Composition

Deaths in Othello Othello is William Shakespeare’s tragedy play set in Venice that depicts the deaths and betrayal of different characters. The key protagonists are Othello who is a war veteran in the Venetian forces, his wife Desdemona, Roderigo who is an immoral Venetian and Iago who is the play’s main antagonist, ensign and husband to Emilia. The four characters are involved in different relationships throughout the play. Conflict is a dominant occurrence that contributes to separate deaths of the characters. Although death is a natural tragedy that can happen at any time, Iago is blamed for influencing the deaths of other characters.
Iago contributed to the deaths of the other characters by spreading rumors against them, which leads to mistrust and conflict. He accomplishes this by maintaining close relationships with all characters and playing on their flaws to create conflict and hatred (Bradley 81). For instance, Iago is the main cause of death of Desdemona because he told Othello that Desdemona was engaging in immoral activities with Cassio. This makes Othello angry and he plans to kill Cassio, but returns home to Desdemona. Desdemona consoles Othello not to her by saying,
“ O, banish me, my lord, but kill me not! … Kill me to-morrow: let me live to-night! (Shakespeare, Act V, Scene I, P. 56).”
On the other hand, Iago convinces Roderigo to kill Cassio to enable him woo Desdemona for romantic intentions. This causes conflict between Roderigo and Cassio, which later leads to the death of Roderigo.
Alternatively, Othello finds Desdemona on the bed and smothers her using a pillow. This is an indication that the death of Roderigo and Desdemona is because of the gimmicks directed by Iago. Meanwhile, Emilia exposed Iago’s gimmicks and how Cassio possessed Desdemona’s handkerchief. Emilia says,
“ I must needs report the truth… I know thou didst not, thourt not such a villain (Shakespeare, Act V, Scene II, P. 78).”
Upon hearing Emilia’s revelations and realizing his mistakes, Othello commits suicide by stabbing himself. Iago is also terrified by Emilia’s revelations because Cassio confirmed that those were the true situation that took place. This makes Iago to stab Emilia and kill her before she exposes everything.
Iago is also directly blamed for the Roderigo because he is the one who stabbed Roderigo. This happened when he insisted that Roderigo should not lose hope of seducing Desdemona. He does this by coming up with a plan of killing Cassio who is also after the beautiful Desdemona. However, when Cassio and Roderigo are involved in a fight, Iago stabs Roderigo to death and escapes from the scene. The circle of deaths revolves around Iago as the main schemer who is out to kill everyone for his selfish gains like kill Cassio and assume his position of lieutenant, destroy Othello and dishonor Desdemonas virtue. He uses the other characters weaknesses to plot for revenge of missed chances to achieve his ends. For instance, Iago capitalizes on Othellos pride of being the best warrior, Cassios impaired decision while drunk and Roderigo’s motivation to marry Desdemona (Bradley 79).
It is evident that Iago was against Othello’s successes and wanted to cause his downfall through the creation of hatred. The deaths of the main characters are fabricated by Iago and he should be blamed for them. He uses Desdemona as a victim of controversy to trap Othello, Roderigo and Cassio. He killed Roderigo because he could not match his wealthy status and decided to finish him. Roderigo is portrayed as being in love with Desdemona and could offer Iago anything just to win the lady. Iago hated Cassio because Cassio was appointed Othellos lieutenant rather than Iago who also anticipated the selection (Bradley 87).
Works Cited
Bradley, Andrew C. Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear,
Macbeth. Teddington (G. B.: Echo Library, 2006. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Othello: The Moor of Venice. London, 1969. Print.