Humanity and Reason in OthelloIn Othello Shakespeare probes deeply into the human condition by creating characters who, through their inability to think rationally, abandon what places them at- above animals. Before succumbing to Iago's poisonous insinuations, Othello himself expresses his clear understanding of this role of the human intellect. He initially refuses to listen to Iago's suggestions that Desdemona cannot be trusted, "Exchange me for a goat/When I turn the affairs of my soul/To such exaggerated and exaggerated suppositions" ( 3.3.194-96). Othello believes that he would act like an animal if he became irrationally jealous because someone said "my wife is beautiful, feeds well, loves company" (3.3.198). He tells Iago that he will not fall blindly into jealousy, especially when he has never had reason to suspect Desdemona: “I will see before I doubt; when I doubt, prove;/And on the proof, there is nothing more than that. --/Leave at once from love or jealousy" (3.3.205-07). Othello is at this point a confident man, both in his wife's fidelity and in his ability to think rationally. However, Shakespeare shows that this confidence is often not enough. In his Sonnet 129, Shakespeare describes lust as another force that destroys the ability to reason effectively. The poet depicts lust as a desire that is driven away by past reason, and. hardly was it, the past reason hated like a swallowed bait, intentionally placed to drive crazy the one who takes it:... Everyone knows it well, but no one knows how to flee the sky which leads men in this hell.(7-8,15-16)In his sonnet, Shakespeare laments that even when we know that lust is dangerously irrational, most people cannot help but fall under its spell Othello. finds the same to be true middle of paper...... Complete Works of Shakespeare. Ed. David Bevington. 4th ed. NY: Longman, 1997. Soellner, Rolf. Shakespeare's models of self-knowledge. Np: Ohio State UP, 1972.OUTLINEThesis Statement: When the characters in Othello stop using reason, they lose their humanity and are associated with animal imagery. Roderigo Irrationally in love with Desdemona Wants to drown like “blind cats and puppies” Iago calls him a snipe Iago Irrationally jealous of Othello and Cassio Associates love with animal lust Encourages others to “be a man” A man is decisive A man watches for himself A man loves himself Roderigo calls him an "inhuman dog", Lodovico a "Spartan dog" Emilia implores him to tell the truth "if you are a man" Othello Irrationally jealous of Desdemona and Cassio Likens lack of reason to animals Presents himself like a dog.