question;1

The Theme of Otherness and

Racism in Othello.
Answer: In this post-colonial context
it is impossible to read Shakespeare’s
Othello without considering the
issues of race, color and hegemonic
ideologies as they are presented in
the play. As we go through the play
we see a complex relation between a
black man, a white woman and the
state. The crime committed by
Othello can also be judged as a crime
of the ‘pressure group’. But in order
to understand the racial issues we
should ,at first, consider the
Elizabethan attitude to the black
people.
What was the Elizabethan attitude to
Muslims and blacks?
There was a good deal of animosity
between the Muslims and Christians
in Europe during Shakespeare’s times.
Muslims were part of a group that
had invaded many lands and
threatened Europe with the same.
They had stretched their control
across the southern end of the
Mediterranean Sea and crossed into
Spain with their sights set on
conquest. There was also much racial
hatred between the white and the
black. The Elizabethan society
fostered a general cultural hostility to
strangers,which stemmed from the
growing presence of black people
who posed an economic threat to the
state.Race was a topic of great
debate, discussion, controversy and
passion in the Sixteenth century, as
we see in the twenty-first century
society.Othello and other works of
Shakespeare also show that racism
drew much public attention.
What Was a Moor?
A Moor was a Muslim of mixed Arab
and Berber descent. Berbers were
North African natives who eventually
accepted Arab customs and Islam
after Arabs invaded North Africa in
the Seventh Century A.D. The term
has been used to refer in general to
Muslims of North Africa and to
Muslim conquerors of Spain. The
word Moor derives from a Latin word,
Mauri, used to name the residents of
the ancient Roman province of
Mauritania in North Africa. To refer to
Othello as a “black Moor” is not to
commit a redundancy, for there are
white Moors as well as black Moors,
the latter mostly of Sudanese origin.
Othello introduces an upright and
righteous Moor. The Moors were
disliked by Europeans on a lot of
levels. They were Muslims that alone
made them pretty unpopular. Thus,
Othello finds himself in a society and
culture that are very much
antagonistic to him.
Racial conflict reflected through the
character Othello
The Turks, their Ottoman Empire, and
their Islamic culture and heritage
yield the crisis that sets Othello in
motion and layers of meaning which
reinforce the play’s themes and
imagery. Shakespeare sets his play as
a struggle between the liberal,
enlightened Europeans and the
savage, maurading Turks. Othello
must wage an inner struggle between
the two, and overcomes his sinister
side, the Aleppine Turk — but only at
the expense of his honor, his family,
and his life, the traditional sacrifices
of a Shakespearean tragedy.
The racial conflict in Othello is
evident from the very beginning of
the play.Othello is depicted as an
’other’ or outsider from the beginning
of the play. Within the opening lines
of the play, we see how Othello is
distanced from much of the action
that concerns and affects him. He is
ambiguously referred to as “he” or
“him” by Roderigo and Iago for much
of the first scene and when they do
begin to specify just who they are
talking about, they use racial
epithets, not names.
Iago, the vilest character in all of
Shakespeare’s characters, uses racism
in the opening scene of the play as a
spark to inflame Desdemona’s father,
Senator Brabantio, against
Othello..After Iago and Roderigo raise
a clamor outside Brabantio’s house
late one evening, the senator
awakens and comes to a window.
Iago then uses vulgar animal imagery
to slur Othello, telling Brabantio that
the black Moor has seized his
greatest treasure, his daughter, and at
that very moment is defiling her.
Iago shouts to Brabantio –
… now, very now, an old black ram
Is tupping5 your white ewe. Arise,
arise!
There is an obvious racism in this
quote. When Brabantio reacts with
incredulity, Iago replies with a
metaphor that this time compares
Othello to a horse: ‘you’ll have your
daughter covered with a Barbary
horse’
Roderigo, whom Iago uses as a cat’s-
paw, supports Iago’s story. Iago then
says, “I am one, sir, that comes to tell
you, your daughter and the Moor are
now making the beast with two
backs” . Roderigo adds that
Desdemona is indeed in the “gross
clasps of a lascivious Moor”.
Brabantio, now convinced of the
truth of the story, tells Roderigo to
summon help. Roderigo also refers to
Othello as ‘Thick lips’ and Iago
continually uses the word ‘slave’,
which are both racist terms.
The use of animal imagery is used to
help convey Othello as a monster and
the choices of animals shows the
underlying racism: “Old Black ram”
and “Barbary horse”. The references
to witchcraft and the devil also help
to emphasise Othello’s differences:
“The devil will make a grandsire of
you”, “the beast with two backs”. The
playwright uses these characters to
paint a picture of Othello as the
embodiment of the black stereotype
held by people at this time, labelling
him as “different” to everyone else.
By and by, Brabantio and others
appear. The senator, after denouncing
Othello for taking Desdemona to his
“sooty bosom” , accuses the Moor of
having used “foul charms” and “drugs
or minerals” to weaken Desdemona’s
will.
The marriage between Othello and
Desdemona was an inter-racial
marriage
Previouslly Othello was a favorite to
Brabantino and he along with
Desdemona had had dinner many
times with Othello.But why does he
instantly react to the news of the
marriage of Othello and Desdemona?
It is because Othello is a Black.
Instantly the matter becomes an issue
in the Venetian council chamber,
where the Duke and other senators
are preparing for war against the
Turks.
There is a clear theme of racism
throughout, one which was firmly
embedded in the Venetian society
which rejects the marriage of Othello
and Desdemona as erring, ‘against all
rules of nature’. Nothing separates
Othello from, ‘the wealthy curled
darlings of our nation,’ except skin-
colour . Iago, Roderigo, and Brabantio
combine to give us a portrait of
Venetian racism.
After Othello speaks eloquently of his
love for Desdemona and she speaks
on his behalf, the Duke exonerates
Othello.But in doing so, the Duke
obliquely denigrates Othello because
of his race–apparently
unintentionally, in a Freudian slip–
telling Brabantio, “Your son-in-law is
more fair than black” , implying that
fairness is superior to blackness.
Brabantio reluctantly accepts the
ruling.

Iago’s ‘motiveless malignity’

The racial conflict becomes clearer
when we consider of Iago’s
‘motiveless malignity’ against Othello.
Iago seems to have few motives for
his devious actions. Although he
resents Othello being promoted
before himself, it seems that from his
speech that the thing he hates most
about Othello is the colour of his skin.
Because of this he uses unintelligent
and colloquial racism to insult
Othello. He refers to Othello as,
“Thick lips,”.
Essentially, Iago is a representative of
the white race, a pre-Nazi figure who
tries to inform the public of the
impurity of Othello and Desdemona’s
marriage. He demonstrates how this
miscegenation is threatening to the
existing social order.
Having lost a battle, Iago continues to
plot to win the war, still using racism
as one of his weapons. Consider that
in referring to Othello, he sometimes
inserts the word black to remind
listeners that the Moor is different, a
man apart, a man to be isolated. For
example, after referring to Othello in
Act 1 as a “black ram,” he tells
Michael Cassio in Act 2, Scene 2,
“Come, lieutenant, I have a stoup of
wine, and here without are a brace of
Cyprus gallants that would fain have a
measure to the health of black
Othello” (25).
Iago’s scheme would not have worked
without the underlying atmosphere
of racial prejudice in Venetian society,
a prejudice of which both Desdemona
and Othello are very aware.
Shakespeare’s Desdemona copes with
prejudice by denying it access to her
own life: Her relationship with
Othello is one of love, and she is
deliberately loyal only to that.
Racism leads to jealousy
Although “jealousy” is often offered
as Othello’s “tragic flaw,” but that
emotion is not self-creating. Rather, it
stems from a psychology of
inferiority. Because of his
strngemess , Othello can be perceived
to be extremely insecure. Factors
such as his age, his life as a soldier,
and his self-consciousness about
being a racial and cultural outsider,
simply play on his unsureness of his
position.The thing that fuelled his
jealousy was his belief that he is black
and Desdamona is white.That he is
unfit to retain her attention for
long.Thus Jealousy and racism are
both inter-connected.
There are few things that the human
mind cannot stand, and one of them
is self-contempt. It is one thing to
hate another person, but to hate and
despise oneself is equivalent to
denying one’s existence. Othello, in a
fundamentally ethnocentric and
racist society, finds himself
confronted with the horrible reality of
this self-contempt when there is
cause to believe that Desdemona,
whose loved had been the shield
against his self-contempt, now
betrays him too. Thus, Shakespeare’s
Othello is a psychoanalytic view of a
self-loathing man and his doomed
attempts to defend himself against a
painful reality.
Why did not Othello openly discuss
the matter with Desdemona?
The society and culture in which
Othello finds himself is one where
racism and ethnocentrism prevailed
and prejudices abounded.Othello,
however, is not aware how deeply
prejudice has penetrated into his own
personality.
This absorbed prejudice undermines
him with thoughts akin to “I am not
attractive,” “I am not worthy of
Desdemona,” “It cannot be true that
she really loves me,” and “If she loves
me, then there must be something
wrong with her.” These thoughts,
inflamed by Iago’s hints and lies,
prevent Othello from discussing his
concerns and fears directly with
Desdemona, and so he acts on
panicked assumption. In order to
survive the combined onslaught of
internalized prejudice and the
directed venom of Iago, Othello
would have had to be near perfect in
strength and self-knowledge, and that
is not a fair demand for anyone.
Thus,though invisible in the drama,
racism plays a significant part in
bringing the tragedy of Othello.
Shakespeare is also sending an anti-
racist message through his play
Othello. Those who discriminate
people racially are the truly devious
characters and Shakespeare shows
this clearly through Iago and
Barbantio. Iago is portrayed as the
most evil villain and also the hateful
racist.
By presenting the main villain of the
play to have such deep-rooted racism,
Shakespeare is denouncing those
who attack people purely on the basis
of the colour of their skin or their
nationality.
Conflicts of characters in Othello
Many of the scenes in Othello work
by the pairing of two characters who
are basically different in values or
hidden agendas, putting them
together through an experience or
event, which has a different
significance for each. Such pairs are
Iago and Roderigo, Desdemona and
Emilia, Othello and Iago, and Iago and
Emilia.
Iago is paired with Roderigo for
purposes of exploitation. By talking to
him, Iago can show the audience his
wicked intentions, yet Roderigo is so
gullible that he is an easy dupe.
Desdemona and Emilia are newly in
each other’s company, but quickly
develop a friendly style of
conversation that contrasts their
different approaches to life. Emilia is
down to earth to Desdemona’s
nobility, and practical to Desdemona’s
romanticism. Yet, when a crisis
comes, they both share the same
basic values of honesty and loyalty.
Iago and Emilia, although married
and appearing to be similar
personalities on the surface, see the
world differently. Iago has the
reputation of the “rough diamond,”
who speaks directly and honestly, but
he uses his reputation as a disguise
for his plotting, whereas the “rough
diamond” really is Emilia’s true
nature. Their conversations are
oppositions of opinion about the
nature of men or women, or attempts
by Iago to control Emilia’s actions,
balanced — until she discovers his
true nature — by Emilia’s willingness
to do things to please her husband.
The development of the Othello-
Desdemona pair is more hidden, and
more complex. There is a polite
formality of words between these
two which persists below the
endearments of the first half and the
abuse and anguish of the second. At a
certain level, they always treat each
other as respected strangers, and as
circumstances drive them apart, only
this formal politeness remains as a
frame for communication in the final
act, where they go in different
emotional directions, despite their
underlying love for each other.
question;2
The Role of Women in
Othello.
Answer: William Shakespeare’s
“Othello” can be read from a feminist
perspective. A feminist analysis of the
play Othello allows us to judge the
different social values and status of
women in the Elizabethan society.
Othello serves as an example to
demonstrate the expectations of the
Elizabethan patriarchal society, the
practice of privileges in patriarchal
marriages, and the suppression and
restriction of femininity. According to
Elizabethan or Shakespeare’s society
built upon Renaissance beliefs,
women were meant only to marry. As
their single occupation, marriage held
massive responsibilities of house
management and child rearing.
Additionally, women were expected
to be silent, chaste, and obedient to
their husbands, fathers, brothers, and
all men in general. Patriarchal rule
justified women’s subordination as
the natural order because women
were thought to be physiologically
and psychologically inferior to men.
As we go through Othello we find
that the women characters are
presented according to this
expectation of the Elizabethan
society.There are only three women
in ‘Othello’: Desdemona, Emilia and
Bianca. The way that these women
behave and conduct themselves is
undeniably linked to the ideological
expectations of Shakespeare’s
Elizabethan society and to the
patriarchal Venetian society that he
creates. These notes will explore
some of the ways in which the female
characters are presented in the play.
Women as possessions:
Following his hearing of Brabantio’s
complaint and Othello’s defence, the
Duke eventually grants permission for
Desdemona to accompany Othello to
Cyprus. Othello speaks to his ensign
Iago, ironically describing him as a
man of ‘honesty and trust’, informing
the Duke that ‘To his conveyance I
assign my wife’ (I.3.283). Desdemona,
as Othello’s wife, is treated as his
possession: he implies that she is a
commodity to be guarded and
transported.This is, however, by no
means peculiar to Othello: the first
Senator, wishing Othello well,
concludes by hoping that he will ‘use
Desdemona well’ (I.3.288). The word
‘use’ seems to connote the phrase
‘look after’, but also supports the
Venetian expectation of women –
that they are to bow to the wills of
their husbands who may utilise them
as they wish. Moreover, the function
of women within marriage is also
delineated by Othello’s ‘loving’ words
to Desdemona in Act II: ‘Come, my
dear love,/The purchase made, the
fruits are to ensue’ (II.3.8-9).
Marriage is described as an act of
‘purchase’: a woman is bought by her
husband, effectively as a favour, and
is expected to fulfil his sexual desires
in return for the privilege.
Iago’s desire for revenge on Othello
is, in part, dictated by his view of
women as possessions. He believes
that ‘it is thought abroad that ‘twixt
my sheets/He’s done my office’
(I.3.381-2), suggesting that Othello
has slept with his wife Emilia. It could
be argued, however, that Iago
exhibits little love for his wife,
insulting her in public and ultimately
killing her himself. It is simply the
thought that ‘the lusty Moor/hath
leaped into my seat’ (II.1.286-7)
which drives him mad, the thought
that Othello has used a possession
that belongs to him. Compounding
this theory is the fact that Iago refers
to his wife metaphorically in these
two instances: she is his ‘office’ and
his ‘seat’; she is objectified and
deprived of her humanity.
Moreover, in revenge for Othello’s
supposed act, Iago wishes to be
’evened with him, wife for wife’
(II.1.290). By sleeping with
Desdemona, he believes that they
will then be equal. The feelings of
Desdemona and Emilia are
completely disregarded in his
plotting. The women are merely
objects to be used in order to further
his own desires. Although Iago is an
extreme example, he nonetheless
demonstrates, through his thinking,
the fact that women, in both
Elizabethan and Venetian society, are
perceived as possessions, secondary
to the lofty plans and desires of men.
Women as submissive
Some modern feminist critics see
Desdemona as a hideous
embodiment of the downtrodden
woman. Whether this is actually the
case will be explored later in these
notes. Suffice it to say, there is a large
body of evidence to support this
critical stance. Desdemona herself
declares that ‘I am obedient’
(III.3.89), continuing to obey Othello’s
orders from the early ‘happy’ phase
of their relationship through to the
later stages of his jealous ravings.
Even when he orders Desdemona to
go to her bed towards the end of Act
IV, she still replies with the
submissive ‘I will, my lord’ (IV.3.9). In
her final breath she still remains true
to her husband, saying ‘Commend me
to my kind lord’ (V.2.125) and
providing Othello with an alibi that he
does not use. She appears to have
completely accepted her role as
subordinate and obedientwife.
Arguably a much stronger character,
Emilia also indicates that she is aware
of her ‘proper’ role in society. When
revealing Iago’s plotting at the end of
the play, she states that ‘Tis proper I
obey him, but not now’ (V.2.195).
Although going on to betray her
husband, she still feels the need to
explain why she is deviating from
accepted behaviours. Bianca
expresses a similar
sentiment,consoling herself when
Cassio spurns her by arguing that ‘I
must be circumstanced’ (III.4.199):
she feels compelled by the laws of
society to be ‘circumstanced’ – to ‘put
up with it’ – implying that she has no
other choice.
Society weighs heavily on the
shoulders of these women; they feel
that they must support the men and
defer to them, even if the actions of
the men are questionable.Brabantio’s
opinions of women appear to
represent Venetian ideology.Speaking
of Desdemona before she erred, he
describes her as ‘perfection’,‘Of spirit
still and quiet’ and ‘A maiden never
bold’ (I.3.95-97).
By expressing these qualities of
women in the masculine domain of
the Venetian senate,Brabantio
compounds and develops the
traditional expectations of women in
a patriarchal society. Moreover, when
she marries Othello, going against his
wishes and therefore the ideal mould
of woman, he describes her as erring
‘Against all rules of nature’ (I.3.100).
Venetian society presents its own
social beliefs as immutable laws of
nature. It is ‘natural’ for women to be
feminine and to do as their husbands
and fathers tell them. It is ‘unnatural’
for them to do anything else. This
Venetian concept was also an
Elizabethan and pre-Elizabethan
belief, and was widely understood by
Shakespeare’s audiences.
Today, feminists argue that it is not
‘natural’ for women to be ‘feminine’,
that history has tried to camouflage
its social expectations of women as
part of the laws of nature. The
women of Othello, however, are pre-
Feminism, and seem to only
compound the ideological
expectations of what it is to be a
woman through their own behaviour.
Women can be powerful
This is not to say, however, that the
women of the play fail to question
men at all. As she talks to Desdemona
at the end of Act IV, Emilia is fairly
damming in her opinion of men. In a
speech reminiscent of Shylock’s ‘Hath
not a Jew eyes?’, Emilia argues that
women are physically no different to
men:
‘Let husbands know,
Their wives have sense like them;
they see and smell,
And have their palates both for sweet
and sour
As husbands have’ (IV.3.92-5)
She goes on to say that in addition to
sharing some identical
physicalities,they also suffer from the
same ‘affections,/Desires for sport,
and frailty’(IV.3.100) as men. The only
difference, Emilia implies, is that men
are mentally weaker: it is ‘frailty that
thus errs’ (IV.3.98). This links to her
earlier description of the appetite of
mankind, that ‘They eat us hungerly
[men], and when they are full,/They
belch us’ (III.4.101-2). Emilia suggests
that men are brutish and simplistic,
unable to control their desires with
logical thought. It is perhaps ironic
that the actions of Iago and Othello in
this play confirm her arguments.
These opinions, however, are given to
Desdemona in moments of
privacy.Emilia does not express such
opinions in the company of men.
Ironically, it is Desdemona who
exhibits some power in public,
making powerful use of language
when explaining to her father, in front
of other Venetian senators, that her
‘duty’ (I.3.182) is now owed to
Othello. It could be argued,
however,that even in this instance,
Desdemona still fails to assert herself:
although she disagrees with her
father, she couches this in terms of
merely switching her ‘duty’ from
father to husband. The issue of the
‘duty’ itself remains unquestioned.
This is because it is so ideologically
embedded that women do not seem
to consider any other possibility,
other than, as these notes have
shown, in private conversation with
one another.
Women as temptresses
This is not to say, however, that
women in Othello do not exhibit any
signs of wielding power. Othello,
when talking of his wife, often seems
pre-occupied with matters of the
flesh. Bemoaning the fact that he did
not know earlier of his wife’s
supposed infidelity, Othello argues
that he would have been happier ‘if
the general camp,/Pioneers and all,
had tasted her sweet body,/So I had
nothing known’ (III.3.342-4). He
appears to be obsessed with
Desdemona’s sexuality. On his way to
murder his wife, he states that ‘Thy
bed, lust-stained, shall with lust’s
blood be spotted’ (V.1.36). The
repetition of the word ‘lust’,
combined with the sexual
associations of Desdemona’s bed and
the violent plosives and sibilants of
this line, reflects and draws attention
to Othello’s preoccupation with
sensual matters.
This preoccupation is partly driven by
the fact that Desdemona wields so
much sexual power over him. Even
Cassio refers, jokingly, to Desdemona
as ‘our great Captain’s Captain’
(II.1.75), implying that she is the only
individual capable of controlling and
taming Othello. Desdemona uses this
when attempting to persuade Othello
to reinstate Cassio: she tells the latter
that ‘My lord shall never rest’
(III.3.22) until she has changed his
mind, an indication of the tenacity of
the woman. Attempting to change his
mind, Desdemona is not frightened to
use her position and sexuality:
‘Tell me, Othello. I wonder in my soul
What you would ask me that I should
deny,
Or stand so mammering on?’ (III.3.68-
70)
In this instance, she refers to her own
unquestioning desire to please
Othello, implying that he cannot love
her as she loves him if he is able to
refuse her what she wants. Othello
responds with the interestingly
oxymoronic term of endearment
‘Excellent wretch’ (III.3.90),
suggesting that he is aware that her
manipulation of him is fairly
‘wretched’, yet finds it ‘excellently’
compelling.
Later in the play, however, Othello
ceases to find Desdemona’s sexual
power so entertaining. Speaking to
Iago about his planned murder of
Desdemona, Othello is adamant that
he will ‘not expostulate with her, lest
her body and beauty unprovide my
mind again’ (IV.1.203-5). As far is
Othello is concerned, if he is tempted
into conversation and interaction
with his wife, then her overpowering
sexuality will deter him from the right
and inevitable course of action. Her
considers her to be a sexual hazard, a
strumpet intent on using her body to
blind and deceive him. Male society,
in addition to constructing women as
second-rate citizens, also constructs
their sexual allure as evil.
Women as ‘whores’ Othello’s fear of
Desdemona’s sexuality erupts into
slanderous abuse on a number of
occasions. He refers to her as ‘whore’
(III.3.356), a ‘subtle whore’ (IV.2.20)
and a ‘cunning whore’ (IV.2.88), in
addition to multiple references to her
as a ‘strumpet’. Bianca is described by
Iago as a ‘housewife’ (IV.1.95) and
‘strumpet’ (IV.1.97), although there is
no evidence to suggest that she
actually is a prostitute. When she
reveals his part in the horrific events
of Act V, Iago vents his fury upon
Emilia, labelling her a ‘villainous
whore’ (V.2.227).
Admonishing his wife for being a nag
in Act II, Iago goes on to compound
this stereotype by suggesting that all
women are not as they appear. He
seems to believe that all women are,
essentially, ‘wild-cats’ (II.1.109) and
‘housewives’ (II.1.111). All three
women of the play are accused of
prostitution and inappropriate sexual
conduct, yet it appears that none of
them are guilty. As male society falls
apart in Cyprus, its constituent
members seen to vent their spleen
and anger by labelling all of the
female characters ‘whore’. When
things go wrong, it appears to be
acceptable for men to blame the
women.
What is the role of women?
The patriarchal Venetian society
presented in Othello, moulded on the
ideology of Elizabethan England,
seems to put women firmly in their
place. Men consider women to be
possessions, who ought to remain
submissive and meek at all times. The
only power that women do seem to
be able to wield – their sexual power
– is considered to be an ‘evil’ which
must be resisted by the men in
society. Men seem free to be able to
refer to women as ‘whores’ and get
away with it. The language that
Shakespeare gives to his female
characters suggests that they have
internalised society’s expectations of
them, and apart from in moments of
private conversation, behave as men
expect, believing this to be ‘natural’.
There is a suggestion, however, that
women are beginning to question the
validity of unchecked male authority.
These notes have considered Emilia’s
seemingly feminist opinions, but it is
Desdemona, who in conversation
with Emilia, indicates that the tide
may be finally turning:
‘Nay, we must think men are not
gods’ (III.4.144) By definition, this
suggests that Desdemona has
certainly perceived men to be god-
like figures in the past, but indicates
that her experiences with Othello
have taught her a lesson. It is a clear
that the actions and language of
Shakespeare’s three female
characters, although seemingly
subservient, signify a tentative step
towards an egalitarian society.
question;3
The Theme of Jealousy in
Othello.
Throughout Shakespeare’s Othello,
jealousy is apparent. The tragedy
Othello focuses on the doom of
Othello and the other major
characters as a result of jealousy. In
Shakespeare’s Othello, jealousy is
mainly portrayed through the two
major characters: Iago and Othello. It
utterly corrupts their lives because it
causes Iago to show his true self,
which in turn triggers Othello to
undergo an absolute conversion that
destroys the lives of their friends.
Othello represents how jealousy,
particularly sexual jealousy, is one of
the most corrupting and destructive
of emotions. It is jealousy that
prompts Iago to plot Othello’s
downfall; jealousy, too, is the tool
that Iago uses to arouse Othello’s
passions. Roderigo and Bianca
demonstrate jealousy at various times
in the play, and Emilia demonstrates
that she too knows the emotion well.
Only Desdemona and Cassio, the true
innocents of the story, seem beyond
its clutches. Shakespeare used the
theme in other plays, but nowhere
else is it portrayed as quite the
“green- eyed” monster it is in this
play. Since it is an emotion that
everyone shares, we watch its
destructive influence on the
characters with sympathy and horror.
How jealousy works in Othello
Shakespeare’s Othello is very close to
the Aristotle’s conception of
tragedy,specially in respect ofthe
portrayal of the protagonist Othello.
Like a classical tragic Othello in the
tragedy Othello falls from his position
due to his his ’tragic flaw’
jealousy.Jealousy is the main tragic
flaw that brings about Othello’s
misfortune,suffering, and
death.Though this flaw is fuelled by
the external force like the withces in
Macbeth,but jealousy seems to have
a deep root in Othello’s character.
Jealousy is the main factor that
appears to destroy Othello. Iago is
the initiator of the chain of events
that sparks jealousy in Othello, and
eventually leads to the downfall of
not only the main character, but also
of most of the significant characters
in the book. In Othello Shakespeare
presents us with the tragic spectacle
of a man who,in spirit of jealous
rage ,destroys what he loves best in
all the world.We will be able to best
realize the tragic effect jealousy if we
consider first the nature of the
relation between Othello and
Desdemona.The marriage between
Othello and Desdemona is a real
’marriage of true minds’, a true love
based on a mutual awareness and a
true appreciation of each other’s
worth,a love that has in it none of the
element of sensual lust.The love of
Othello and Desdemona transcends
the physical barriers of
color,nationality and age.But this love
is destroyed as soon as jealousness
enters into the mind of Othello.
It is Iago who plants the seeds of
suspicion and jealousy in Othello’s
mind.In Act III: Scene 3,Cassio speaks
to Desdemona, asking her to
intercede with Othello on his behalf.
Desdemona willingly agrees, knowing
that Cassio is an old friend of
Othello’s. She promises to speak of
him with her husband repeatedly
until the quarrel is patched up and
Cassio is recalled.
In the meantime, Othello and Iago
enter and Cassio, who is embarrassed
because of his antics the previous
night, embraces Desdemona and
departs. Iago seizes the opportunity
to make an undermining comment —
“Ha, I like not that” — that rankles in
Othello’s mind. Iago further
insinuates that Cassio was not just
leaving, but that he was “steal[ing]
away so guilty-like” (39). Iago’s words
here are filled with forceful innuendo,
and as he pretends to be a man who
cannot believe what he sees, he
introduces jealousy into Othello’s
subconscious.
Desdemona greets her husband and,
without guilt, introduces Cassio’s
name into their conversation. Here,
fate plays a major role in this tragedy;
not even Iago wholly arranged this
swift, coincidental confrontation of
Othello, Desdemona, and Cassio, and
certainly the pathos of Desdemona’s
position here is largely due to no
other factor than fate. Desdemona
speaks of Cassio, and Othello, to
please her, agrees to see him, but he
is distracted by his private thoughts.
As Desdemona leaves, Othello chides
himself for being irritated by his wife.
Lovingly he sighs, “Excellent wretch!
Perdition catch my soul, / But I do
love thee! and when I love thee not, /
Chaos is come again” (90–92).
A conversation follows between
Othello and Iago, in which Iago
continues to imply that he knows
something that he refuses to divulge,
Othello denies that he would give
himself over to jealousy. In his denial,
he shows himself most vulnerable. He
is consumed with doubt and
suspicion. Othello voices his old fears
that Brabantio was right, that it was
unnatural for Desdemona to love
him, that he was too horrible to be
loved, and that it could not last. Iago
leaves, and Othello contemplates his
situation: He could be tricked,
married to a woman who is already
looking at other men, and he fears
that he must wipe her out of his
heart. He tries to tell himself that it is
not true. Iago also
urges Othello to recall that
Desdemona deceived her own father
by marrying Othello. To Brabantio,
Desdemona pretended to be afraid of
Othello’s dark looks; she pretended to
shake and tremble at Othello’s exotic
demeanor, yet “she lov’d them
[Othello’s features] most” (207). The
implication is clear; Iago does not
have to state it: If Desdemona
deceived her own flesh and blood,
she might just as naturally deceive
her husband.
When Desdemona re-enters,
Othello’s aspect is changed; he
watches her intently, looking for
signs, and brushes away her
handkerchief when she seeks to
sooth him. They go in to dinner, and
Emilia picks up the fallen
handkerchief, one that her husband,
Iago, often urged her to steal from
Desdemona. Emilia decides to have a
copy made to give to Iago, but he
enters, sees the handkerchief, and
snatches it from her.
When Othello enters, Iago sees that
Othello cannot regain his peace of
mind. His speech is fevered, sweeping
and frantic; he believes that his wife
has been unfaithful to him. Othello
then turns on Iago with savage
intensity and demands to see the
proof of Desdemona’s infidelity.
Cornered, Iago produces the dream
story: Cassio spoke in his sleep,
embraced him, called him
Desdemona, and cursed the Moor.
Iago tells Othello that he has seen
Cassio wipe his brow with a
handkerchief embroidered with
strawberries; Othello recognizes this
handkerchief as the one he gave to
Desdemona.
Othello dismisses love and calls for
vengeance. Certainty has freed his
mind from doubt and confusion. Now
he swears action, and Iago swears to
help him. Othello wants Cassio dead,
Iago agrees to do it, and then Othello
wonders how to kill Desdemona.
The fire of jealousy is further
inflamed in Othello in Act III: Scene
4.When Othello enters, he claims a
headache and asks her for a
handkerchief to bind his head, but he
will have only the embroidered
strawberry handkerchief. Desdemona
cannot produce the handkerchief and
tries to deflect his questions about
the handkerchief, speaking again of
Cassio. Othello walks out in fury.
But Othello is totally engulfed by his
jealousy in Act IV: Scene 1,in which he
Sees his wife’s handkerchief in the
hands of Cassio’s mistress Bianca.It is,
for Othello, the “ocular proof” he
sought. He is now convinced of
Desdemona’s infidelity and knows he
must kill both Cassio and Desdemona
that very night. This is the second
time Othello has sworn to kill both
Cassio and Desdemona.
Othello goes directly to the point:
“How shall I murder him, Iago?”
Othello swears also to kill his wife this
night, he curses her and weeps over
her at the same time, mingling love
and murder: “for she shall not live;
no, my heart is turned to stone . . . ”
(178–179). Still Othello knows the
pull of love and asks for poison so
that he might kill her at a distance,
but he sees justice in Iago’s idea of
strangling her in her bed, imagining
that she has dishonored that bed.
Again the agreement is made: Iago is
to kill Cassio, and Othello is to kill
Desdemona.
Thus we see how the passion of
jealousy ,which derives from pride
and breeds anger ,gradually gains
control over Othello and destroys his
initial nobility,so that he finally turns
into the black beast that he was at
first unjustly accused of being.The
decline in the moral and spiritual
stature of Othello goes hand in hand
with the destruction of his love for
and faith in Desdemona.
Iago, “most honest” in the eyes of his
companions, is, in fact, truly the
opposite. His feelings of jealousy
uncovers his actual self. Jealousy
divorces Iago from rationality and this
loss of rational causes Iago to make a
life of jealousy and plots to destroy
Othello. Although Iago has a
reputation of being “full of love and
honesty” ,he is responsible for
destroying many lives and is
considered “perhaps one of the most
villainous characters in all
literature” .Iago alludes to Othello
that his wife, Desdemona, has been
unfaithful with Cassio. Iago initially
intends to hurt Othello and make him
regret appointing Cassio as his
lieutenant; however, he ends up
hurting others in the process. Iago’s
jealousy causes his true character,
one of “vicious[ness]” , to become
noticeable. This, in turn, creates a
new Othello to emerge, one “utterly
possessed, calling out for blood and
vengeance” .
The theme of jealousy is prominent
throughout the play as it motivates
the characters’ actions. The major
characters of Iago and Othello clearly
possess this jealousy and show how it
affects them. Iago is forced to expose
his actual nature and Othello
undergoes a total transformation
from a normal human to a spiteful
monster. Obviously, jealousy does
cause people to change in horrific
ways. The dramatic irony is that the
most jealous indignation is expressed
over offenses that did not happen:
Othello jealous about his wife; Bianca
jealous about Cassio; Iago formerly
jealous about Emilia. Each character
attempts to cope as an individual,
except Emilia, who has a theory that
jealousy is a constituent part of
masculinity. The evidence before her
own eyes backs up her assessment.