The Rhetoric of Black and White in Othello - Research Paper Example

OTHELLO One of Shakespeare’s masterpieces is surely Othello. It is a fascinating play that has come down from the ages and continues to impress to this day. This is especially the case because of its vivid characters. These characters have entered into the popular imagination in a real way. There is the Moorish general Othello, who is out of place in Venice, who allows jealousy to get the best of him. And there is Iago, a person who Coleridge once described as embodying “a motiveless malevolence.” Together these two characters—the protagonist and the antagonist—act out the play’s greatest theme: jealousy and possessive love. Then there is Desdemona, Othello's great love who also inspires his jealous rage. The three characters together show how tragedy can be born out of both emotion and evil. All three are vividly portrayed by Shakespeare in this amazing masterpiece. This is surely one of the great plays in all of history. To this day, it continues to impress. Throughout human history stories and poems have brought us together, no matter our differences. This is a good and useful point, but I wonder if there are some things about different cultures that literature can’t communicate. In some cultures there are words for things that there aren’t in our language (Adler 29). We can't understand other people; however, literature can help to bridge this divide. Some cultures have many different words for the same sort of thing with many different aspects. It seems to be that literature can show us very broad universal themes, but it might have trouble showing what we have in common. Some potential solutions to this are a variety of different characters. Throughout most cultures, characters are present. In Othello, the characters exist in a different time, culture and place, but they still are recognizable to us. We see how their weaknesses will most likely result in their tragic downfalls. We also see ourselves in them and that is part of what brings them to life. Othello is a good example of this. It is evident that Othello is in love with Desdemona. It is also clear that Othello is a powerful general and that he lives his life by a code of honour. It is equally clear that the character of Iago does not live by a code or if he does his code is to manipulate people whenever he can. These two characters are foils for one another and the story’s drama plays out between them. This is important to indicate in the course of any such character analysis. First and foremost, Othello is a tragic hero. Tragic heroes are individuals who make mistakes that lead to their death and destruction. Usually a tragic hero is considered a plaything of fate—for example, the character of Oedipus in Sophocles’ plays, or the character of Hamlet, another of Shakespeare's great creations. However, just being a tragic figure is not enough to be meet the qualification of “tragic hero.” The character should also be a hero in addition to being tragic. While I believe Othello does destroy himself through his own mistakes, and that he is tragic, it is clear that has military prowess has made him a hero. Everyone in the play (except Iago) thinks of Othello as a great man destined for great things. It could be said however that Othello's private actions indicate he is not a hero. He is very easily manipulated and is quick to attack those he loves. This also is hardly the behaviour of a hero. Also, the fact that Othello kills himself is not an heroic act. It is in a sense a selfish one. A hero is someone who takes a chance and puts him or herself on the line. Othello never does. The great question of Iago's character is what motivates him to behave in the way the he does towards Othello. Iago appears to be slightly angry that he has been passed over for a promotion by Othello. It can only be said that this “appears” to be the reason for what he does because he is a very strange character. He does not seem to especially care whether or not he gets any advantage so long as Othello is destroyed. In other plays villains may create situations or traps to ensnare protagonists as Iago does with a handkerchief. However, there is something more evil about Iago. He seems to enjoy not only inspiring Othello’s jealousy, but fanning its flames. He watches Othello’s face contort and sees his pain and continues to act. The intimacy of this cruelty makes this relationship, and Iago’s malevolence, very interesting. The violent aesthetic is very compelling. Indeed, Iago is sui generis and captivate the reader. Compared to Othello, he knows a lot more about politics and manipulation. The first is navigating a world he has not yet learned to judge properly, while the second appears to know everything and pursue only chaos and destruction. Iago appears to have no real human desire or characteristics—his only interest is violence and chaos (Jones 56). He has no other purpose but to cause trouble, also, he refuses to explain himself or describe how he reached this point of nihilism. When he is taken away at the end of the play he concludes his role by saying, “From this point on, I never shall speak word.” It is an open question as to whether he can’t or simply won’t explain himself. Nevertheless, the implication is that, he is born this way. The word has not formed him; he has come from some other place. Othello at times seems to be foolish as he falls for all of Iago’s tricks, going so far as to, horribly, kill his own wife. But he is also a poet and he has some beautiful lines (Halliday 98). The fact that he has a romantic, passionate side to him and is not just a powerful one-dimensional general adds a great twist to the story. His dying words are very poetic and in them we see just how horribly far he has fallen and what jealousy has undone. This is an important distinction in the play, the difference between Othello’s final soliloquy which is so moving and in which we see how great a man he is, and Iago’s final lines, as he is being led off to be tortured: “What you know, you know. From this point forth I never shall speak word.” The difference between the two characters is nowhere more clear. The unfortunate implication, however, from this comparison is that the serpent's words are more powerful than the poets. It is not Othello with his fine turn of phrase who manages to win over, Iago, it is Iago who preys on Othello's insecurities and lures him into an evil act. Indeed, it is important to note that Othello is only especially articulate and poetic when he is extremely emotional. He is by nature a suspicious person not given to flights of fancy, unless his emotions are activated. The relationship between Othello and Iago is the key to this play. The emotions generated by it leads to both of their downfalls. By creating such life-like characters and inspiring them with very human feelings—even if these are bad feelings—Shakespeare created a masterpiece. Without each other, neither character would have anything to do in this play. However, it is important to stress that in this play it is Iago who devours, Othello. Iago destroys Othello, even though it appears to also destroy himself. His evil and desire to destroy is so consuming that he barely tries to escape its consequences, and apparently is tortured to death. He is so satisfied about the results of his perfidy that he refuses to brag or even speak of his work to anyone. There is also a third character who is the subject of this relationship to some extent: Othello's wife, Desdemona. She does not have a great deal of stage-time but she is a truly evocative character nevertheless. She is meant to stand in for the loving, innocent bride who is the true victim of the play. More than anything, she is an object to both Iago and Othello. That is one thing they both have in common. She is a pawn for Iago, who uses her and the idea she represents to Othello, against Othello. Iago convinces him that Desdemona is cheating on him, and Othello believes Iago. Iago makes up stories about her, a character he has created that looks like her in name only, and then sells them one by one to a willing buying. Why does Othello accept these stories? That is a very important question in this story. The only answer must be that his relationship with Desdemona is essentially superficial. He is not able to look her in the eyes. He can't see that she is telling the truth to him. Certainly, this is his great flaw. It will also eventually prove to be Othello's undoing. Othello is just not able to see or know the real Desdemona. He has permitted her to become changed by the evil Iago and turned into someone else. It seems like the real Desdemona is probably a wonderful person, but we don't get that much of an opportunity to learn about her or to understand her. In a sense, she is the plaything of Iago's imagination. Shakespeare's play Othello is clearly full of great passions: jealousy, love, pure evil. The three main characters are each doomed and each provide and symbolizes something important and internal to the audience. Perhaps, most importantly all of the characters interactions with the other characters show us a thing that is timeless and also true about humanity. Works consulted Adler, Doris. "The Rhetoric of Black and White in Othello" Shakespeare Quarterly, 25, 1974. Jones, Eldred "Othello's Countrymen" Charlottesville: Univ of Virginia Press, 1971. Read More