- Published: January 7, 2022
- Updated: January 7, 2022
- University / College: Oxford Brookes University
- Language: English
- Downloads: 17
Many of Shakespeare’s plays revolve around the common source of love and hatred. In “ Othello” and “ Much Ado about Nothing” there is an obvious love story between Othello and Desdemona and Claudio and Hero. In both plays, women have put shame on their families. Desdemona betrays her father by marrying a Moor and Hero was accused of cheating on her wedding day.
In “ Othello” women are degraded and are looked down upon, as inferior. Iago has the mind-set that women are only good for one thing, having the pleasure to pleasure men. Iago and Don John are your typical “ villains” filled with jealousy and hatred towards the people who have what they want.
They, both, had a plan to destroy the one they hated. The difference was that Iago followed through with his plan all the way till the end and got what he wanted, Othello dead. Unfortunately for Don John his planned failed and when it did, he ran away.
Another difference is that Iago never showed Othello physical proof that Desdemona was having an affair with Cassio as where Don John showed what looked like Hero with someone else. Manipulation is a huge part of both plays because that’s how the conflict starts to unfold. The manipulation of Iago is so that people could do the dirty work for him and Don John had his friend say Hero when he was fornicating with Margret. Both “ villains” attack the “ damsels in distress” and make them seem as if they are seductresses and cannot be trusted to be faithful to their loved ones. Shakespeare has a variety of plays and you can see the difference in his writing by comparing these two plays. “ Othello” is a tragedy and throughout the whole book there is devastation from the audience knowing that Desdemona is innocent but in the end Othello kills her.
Usually, tragedies end when he main character(s) dies, henceforth, Desdemona, Emilia, and Othello being killed. Shakespeare’s comedies have conflict but there is always a resolution. Most comedies end with a wedding; Claudio finds out Hero isn’t dead and they get married. Shakespeare was an incredible writer that can express emotion through the thin pages we must turn until we finish.
Most of his plays include the things we like to read about; jealousy, hatred, envy, revenge, and of course, love. He wrote two completely different plays but then you realize that they are so similar to each other.
