Young 1
Zoe Young
Wright ELA II
Othello Essay Outline
Thesis Statement: Othello’s tragic flaw is his obsessive love for Desdemona, forcing him
to jump into a state of delusional jealousy and kill Desdemona.
Othello: “Yet I'll not shed her blood;
Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow,
And smooth as monumental alabaster.” [V.ii.3-5]
Analysis:

Flaw Support: love for Desdemona

Simile: “skin as smooth as monumental alabaster” comparing Desdemona to a white,
flawless statue. Praising her beauty even as he is preparing to kill her.

Explains Othello’s choice to smuggle/strangle Desdemona to death—as a precaution
made not to undo her beauty
Othello: “Speak of one that loved not wisely but too well;
Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought
Perplex'd in the extreme; of one whose hand,
Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away
Richer than all his tribe;” [V.ii.342-347]
Analysis:

Flaw Support: love for Desdemona

Recognizes that Iago tricked him (“of one…the extreme”)

Compares himself to an Indian (comparable to calling himself savage), then Desdemona
to a pearl, a shiny white beautiful pearl “richer than all his tribe”, which he has thrown
away
Young 2
Othello: “Haply, for I am black
And have not those soft parts of conversation
That chamberers have” [III.iii.283-285]
Analysis:

Flaw Support: insecurity

Othello happens to be black, which he explains gives him a disadvantage when it comes
to articulating his thoughts eloquently

He doesn’t have “those soft parts of conversation” which white men have—meaning his
speech is rough compared to the refined and soft speech of the men around him, which is
funny, because Othello is likely the most brilliant speaker in the play.
“She's gone. I am abused; and my relief
Must be to loathe her. O curse of marriage,
That we can call these delicate creatures ours,
And not their appetites! I had rather be a toad,
And live upon the vapour of a dungeon,
Than keep a corner in the thing I love
For others' uses.” [III.iii.268-274]
Analysis:

Othello has found (false) proof that Desdemona has been cheating on him.

“My relief/ must be to loathe her” Othello chooses not to try to work things out because
of his immediate instinct to hate, brought about by his jealousy.

Scorns women for their fickleness “O curse of marriage/ That we can call these delicate
creatures ours/ And not their appetites!”

Shows signs of preparedness to do whatever he has to in order to make things…err, right,
by saying he’d pretty much rather have no life than keep Desdemona knowing she’s not
only his.