Alyana Chavez

Period:6th
6/1/18

Othello Final Argumentative Essay

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The play made by shakespeare “The Tragedy of Othello, The Moor of Venice”
was about two people who were married, Desdemona and Othello, but during their
relationship a rumor had spread that Desdemona was cheating on Othello with Cassio
the one who was spreading rumors was Iago, a close friend of Othello. This play brings
up an important question “Is Shakespeare still relevant and should his work continue to
be taught in schools? In my perspective shakespeare is still relevant and should
continue to be taught in schools today because there are life lessons that are being
taught such as betrayal, punishment, and cheating.
In Othello, shakespeare brings up the topic of betrayal for example on page 247
and 249 act 5 scene 2 it states, “Othello:’ Ay with Ay, with Cassio. Had she been true, If
heaven would make me such another world, Of one entire and perfect chrysolite, I’d not
have sold her for it.’ EMILIA:My husband?’ OTHELLO:‘Ay, ’twas he that told me on her
first. An honest man he is, and hates the slime That sticks on filthy deeds.’ EMILIA: My
husband?’ OTHELLO:’ What needs this iterance, woman? I say, thy husband.’
EMILIA:’ O mistress, villainy hath made mocks with love!—My husband say she was
false?’OTHELLO:’ He, woman. I say thy husband. Dost understand the word? My
friend, thy husband; honest, honest Iago. ” This piece of text evidence supports my
claim because in my generation, people are mainly focused on who is fake and who is a
real friend and in the play to see that Othello thought Iago was a true friend but only to
find out that Iago had been lying to him and that he recognized that Iago wasn’t a true
friend, this shows that people could possibly relate to the fact that friends can spread
rumors, lie to them, and in the end betray them. Also, in an article called “Betrayal in
Othello. Why does Iago betray Cassio and Othello?” it states “​Iago​ ​betrays Cassio and
Othello because he feels they have betrayed him. He is upset that Othello​ ​promoted
Cassio and not him, and he thinks both Othello and Cassio have slept with his wife,
Emilia. He decides to get revenge by making it seem like Cassio and Desdemona have
betrayed​ ​Othello by having an affair.​” This also proves that our generation that they are
not the only people being betrayed because this type of cycle has been going on for
years and will probably keep on going even after we are dead.
In some cases Othello can be a bit over exaggerated and a tad bit hard to
understand due to the fact that some words are hard to pronounce, but the topics can
easily be relatable to punishment for people's actions. In “The Tragedy of Othello, The
Moor of Venice” on page 243 act 5 scene 2 it states”OTHELLO:’Down, strumpet!’
DESDEMONA: ‘Kill me tomorrow, let me live tonight.’ OTHELLO: ‘Nay, if you strive—’
DESDEMONA: ‘But half an hour!’ OTHELLO Being done, there is no pause.
DESDEMONA: ‘But while I say one prayer!’OTHELLO: ‘It is too late.’ He ​smothers
her​.​” In this piece of text evidence it tells us that Othello has already killed Desdemona
because he has already believed that she was cheating on him and he feels that if he
can’t have her love all to himself, than no one else can have her love. So Othello ends
up punishing Desdemona by suffocating her. Also , on page 263 and 265 act 5 scene 2
it states”Othello: …I pray you in your letters, When you shall these unlucky deeds
relate, Speak of me as I am. Nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice. Then
must you speak Of one that loved not wisely, but too well; Of one not easily jealous, but
being wrought … I took by th’ throat the circumcisèd dog, And smote him, thus. He
stabs​ ​himself​.​” Othello ends up punishing himself by stabbing himself in the gut
because he knows that he has done wrong by Desdemona by killing her based off of
false rumors. This proves the common cycle of punishment in “The Tragedy of Othello,
The Moor of Venice.” a life lesson can be brought up from this because if/whenever you
make a mistake just know that there will always be some type of consequence in the
end.
In the play made by shakespeare “The Tragedy of Othello, The Moor of Venice”
Shakespeare addresses a very relatable topic of cheating. On page 147 act 3
scene 3, it states”OTHELLO: ‘Give me a living reason she’s disloyal.’Iago: ‘One of this
kind is Cassio. In sleep I heard him say “Sweet Desdemona, Let us be wary, let us hide
our loves.” And then, sir, would he gripe and wring my hand, Cry “O sweet creature!”
then kiss me hard, As if he plucked up kisses by the roots That grew upon my lips;
then laid his leg O’er my thigh, and sighed, and kissed, and then Cried
“Cursèd fate that gave thee to the Moor!”” This quote proves my claim because people
in our generation still go through the problem of their boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse
cheating, and for shakespeare to show that cheating is relevant in Othello, students can
see what the consequences were for cheating and committing adultery back then and to
show the difference between how people handled it back then versus now, and to see
the process of change throughout the years. also , in an article “why does Othello
decide to kill Desdemona?” is states, “Othello killed Desdemona because he believed
that she had become unfaithful. This was because of Iago’s plot to ruin Othello’s life,
because Othello had snubbed him for a job position.” This proves my claim because
since Othello believed the rumors that Iago was telling him, which were that
Desdemona was cheating on him with Cassio and since he believed it was true Othello
killed Desdemona. This teaches our generation that back then if you were to commit
adultery the sentence would be death, but like now you can just cry about it and then
just get it over with and move on with the rest of your life.
Therefore, in conclusion, shakespeare is still relevant and should still be taught in
schools because his work teaches us about life lessons and about the past and it also
stretches out our range of vocabulary and helps us understand more complicated words
that are both hard to write and pronounce. Also because there are many relatable topics
in Shakespeare’s work such as betrayal since Iago betrayed Othello by telling him lies
about Desdemona and the rumor of the affair with Cassio that was not true, punishment
because Othello faced the consequences for killing Desdemona and Iago also faced the
consequences for all the bad deeds that he did, and last but certainly not least cheating
since Othello believed the alleged rumors of Desdemona cheating on him with Cassio.