Friday, December 30, 2011
Journal #10 Othello's Insight
At the end of the play, Othello’s insight describes his realization to the wrongs that he had done to others, and the doings of Iago. His first speech condemns himself and the horrific actions he had enacted upon the ones he loved, especially his wife, Desdemona and comes to the realization that he wrongfully killed an honest loved one. He finally begins to genuinely blame himself for the events that had occurred because of him, and is remorseful at what he did to his wife. His passions overwhelmed himself, and caused him to kill the one he loved. He is disgusted with himself, and shows remorse at realizing the truth of Desdemona’s innocence. His conscience and mind is in torment because of her death and the fact that he killed her. Othello’s attitude and state of thinking change drastically in many ways, differing from how he acted throughout the play. A very powerful, but smart man realizes that he does not know what to do with his power in this situation. Othello is not known for giving up, but to him, this is how a noble and true man should act when mistakenly murdering your wife. Even with this, it is still obvious that he still misunderstands the whole situation, as he continues to place responsibility on fate. Even though so many hardships befall on him due to his decisions, he never had one moment of recognition of his failures at reasoning. Othello truly believes that a Turk has taken over the good Venetian within him. He still does not see that his faults are exploited by Iago and used against him. In his last soliloquy, Othello addresses the reasons behind his downfall, and decides how he wants others to see him, in terms of the story and how he takes responsibility for it, focusing on fact rather than emotion. All in All, Othello's insight in the end shows his remose for the wrongful killing of his wife, the regret of his actions, and him wanted to be seen as the man he was previously known as.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Journal #9 Free Will vs. Determinism
Free Will - The power of making free choices that are unconstrained by external circumstances or by an agency such as fate or divine will.
Iago: “'tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our
gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners” (1.3 361-3).
Determinism - The philosophical doctrine that every event, act, and decision is the inevitable consequence of antecedents, such as genetic and environmental influences, that are independent of the human will.
Othello: “Yet ‘tis the plague of great ones … ‘tis destiny unshunnable, like
death” (3.3 313-16).
Using the above definitions, write a paragraph that argues in support of each of the terms. In your paragraphs, use specific examples from Othello to support your ideas.
The act of Free Will, a power in which all choices are unconstrained and fate does not take a part is a viable and supportable point of view. All though many people still believe God controls many things in our lives, it is false, as God gave us free will to do as we choose, and so we do not act like “robots” in a sense. We are free to do what we please, but we have to suffer the consequences if we do wrong (depending on the choices made during a person’s life). A human being shapes their lives on where they were born, how they were raised, what choices they make in their lives. These choices can either lead to good or bad things, depending on the choice that was made. People cannot shape our lives, unless we agree with their opinion and make the decision ourselves. When we succumb to the lesser influences of delinquents per se, it is our choice to follow their bad habits, or simply decline and make better choices. Othello did not have to believe Iago’s lies, yet he made the choice to do so, which then caused him to choose to kill Desdemona. Roderigo did not have to listen to all of Iago's lies, but he chose to anyway. Iago may have been lying to the others to get his way, but people choose to believe him, not Iago. Humans have the choice to listen or not, which way they choose is their decision. Iago seems to understand Free will, when he says “'tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are gardeners” (1.3 361-3). All in all, Othello greatly shows that Free Will is plausible and true, due to that fact that many people were decieved do to their own choice, which led to the whole tragedy. Free Will can bring a man happiness or madness, depending on the choices they make throughout their lives, and by their choices, not others, their lives are shapes according to their will and what they put into it. With this evidence, I have no hesitation in saying that Free will is a reality.
Determinism, the belief that every decision and event made in this world is independent of human will shows a preference to religion, and to God. Many religions believe that every single person is predestined to do or fulfill something during their lives and that everything in our lives is already planned and out of our personal control. In Othello, it can be shown that Determinism had an effect on the characters of the play. All of the circumstances of the play lead people to wonder just how it could happen so easily for Iago. Even Othello compares fate as just as unavoidable as death, saying “Yet ‘tis the plague of great ones … ‘tis destiny unshunnable, like death” (3.3 313-16). You are unable to change or dismiss your destiny, just like death, which will happen to everyone. Since everyone dies, than it can be greatly assumed that death is predetermined, due to the fact it is unavoidable like fate. How could almost all of the characters be stupid enough to fall for Iago's scheming plans, when one would think a person would have enough sense to tell something is up, unless someone else is controlling the strings. For things to play out so easily for Iago shows that something other than Iago's scheming was at work. All in all, Determinism is very plausibe, due to the fact that plans like Iago's do not work that well by themselves, as he was a lone man, so the fates of the others must have been already decided, making Iago's job easier. With this evidence, I can say that Determinism is the way that life is lived, and is shown greatly in the play of Othello.
Iago: “'tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our
gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners” (1.3 361-3).
Determinism - The philosophical doctrine that every event, act, and decision is the inevitable consequence of antecedents, such as genetic and environmental influences, that are independent of the human will.
Othello: “Yet ‘tis the plague of great ones … ‘tis destiny unshunnable, like
death” (3.3 313-16).
Using the above definitions, write a paragraph that argues in support of each of the terms. In your paragraphs, use specific examples from Othello to support your ideas.
The act of Free Will, a power in which all choices are unconstrained and fate does not take a part is a viable and supportable point of view. All though many people still believe God controls many things in our lives, it is false, as God gave us free will to do as we choose, and so we do not act like “robots” in a sense. We are free to do what we please, but we have to suffer the consequences if we do wrong (depending on the choices made during a person’s life). A human being shapes their lives on where they were born, how they were raised, what choices they make in their lives. These choices can either lead to good or bad things, depending on the choice that was made. People cannot shape our lives, unless we agree with their opinion and make the decision ourselves. When we succumb to the lesser influences of delinquents per se, it is our choice to follow their bad habits, or simply decline and make better choices. Othello did not have to believe Iago’s lies, yet he made the choice to do so, which then caused him to choose to kill Desdemona. Roderigo did not have to listen to all of Iago's lies, but he chose to anyway. Iago may have been lying to the others to get his way, but people choose to believe him, not Iago. Humans have the choice to listen or not, which way they choose is their decision. Iago seems to understand Free will, when he says “'tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are gardeners” (1.3 361-3). All in all, Othello greatly shows that Free Will is plausible and true, due to that fact that many people were decieved do to their own choice, which led to the whole tragedy. Free Will can bring a man happiness or madness, depending on the choices they make throughout their lives, and by their choices, not others, their lives are shapes according to their will and what they put into it. With this evidence, I have no hesitation in saying that Free will is a reality.
Determinism, the belief that every decision and event made in this world is independent of human will shows a preference to religion, and to God. Many religions believe that every single person is predestined to do or fulfill something during their lives and that everything in our lives is already planned and out of our personal control. In Othello, it can be shown that Determinism had an effect on the characters of the play. All of the circumstances of the play lead people to wonder just how it could happen so easily for Iago. Even Othello compares fate as just as unavoidable as death, saying “Yet ‘tis the plague of great ones … ‘tis destiny unshunnable, like death” (3.3 313-16). You are unable to change or dismiss your destiny, just like death, which will happen to everyone. Since everyone dies, than it can be greatly assumed that death is predetermined, due to the fact it is unavoidable like fate. How could almost all of the characters be stupid enough to fall for Iago's scheming plans, when one would think a person would have enough sense to tell something is up, unless someone else is controlling the strings. For things to play out so easily for Iago shows that something other than Iago's scheming was at work. All in all, Determinism is very plausibe, due to the fact that plans like Iago's do not work that well by themselves, as he was a lone man, so the fates of the others must have been already decided, making Iago's job easier. With this evidence, I can say that Determinism is the way that life is lived, and is shown greatly in the play of Othello.
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