deep
hate for both of these men and knew his reputation could help him get his revenge on
them. Iago understood that reputation played such a big part in how people saw a person,
that based on his reputation he could have became a two faced adversary without a
problem. Iago proved the point of a reputation's importance when wanted to leave Roderigo
in act one, because if Iago stayed it would look this Iago was a traitor to Othello and
this would flaw his reputation. Iago explained why he must leave by his statement,
"Though I do hate him as I do hell pains, Yet for necessity of present life I must show
out a flag and sign of love"(I. i.159-161). When Iago stated this he proved reputation
was extremly important because it showed how his departure from the scene and keeping his
reputation he could work the inside track for himself and Roderigo. Iago's repuatation
allowed him to be twofaced and this gave him certain advantages otherwise not available
to him. If reputation was not so important Iago would not have been so highly revered by
many people, and if Iago was not a revered person his motives may have been discovered
earlier in the play. The reputation of the antagonist of the play was not the only
reputation important to the play but the tragic hero's and the catalyst's reputation also
played an important role to the play. 
Othello the tragic hero of this play had a reputation that helped him raise himself up in
society. Othello's reputation served several purposes throughout the play, first it
proved he was a good and noble person, secondly it won Desdemona over for him and lastly
it helped him stay out of trouble because of his esteemed position in society. Othello's
reputation saves him from the confrontation with Barbantio as well as won him a wife.
Othello proved this when he was confronted with stealing Desdemona away from Barbantio
and the Duke and the senators listened to Othello when he stated, "She loved me for the
dangers I had passed, And I loved her that she did pity them. This only is the witchcraft
I have used"(I.iii.166-169). Othello told the senators this to show Desdemona was won
over based solely on Othello's reputation and his history. The Duke and senators appear
to judge Othello less harshly when they give their opinions on the situation because
Othello's reputation makes him out to be a hero and loyal solider that is well respected
This example is clearly shown when Barbantio first said, "For nature so preposterously to
err,"(I.iii.64) by this he means nature's error in mixing light and dark skinned people.
We can see how the senators and the Duke quickly changed their mind when they first
stated, "And you of her, the bloody book of the law,"(I.iii.63) they the Duke said,
"What, in your own part, can you say to this?"(I.iii.76). Othello gets the ability to
have a say in front of the council because of his reputation if Othello was another dark
skinned person who knows what would have happened to him. In Othello's case his
reputation works for him because he gets Desdemona due to his reputation and he escapes
punishment from the Duke and council because of his reputation. Othello's reputation
works for him in a good way and for good purposes unlike Iago whose reputation allows him
to achieve evil deeds. The last character Shakespeare wanted the reader to examine was
Cassio the catalyst of the tragedy in this play.
Cassio the reason for all the superficial problems in the novel has his reputation
originally helping him and then it damages him as well as several other characters in the
end. Cassio had a good reputation at the beginning of the play and this is shown because
he is given the job of lieutenant from Othello over Iago, this proves although Iago is
honest and loyal Cassio is still more revered then he is. On the other hand, as the play
preceded Cassio was viewed very differently by the populous due mostly to Iago. Iago did
several things to damage Cassio reputation during the play this is shown when he stated,
" 'Tis to his virtue a just equinox,"(II.iii.118) and we he said to Othello, "Or to be
naked with her friend in bed"(IIII.i.6). Iago's first goal is to destroy Cassio's image
among his men and he does so when he stated to Montano he felt Cassio had bad virtues and
a drinking problem, and when he set Cassio up to get in a fight. Once Iago had
successfully destroyed Cassio's reputation among many of the men he next had to get his
revenge by having Othello doubt Cassio and himself. Iago accomplishes his second act
flawlessly by his ability to have Othello believe he was sleeping with Desdemona. Now
Cassio's once helpful reputation has destroyed him publicly and he made Cassio look like
an adulterer in Othello's eyes and that makes Othello perceive Cassio as a backstabbing
friend. Cassio's reputation was unlike either of the two main character's reputations his
reputation originally follows the path of Othello's an honest one but is changed by rumor
and therefore causes the end to Iago, Othello and Desdemona. 
In Othello reputations are so important that whole lives can be based on them, in
Othello's case his whole life is based around his reputation as a noble person, Iago
bases everything he does around the fact that he is seen one way but acts another and
Cassio's reputation allows him to move up in the world, and it also causes the death of
several characters in the play. Since reputation had such an important role in the play
Shakespeare made sure to put extra emphasis on it, this emphasis allowed for reader's to
better understand characters but it is also important because the character's reputations
effected hot the plot developed. In William Shakespeare's Othello reputations developed
characters and the plot and that is the reason for such emphasis on the reputation of
characters in the play.