Category: Writing

How are flaws presented in Othello and a range of poetry you have studied?

Flaws are presented throughout Othello and a range of Browning poems in many different ways. They use different types of language to Show characters flaws. Many characters behave in unusual ways when their flaws are exploited. I will show these characters downfalls in Othello and the Robert Browning poems, Childe Roland to the dark tower came and The Laboratory Acien Regime. These poems show characters who’s flaws effect their actions and drive them to come to irrational solutions. There are links between the Browning poems and Othello when analysing how the writers display these ideas in their work.

Othello’s Flaws lead him to believe in Iago’s manipulation and accept that Desdemona is unfaithful. This is shown through Iago’s deceit and slowly unraveled to reveal Othello’s aggressive and paranoid nature. Shakespeare presents these flaws via different uses of figurative language and this can be used to surprise the audience with effective methods, such as dramatic irony. Othello can be easily provoked and this is one of his flaws which lead him to make very bad decisions. ” Did Micheal Cassio, when you wooed my lady, know of your love?” This was when Iago first began to make Othello question Desdemona and himself, Iago does this whilst sneakily inferring his suspicion towards Cassio. He does this by saying that when you (Othello) was first in love with Desdemona, did Cassio know? Implying that Cassio is Attempting to ‘woo’ Desdemona. This aggravates Othello and this is when his flaws are revealed. Othello becomes aggressive and demands to know his intentions for saying this and repeating ” Why of thy thought Iago.”, a use of repetition.

This is similar to Childe Roland to the dark tower came, where Childe Roland is on his quest to the dark tower and shows many flaws on his quest such as paranoia and his negativity toward all the situations he’s faced with. Browning uses symbolism throughout this poem and I think Roland is actually on his quest through to Heaven or Hell but Roland’s flaws lead him straight to hell. I also think the dark tower resembles Hell. When Roland comes to two separate paths, a man points to one path and Roland describes him: “that hoary cripple, with malicious eye” This is a very aggressive way to describe a person,  a cripple can also be a derogatory term to use. He also describes him with paranoia by saying malicious eye, as if he doesn’t trust him through his judgement. This description is also in Iambic pentameter and this may show that he has an honest doubt towards this man (whom he had never met), which may suggest that the man could be the devil guiding him to hell. Browning uses these techniques to present Roland doubt.

After Iago continued to manipulate Othello and convince him of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness, Othello finally demanded proof: ” Be sure of it. Give me the Ocular proof” Othello now demands proof of which he can physically see with his eyes. Iago then receives the handkerchief from Emilia and Iago uses it to plant on Cassio and show Othello, after this Othello is Convinced that Desdemona is unfaithful and Othello starts to act fueled through his flaws. Othello questions everything in his life and is convinced that everyone is turning against him and similar to Childe Roland, Othello is showing paranoia.

The Laboratory is about betrayal and the things jealousy and anger can make you do . The woman in the poem has many flaws and Browning presents them through the actions she takes. The woman plans to poison her ‘rival’ lover. She receives help from an Alchemist, who makes the poison in a laboratory. The woman’s flaws lead her to poison the woman out of jealousy and Browning shows that she begins to doubt what she’s created: ” If it hurts her, beside, can it ever hurt me?” This shows that she may be regretting her decision to poison her as she questions if it could hurt herself, which shows her selfish nature.

Childe Roland can also doubt most things and could be described as a pessimist. When the ‘cripple’ speaks to him, Roland says: “My first thought was, he lied in every word” This could be Roland not believing anything anyone says and being paranoid but I believe Browning purposely gave Roland these flaws to hint at who the Cripple ‘really’ is. I think Roland is right when he says he lied in every word because I believe the cripple is the devil and in this case his flaws could help him avoid hell but Roland follows where he pointed and is flawed for doing this.

The time period Othello and the poems were created can show the flaws in their society. In that time period it is clear that woman were viewed in very negative ways and shown as the housewives of society. Iago uses sexist language in Othello : “I would say I would drown myself for the love a guinea hen” This is considered a derogatory term to use and a sexist use of language, similar to being described as ‘tart’. It shows the reputation woman had and the language they used towards woman in this time period. Also in act 2 scene 3 ” I will turn her virtue into pitch” is said another sexist use of language and this shows the respect woman lacked in their society. The Laboratory also shows how woman behaved in their era. “you may kiss me old man, on my mouth if you will”. This shows that she happily offered the alchemist sex in return for the poison he made, which shows woman’s status and how, even with her money she still offered her own body to the alchemist stranger. This is a flaw within the plays society.

Flaws are also presented through Othello’s angry threats. When Iago convinces Othello of Desdemona’s dishonesty, he begins to threaten her: ” I’ll tear her all to pieces” This is a violent threat and shows Othello’s need to enforce his anger upon his blame towards Desdemona. This is a big flaw from Othello and his anger only makes his paranoia worse.

All these text present Flaws in effective ways and all through different methods of figurative language. They also show that everyone has flaws and they affect people in different ways. All the characters downfalls were a result of their flaws and Shakespeare and Browning use these flaws for the audience to relate to and also for a strong reaction when seeing how the flaws change the characters when exploited. This shows the writers clear intention to impact the audience.

Response to Article by Isabelle Kerr

Isabelle Kerr’s article argues that slang is ruining the English language and new words being added (twerking, selfie and unlike) are pointless and appalling. Kerr is even embarrassed on behalf of her generation. Although she hates that they were added to the online dictionary, she also feels that they will just come and go as a fashion trend. Kerr used the example of “Groovy”, and argues “when was the last time you heard someone describe something as “groovy”?  I agree with the use of slang and I feel what she is arguing for is irrelevant and of no concern to her and the way she speaks. All Isabelle Kerr is doing is insulting the way some people speak and I believe this is unacceptable and an unfair judgement to make.

The new additions are described by Isabelle Kerr as “pointless”. If society is using these words frequently, then it’s clear that they are worth a little more respect than you give them credit for. All of these words have meaning, whether the meaning is important is debatable, but clearly these words are widely spoken amongst today’s society and could be considered as popular terms when the amount of people who use them is taken into account. and some people may think they are only used amongst the stereotypical youth, but with a new generation of people, comes a new generation of words and this evolution deserves to be a part of the Oxford online dictionary.

The complaining continues as she argues that it’s a: “constant battle for young people to prove we’re not all pathetic, ASBO-wielding yobs…” but by starting her article with a sarcastic tone on how young people use this language, she is only reinforcing this judgement. Her attempts of sarcastic humour begin to dry thin as she mentions that she had to “google this word”, this, however,  was not a sloppy attempt to be humorous but a common use of slang. ‘Google’ is a fairly recent addition to the ‘Colloquial dictionary’ and has only recently been used as a verb (‘googling’) and her demise towards slang should ensure that she doesn’t use a sliver of colloquial language but she somehow manages to, which just brings her argument to the ground and only continues to be buried deeper.

The article goes on to define ‘twerk’ followed by a sarcastic “Right.”.  The English language is evolved by us. The People. If ‘the people’ are unliking then add unlike to the dictionary. If the people are twerking then add twerk to the dictionary. This is the evolution of the English language, NOT the downfall. ‘The people’ must have seen Shakespeare as mad for creating new words, but the people followed and allowed the English language to take shape. This is a process you can’t stop and this may be just a fashion trend but currently it is a part of our language. It may end up as something from the distant past, but it will still be remembered. Not many people may use ‘Groovy’ but many people will still be able to define it and it is still a part of the English language.

Kerr then makes a very bold statement,  “the future of the English language looks bleak.” Using three words to determine the future of the English language is inaccurate and just a daft prediction. She then begins to apologise for “these linguistic calamities” on behalf of ‘her generation’. I agree that these additions do relate heavily to “image, reputation and sex” but you could still say that these words are about people ‘expressing themselves’ as today’s generation care more about how they look and the image they reflect towards other people. Kerr then backs up her points using her trusted source of her “twitter followers” She uses tweets from her, arguably, biased followers, which is just pathetic and argues, she is not alone.

Kerr complains that ” Twerk, selfie and unlike” do not reflect on how youths speak but then counters the point and argues that if they do then “The dictionary needs a reality check”. The new additions were placed onto the online dictionary, which can be easily altered or deleted. Which is the great thing about the internet, it’s not permanent and never will be. It’s fair for the online dictionary to add these popular terms to help individuals searching for the definitions and can only benefit the online dictionary for this purpose. Kerr says the additions are not doing us any favours, but are they doing any harm?

Isabelle Kerr’s Article raises strong arguments and views. She questions slang and argues that it is unacceptable for twerk, selfie and unlike to be used in the online dictionary. I believe it is our right to have these commonly used words within the online dictionary. If it was being published in the form of a book then many more would have a problem with it, but many are currently using these words on a daily basis and the rest rely on using online dictionary’s to find out more. This is all apart of today’s digital generation, Which Kerr refuses to accepted but the majority decide the popularity of these new words and if it is just a trend then they could remove it online with ease. The problem doesn’t lie with the words being published onto a dictionary, the problem lies within the connotations of the word and how the words can be used to better our society. Only time will tell if these words do better our means of communication. All words have their purposes and Isabelle Kerr may just be afraid of how these drastic changes will affect us. New words will always bring positive outcomes.

Joe Daniels