This four page undergraduate paper examines the action and search for identity in William Shakespeares tragic sixteenth-century play, Othello, which is dominated by three main characters who react tragically to the pressures their public identities thrust upon them. Othello is the main protagonist and the tragic hero of this compelling tale of identity, treachery, and the consequences of human flaws. He is a Moor in command of the armies of Venice, and in the beginning of the drama is an admired general whose free and open nature gives his scheming subordinate Iago the opportunity to twist Othellos deep love for his wife Desdemona into an overwhelming and murderous jealousy.
