Humans are, above anything else, sentimental creatures; babies know how to cry, smile, and laugh before they learn to speak and write. Prehistoric societies experienced these emotions before humans developed written language, and necessitated that words be made to encompass and express the various aspects of the emotional spectrum. Hate is one of the more intense emotions that humans experience, and formally, it is defined as “[a]n emotion of extreme dislike or aversion” or “(t)he object of hatred” (16) when it is used a noun, and as “[t]o hold in very strong dislike: to detest; to bear malice to”, generally regarded as “[t]he opposite of to love” (16). Various societies found the need to create a word that could represent this emotion, and within the English language, what eventually developed into hate originally consisted of separate spellings for its noun and verb forms.
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As a noun, hate first appeared as “hete” (16), and as a verb, hate manifested as “hatian” (9); with time, hete developed into hate “under the influence of the verb and perh[aps] of O[ld] N[orse], hatr” (16). In addition to developing words to represent this emotion of extreme dislike, various cultures also gave rise to literary works that feature it as a theme; because the concept hate represents is timeless and core to human nature, as a word, hate has remained relatively concrete throughout history. The play Othello by William Shakespeare includes the intricacies and effects of hate as an aspect of its storyline, and the word itself appears seven times in its final form of development. Roderigo, the catalyst of the plot and fool of the play, is the first character to use the word hate in Line 7 of Act I Scene 1, and it is used as a noun, in reference to Iago’s opinion of the title character, Othello. In this context, Shakespeare establishes the base conflict of the play, offering insight on Iago and his relationship with Othello; the word facilitates a sense of frankness within the scene because of the simplistic deliverance through which Roderigo makes his comment. This bluntness contrasts with how the play develops to center around a scheme filled with deceit. The second usage, within the same scene, appears in line 171, as Iago explains to Roderigo that in order to keep Othello unsuspicious, he “must show out a flag and sign of love” (13). In contrast to the first usage, this instance of hate is used as a verb; however, like Roderigo’s utilization of the word, Iago’s is also directed towards his opinion of Othello. Iago, the main antagonist and villain of the play, is one of two characters who use the word hate the most; the other character is his counterpart, the main protagonist and tragic hero, Othello. In the third and fourth appearances of the word, Iago uses them in the same form as one another, surrounded by the same subject and object. “I hate the Moor” (13), he declares, both to Roderigo when he talks the fool out of suicide in line 409 of Act I Scene 3, and to himself, in a soliloquy through which he devises his scheme in line 429 of Act I Scene 3. Following the conclusion of Act I, the word hate does not appear again until the third scene of Act 3, and Iago is never the one to say it again. Uncoincidentally, Act II is where Othello and Desdemona’s love holds true and unchallenged, not by each other nor by outside factors, such as Desdemona’s father in Act I (13); additionally, during the second act, luck seems to be by Othello’s side, as nature had dealt with the battle with the Turks. However, it is also near the end this act that Iago begins to enact his scheme, fueled by his hatred of Othello and his jealousy of Cassio; Iago, beginning to see satisfaction in the blossoming plot of his revenge, no longer needs to emphasize how he feels toward the Moor through words, as his actions speak for him. As Iago works his magic of deceit on Othello, the Moor begins to shift from the gentleman he is reputed to be, and the first of his three uses of hate is found in line 509 of Act III Scene 3, shortly after Iago gives him “proof” of
As a noun, hate first appeared as “hete” (16), and as a verb, hate manifested as “hatian” (9); with time, hete developed into hate “under the influence of the verb and perh[aps] of O[ld] N[orse], hatr” (16). In addition to developing words to represent this emotion of extreme dislike, various cultures also gave rise to literary works that feature it as a theme; because the concept hate represents is timeless and core to human nature, as a word, hate has remained relatively concrete throughout history. The play Othello by William Shakespeare includes the intricacies and effects of hate as an aspect of its storyline, and the word itself appears seven times in its final form of development. Roderigo, the catalyst of the plot and fool of the play, is the first character to use the word hate in Line 7 of Act I Scene 1, and it is used as a noun, in reference to Iago’s opinion of the title character, Othello. In this context, Shakespeare establishes the base conflict of the play, offering insight on Iago and his relationship with Othello; the word facilitates a sense of frankness within the scene because of the simplistic deliverance through which Roderigo makes his comment. This bluntness contrasts with how the play develops to center around a scheme filled with deceit. The second usage, within the same scene, appears in line 171, as Iago explains to Roderigo that in order to keep Othello unsuspicious, he “must show out a flag and sign of love” (13). In contrast to the first usage, this instance of hate is used as a verb; however, like Roderigo’s utilization of the word, Iago’s is also directed towards his opinion of Othello. Iago, the main antagonist and villain of the play, is one of two characters who use the word hate the most; the other character is his counterpart, the main protagonist and tragic hero, Othello. In the third and fourth appearances of the word, Iago uses them in the same form as one another, surrounded by the same subject and object. “I hate the Moor” (13), he declares, both to Roderigo when he talks the fool out of suicide in line 409 of Act I Scene 3, and to himself, in a soliloquy through which he devises his scheme in line 429 of Act I Scene 3. Following the conclusion of Act I, the word hate does not appear again until the third scene of Act 3, and Iago is never the one to say it again. Uncoincidentally, Act II is where Othello and Desdemona’s love holds true and unchallenged, not by each other nor by outside factors, such as Desdemona’s father in Act I (13); additionally, during the second act, luck seems to be by Othello’s side, as nature had dealt with the battle with the Turks. However, it is also near the end this act that Iago begins to enact his scheme, fueled by his hatred of Othello and his jealousy of Cassio; Iago, beginning to see satisfaction in the blossoming plot of his revenge, no longer needs to emphasize how he feels toward the Moor through words, as his actions speak for him. As Iago works his magic of deceit on Othello, the Moor begins to shift from the gentleman he is reputed to be, and the first of his three uses of hate is found in line 509 of Act III Scene 3, shortly after Iago gives him “proof” of