The play Othello written by William Shakespeare focuses on two major themes. The first theme is free will, which means the freedom to make decisions without external circumstances. Free will is demonstrated in Othello through the determination of characters to take course of action. For example, Iago claimed to not be completely at fault for lying to Othello about Desdemona’s faithfulness because Othello could choose to believe Iago’s lies. Another example is that Roderigo agreed to help Iago by accompanying Iago and accidentally giving him money. In that case, Roderigo could have ignored his love for Desdemona, but instead he chose to listen to Iago so he could pursue Desdemona.
The second theme is determinism. Determinism is synonymous with fate in that events cannot be changed by the human will. Othello’s relationship with Desdemona is often thought to have been an inevitable failure for many reasons. One of the reasons is that Desdemona and Othello were not compatible. For example, Iago implied that Othello is too old and ugly for Desdemona who is young and beautiful; also, racial differences could have caused tension. Iago played a minor role in undermining the love between Othello and Desdemona.
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