Crime and Punishment and Othello: Comparison and Contrast Essay by: Aubrey Wood In both Crime and

Punishment and Othello there is a theme of necessary balance. Crime and Punishment's theme that man must be balanced in order to function properly is very similar to Othello's theme that, tra ically, !ealousy is destructive, even to the one that holds it. In Crime and Punishment, "as#olni#ov's e$treme intellectualism caused him to stop functionin as a complete and balanced individual %hich ultimately cost him his freedom. &or Othello, it %as his e$treme !ealousy that caused him to become emotionally unbalanced, %hich cost him both 'esdemona and his o%n life. In both cases the e$tremes create unbalance %hich ends up costin a lot. (here is a difference, ho%ever, and that too lies in the e$tremes) %hile "as#olni#ov is too intellectual and lac#s emotion, Othello is a ra e of emotions and re*uires some intellect or rationality. One stylistic device both authors used to demonstrate this unbalance is foreshado%in . On pa e +, in Crime and Punishment, "as#olni#ov says, -If they *uestion me, perhaps I %ill simply tell. &all to my #nees and tell.(his foreshado%s "as#olni#ov's confession to the police and his subse*uent sentencin to .iberia. "as#olni#ov is obviously unbalanced if he can detachedly hypothesi/e about his confession. .imilarly, 'esdemona's %illo% son foreshado%s her o%n death. In this %ay %e reali/e Othello must be e$tremely unbalanced if his %ife can foresee her o%n death %hen they are still ne%ly %ed. 0oth foreshado%ed events %ould usually be considered as ne ative. (he main difference is that %hile "as#olni#ov's imprisonment is temporary, 'esdemona's death is permanent. (he interestin thin about both foreshado%ed events is their irony. While both events are usually construed as ne ative, ood thin s come from both. 1ot until he has been in .iberia a year does "as#olni#ov finally renounce his overman theory and become complete and balanced once a ain. Also, 'esdemona %ill be able to for ive Othello and be %ith him throu hout eternity. What ma#es these happenin s different is their !ustness. "as#olni#ov %as ri htfully

imprisoned for his crime, %hile 'esdemona %as un!ustly murdered for a crime she did not commit. &inally, both stories include a very important epiphany. "as#olni#ov's acceptance of love and 2od at .onya's feet is both similar and dissimilar to Othello's reali/ation of his mista#e near the body of 'esdemona. (hey are similar because both men ain the *uality they lac#ed) "as#olni#ov ains emotion and Othello ains intelli ence, or #no%led e. (hese epiphanies are dissimilar, ho%ever, because .onya is alive and "as#olni#ov's story ends %ith a promise of rene%ed life, %hereas 'esdemona lies dead and Othello adds to the death count by ta#in his o%n life. 0oth Crime and Punishment and Othello spea# of balance, but they definitely do it in their o%n uni*ue %ay. Crime and Punishment ives us hope that %e may find balance, %hile Othello %arns a ainst the conse*uences if %e do not. 3opefully, %e can find our o%n balance in life %ith less turmoil than they. .