Konrad Andreasik

5-30-18

1​st

Othello Argumentative Essay

Shakespeare is one of the most famous authors of the English language, with many

famous stories under his belt like ​Romeo and Juliet,​ ​Midsummers Night’s Dream, and The

Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice. ​In Shakespeare’s Othello, the main character Othello

who is a general, has promoted Cassio who is an arithmetician to be a general when Iago who

knew how to fight has thought to be the perfect fit. Iago trying to get back at Othello for doing

that does everything he can for Othello to lose his position, and separate him with his wife

Desdemona, which causes a huge misconception that leads to Othello killing his wife for

cheating, then finding out the truth he kills himself. Due to the extremeness and age of

Shakespeare's writing, many believe it to be not relevant in the modern time period, but in fact

it’s very relevant, because it teaches many life lessons and has content that is relatable to the

modern minds, however some argue that it doesn’t cover the major issues in today’s era.

Shakespeare should be taught in schools today because it teaches many life lessons that

are vital to development. An example of one of these life lessons may be to not be so gullible,

easily tricked or fooled, which is dramatically shown throughout the story. In Othello

Shakespeare states “I kissed thee ere I killed thee. No way but this, Killing myself, to die upon a

kiss” (265). This develops the life lesson of not being so gullible because Othello after reading

Roderigo’s letters that contained the truth realized that he has been easily manipulated by Iago to
the point that he has killed his wife because of fictional cheating, and now Othello realized that

he was so gullible and tries to get out of his shame and kills himself by his wife's side. This is a

dramatically expressed but the point is that when someone is very gullible he/she can make a

fool of themselves and become very embarrassed. Wikihow states “While being a trusting person

is a good quality, you don’t want to let your trust in other people get you into a dicey situation. If

you want to work on being less gullible, then it’s important to become a more critical thinker and

to work on questioning the sources of your information” (How to Not Be Gullible). This supports

the life lesson of not being gullible because if someone is easily tricked or fooled they can put

themselves in a “dicey” situation which isn’t ideal.

Shakespeare should be taught in schools today because it has content that is very relatable

to modern minds. An example of this in the current time period is when someone receives a

honor that someone else felt like they deserve the honor, and then the person that felt like

deserve the honor try to do everything to get that honor away from the person who received the

honor. In Shakespeare’s Othello it states “Forsooth, a great arithmetician, One Michael Cassio, a

Florentine, A fellow almost damned in a fair wife, That never set a squadron in the field” (7).

This develops of why Shakespeare should be taught today because it has content relatable to

modern minds as like in Othello Iago felt like he deserved to be a general instead of Cassio, he

tried to do everything to get Cassio from being the general. This is like some kids do nowadays

when someone gets something they want so they try to do everything to get the same thing or

make that person not have the thing. Sarah Tinsley states “No-one wants to hear that they are

undeserving of things they have worked hard for” (Why You Don’t Deserve’ Anything). This

supports that Shakespeare should be taught today because it teaches the lesson that is still
common today, which is that people don’t like the feeling of being undeserving even though they

worked so hard to get something, just as Iago felt he deserved being the general but in the end he

didn’t get what he thought he deserved and he was really mad about that causing a great

commotion.

On the other hand Shakespeare should not be taught in the modern society because the

issues brought up in his stories are not major problems in this society. People say that now

problems are mainly about drugs in teen lives, and not any love stories that are way too

exaggerated. As a mother on debate.org states “Our Children need to be mentally challenged

with real issues facing today's youth. We need to focus on World Changers” (Should

Shakespeare be taught in schools?). This proves that Shakespeare shouldn’t be taught today

because the issues brought up today aren’t issues that are big today, and children should in

schools be taught problems that are world changing, and Shakespeare’s aren't. However this is

wrong, because their are many kids that are depressed over some sort of love story that might

even lead them to drug use to get rid of their depression, and his stories can help children get

over their depression with seeing how bad their life can actually be.

In conclusion, Shakespeare has a huge impact on today’s children and minds. After

reading his stories kids can become better individuals by learning the life lessons throughout his

stories. Shakespeare in his stories shows many events that are relatable to modern minds which

makes them feel intertwined with the story and they develop with the characters of the story. His

stories also teach many life lessons that children use to help them in their everyday lives.

Therefore, Shakespeare should be taught in today’s schools because of the emotional lessons and

relatable events he inputs into his stories.