Introduction and Rationale
My students deserve the best. Each day when I walk into our classroom I am aware that I must do my best to ensure that they have a chance in our school system. Quality professional development is essential to improve my teaching practice. From the Yale National Teacher Institute (YNI) experience I have gained valuable insight to a content area that many either adore or fear – Shakespeare. My students are native Spanish speaking ELLs, most of them recent immigrants to our country. This fact presents additional complications for them as students and me as a teacher. They face the challenge of concurrently learning the English language and content area information, making it especially difficult for them to read and construct meaning from content taught in English.
Although there are many challenges for a teacher of ELLs, we must meet them if we want our students to be successful. In an English classroom, ELLs must learn the mechanics of the language but also about the literature. Shakespeare is reading material that many believe may be too much for ELLs. I heard many comments from colleagues when I told them where I was going and what I would be doing this summer. A seminar on Shakespeare: how could I use that experience in my classroom? How could ELLs read this literature, let alone comprehend what he was writing about? Even though I personally felt quite a bit of trepidation when I began reading his plays again, I knew it was something that was important to do for my students. I had not read any of his work since a very bad experience in college some twenty years ago. However, after beginning with the children's literature versions, moving on to Cliff Notes and Spark Notes, and then – excitedly I might add – reading his true versions, I noticed that I was able to understand what was happening in the plays and was also able to analyze the characters. Shakespeare is just the type of reading material that ELLs should be exposed to, providing them with the opportunities to move along in their English language development while delving into great literature. Getting past the fear of Shakespeare, moving towards the understanding of his gripping plots of stories filled with emotion, love, betrayal, war, strong women, madness, and death, among other sorts of intensity, is to know the true beauty of his work.
In this unit, students will focus on identity: their own, Shakespeare's, and that of a few of his characters. This emphasis is well-connected with their lives. As they have recently immigrated here, they are acclimating themselves to a new way of life, culture, language, country, and school system. In addition, they are going through adolescence! Imagine the turmoil of this experience for a moment. In fact, it might involve enough traumas to rival a Shakespearean tragedy! The essential questions of this unit are: Who am I? and What are the characteristics that make me unique from others? In scaffolding this process of learning about and analyzing self, Shakespeare, and then Shakespeare's characters, students will be able to better develop and comprehend the meaning of identity.
This unit is designed for middle school ELLs in a multi-grade English class. The class is leveled so that sixth, seventh, and eighth graders performing at the highest English ability level (second to fourth grade reading level in English). However, this unit could be used with high school ELLs or even middle school English only students. Modifications can be made to the unit that would allow for further reading, including entire plays or even additional ones – perhaps using a few comedies to compare with the tragedies chosen. In our classroom, this unit will take almost four weeks of block classes (84 minutes) to complete yet, other teachers, due to their students' abilities and knowledge may be able to quicken the pace. Furthermore, others may want to use only some of the activities to drive home the message concerning identity and characterization.
Identity
Confusion is inevitable when ELLs come into the classroom. They are new to everything in this country – language, way of life, and school, among other things and are caught between two worlds: where they came from and where they are now. It is important for my students to think about who they are and the characteristics that make them unique from others, helping them to develop a sense of self. This is especially true in that adolescence is a time of change, physical and psychological, and during this period youngsters are figuring the nature of the change out for themselves. Identity can be defined as knowledge of who and what one is.1 There are unique combinations of many identities from very broad (man/woman) to narrow (family member) together with group identities (countries and ethnic communities). Identities are constructed on the basis of various traits and experiences. Race is one which can be perceived differently depending on where one is located. Skin color is important in some societies while in others it is not. Yet again, race may be identified with traits acquired later in life. Identities can compete with each other. Some identities we are born with, while others are acquired by choice, based on shared values, beliefs, or concerns. Each of us reflects a variety of identity categories mixed together.2 Thinking of my students and how they can wrap their minds around this subject, I wanted to transfer the meaning of identity to characters in the plays. Characters are "the persons presented in works of narrative or drama who convey their personal qualities through dialogue and action by which the reader or audience understands their thoughts, feelings, intentions and motives".3 Using this definition will help students to see that our identities are based not only on things about us but what we say and do as well.
Shakespeare
Just as my students are new to Shakespeare, in fact I too feel as if I have experienced a re-birth of my attitude towards and appreciation of his work! Since my students have no prior knowledge of him, we will conduct an author study to learn more about Shakespeare as a person. What is his identity? Who was he and why? What are the characteristics that make him unique? Writer, boy, man, playwright, husband, lover, actor, great thinker, master of words, theater and home owner – these are all words that describe something about Shakespeare. During the unit, students will research answers to their questions about Shakespeare and I will add the following information about Shakespeare's life. From these sources, we will create an identity portrait of Shakespeare which will serve as a model for them when they have to do the same thing with his characters.
Shakespeare's Times: Shakespeare was born during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The country was doing well economically under her leadership. This was also a time of discovery and new ideas. Explorers were spanning the globe, astronomy was developing, an awakening was occurring in regard to art. Books were being made in great volume as the printing press had been invented in the prior century.
Family: He was born to John and Mary Shakespeare in England in 1564 and was baptized in Stratford's Holy Trinity Church on April 23. He was the first of six children. His family lived about 100 miles from London in a small town – Stratford-upon-Avon. His mother came from a family that owned some farmland and his father was a tanner, making gloves and belts among other items. It is probable that both of his parents were illiterate, unable to sign their names. His father also served on the local town council. This was an important job, as he was charged with keeping law and order in the town. He also fancied actors and their art. Many a time he paid them to come to Stratford and perform for the townspeople. It is thought that this may be where Shakespeare first saw "the theater". When Shakespeare was about thirteen, his father began to have evident problems with money. It appears if the other members of the Town Council excused him from some debt and fines. However, this was unable to sustain him, and in 1578 he was forced to sell and mortgage off some of the property, including his wife's. There is evidence that the Shakespeare family did not attend church owing to debt collectors.
Schooling: It is believed that Shakespeare attended the King's New School at Stratford because his father was a public official. Yet he did not go on to the University. Perhaps this was due to his father's declining economic circumstances. At that time, school was for boys only and lasted almost eleven hours a day and met for six days a week. Latin was an important subject at school as it was considered the language of the cultured people. He most likely would have spoken, read, and written in Latin while at school. It is speculated that many of the things he read about were used later in his own plays.
His Own Family: Surprisingly, William Shakespeare married at the young age of eighteen to a woman of twenty-six years of age, Anne Hathaway. There is much speculation regarding Shakespeare and his wife's marriage. The age difference was uncommon in their times. Their daughter, Susanna, was born six months after they were married. Two years later they had twins, Hamnet and Judith. Sadly, Hamnet died when he was eleven years old while Shakespeare was away from home. Shakespeare did end up doing well for himself financially as a part owner of the Globe Theatre and a writer. He purchased the biggest house in Stratford and owned many properties. In fact, he was well-diversified when it came to his finances. Strangely, in his last will and testament he left the majority of his belongings to his older daughter. There is also the question of why he would bequeath the "second best bed" to his wife and the words he wrote for his gravestone. Greenblatt4 suggests that perhaps Shakespeare just did not want his bones disturbed, but that it may also be possible that he did not want them disturbed to let Anne's bones mix with his.
Shakespeare in London, England: In 1585 William left his family, who were living with his parents. He ventured to London. It was to supposedly help to support them. However, there is little information about what happened to Shakespeare in the years 1585 – 1592. Many sources refer to these years as the "Lost Years". When he is heard of again is in 1592 in London, England when he was well-known for his plays. London was one of the largest cities at that time. In this city, Shakespeare must have had many opportunities to encounter a very diverse group of people, talk with them, and learn more about the world.
The Theater and Shakespeare's Roles in the Theater: Theater was an important form of entertainment at that time. The first theatre was established by James Burbage in 1576. He put his two crafts, actor and a carpenter, to use and built a theater. Others quickly sprung up in the general area: Curtain, Rose, Thames, and Swan. They were located outside the city of London, across the London Bridge. Their popularity was enhanced by the fact that Queen Elizabeth was a fan of the theater. There were many who did not like or approve of the theater. The crowds that attended productions drank, acted rudely, and spread diseases. The theater was continually shut down throughout the years whenever there was a bad breakout of the plague since it was a place in which disease was spread. It also encouraged criminals such as pickpockets. Although some believed this, others enjoyed the entertainment as well as showing off their wealth to others (clothing for example).
Not a lot is known in regard to how Shakespeare became a part of the theater scene. Did he take care of horses while people were at the productions? Did he sell tickets? One fact that is known is that he did act in troupes. It is also during this time that he began to write, most likely adding lines to others plays at first. His plays can be classified as comedies, tragedies5, histories, and romance. It appears as if Shakespeare wrote thirty-eight plays. No one is exactly certain, as many were not produced (in writing) while he was alive, he collaborated on many, and he may have written some under another's name. In addition, there is a variety of people think that they may have been written by someone else. What is known is that he did borrow ideas and lines from other works and included those in his own. People enjoyed his plays for many of the same reasons as today: plots, characters, and language. The plots were of things that others can relate to: love, war, pastoral life, and royalty among others. The characters were ones in which you could get lost as a viewer. You cheered them on in their goodness or booed the evil nature they displayed. The beauty of the language was another reason why people were drawn to the plays
The Globe Theater was located on the south bank of the Thames River. The best actors wanted to work in this arena. To arrive at the Globe Theater, one needed to walk across the London Bridge or board a rowboat to cross the Thames River. The color of the flag flying indicated what type of play was in production for the day: black meant tragedy, white a comedy, and red for history. At first, the Globe Theater was located on land that was not the Globe owners'. The building was theirs, the land was not. The land owner, Giles Allen, wanted to charge them an exorbitant amount of money. They decided to move the theater, piece by piece, after their lease ran out. The Globe was re-built by Shakespeare and its co-owners, brothers Cuthbert and Richard Burbage. The latter was Shakespeare's leading actor who played all the best parts, among four others.
Attending a play at the Globe was an event not to be forgotten. All the actors were men, including those who served in the women roles. Fabulous costumes were purchased for the actors and were a main draw to the theater. There was money to be made at the theater between ticket and other sales. A lot of activity occurred in and around the theater, including people selling merchandise and food, much like market day! Groundlings were those who would pay a penny to watch a play. Many of them were apprentices looking for a diversion. Two pennies would enable a person to sit while enjoying the play, while three pennies would enable you to see and be seen6. The gallants were the people who sat dressed in their fancy clothing in the gallery seats.
After Queen Elizabeth's death in 1603, her cousin, James, King of Scotland, became England's ruler. He was re-named James I of England. He was also a theater lover. Shakespeare's troupe was re-named from Chamberlain's Men to the King's Men. It was the most famous group of actors in the country. Perhaps he modeled plays to suit the person in authority. For example, during Elizabeth's reign some of his plays had very strong women characters: Rosalind, and Cleopatra. When James I took over he wrote Macbeth, a play which takes on the nationalism issue between England and Scotland. Perhaps this was his way of producing social commentary.
The Finale: Shakespeare died at the age of 52. Historians are still uncertain why. Although in today's terms 52 does not seem a very old age, in a time in which there were many types of diseases such as the plague, life expectancy was about 35 years.
Who was Shakespeare? What are the characteristics that make him distinct from others? These questions are those that I am expecting my students to be able to answer from their research, the information I give them, and the plays that they will read. They will create an identity portrait of Shakespeare. Since they will have already created one of themselves, it will make the process a little bit easier for them. This is a basic example of what students might be able to deduct about Shakespeare's identity:
Shakespeare became a wealthy man. He owned a variety of properties including the biggest house in Stratford and a place in London, in addition to quite a bit of land. He also was part owner of the Globe, the most famous theater of the times. It appears as if this wealth was very important to him, as he took special care to diversify in his investments. Being wealthy was different for him than it was when he grew up and for a while lived comfortably. His father, John, was a tanner who also played a major role in the Town Council. The family with six children did well until about the time Shakespeare turned 13. Then his father began to have problems with money. At first, other members of the Town Council excused him from some debt and fines. However, this was not suficient, and he was forced to sell and mortgage off some of the property, including his wife's. This was the type of situation that was not looked upon favorably in their society. The Shakespeare family did not attend church owing to debt collectors. This experience must have stuck with him and influenced him to work hard and to be serious about investing well.
The society in which Shakespeare lived was very concerned with the idea of social classes. His plays reflect the aristocracy of the English society and detail many aspects of the lives of war heroes, kings, queens, and courtiers. The way people spoke in these plays reflects this cultural aspect. Shakespeare was not at this social level. He grew up in a very small town some distance from London with parents who were most likely unable to write their names. Perhaps it is these humble beginnings that are portrayed in some of his plays such as the Induction in, The Taming of the Shrew, in which the small town lifestyle is portrayed. He was very concerned with restoring his family's name. Years prior, his father was denied a request for a coat of arms. In 1596, William, doing well for himself in London, applied again and was granted this request. He had a strong desire to be considered a gentleman and this helped to prove that he was by the standards of society. In addition, he signed his will as "William Shakespeare, of Stratford upon Avon in the county of Warwick, gentlemen."7 His family experience when he was younger had a long-term effect on his life.
The restoration of the family name was important to him but how important was family? Shakespeare married at eighteen years old which was considered young for a man during that time period. He married a twenty-six year old woman named Anne Hathaway. Six months later they had a baby, Susanna. Many report that she was his favorite and perhaps there is some justification to this as he left the majority of his assets to her. However, we also know that his younger daughter, Judith, had married someone who did not handle money well. Two years later, Shakespeare and Anne had twins: Hamnet and Judith. The couple and their children lived with his family and it was there that Anne remained with the children when Shakespeare left in search, supposedly of support for his family. His marriage with Anne does not seem to have been a happy one. Why would he bequeath the "second best bed" to his wife upon his death? Would she not deserve their best bed? Also, there are the words he wrote for his gravestone:
GOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEARE,
TO DIGG THE DUST ENCLOASED HEARE:
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THES STONES,
AND CURST BE HE YT MOVES MY BONES.
Greenblatt suggests that perhaps Shakespeare just did not want his bones disturbed, but allows that it may also be possible that he did not want them disturbed to let Anne's bones mix with his. For further evidence, he rarely made the trip home to see his family and even when he was wealthy enough to support them in London, they did not come to live with him.
Shakespeare became a famous playwright in his day and continues to be perceived as such hundreds of years later. What are the reasons for this? How can it be that a man of minimal education is the inspiration of many courses, scholars who spend lifetimes interpreting his words, and entertainment that is adored? It is believed that Shakespeare attended the King's New School. It was there that he must have had access to the classical models that he later adapted in some of his plays. Despite the fact that he did go to school, he was unable to attend the University due to lack of funding. This may have made him feel that he was set apart from some of the other playwrights of the time. Perhaps this is a reason why he worked so diligently, producing 39 plays and 154 sonnets. There is speculation that perhaps he even collaborated with others and scholars are still debating the actual numbers of plays he was involved in.
The Three Plays
Three plays chosen for this unit are Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and Othello. Each of the three is a tragedy and has compelling characters whose identities are very different. Antony and Cleopatra was also suggested. Although it would have been good to include this play because of the emphasis on nationalism, I could not find a children's version of this play available for use with my students. Despite the fact that it is not something I can use in the classroom, unless I want to re-write the play, it may still be appropriate for other teachers whose students are capable of reading the comic strip, original play, or the No Fear Shakespeare version in which one side of the page is the original play while the other side of the page is modern English. I will be giving my students the plots so that they have a better understanding of what will occur in the play before they read it. This will help to "frontload" information for my ELLs. Since this is a challenging activity for them, I want to provide as much scaffolding and assistance as I possibly can. Some teachers may prefer not provide the plots to their students or would prefer do so during another portion of the lesson. For example, these plots could be given after the comic strip reading.
Romeo and Juliet
According to Harold Bloom, Romeo and Juliet was Shakespeare's first authentic tragedy.8 Written between 1595 and 1596, the play is about two teenagers who fall in love with each other. Conflict and misfortune follow them. They are from rival families and are should not be together. Despite this, they are determined to do just that. They marry in secret. Juliet's family expects that she marry another – Paris. She devises a plan in which she will take a sleeping potion to "wake up" after the proposed marriage. Romeo never gets her message explaining the plan and believes she is dead. In response to the loss of his love, he drinks a poison potion and dies. Then, Juliet awakens and sees him. In response, she kills herself with Romeo's sword. The loss of their children makes the two rivaling families decide to end their family feud.
Macbeth
Macbeth is Shakespeare's shortest play written in 1605 or 1606. It is set in medieval Scotland and based partly on true historical information. He is a successful soldier in the army of King Duncan. After a victorious battle, he encounters three witches who inform him that he will be king. He is dubious and later taken aback when King Duncan nominates his own son as heir. Macbeth returns to his castle and his ambitious wife, who pushes him into murdering the king to fulfill the witches' prophecy. Afterwards, he is tortured by what he has done and is tormented by his strong-willed wife. So begins Macbeth's tale in which he orders others killed to ensure his rule. Also, he is haunted and begins to see one of the victims' ghosts. Lady Macbeth goes mad, unable to sleep, sees blood on her hands, and finally dies. Macbeth is murdered by Macduff whose family he had ordered to be killed, ending one of the most gruesome of all Shakespeare's plays.
Othello
This tragedy, written in 1603 – 1604, begins in Venice, Italy and then moves to the island of Cyprus. Othello, a Moor (dark-skinned man), is a general fighting for the city-state of Venice. He is an important soldier and leader and has fought well. He falls in love with and marries Desdemona, the daughter of a local senator, who is unhappy with the marriage and bans her from his home partly because of this she goes to the war with Othello, ending up on the island of Cyprus. Iago had hoped to be promoted to lieutenant but was not. His villainy is worked on Othello as he convinces him that Desdemona has been unfaithful. Othello loses everything when he kills Desdemona. Of course, as in any good tragedy, he finds out that she was not unfaithful and that Iago, his trusted companion, orchestrated the whole plan.
Characters
During the YNI seminar, the main characters in Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and Othello were discussed in detail. Much attention was placed on their character traits and identities. For each of these characters, I have briefly written what I think about them including references to the play for evidence. Students will be able to pick up on some of my observations as well as produce additional information based on their readings of the comic strips, children's versions, and the original plays' acts/scenes. These identity portraits are the type of work that students will complete after they have read the variety of texts offered them – comic strips, children's versions, and original portions of the plays. In the unit, there are graphic organizers to assist them in being able to create an identity portrait.
Romeo
One is a bit surprised at the first reading of Romeo and Juliet when realizing that he is not at first talking about his love for Juliet, but Rosaline. He appears melancholic, in love with the idea of love. His cousin finds him thinking about the young woman who does not return his love, saying, "Ay me! Sad hours seem long."9 He continues with, "Tut! I have lost myself; I am not heare; This is not Romeo, he's some other where"10 and "O, teach me how I should forget to think!"11 When Romeo sees Juliet and speaks with her, he is mesmerized by her, forgetting all about Rosaline. His love matures throughout the play, just as he does. However, his passion for Juliet makes him act a little bit out of control: spending the night at Juliet's, his discussion with the Friar whose help he wants, killing Juliet's cousin, and ultimately, taking his own life. His emotions are not always in control and result in the tragedy's catastrophe.12
Juliet
At first Juliet appears to be a dutiful daughter. A young teenager of thirteen years old, she is living with her family and still taken care of by the Nurse. She is submissive to her parents, obeying them as evidenced when she says that she will try to see if she can love Paris, "I'll look to like, if looking liking move;/but no more deep will I endart mine eye/Than your consent gives strength to make it fly."13 When she meets Romeo, she transforms into a young woman, one who is passionately in love. She defies her family's desires and marries him in secret. She also becomes outwardly defiant as she tells her parents that she will not marry Paris, "Now by Saint Peter's Church, and Peter too,/He shall not make me there a joyful bride!/I wonder at this haste, that I must wed/Ere he that should be husband comes to woo./I pray you tell my lord and father, madam,/I will not marry yet."14 This she says to her mother and continues to speak against marriage to her father when he enters, showing her stubbornness and bravery. Later when Romeo kills her cousin, she fears that it is he who is dead. Her depth of emotion is seen in her words, showing the love she experiences for Romeo turning her back on her family when Romeo kills her cousin, Tybalt. She must do what it takes to be with him. Bravery and her strong will are shown throughout the remainder of the play.
Ancient damnation! O most wicked fiend!
Is it more sin to wish me thus forsworn,
Or to dispraise my lord with that same tongue
Which she hath praised him with above compare
So many thousand times? Go, counselor!
Thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain.
I'll to tell the friar to know his remedy.
If all else fail, myself have power to die.
[III.v. 236-244]
Here she is indicating that she will even kill herself to be with Romeo. Two other instances of her bravery are when she drinks the sleeping potion even when she's hesitating, thinking it could possibly be poison instead of a potion, and when she kills herself. There is no more poison as Romeo has drank it all, so she needs to use Romeo's dagger to finish the job.
Macbeth
When we first meet Macbeth he has just triumphed in a battle and is known as a war hero. He appears content in his position and what he has accomplished. Then he comes upon the three witches who predict that he will be king. Ambition becomes his enemy as it is coupled with his wife's ridiculing him to do things that he may never have done otherwise. First, under his wife's manipulation, he kills King Duncan. Afterwards, he is haunted by his conscience while still yearning to make the witch's prophecies come true, ensuring that he will have no competition from others for his royal position. He begins a downward spiral of ordering other murders – a great killing machine15 – which actually seem to increase his manliness. He wavers in his decisions as he sees Banquo's ghost at a banquet they have for the Thanes of Scotland. His reaction to this vision has others thinking he's acting strangely, as he says a variety of comments that make others at the banquet question his mental state. This fast-paced play finds Macbeth with little feeling by the time his wife dies when he says, "She should have died hereafter;/There would have been a time for such a word./Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow."16 He is killed on the battlefield, ending what the witches had prophesied earlier.
Lady Macbeth
One of Shakespeare's most powerful female characters is Lady Macbeth. In fact, one could say that she demonstrates numerous male tendencies of that time period: she is ambitious and strength. From the beginning, she is intent on being queen no matter what the cost. She manipulates and belittles her husband, whom she believes to be less of a man or says she does. For example, she mocks him, saying she is capable of killing the king and she is not a man, "I have given suck, and know/How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me;/I would, while it was smiling in my face,/Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums,/And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you/have done to this."17
This not only shows how she puts her husband down, it also illustrates how she would do anything, even kill her own child nursing at her breast, to get what she wants. Killing someone who is helpless and defenseless, none of that matters to her, demonstrating her ruthlessness and heartlessness. She helps her husband after he does kill the king by disposing of the bloody daggers, staining her hands with the blood as well. She taunts him by saying, "My hands are of your color, but I/shame/To wear a heart so white."18 However, in public she tries to protect her husband on several occasions. First, she does this by fainting when the king has been discovered dead and Macbeth admits to killing the guardsmen and second, while at their banquet with the thanes of Scotland and Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost. She convinces others that he is having just another one of his episodes. I believe she does these things in public because they help further her cause of being queen. Lady Macbeth does take a turn for the worse in this play as she goes mad and then dies. In her state of madness she is unable to sleep, sees blood on her hands, and indicates that the deed that has been done to the doctor and her attendant.
Othello
Othello is a Moorish general, highest in command, serving the city-state of Venice. Although he may excel on the battle field, he seems to feel some inferiority when he comes to society in which he is living. In III iii (76) he proclaims to not be the most well spoken man. As a Moor, he is a black man who is very different-looking from those around him. Others speak to the difference such as Roderigo, "What a full fortune does the thick-lips owe"19 and Iago as he refers to him in his conversations with others as the Moor or Brabantio when he proclaims that the only way his daughter could fall in love with Othello (the Moor) was because he had drugged her. Despite the fact that he is different, he is well-respected and revered as an outstanding military man. This can be when he is referred to as "the valiant Moor"20 and when Rodrigo is talking with Iago, regretful of disappointing Othello, "I would rather sue to be despised than to deceive/so good a commander with so slight, so drunken,/and so indiscreet an officer."21 This difference is perhaps is also felt by Othello as later in the play he is willing to believe Iago that Desdemona could not love someone who looks like him. He is an honest and trustworthy man, which is one of his vulnerabilities. Since he is honest he expects the same of his antagonist, Iago. As a very new husband, he is completely enamored of his wife, as he indicates to the Duke in describing how he won Desdemona by telling her tales about his life. Iago's tactics and words creep into his mind and change him. His interactions with his wife become consistently more violent, from yelling to slapping her to killing her. Over and over, Iago manipulates Othello's thoughts until they become darker and darker regarding his wife's alleged infidelity. One example of this is when Iago is repeating to Othello what he "heard" Cassio say in III iii (407 – 424), going into detail, explaining Cassio's sexual actions towards him while they were sleeping, imagining that it was Desdemona. When Othello finally kills Desdemona, his identity is lost. As the hero, his action of killing may seem more just to himself in that he believes he is saving other men from experiencing the same hell he is going through (an unfaithful wife) Also, he chooses to tell her his intent of killing her. The extreme anguish he feels propels him to kill himself as he has lost his career and love of his life.
Iago
At the beginning of the play, Iago is bitter. He expected to receive a promotion but did not and blames Othello for this. Perhaps because of this, he begins to manipulate others around him, including Roderigo and Cassio, to get to Othello, leading to his destruction. Iago's evil nature is seen throughout the play, as he first gets Roderigo to go to Desdemona's house to tell her father, Brabantio, that his daughter has been "stolen" from his home. He hides, while Roderigo is in the open for Brabantio to see. Iago yells out comments such as "I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter/and the Moor are making the beast with two backs."22 This allows us insight to his character. He is dirty-minded and it does not matter whose company he is in, whether it is a crude way of informing of Desdemona's marriage or speaking to women in the play, he will still talk in this manner. For example, while speaking with his wife and Desdemona, he says, "Nay, it is true, or else I am a Turk:/You rise to play, and go to bed to work."23 One of the reasons that Iago gets away with so much is that even when bawdy he seems to "tell it like it is," hence he must be "honest." Again and again, he tells the other characters in the play of his honesty. He proclaims his love to Othello over and over again, playing on Othello's honest nature. His faith in Iago allows him to manipulate Othello even further. He does not love Othello, nor does it seem that he loves anyone else, except perhaps himself. He wants to wound Othello by using the very thing Othello esteems most, the love he feels for Desdemona. But he keeps pretending to be on Othello's side. In fact, he warns Othello of jealousy, "O, beware, my lord, of jealousy!/It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock/The meat it feeds on. That cuckold lives in bliss/Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger;/But O, what damned minutes tells he o'er/Who dotes, yet doubts – suspects, yet fondly loves!"24 In Act V, Iago states, "Demand me nothing. What you know, you know,/from this time forth I never will speak word."25 We are left to believe this is will be true, that his evil nature will dwell on silently.
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