Othello Psychological Critique Writing Assignment

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Psychological impact in Othello
The psychological actions of the characters in Othello are as a result of Lagos us1controllable jealousy and wish to revenge on Othello for having promoted Cassio. The jealousy ends up ruining some of the characters in the play hence resulting in their actions. Lago uses the help of Rodrigo in order to make his dreams of revenge come true. During Othello’s visit in Cyprus, Lago decides to execute his plan of making Othello believe that his wife is adulterous. This is going to be done by showing Othello that his wife is in a relationship with the new lieutenant Cassio. As a result, Lago will have achieved his mission. Lago leads Cassio into talking generously about his mistress Bianca, but the whole time, Othello thinks that Cassio is talking about his wife, Desdemona. Therefore, Othello believes the different coincidences to be evidence and therefore, the psychological trauma of having been betrayed by his wife results into him killing her and committing suicide. In addition, this paper will address the psychological situations of different characters that resulted in them acting in the manner in which they did.
Othello is driven by his jealousy towards the belief that Desdemona is having an affair with another man. Through the various acts, it is evident that Othello is not jealous by nature, but through the actions of Lago, he ends up displaying his jealous character. This character contributes to the tragic end of Desdemona's life even though she is innocent. Lago makes good use of the conspiracy of the handkerchief to proof to Othello that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. Desdemona loses the handkerchief, which is found by Lago's wife and she hands it over to Lago, without knowing his evil plans. The psychological situation that Othello is put in makes the crime unavoidable. Extra, marital affairs are one of the ways through which an individual can mess up with the mind of the affected party hence making them do actions that are beyond their control. Othello had proven to be a strong leader who stands for his believes and therefore, tricking him would require a conspiracy that would mess with his mind. Lago does this successfully by making him believe that his wife is having an affair.
In addition to Othello's psychological situation, he proves to Desdemona's father that he did not win his daughter by witchcraft as stipulated but through the stories that he had told her about his job. Lago expects that Desdemona's father will be able to make Othello leave his daughter alone. However, Othello proves to be intelligent and difficult to fool around with his psychology when he proves that he has not been using witchcraft on Desdemona. These actions are triggered by Rodgers jealousy towards Othello because he had asked Desdemona's father about marrying his daughter. It comes as a shock to find that Desdemona was already married to Othello and Lago had not told him about it. Therefore, he is psychologically disturbed and willing to do anything that could result in the end of the marriage between Desdemona and Othello. His efforts turn out unsuccessful, and he pushes Lago into coming up with another plan to take down Othello. Therefore, if it was not for the jealous that he had towards Othello, then events could not have taken place in the manner in which they did.
As well, Lago is a self-seeking and cynical character. He ensures to take advantage of any opportunity that comes his way in order to bring down Othello (Callaghan 2016). His yearn for revenge is triggered by the fact that Othello promotes Cassio, a character which Lago considers to be undeserving of the post. Therefore, his actions are guided by his jealous and love for power to ensure that he brings down Cassio as well as Othello for not having given him the post. His heart has become a harbor for evil and is willing to risk anything that he has including his friendship with Rodgers in order to accomplish his mission. When things get out of hand, he goes ahead to stab Rodgers so that he might not disclose his secrets. In addition, he helps in stabbing Cassio's leg the night he is involved in a fight (Pye 2009). This is an indication of the fact that Lago is going through a serious psychological disturbance which could result in him hurting the people around his circle regardless of their past relationship. When jealous get in the minds of human beings, then they end up in a situation whereby they could do anything to eradicate the cause of such jealousy. Some people go to the extent of killing others in order to get that psychological satisfaction. Through the character of Lago, Shakespeare successfully brings out the impacts that a psychological disturbance could have on a person. Othello is an intelligent character, but his intelligence is incapable of directing him towards doing what is morally good. He is aware that Desdemona is not having an affair with Cassio but still goes ahead to convince Othello about the affair. At this point, his intelligence of planning the whole event does not have a connection with the conscience of doing what is right.
In addition to Lagos acts, his character has played a substantial role in building the plot of the play. The climax is created when he successfully makes Othello believe that his wife is having an affair wi...