Othello Outline

I.               Introduction

a.     Have you ever been hurt by a close friend?

                                               i.     Fate or free will is the character’s destiny versus the choice in life. The character Iago impacts the focus on fate or free will by manipulation.

b.    The Tragedy of Othello is a tragic love story about a woman named Desdomona who marries a moor, but the moor becomes suspicious of adultery because of the manipulation of Iago. Iago is a jealous and evil man, who ends up causing many deaths.

                                               i.     In William Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Othello, Iago manipulates the characters the most through his use of pathos.

II.             Topic Sentence #1: Iago manipulated Othello’s free will through the use of pathos in order to cause doubt within Othello.

a.     “Or to be naked with her friend in bed”

                                               i.     Iago creates doubt in Othello’s mind by causing him sadness to picture his wife in bed with another man.

b.     “ I am sure it was your wife’s – did I today see Casio wipe his beard with.”

                                               i.     Iago is lying to Othello about Desdemona to evoke an emotion of betrayal by Desdemona.

III.           Topic Sentence #2: Iago uses pathos in order to show how disloyal Cassio and Desdemona are to Othello.

a.      “Men should be what they seem, or those that be not, would they might seem none!”

                                               i.     Iago is telling Othello that Cassio isn’t a man and is speaking with passion so he can get Othello angry.

b.     Oh, beware, my lord, of jealousy!

                                               i.     Here, Iago is telling Othello to watch out for Cassio’s jealous which is making Othello even madder. Iago is manipulating Othello into thinking that Cassio is a jealous, evil friend.

IV.           Topic Sentence #3: Iago is manipulating Cassio by creating self-pity and showing fake sincerity.

a.     “Ask her to help you get back your position. She is so generous, kind, and ready to help that she thinks it’s wrong not to do everything she can, even more than she is asked to do.”

                                               i.     Iago is tricking Cassio into talking to Desdemona by explaining how sweet she is. He is making Cassio feel bad for not wanting to go talk to Desdemona because of how kind she is.

b.     “I’m helping you because I like and respect you.”

                                               i.     In this quote we see that Iago is manipulating Othello by telling how much he likes him. Iago is trying to get Othello to appreciate his kindness.

V.             Counterargument

a.     Iago does not effectively use ethos and logos when comparing it to his use of pathos in order manipulate.

                                               i.     "I do love Cassio well, and would do much to cure him of his evil"

                                             ii.     Iago is using logos to show reasoning as to why he loves Cassio but he is missing passion and emotion when he is expressing his love.

                                            iii.     “My lord, you know I love you.”

                                            iv.     This shows the attempt of ethos from Iago. This does not work as well as pathos because it does not persuade Othello enough to fully trust him. There is no pure emotion to Iago saying, “ I love you”.

VI.           Conclusion

a.     Iago used pathos in order to create doubt, anger, and self-pity within Othello and Cassio.

b.     Free will is compromised when Iago uses pathos to disrupt the ability of personal free will. He creates people’s horrible fates by making a web of lies.

c.     Iago represents an important idea about human nature that people will do anything in order reach their goals. Free will will be taken when someone has to take drastic measures in order to reach their achievements.