Ronaldo Gonzales

5/30/18

Period 3

English

The Tragedy of Othello

A famous Shakespearean tragedy about what happens when people let their emotions get

the best of them. The play opens in Venice, Italy, with Iago, the play's villain, and Roderigo, a

man who is paying Iago to help him in his romantic pursuit of Desdemona, arguing about

Desdemona's recent marriage to Othello. Othello begins on a street in Venice, in the midst of an

argument between Roderigo, a rich man, and Iago. Roderigo has been paying Iago to help him in

his suit to Desdemona. But Roderigo has just learned that Desdemona has married Othello, a

general whom Iago begrudgingly serves as ensign. Some people may say that shakespeare is

boring and other might say that it's important and relevant today. In my opinion, Shakespeare is

still relevant and it should be taught in schools, to high schoolers and to middle schoolers.

Othello is still relevant and it should be taught in schools today because of adultery,

demonstrates how language was back then in order to teach wider vocabulary, and it uses drama

and emotions people can relate to.

Firstly, Othello is still relevant and it should still be taught in schools today because of

adultery. Adultery is a voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other

than that person's current spouse or partner. In Othello log number 6, we talked about if adultery

should be Illegal and treated as a crime?. I believe that adultery should be illegal because that
person made a commitment and signed a vowel that said that they were in love and they were

going to spend the rest of their lives together and love each other forever, and if that person

breaks it and cheats on their spouse then they should serve some jail time because it's not fair and

you also made a commitment to get married. In the tragedy of Othello, this relates to Othello log

number 6 because Othello thought Desdemona cheated on him And her punishment was that

Othello was going to kill her. In the “Tragedy Of Othello” Othello says “Tis he! O brave Iago,

honest and just, that hast such noble sense of thy friends wrong! Thou teaches me.- Minion, your

dear lies dead, and your unblest fate hies. Strumpet, I come. (Forth) of my heart those charms,

thine eyes, are blotted. Thy bed, lust-stained, shall with lust’s blood be spotted” (Shakespeare

227). Othello believes Desdemona has been cheating on him, he rationalizes that it's fitting for

him to kill his wife on the bed they share as a married couple. Adultery takes place because

Desdemona’s punishment is to be killed for cheating.

Secondly, Shakespeare is relevant and be taught in school to demonstrate how language

was back then to teach wider vocabulary. In Othello Log #7 we used the word “Gullible” which

defines someone who is easily tricked, this connects within Othello when he should be blamed

for trusting Iago knowing that he wants revenge on what he did to him, he was tricked by telling

him non accurate facts on Cassio being with Desdemona, today in society we learn big words

like that with a bigger meaning and picture that we can relate to or argue upon in order to help

understand the meaning behind the word, and give us an idea on how we can explain our

experiences, etc. In the book “Othello” to continue this idea, it states in Act 3 scene 3, states

“Whereon I do Beseech thee, grant me this, to leave me but a little to myself.” This summarizes

to basically, I won’t deny you anything, but in return, leave me alone. In which we as the readers
must expand our vocabulary to use context clues on Shakespeare’s detailed language in order to

figure out what he is saying as well as figure out words such as Beseech, thee, etc, Which helps

expand our thinking. Lastly, in the Lesson/Reading by Bryan Cowling states “ He uses words in

a way that we are not used to. For example, he might use the word appetite when referring to

sexual desire, while most current English speakers relate the word to food. So when you read

Othello, be one the lookout for how certain vocabulary words can have multiple meanings.”

Clarification, would be that Shakespeare’s language is difficult and hard to understand but by

re-reading shakespeare we then can get an idea on what he is saying, as well as study words we

use today a different meaning then as they used back and learning how to figure out vocabulary

very widely. Shakespeare should be taught because his language can help improve and help learn

vocabulary more widely.

Lastly, a reason why Shakespeare should not be taught is because it doesn't seem that

there is an emotion or drama people can relate to. Some emotions that the book can relate to are

couples getting married, love, drama, cheating, fighting, sadness, happiness, etc. in Othello log #

4, is about a person’s reputation and how they earned it, what are they known for etc. This does

not demonstrate any type of Drama or brings interest because we already known many people

who have reputations especially through sports as of today. Which to the audience tells how

Shakespeare's brings no interest with Drama. Secondly, in the book “Othello” in Act 5 Scene 2,

says by emilia “Cassios killed a young Venetian named Roderigo.” This shows how more people

would be drawn to the violence than the Drama itself which brings fear and more excitement to

that topic rather the Drama. Shakespeare still relevant I should be taught in schools.
 Finally, Shakespeare is still relevant and it should be taught in schools, to high schoolers

and to middle schoolers. Othello is still relevant and it should be taught in schools today because

of adultery, demonstrates how language was back then in order to teach wider vocabulary, and it

uses drama and emotions people can relate to. This is why Shakespeare is still relevant and

should be taught in schools.