Shakespeare defied obsolescence and triumphed in translation all over the globe because he expresses the timeless truths of the universal human condition. In Shakespeare’s play Othello, Shakespeare successfully portrayed real people while evoking real emotions that every generation can identify with. Shakespeare achieved this by focusing on the deepest of all human emotions; love and jealousy, as well as introducing pre-feminist ideas that questioned traditional ideas in an Elizabethan society. Shakespeare created distinctive characters that accentuate these themes to make the play relatable and appealing to an audience of all calibers.
A great man, naturally modest but fully conscious of his worth, proud of his services to the states and undaunted by dignitaries, secure, it would seem, against all dangers from without and all rebellion from within. What is the one thing that brings down a heroic soldier and the leader of the Venetian army – Love. Approaching the climax of the drama, in Act 4 Scene 2, Othello tells Desdemona that he would tolerate “all kinds of sores and shames,” but he cannot endure the pain in his heart as he expresses, “the fountain from the which my current runs or else dries up.” Shakespeare uses ‘the fountain’ as a metaphor for the heart, and the heart becomes a metaphor for love. Othello implies that he either lives or dies according to love. The heart is a vital component of the human body. Therefore, if the heart stops pumping blood like a fountain, Othello will die. This quote also foreshadows his death at the end of the play and reveals that no matter how strong and powerful he his perceived it is love that drives him into turmoil that eventually consumes him, leaving him dead. By comparing love to a vital organ such as the heart that every human must have in order to survive, Shakespeare is able to appeal to every member of his audiences as he evokes human emotion while making the personal...