Othello by Shakespeare - Book Report/Review Example

20 December 2007 Othello In the play Othello, Shakespeare creates a complex and controversial character ofOthello and leaves it to readers to decide his intensions and inner feelings. It is important to note that the character of Othello in the play cannot truly be considered as an independent one. His actions and thoughts are influenced by other characters, their inner desires and motives. Readers build their responses to them not only from what a character says and does, but also from what other persons in the play say about the character and how he interacts with these other dramatic personae. The complexity of the character of Othello has led to opposed views of him and to significantly different interpretations of his intensions. Othello falls so easily into Iagos web because of epistemological crisis and feeling of alienation caused by his origin and differences between him and the majority. Othello’s epistemological crisis is caused by his position in society and origin. Through the character of Othello, Shakespeare explores in some depth the theme of the outsider, how his integrity and secure identity can be undermined within an unfamiliar culture. Shakespeare writes: But this same Cassio, though he speake of comfort, Touching the Turkish losse, yet he lookes sadly, And praye the Moore be safe; for they were parted With fowle and violent Tempest (Shakespeare Act II, scene 1). This passage portrays that Othello is depicted as a stranger in this city. Respected and utilized for his military prowess, the Venetians employ him to conquer a more threatening outsider, but he remains a stranger within the private world of Venice. Shakespeare underlines that a stranger in the city can face threats and uncertainty unaware of its norms and traditions: “And praye the Moore be safe; for they were parted”. Above all, Shakespeare suggests, the subtle differences among cultures are what make the alien in a European city especially vulnerable. Othello falls so easily into Iagos trap because he feels loneliness and alienation in a new city. While Othello finds it difficult to understand a strange culture, Iago becomes a guide who helps him to understand the city, its morals and norms. Iago explains to Othello norms and morals: Weare your eyes, thus: not Iealious, nor Secure: I would not haue your free, and Noble Nature, Out of selfe-Bounty, be abusd: Looke toot: I know our Country disposition well (Shakespeare Act III, scene 3) Part of Othello’s susceptibility to Iagos words is the fact that Iago is able to exploit Othello’s limited knowledge of Venetian customs to undermine the Africans confidence in his fitness to be Desdemonas husband and in the admirable persona he has constructed for himself in the city-state. Iago is subtle enough to work with the truth when it suits his purposes. Cunning and false notes are evident in the line: “I would not haue your free, and Noble Nature”. When Iago chips away at Othellos defenses, it is on the assumption that Othello is, in fact, masking an inner core of vulnerability with grand words and gestures. Trading on his insider status and his reluctant agreement to reveal how Othello is "wronged," Iago plays his trump card in his speech "I know our country disposition well" when he alludes to the Venetian wives "pranks" that have escaped Othellos notice. Othello knows instinctively that he is inside the magic circle of Desdemonas devotion, yet Iago convinces him that his color is the main factor of her dishonesty towards him. Feeling displaced, Othello relegates Desdemona to another inner circle of Venetian life, the courtesan culture. Women in Venice let heaven "see the pranks”; therefore, Othello should "look tot" if he wants to discover his wifes sexual games with other men. When Iago concludes this speech with a comment on how Venetian wives exert themselves "not to leavet undone, but kept unknown," he is equating what is known (and therefore, by implication, true) with what is visible. Othellos faith in Desdemona is not strong enough to resist Iagos insinuations. On a broader level, Shakespeare underlines that Othello is unable to remain uncertain believing in Iagos’ cunning. It was Iago who ‘directed’ Othello and forced him to commit a murder. A rhetorical question, “What dost thou think?” is evident in the temptation scene. Think, my lord! By heaven, he echoes me, As if there were some monster in his thought Too hideous to be shown. Thou dost mean something: I heard thee say even now, thou likedst not that, When Cassio left my wife: what didst not like? (Act 3, Scene 3) First, Iago exploits the gap between thinking that something is true and knowing that it is true on a scientific or factual basis; thoughts are subjective, and a persons ideas may not tally with objective reality. Second, having made Othello extremely curious about the "thoughts" and doubtful about the validity of his own, Iago urges Othello to "see" something that is not there. Love and fidelity are not subject to proof, but infidelity, In the following line Iago directs and guides Othello to uncertainty: “As if there were some monster in thy thought” As he begins to undermine Othellos faith, Iago interjects "think" and "thought(s)" establishing knowledge with pure speculation. More remarkable is how Othello, taking his cue from Iago, comes up with eleven instances of "think," "thinkings," and "thoughts" in the same sequence. Iagos reluctance to answer questions directly, he has apparently deflected Othellos demand to know his thoughts by finally giving a name to the hidden topic of their conversation: "O, beware, my lord, of jealousy!" Othello counters this with confident assurances, telling Iago, "Ill see before I doubt; when I doubt, prove". It is at this point that Iago manipulates references to the visual to point out what Othello might actually see if he looked for it. The growing symbiotic relationship between Othello and Iago, with the sense of one feeding off the other, is palpable in the temptation scene. Since Othello is the first to enunciate the key words "honest" and "think," it is difficult to discern who is echoing whom, or which man is nurturing the "monstrous" thoughts. Iagos next strategy, which begins at "I am glad of this", is to convince Othello that seeing should be equivalent to believing, or that literal vision leads to a kind of knowledge that is superior to faith alone: I am glad of this: For now I shall haue reason To shew the Loue and Duty that I beare you With franker spirit. Therefore (as I am bound) Receiue it from me. I speake not yet of proofe: Looke to your wife, obserue her well with Cassio (Act III, scene 3) Iago capitalizes on the idea that knowledge depends on personal witness. Earlier in the play, he firmly connected eyesight with proof when telling Roderigo how he failed to gain the lieutenancy even though Othello had seen his prowess as soldier. Disdaining the handkerchief as a trifle "light as air", he nevertheless plans to use it as the linchpin of his "ocular proof." Arguably, by the time the love token makes its fortuitous appearance onstage, it has become irrelevant in confirming Othellos doubts; Iago has already fulfilled Othellos demand "Make me to seet" by creating an imaginary vision of Desdemona and Cassio making love. He coarsely reminds Othello of the virtual impossibility of visual "satisfaction" through catching the lovers in the act. The line “Looke to your wife, obserue her well with Cassio” shows that Iago knows more than he is telling, his questions quickly turn into requests and then urgent demands for further clarification of the situation. Iago admits to Othello that his guesswork and his conjectures about human relationships are often vicious. Now, when Othello prompts him to reveal what is on his mind, Iago tantalizes his general by emphasizing that thought is both "free" and private and by offering the disclaimer that his musings like those of everyone at one time or another. When the pair next enter together, Iago is inflaming Othellos imagination with an image of Cassio and Desdemona "naked . . . in bed" for "n hour or more". to be naked with her Friend in bed, n houre, or more, not meaning any harme? Oth. Naked in bed (Iago) and not meane harme? t is hypocrisie against the Diuell: hey that meane vertuously, and yet do so (Act IV, scene 1). Iago encourages him to base his "proof" of Desdemonas guilt on an external token, slyly substituting the concrete, visible object for the unseen, unverifiable abstraction. Again, Othello fails to perceive that invisible "honor," like love, cannot be subject to empirical proof; its presence or absence is emphatically not to be equated with that of a handkerchief that can travel, as Othello has done in the past, "here and everywhere" by chance. By the murder scene, Othello has absolutely convinced himself that the flimsy, circumstantial evidence is testimony to his wifes infidelity, for he firmly reiterates to Desdemona, to justify his killing of her. This passage shows that Iago is subtle enough to work with the truth when it suits his purposes. As devil figure, Iago represents the objective forces of evil existing outside mans control. In sum, with Othellos capitulation to this web of suggestion, the play also suggests how difficult it is for an individual inexperienced in social encounters and linguistic games to pierce through misleading testimony and skewed language. Othello falls so easily into Iagos web because of it is difficult for him understand traditions and morals of the new society and create his own interpretation of the new world around him. The audience is constantly reminded that Othello is a black African not only by his physical presence onstage, but also because almost all the other characters in the play. The passages show that Iago boasts to the audience that the advice he gives to Cassio is "free" and "honest", for he has merely reminded Cassio of Desdemonas "blessed" and generous. Othello is persuaded that fair is foul by Iago. The play portrays that the mysteries of love should not be submitted to the reason; but once judgment is in play, it is essential to exercise discrimination in evaluating any kind of "proof", verbal testimony or circumstantial evidence, on which crucial decisions will depend. Othello recognizes what he has done after he makes a fatal error or series of mistakes, trusting Iago instead of his wife and killing Desdemona. Othello regains stature at the end of the play and his act of violence, the killing of an innocent woman, forfeits all pity. The audiences perceive him as self-centered and deluded about his real motives for killing his wife rather than understandably susceptible to the evil insinuations of Iago because of his trusting, guileless nature. Othello strikes the audience unable to confront or come to terms with the deepest springs of his own nature. Works Cited 1. Shakespeare, W. Othello. Washington Square Press; Washington edition, 1993. Read More