In ‘Othello, ‘ the word becomes destiny and makes its most extraordinary contribution in proposing a new, modern image of the tragic hero. A hero who falls because he cannot understand the world and therefore have knowledge of it. The world is for him a sphinx, an enigma, and the word is mystery and deception, illusion and simulation, appearance that, however, affects reality and distorts it, making knowledge impossible and leading to catastrophe. Desdemona’s love for Othello, the Moor, transcends racial prejudice, but the envious Iago conspires to destroy their lives. In its vivid rendering of racism, sexism, contested identities, and the savagery lurking within civilisation, Othello is arguably the most topical and accessible tragedy from Shakespeare’s major phase as a dramatist.
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