Title: The Tragedy of Othello,  the Moor of Venice

 

By William Shakespeare

Publishing Info: The Riverside Shakespeare. Houghton Mifflin: Boston, 1997. Many other editions as well. Online Edition (Still Under Construction) 

Dr. Rearick's favorite film version: Castle Rock 1995 staring Lawrence Fishburne and  Kenneth Branaugh

Major Division: Fiction

Genre: Drama

Sub-genre: - Tragedy/ Romantic

Nationality: - British

Rated: - A+

Use: Masterpieces in World Literature

First Read and Last Read: Masters Course in Shakespeare in '83 and Spring 2002

Location: - Dr. Rearick's Office, MVNC Bookstore and  J Drive
 

Scripture that comes to mind:

Sorry Barrons Book-notes are no longer available: contact Dr. Rearick for alternatives.

Themes, Symbols, and Symbols

Power Point Presentation on Shakespeare and especially Othello

Quotes from Othello that are of importance:

Study Questions about Othello

About the Film Version We View

Helpful Links

Comments:  My experience with this play illustrates how profound a difference viewing a play can be from reading it.  Othello was for me, for a long time, one of Shakespeare's least empathized tragic figures.  I just could not understand how a good man could be in any way convinced that doing such a desperate deed was necessary--especially to one who he profoundly loves. 

Kittredge, an old yet still worthwhile scholar writes the following comments about the character of Iago: [In relation to the original story of Othello, the character of] Iago is completely Shakespeare's.  In King Lear, which perhaps comes next in order of time, he is matched [in villainy] by Edmund, equally an individual, but comparable with Iago in many ways.  The essential difference is that Iago is a passionate and revengeful Italian, whereas the almost cynically dispassionate Edmund is actuated by self-interest alone (i,2,199-2000  Coleridge described Iago's soliloquy in i,3,392ff, as the motive-hunting of a "motiveless malignity" (1242).

 

Kittredge, George Lyman, Ed. The Complete Works of Shakespeare by William Shakespeare  London: 

    Ginn and Company, 1936.

Themes, Motifs, and Symbols

Themes

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

The Incompatibility of Military Heroism and Love - Before and above all else, Othello is a soldier. From the earliest moments in the play, his career affects his married life. Asking "fit disposition" for his wife after being ordered to Cyprus (I.iii.234), Othello notes that "the tyrant custom … / Hath made the flinty and steel couch of war / My thrice-driven bed of down" (I.iii.227–229). While Desdemona is used to better "accommodation," she nevertheless accompanies her husband to Cyprus (I.iii.236). Moreover, she seems unperturbed by the tempest or Turks that threatened their crossing, and genuinely curious rather than irate when she is roused from bed by the drunken brawl in Act II, scene iii. She is, indeed, Othello's "fair warrior," and he is happiest when he has her by his side in the midst of military conflict or business (II.i.179). The military also provides Othello with a means to gain belonging in Venetian society. While the Venetians in the play are generally fearful of the prospect of Othello's social entrance into white society through his marriage to Desdemona, all Venetians respect and honor him as a soldier. Mercenary Moors were, in fact, commonplace at the time.
Othello predicates his success in love on his success as a soldier, wooing Desdemona with tales of his military travels and battles. Once the Turks are drowned—by natural rather than military might—Othello is left without anything to do: the last act of military administration we see him perform is the viewing of fortifications in the extremely short second scene of Act III. No longer having a means of proving his manhood or honor in a public setting such as the court or the battlefield, Othello begins to feel uneasy with his footing in a private setting, the bedroom. Iago capitalizes on this uneasiness, calling Othello's epileptic fit in Act IV, scene i, "[a] passion most unsuiting such a man." In other words, Iago is calling Othello unsoldierly. Iago also takes care to mention that Cassio, whom Othello believes to be his competitor, saw him in his emasculating trance (IV.i.75).
Desperate to cling to the security of his former identity as a soldier while his current identity as a lover crumbles, Othello begins to confuse the one with the other. His expression of his jealousy quickly devolves from the conventional—"Farewell the tranquil mind"—to the absurd:


Farewell the plumed troops and the big wars
That make ambition virtue! O, farewell,
Farewell the neighing steed and the shrill trump,
The spirit-stirring drum, th'ear piercing fife,
The royal banner, and all quality,
Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!" (III.iii.353–359)
One might well say that Othello is saying farewell to the wrong things—he is entirely preoccupied with his identity as a soldier. But his way of thinking is somewhat justified by its seductiveness to the audience as well. Critics and audiences alike find comfort and nobility in Othello's final speech and the anecdote of the "malignant and … turbaned Turk" (V.ii.362), even though in that speech, as in his speech in Act III, scene iii, Othello depends on his identity as a soldier to glorify himself in the public's memory, and to try to make his audience forget his and Desdemona's disastrous marital experiment.

The Danger of Isolation - The action of Othello moves from the metropolis of Venice to the island of Cyprus. Protected by military fortifications as well as by the forces of nature, external forces seem to present little threat to the island of Cyprus. Once Othello, Iago, Desdemona, Emilia, and Roderigo have come to Cyprus, they have nothing to do but prey upon one another. Isolation enables many of the play's most important effects: Iago frequently speaks in soliloquies; Othello stands apart while Iago talks with Cassio in Act IV, scene i, and is left alone onstage with the bodies of Emilia and Desdemona for a few moments in Act V, scene ii; Roderigo seems attached to no one in the play except Iago. And, most prominently, Othello is visibly isolated from the other characters by his physical stature and the color of his skin. Iago is an expert at manipulating the distance between characters, isolating his victims so that they fall prey to their own obsessions. At the same time, Iago, of necessity always standing apart, falls prey to his own obsession with revenge. The characters cannot be islands, the play seems to say: self-isolation as an act of self-preservation leads ultimately to self-destruction. Such self-isolation leads to the deaths of Roderigo, Iago, Othello, and even Emilia.

Motifs

Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text's major themes.

Sight and Blindness - When Desdemona asks to be allowed to accompany Othello to Cyprus, she says that she "saw Othello's visage in his mind, / And to his honours and his valiant parts / Did I my soul and fortunes consecrate" (I.iii.250–252). Othello's blackness, his visible difference from everyone around him, is of little importance to Desdemona: she has the power to see him for what he is in a way that even Othello himself cannot. Desdemona's line is one of many references to different kinds of sight in the play. Earlier in Act I, scene iii, a senator suggests that the Turkish retreat to Rhodes is "a pageant / To keep us in false gaze" (I.iii.19–20). The beginning of Act II consists entirely of people staring out to sea, waiting to see the arrival of ships, friendly or otherwise. Othello, though he demands "ocular proof" (III.iii.365), is frequently convinced by things he does not see: he strips Cassio of his position as lieutenant based on the story Iago tells; he relies on Iago's story of seeing Cassio wipe his beard with Desdemona's handkerchief (III.iii.437–40); and he believes Cassio to be dead simply because he hears him scream. After Othello has killed himself in the final scene, Lodovico says to Iago, "Look on the tragic loading of this bed. / This is thy work. The object poisons sight. / Let it be hid" (V.ii.373–375). The action of the play depends heavily on characters not seeing things: Othello accuses his wife although he never sees her infidelity, and Emilia, although she watches Othello erupt into a rage about the missing handkerchief, does not figuratively "see" what her husband has done.

Plants - Iago is strangely preoccupied with plants. His speeches to Roderigo in particular make extensive and elaborate use of vegetable metaphors and conceits. Some examples are: "Our bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are gardeners; so that if we will plant nettles or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up thyme … the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills" (I.iii.317–322); "Though other things grow fair against the sun, / Yet fruits that blossom first will first be ripe" (II.iii.349–350); "And then, sir, would he gripe and wring my hand, / Cry 'O sweet creature!', then kiss me hard, / As if he plucked kisses up by the roots, / That grew upon my lips" (III.iii.425–428). The first of these examples best explains Iago's preoccupation with the plant metaphor and how it functions within the play. Characters in this play seem to be the product of certain inevitable, natural forces, which, if left unchecked, will grow wild. Iago understands these natural forces particularly well: he is, according to his own metaphor, a good "gardener," both of himself and of others.
Many of Iago's botanical references concern poison: "I'll pour this pestilence into his ear" (II.iii.330); "The Moor already changes with my poison. / Dangerous conceits are in their natures poisons, / … / … Not poppy nor mandragora / Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world / Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep" (III.iii.329–336). Iago cultivates his "conceits" so that they become lethal poisons and then plants their seeds in the minds of others. The organic way in which Iago's plots consume the other characters and determine their behavior makes his conniving, human evil seem like a force of nature. That organic growth also indicates that the minds of the other characters are fertile ground for Iago's efforts.

Animals - Iago calls Othello a "Barbary horse," an “old black ram,” and also tells Brabanzio that his daughter and Othello are "making the beast with two backs" (I.i.117–118). In Act I, scene iii, Iago tells Roderigo, "Ere I would say I would drown myself for the love of a guinea-hen, I would change my humanity with a baboon" (I.iii.312–313). He then remarks that drowning is for "cats and blind puppies" (I.iii.330–331). Cassio laments that, when drunk, he is "by and by a fool, and presently a beast!" (II.iii.284–285). Othello tells Iago, "Exchange me for a goat / When I shall turn the business of my soul / To such exsufflicate and blowed surmises" (III.iii.184–186). He later says that "[a] horned man's a monster and a beast" (IV.i.59). Even Emilia, in the final scene, says that she will "play the swan, / And die in music" (V.ii.254–255). Like the repeated references to plants, these references to animals convey a sense that the laws of nature, rather than those of society, are the primary forces governing the characters in this play. When animal references are used with regard to Othello, as they frequently are, they reflect the racism both of characters in the play and of Shakespeare's contemporary audience. "Barbary horse" is a vulgarity particularly appropriate in the mouth of Iago, but even without having seen Othello, the Jacobean audience would have known from Iago's metaphor that he meant to connote a savage Moor.

Hell, Demons, and Monsters - Iago tells Othello to beware of jealousy, the "green-eyed monster which doth mock/ The meat it feeds on" (III.iii.170–171). Likewise, Emilia describes jealousy as dangerously and uncannily self-generating, a "monster / Begot upon itself, born on itself" (III.iv.156–157). Imagery of hell and damnation also recurs throughout Othello, especially toward the end of the play, when Othello becomes preoccupied with the religious and moral judgment of Desdemona and himself. After he has learned the truth about Iago, Othello calls Iago a devil and a demon several times in Act V, scene ii. Othello's earlier allusion to "some monster in [his] thought" ironically refers to Iago (III.iii.111). Likewise, his vision of Desdemona's betrayal is "monstrous, monstrous!" (III.iii.431). Shortly before he kills himself, Othello wishes for eternal spiritual and physical torture in hell, crying out, "Whip me, ye devils, / … / … roast me in sulphur, / Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire!" (V.ii.284–287). The imagery of the monstrous and diabolical takes over where the imagery of animals can go no further, presenting the jealousy-crazed characters not simply as brutish beasts, but as grotesque, deformed, and demonic.

Symbols

Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.

The Handkerchief - The handkerchief symbolizes different things to different characters. Since the handkerchief was the first gift Desdemona received from Othello, she keeps it about her constantly as a symbol of Othello's love. Iago manipulates the handkerchief so that Othello comes to see it as a symbol of Desdemona herself—her faith and chastity. By taking possession of it, he is able to convert it into evidence of her infidelity. But the handkerchief's importance to Iago and Desdemona derives from its importance to Othello himself. He tells Desdemona that it was woven by a 200-year-old sibyl, or female prophet, using silk from sacred worms and dye extracted from the hearts of mummified virgins. Othello claims that his mother used it to keep his father faithful to her, so, to him, the handkerchief represents marital fidelity. The pattern of strawberries (dyed with virgins' blood) on a white background strongly suggests the bloodstains left on the sheets on a virgin's wedding night, so the handkerchief implicitly suggests a guarantee of virginity as well as fidelity.

The Song "Willow" - As she prepares for bed in Act V, Desdemona sings a song about a woman who is betrayed by her lover. She was taught the song by her mother's maid, Barbary, who suffered a misfortune similar to that of the woman in the song; she even died singing "Willow." The song's lyrics suggest that both men and women are unfaithful to one another. To Desdemona, the song seems to represent a melancholy and resigned acceptance of her alienation from Othello's affections, and singing it leads her to question Emilia about the nature and practice of infidelity.

The film version viewed in class See New York Times Review

Students often ask me why I choose this version of Othello.  Shakespeare's text is strongly truncated and the film contains material which earned it an "R" rating.

I have several reasons for using this production: First, I had not seen a depiction of the Moor that actually made me sympathetic to Othello until I saw Fishburne play him.  I saw James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer play Othello and Iago on Broadway, and it was wonderful.  Plummer's energy was especially noticeable.  But in spite of Jone's incredible presence both physically and vocally, the character he played just seemed too passive to illicit from me a complete emotional purgation in the Aristotelian sense.  Jones, in fact, affirmed what I felt when in an interview he noted that he had played Othello as passive--seeing Iago as basically doing him over.  Unfortunately this sapped my grief for the character destruction.  Thus, I felt sympathy for Jone's Moor but not the horror over his corruption by an evil man.  In contrast, Fishburne's Othello is a strong and vigorous figure familiar with taking action.  Thus, Iago's temptation to actively deal with what is presented to Othello as his wife's unfaithfulness is a perversion of the general's positive quality to be active not passive.1 The horror of the story is that this good quality in Othello becomes perverted.  Fishburne's depiction is therefore classically tragic.

Second, Fishburne is the first black actor to play Othello in a film.  Both Orsen Wells and Anthony Hopkins did fine film versions, but they were white men in blackface.2 Why is this important?  Why should a Black actor be the Black man on the stage?3 Certainly in Shakespeare's day they used blackface just as they used boys to make girls.  Perhaps then, the reason is the same.  Female actors bring a special quality to female roles on the Shakespearian  stage because they understand best what Shakespeare's genius was trying to present.  A gifted black actor should play the moor because his experience in a white dominated culture is vital to understanding what Shakespeare's genius recognized: the pain of being marginalized because of race. An important theme in Othello is isolation caused by racism.  Although it is a mistake to insert American racism into a Shakespearian play, there can be little doubt that racism is still  working among the characters.  Many, including Desdimona's father, think that a union between a Venetian white Christian woman and a North African black Christian man is UNNATURAL.

Third, Shakespeare was never G rated.  He never has been.  His stage productions were always typified by violence and strong language.  But Shakespeare's genius uses these elements not as sensationialism but for artistic honesty. 

MY MANAGER SAID, "There's an offer to do Othello with Ken Branaugh." I said, "Great!" then I panicked. I ran around and talked to a lot of people just to calm my fears. I never played any Shakespeare before. It was an honor to be in a line with Ira Aldrich, James Earl Jones, Paul Robeson, Orson Welles, and Laurence Olivier. I did this role and I felt like I could stop acting. I didn't have to prove myself to anyone."

Lawrence Fishburne comments taken from his Official Web Page

Notes:

1.    Remember Othello is not just acting as a husband; he rules Cyprus and so is he personifies the state and its power to administer justice.  In his mind Desdemona is not being murdered: she is being executed.

2.     Blackface is a term used in drama when a fair skinned actor uses makeup to portray a dark skinned character.  In simple practicality it is just a form of makeup.  However, in the history of race relations blackface rings an especially unpleasant bell since it often occurred when people of color were depicted in less than savory ways.  Dark skin within white culture (both British and American) has always denoted "the other."  At best an exotic attractiveness at worst barbaric villainy.  In both America and Britain blackface was used especially in minstrel shows in which white actors spoof the behavior and songs of black slaves.  One final bit of irony is this is that the shows the white performers were spoofing were created by black slaves to often characterize their white overlords. For further reading check out this article from Wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface>

3.    According to several sources Jones was strongly considered for the role in the Royal Shakespearean production (eventually given to Hopkins) but was turned down because he lacked a British accent--hub boy.  Another source, while admitting that Hopkins was excellent in delivery noted that his face apparently changes shades of black from one scene to another because of make up problems.  The elements of absurdity in choosing a white actor to play Othello seem to multiply. 

Included on Ohiolink's Digital Video Library is Trevor Nunn's staging of Othello was the unrivaled hit of the season when the RSC first performed it. As the London Times noted, this production "...is arguably the best thing that the [RSC] has done in the last five years." Othello is a chamber piece perfectly suited to the video medium, and this production allows Trevor Nunn's staging to reach the video screen in all its minimalist glory. With far fewer characters than Shakespeare's other tragedies, and no subplots, the play has an unparalleled simplicity which this production captures. Ian McKellen gives a "mesmerizing performance" (said the Daily Telegraph), and his Iago has more than ever before become the central character of the play. Othello is played by Willard White, the Jamaican operatic bass, in a vivid and rich performance. Imogen Stubbs breaks out of the mold cast by Peggy Ashcroft, to deliver a new Desdemona. As the London Times summed up, this production is "...as near to perfect a piece of television drama as you can get." (3 hours 30 minutes, color) [Part I ][Part II]

Some Links: