Dr. Iago : How I stopped brooding and learned to ruin everyone's life

    Iago's most sinister method to carrying out his plot is his ability to turn the character's most admirable aspects and turn them against themselves. In the final act of the play, Iago's plan causes Othello to finally carry out revenge against two people who started out as his closest acquaintances. Since Othello is convinced that his wife has been unfaithful with him by sleeping with Cassio that he and Iago decide to collaborate and kill them both: "Thy bed, lust-stained, shall with lust’s blood be spotted" (V.i). Desdemona, who is respected for her virtue and purity, has been made out by Iago to be an adulteress who betrayed her new husband. Cassio is well liked for his charm and charisma which makes him all the more likely to be capable of seducing Othello's wife. Instead of the expected emphasis of unpleasant characteristics, Iago has eliminated what made characters likeable, giving them no redeeming qualities in the eyes of Othello. This strategy proves Iago to be a prime example of evil in the play.

The Widow's Lament in Springtime

     The poem "The Widow's Lament in Springtime" contrasts the ways in which nature and humans cope with the circle of life. The widow described in the poem is witnessing the flora in her yard transitioning from the barren winter to a flourishing spring. Even though nature suffers loss with the arrival of winter, it does not grieve because everything will return in the spring. The widow is seemingly envious of this luxury because after the loss of her husband, the garden is less beautiful knowing they have the ability to carry on after death: "The grief in my heart is stronger than they for though they were my joy formerly, today I notice them and turned away forgetting" (14-19). This contrast is evident in the colors described in the garden. The garden that isn't grieving is filled with, "masses of flowers...yellow and some red," colors that are vivacious and optimistic. However, the area of the woods that the widow wishes to visit has, "trees of white." White, a color which can mean cleanliness and new beginnings, can also in large quantities represent isolation and emptiness. The differences in which nature and the widow process guilt is depicted in the imagery of the poem.

Emilia's contrasting opinions

    Most female characters of Shakespeare, or at least women of the time period were expected to serve as property of their husbands or fathers. At the end of act four, Emlia takes control of female sexuality and suggests that women are not to blame for their infidelity because it is the fault of their husbands: "I do think it is their husbands' fault if wives do fall" (IV.iii).  She believes that women who cheat do it for the same reasons as their husbands, they do not feel appreciated, are being cheated on, or are plagued by jealousy. Since men are considered the head of the relationship, they are the ones to punish the women even though women are perfectly capable of vengeance as well: "Let husbands know, their wives have sense like them" (IV.iii). Emilia's declaration Is contrast to Desdemona's conservative outlook. Desdemona is coveted for being virtuous and obedient while Emilia has proven herself to be defiant and astute. Both wives are also contrasting to each other's husbands. Desdemona's husband Othello is a moor who has a respectable authoritative position; a progressive anomaly for the time. Emilia's husband on the other end of the spectrum has opposite views as his outspoken wife and considers women pawns of his plan: "And nothing can or shall content my soul till I am even'd with him, wife for wife" (II.i).

Othello's Downfall

    In the following scene, Othello has fallen victim to Iago's manipulation and his control is beginning to come undone. Convinced that Desdemona has cheated on him with Cassio, Othello strikes Desdemona when she brings up her "the love I bear to Cassio" (IV.i) even though she is talking about her hopes for Othello and Cassio to reconcile their differences. This is a stark contrast to the previous interactions between Desdemona and Othello where he declares that he could not be any happier than he is with his wife. Along with his romantic happiness gone, Othello is also about to lose his power gained at Cyprus. When the messenger, Lodovico arrives from Venice with a notice stating that Othello must return from Cyprus and leave Cassio in charge, he is once more losing the assets that make him great. After being depicted as a high standing authoritative figure in a loving relationship, Othello is finally facing his downfall at the hands of Iago and fate.

Iago

   In his Act I scene 3 soliloquy, Iago establishes his determination to ruin Othello's lives. When it comes up that there are rumors that Othello slept with his Iago, he sees it as an excuse to sabotage the other characters: "That twixt my sheets he has done my office" (I.iii). While most husbands would be angry or in denial if they had heard their wife had been cheating, Iago accepts it without question and interprets it as an opportunity. The notion that Iago is willing to wreck his marriage and his wife's reputation solely to seek revenge against Othello is strong evidence of Iago's treachery. Throughout the soliloquy, Iago pretends to think over his scheme, "Let me see now...how? how? Let me see" (I.iii). While he seems to be pondering the possibilities of his plan, it is evident that these are ideas he has been mulling over for a very long time because of the lack of hesitation to drag others into his scheme.

The world is too much with us

     The central theme of Wadswoth's poem is that we have become distant from the order of nature, a criticism that is still relevant today. He claims that we are no longer in touch with the world describing it as "we are out of tune, it moves us not." The speaker emphasizes this growing unruliness by subtly adjusting stressed and unstressed syllables in the poem. The word choice of the poem is also very nature oriented using metaphors such as howling winds and sleeping flowers. He then expresses disdain for his religion as a Christian and wishes that he had been brought up Pagan, a religion pre-Christianity that is centered around nature. The speaker expresses that he would be happier to acknowledge Proteus or Triton, gods who are associated with the sea.

Othello Plot Climax

The climax of the play occurs at the end of the Act III when Othello tells Iago that he will seek revenge against Desdemona. This changing of opinion exemplifies Iago's ability to manipulate the other characters and Othello's mistrust in Iago. While Iago has subtly convinced Othello that perhaps his wife is not as virtuous as he believes her to be, he suggests Othello ought to keep a closer eye on her whereabouts: "Observe her well" (III.iii). The fatal mistake that Othello makes is having faith in Iago for no reason and giving into his manipulation despite Othello's oblivious love for Desdemona which has been established in previous scenes. The climax of the play emphasizes Iago as the manipulative villain, for convincing Othello that his wife has betrayed him. It also establishes Othello as the tragic figure as he falls victim to Iago's deceit and pursues revenge against his wife.

Iago

     Already in the first act of Othello it is established that Iago is a villain. In the opening conversation between Iago and Roderigo Iago states that he is bitter towards Othello because of his decision to promote Cassio instead of himself. Iago feels that he is more deserving of the position because of his real life experience compared to Cassio's intelligence: "And I, of whom his eyes had seen the proof  at Rhodes, at Cyprus, and on other grounds"(I.i). Iago is also manipulative in the ways he convinces others of his disdain for Othello. To retaliate for how Othello wronged Iago, Iago informs Desdemona's father of their affair. An already unsettling accusation is made more disturbing in his description of the affair. Iago says,"An old black ram is tupping your white ewe" (I.1). At the time the play takes place, black men were considered barbaric and reminiscent of the devil. The image of Desdemona's reputation and purity being tarnished by a savage is frightening and capable of conducting hatred.

It didn't end well

It didn't end well.
Like a runaway Ferris wheel slowly rolling towards the sea
Fun for awhile but now a pile of metal washed away by the tide.
But before that I felt like it was perfect.
Like violet clouds shrouding autumn
Like seltzer, straight from the bottle.
Small pleasures that felt like masterpieces
As if they were painted by Monet
Or composed by Paul Desmond,
Because when you have a quintuple meter running through your veins
In the key of E-flat minor
You can't help but close your eyes and nod your head.
But I saw it coming, like a cat falling from a rooftop terrace,
Who has a sneaking suspicion that she is not going to land on her feet this time.
So now I am sitting here, among stacks and stacks of paperbacks,
My neck in a brace,
Waiting for the tide to return.