Characters and Individual Self Knowledge

Othello- Throughout the play Othello proves that he is self centered and that he lacks self-knowledge because he is overcome by jealousy which makes him lose sight of what he is thinking and what is really happening around him. His jealousy makes him blind and that makes him easy prey for Iago to Manipulate. Othello is so blinded by jealousy he cannot balance emotion with logic and is stubborn because once he hears the lies that Iago told him, not even his wife Desdemona can convince him otherwise. Also once he is told the lies he keeps telling himself a thousand times that his wife committed the “act of shame” and convinces himself so instead of telling himself she was innocent and trusting that she is honest towards him.  So in conclusion Othello’s lack of self-knowledge and sense of reason ultimately sets him up for his own demise.

Iago- Iago is just like Othello in the sense of self knowledge, he lost his job because of Othello and he does not rest until he gets his revenge on him not considering consequence. You could say I ago is self-absorbed because he cannot stop thinking of himself and always reminds others of his qualities and how he is “honest ago”.

Desdemona-Desdemona is one of the plays characters who has self-awareness/ knowledge,  she is smart and can tell when something troubles her husband and can see that he is mad at her for a reason she is not sure of. Even when she is being killed she keeps fairly calm considering she is being killed knowing that she is innocent she does not regret anything.