Othelloーa tragic love story written by William Shakespeare in 1603ーset in Cyprus, a small island located in the Eastern Mediterranean. Throughout my reading of this play, I was shown the impact jealousy and pride can have on an already unhealthy marriage, as well as how easily manipulation and deceit can tear up relationships straight from the roots. Throughout this blog post you’re going to be seeing who, or what I believe is to blame for all of the chaos throughout the play, as well as why I believe dehumanization is one of the themes Shakespeare portrays throughout. Lastly, I’m going to leave you with some reading strategies that I found helpful when attempting to gain a better understanding of Shakespeare’s writing itself. I hope you enjoy!
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Jealousy. Pride. Deception. Manipulation. As a reader being placed in the world of Othello, I couldn’t help but believe Shakespeare purposefully drew my attention to these four themesーuniversal truths, ratherーwhen talking about who, or in this case what is to blame for the tragedy and chaos all throughout Shakespeare’s five-act play.
Jealousy. From a readers point of view, 99% of the “villainous” decisions made throughout this play, were made out of pure jealousy. Right off the bat we see jealousy radiating off of Shakespeare’s antagonist, Iago. Othello, Shakespeare’s main character, is an army general and is in charge of appointing a new lieutenant. Immediately we see Iago’s jealousy as he begins to realize that he will not be picked for the lieutenancy when he says “I know my price, I am worth no less a place” (I.i.12); with context, we know that Iago is saying that he is worth no less a place than the lieutenancy. Shortly after this statement, we see that Iago has found out that Cassio, a man with little-to-no experience on the battlefield will be chosen by Othello for the position, Iago goes on to say “One Michael Cassio, a Florentine...his Moorship’s ancient” (I.i.21-35). At this point we see Iago begin to become angry at Othello, making the statement “I am not what I am” (I.i.71); this tells the reader that he will stop at nothing to gain the lieutenancy, no matter the expense. Every decision Iago makes from that moment forward, is made out of jealousy of not only Michael Cassio, but of Othello as well. This Jealousy leads to the destruction of relationships, and even the death of those Iago was once close with; Jealousy is seen so often in the real-world today, a concept that many people let take them over; whether it be the longing for a relationship someone else has, or someone else receiving the attention you believe you deserve (Iago’s situation exactly), jealousy will always be present. Pride. Not only is the theme of jealousy at fault for the chaos throughout Othello, the theme of pride is at the top of the list as well. Many of Iago’s plans could have been halted if Shakespeare’s main character, Othello, wasn’t so prideful! While on the island of Cyprus, Iago accuses Michael Cassio of “laying with” Desdemona, Othello’s wife (III.iii). After this accusation, Othello is consumed by the thoughts of his own mind, and he doesn’t know whether to believe Iago’s accusations, or to trust in his wife. In the end, He chooses to believe the false notes of Iago, and he kills his wife Desdemona for being unfaithful, only to find out seconds after she has died that Iago was lying about the whole thing! Imagine how Othello must have felt then … All of this could have been avoided if Othello would have swallowed his pride and confronted his wife as soon as the rumor had started. They would have been able to talk it out as a husband and wife and come to the correct conclusion, that Desdemona remained faithful. But, like most people in the world today, Othello remained prideful, and trusted a deceptive snake, eventually leading to him murdering the love of his life. Deception & Manipulation. These two themes go hand-in-hand with one another, and I bet you can guess who represents these two themes throughout the play? That’s right, it’s Iago!! There is no one example of Iago’s deceit because he is constantly deceptive throughout all five acts of Shakespeare’s play. But, there is a terrific example of his manipulation throughout the early acts of the play, and that is how successful he is with his manipulation of Roderigo: a weak, quiet, fairly wealthy character who longs for Desdemona’s hand in marriage. Iago promises Roderigo that he will “help him obtain Desdemona’s hand, as long as he continues to give him money to aid his plan in destroying the Moor” (I.i&ii). Iago never intends to help Roderigo, his only uses for him are for his money, as well as his sword (Iago wants Roderigo to kill Michael Cassio for him in later acts of the play, so he will be appointed the lieutenancy position). There are many things that could be blamed for aiding the destruction, the tragedy, and the chaos all throughout Shakespeare’s play, but I believe those four themes hold the top four spots on the list! Not only are these themes portrayed throughout Shakespeare’s fictional world of Othello, but these themes are seen constantly in the real-world. That is what Shakespeare did, he wrote beyond his time, writing something in the 1600’s that still evident, maybe even more evident in today’s day and age! Dehumanization: the process of depriving a person or group of positive human qualities. This process is something that is seen constantly in regards to Othello all throughout Shakespeare’s play. Something that is not extremely noticeable at first glance, the dehumanization of the only character of color throughout this play, is quite the quiet killer.
Yes, Othello is African, and I believe that it is because of this that he seems to be called almost everything except for his real name! No I do not believe Shakespeare is racist, I just believe he was including something very controversial during his time period within his play: an African main character. Shakespeare believed dehumanization was necessary when incorporating a black protagonist. Right off the bat we see Othello as something other than he is when Iago tells Desdemona’s father that “an old black ram is tupping your white ewe” (I.i.97-98) referring to Othello engaging in sexual relations with Desdemona. Othello, not only referred to as a ram, but as the “devil” (I.i.123) and a "barbary horse" (I.i.125) by Iago when he is telling Desdemona’s father what will happen to his family tree if he lets the marriage of his daughter and Othello play out! Iago even goes as far as to say that his “nephews will neigh to him, he’ll have coursers for cousins and jennets for Germans” (I.i.126-127) calling not only Othello an animal, but his daughter, and his grandchildren animals as well! This dehumanization of Othello definitely has an impact on the way Shakespeare’s main character and only character of color sees himself. As we get deeper into the play, we as readers see the impact this dehumanization is having on the Moor, seeing as he begins to refer to himself as less than human! In his final speech before he ends his life, Othello mentions a "circumcised dog" (V.i.416) whom is killed by being stabbed by a soldier. With context, it can be argued that Othello views himself as the dog, and Othello the soldier stabs Othello the loyal dog who listened to Iago's false notes. Though Shakespeare’s treatment of his only African character within the play may come across as racist, I believe that that was not at all his intention. It is my belief that through this dehumanization he shows us how strong this “different” character may or may not be, ultimately in hope to gain (Othello) sympathy from the reader. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about myselfーand many of my classmates throughout the reading of Othello as well as other Shakespearean playsーit’s that Shakespeare SUCKS! It’s hard to read, impossible to understand, and the story lines are just plain whack. Now, although Shakespeare does indeed suck, I’ve come to realize that his writing isーfor a lack of a better phraseーa necessary evil. He has introduced new plot devices, new ways of phrasing, countless metaphors, and a plethora of new words, many that we still use today!
In the end, EVERYONE comes to realize that Shakespeare is very hard to read, and understand. Not everyone will admit it, but sometimes you just need to swallow your pride (unlike Othello) and ask for some help when reading his literature! Here are a few techniques and tips that I found helpful when attempting to gain a better understanding of Shakespeare’s literary language: Visualize: I found that when it comes to Shakespeare, finding a skit, the actual play, or even a movie version of the play you’re reading can be insanely helpful. For me, watching the events that I was just reading unfold in front of really helped me with my comprehension when it came to reading Shakespearean literature! Read in Large Groups: Throughout my reading of Othello, as well as other Shakespeare plays as a class assignment, something my teacher always had us do was read an act or two on our own first, and then come together in class a couple days later and read the same act(s) we had just read on our own, together. This helped immensely when comprehending the literature, especially when it comes to the vocab, like “bombast” or “obsequious” (I.i&ii). It really helped when we read the plays aloud because you’re hearing the characters, not just reading what they’re saying in your own head. You ever read a paper you’ve written aloud to yourself or someone else and instantly find a couple of mistakes? Well, that is exactly what this was like except rather than catching a mistake, you were catching something that you were comprehending better! This, paired with stopping every once in a while and talking about what we had just read aloud as a class, along with repetition (reading over and over again multiple times to form an understanding) greatly improved my understanding of the literature. USE OUTSIDE SOURCES: This tip is very short, and very to the point. If you’re not understanding something even after trying the two techniques above, then try an outside source like Spark notes! Spark notes gives you a summary, in English vernacular of what you just read in Shakespearean. This always works as a default if you need a quick understanding of what you’ve just read. If you’re not understanding what you’re reading right away when it comes to Shakespeare, there should be absolutely no sweat at all; want to know why? BECAUSE NO ONE DOES!! No one completely understands Shakespeare after reading through it one time, which is why it is important to apply techniques that work for you when reading his literature. Doing that will greatly improve your comprehension and you may even come to realize that you like what you’re reading. Hey, I know it’s a stretch but anything is possible. Whatever you do, don’t give up, just keep on reading! |
AuthorMy name is Sam Bussler, I'm the author of the blog you see to your left. As you may have read in the about me page, I am an AP Literature student at Harper Creek High School. As a class we just finished reading Othello by William Shakespeare and I've decided to blog a little bit about the play, as well as my thoughts on Shakespeare in general. I hope you enjoy, but beware of some spoilers! Archives |