In the tragic play Othello by William Shakespeare the reader discovers many characteristics of Othello's true nature as the powerful love between he and Desdemona degenerates into a vehicle for Iago's twisted scheme. These intricacies of Othello's character that is not obvious to the reader are revealed throughout the play as he succumbs to Iago's evil plot and to his own demons which lie hidden inside him. These hidden attributes are what eventually lead to the ultimate outcome of death, destruction, and tragedy.

Beginning with the opening lines of the play, Othello is referred to by Roderigo and Iago as either "he" or "him", or by racial insults such as "the thick-lips" (I.i.62) rather than his actual name which supports the idea of Othello as an outsider. Throughout the first scene a picture is built up of Othello as self-important, lascivious, and generally offensive. He has secretly...