Shakespeare: Analysis and Response \"Then Must You

Shakespeare: Analysis and Response

"Then must you speak of one that loved not wisely, but too well; of one not easily jealous, but being wrought, perplexed in the extreme . . . "

The quote at hand is from William Shakespeare's work, Othello. Othello speaks these words during his final farewell speech within the play. After realizing that he had been tricked into believing the lies of Iago, Othello realizes that he cannot candle the anguish and personal disgust of knowing that he had murdered for jealousy rather than for justice. Othell's devastation works as a complete turn-around for Othello, and brings back the strong warrior that had been missing for some point in the play. In coming to this realization and fully understanding his role and his actions, Othello is completely transformed. He acts as both his own judge and jury and imposes a sentence of his own choosing upon himself.

During his speech, Othello asks the people around him not to write of him in malice before speaking, the quote at hand. After his speech is carried out, Othello stabs himself, successfully reaffirming his position as a figure in the text who is both part of and excluded from Venetian society at the same time. In examining the quote, one can understand that Othello was a jealous man. He was told that his wife was cheating on him and he thought that he was killing out of justice, which he believed to be a noble reason. His love and his anger were too much for him to handle, which he states in saying he loved not wisely but too well.

The play at hand and particularly this quote work to show the full turn-around in Othello's character. He has gone from a man of honor, to a man of dishonor, back to a man of honor all through his own actions. In the end of the play, and with this quote, Othello realizes that in reaffirming his honor, he must do what is necessary and seal his legacy by dying in the most honorable way he can think of.

III. Is Jaques a sympathetic character?

William Shakespeare's character, Jaques, in his work, As You Like It, can be viewed as a generally sympathetic character despite the distrust and dislike it garners from the other characters in the story. While Jaques, in effect, is everything that is opposite of what Rosalind stands for -- being himself a moody and cynical character who likes to look at life in way that opens up an opportunity for him to draw opinions about the world's generally unsatisfactory nature, he remains more than this. In understanding the complexities of Jaques, one can understand that his persona does not end at his cynicism. Jaques is likely an individual who feels internally inadequate and because of this, feels forced to drag the rest of the world down to a level that he can relate to.