Essay about Universal truth (Shakespeare) - 1860 Words

In both â€Å"Othello† and â€Å"Oedipus Rex† to a great extent, the emotions provoked by familiar human experiences are acceptable to all people of all times. It is a fact that â€Å"Human nature remains the same (Kiernan Ryan 1989).† Both plays explore issues surrounding emotions like love, envy, jealousy and pride provoked by life experiences such as racism, fate, rifts between parent and child, a quest for position through deception or for justice or an intoxicating sense of being all powerful which transcend time. Most importantly they all are familiar to traditional and contemporary time periods. Love, that is unconditional love, a universal emotion, is said to transcend all barriers. Desdemona falls in love unconditionally with the idea of a†¦show more content†¦It confirms that perception and alerts us of his anger and disappoint. The reaction is real and the emotions that the situation evokes are acceptable. On the Duke’s suggestion that Desdemona stays with her father while Othello is at war, the father responds, â€Å"I’ll have it not so.† People of all times can relate and empathise with Brabantio, the parent, for the feelings of betrayal he experiences and Desdemona’s pain for the loss of the love of a father who disowns her. The animal imagery used by the envious Iago, when referring to Othello and the marriage, carries racial undertones. Examples of these are, â€Å"an old black ram is tupping your white ewe.† (1.1.89-90), â€Å"youll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse; youll have your nephews neigh to you, youll have coursers for cousins, and jennets for germans.† (1.1.111-114) and â€Å"your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs† (1.1.115-8). Iago is able to infuriate Brabantio with these racial and sexually repulsive and deliberately inflammatory terms to describe the union between Othello and Desdemona. Like this time period, during the mid- twentieth century, inter-racial marriages were still made illegal in South Africa for example and as late as 1991, a Gallop Poll showed that 42% of American disapproved of marriages between people of different races. These are the factors that enable all people of all times to relate to the themes of the play and the issues they portray andShow MoreRelated The Universal Truths of King Lear Essay1344 Words   |  6 PagesThe Universal Truths of King Lear   Ã‚  Ã‚   Edgar:   O, matter and impertinency mixed, Reason in madness!   (4.6.192-93)      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Reason in madness, truth in suffering, and sight in blindness all contain the same basic meaning.   In order to find and recognize our real selves and the truth, we must suffer. These various themes are continually illustrated throughout Shakespeares King Lear. 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