Unmasking and Discovery: Female Agency and Masculine Power in the Last Act of Othello and The Rover - Essay Example

Unmasking and Discovery: Female Agency and Masculine Power in the Last Act of Othello and The Rover Although the conflicts in Othello are resolved in a tragic way while The Rover ends with a comic marriage, the last act of both plays exemplify the opposition between masculinity and female agency which involves disguise, unmasking, and discovery. In Othello, Act V begins with the fight between Roderigo and Cassio fueled by Iago, then followed by the last scene where Othello murders Desdemona for her alleged infidelity and his subsequent suicide upon discovering Iago’s plot. Although the major actions in the final act are on the shoulders on the male characters, the significant act of discovery and the arousal of sympathy are in fact in the hands of Emilia and Desdemona. The resolution in the play thus lies in the agency of the female characters. Similarly, the unmasking of Florinda and the assertion of Angellica Bianca and Hellena drive the last act of The Rovers towards a comic resolution with multiple marriages. Similar to Othello, at the beginning of 5.1, the male characters in The Rovers dominate the stage, but they are unable to resolve the conflicts, for example, they fail to identify the masked woman as Florinda. In the previous acts of the play, male characters like Blunt, Don Pedro, Don Antonio, and Willmore are constantly troubled by their female counterparts. The last act then exemplifies how female agency serves to untie the knots in the play. In the Stuart Burge production of Othello in 1965, most of the actions occur on a dimly lit stage. In 5.1, the lack of light greatly facilitates the action both symbolically and functionally as it suggests the inability of Cassio and Roderigo to see through Iago’s plot. After Cassio is injured, Othello utters praise to Iago’s honesty and justice; thus, the darkness of the stage also suggests that Othello is blinded. Othello’s blackness at one point appears to blend with the surroundings, projecting a sinister image which foreshadows his later murder of Desdemona. It therefore seems that Burge is hinting that Othello’s race plays a part in his raging jealousy and violence. At this point, none of the characters suspect Iago’s deed, making it easier for him to accuse Bianca for Cassio’s wound. Here Bianca asserts herself strongly, saying that “[she is] no strumpet,/ But of life as honest as you that thus/ Abuse me” (5.1. 120-123). Her honesty brings out a dramatic irony that the one who accuses her is indeed the cunning one. Such a strong female agency is both contested and demonstrated in the last scene where Desdemona and Emilia are subsequently murdered by their husbands. In Burge’s production, Desdemona does not struggle much when Othello attempts to smother her. She whimpers and begs, but shows very little resistant when Othello pushes her down. When Burge’s Desdemona first emerges in 1.3, she is submissive and shows very few facial expressions. Her timidity in the last scene serves to arouse sympathy in the audience, and thus further villainizing Othello as the “black devil.” Othello is shown wearing an open-chest white gown and has lost his cross pendant which he is wearing before he loses his rationality. This suggests that Othello is no longer a converted Christian but is once again an untamed Moor. This heightened the dramatic tension between Othello and Desdemona, who is portrayed as the powerless damsel. However, Emilia brings a sudden turn to this scene as she steps into the chamber and finds Desdemona dying on her bed. Enraged, Emilia begins to realize that her husband is the mastermind behind the tragedy. Instead of concealing the truth, Emilia is overwhelmed by her bond with the deceased Desdemona and unveils Iago’s plot even when Iago calls her a “villainous whore” (5.2. 227) and threatens to kill her. The audience cannot but admire Emilia for her courage when she asserts Desdemona’s loyalty to Othello and swears to speak the truth before she dies under Iago’s sword. It appears that the surrounding male characters do not attempt to save Emilia from her villainous husband. The discovery of Iago’s plot through his wife then leads to the last crux of the play: Othello’s regret coupled with his rage towards Iago. Othello first refers to himself as a “cursed slave” (5.1. 275), then he describes his feeling as if he is in Dante’s hell: “From the possession of this heavenly sight,/ Blow me about in winds, roast me in sulphur,/ Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire” (5.1.277-279). Othello and Iago then both use the devil imagery when Othello can only harm but not kill Iago with his sword. Unlike earlier in the scene, Othello no longer appears to be the devil; instead Iago is the white devil who has successfully tricked everyone with his cunningness. The audience’s sympathy is once again on Othello when he repents and subsequently kills himself. In Burge’s production, Othello tearfully jumps on the bed which is half hidden behind the veil. He then holds up Desdemona’s dead body and shakes her fervently while wailing in great grief. At this point, Lodovico, dressed in a bright red cape, steps in and strip Othello of his power. Although the audience may detest Othello earlier when he murders Desdemona, Laurence Olivier’s performance of Othello’s immense grief and powerlessness redeems the character as a tragic protagonist as he repents for his fall. Othello’s last speech again alleges to his race as he implies that he needs to kill the “malignant and turbaned Turk” (5.2.352) inside of him, and calls himself the “circumcised dog” (5.2. 353), which is a reference to Muslims at the Elizabethan period. In the performance, Othello collapses onto Desdemona and Lodovico laments that “The object poisons sight—Let it be hid” (5.2.363). The performance ends with Lodovico exiting with the rest of the characters while Othello and Desdemona’s death bed remains on the stage for the audience to see. The bed is hideous in the sense that misogyny was not widely accepted in the Elizabethan period, and a violent Moor murdering an upper class white woman is also seen as a taboo. Thus, not only does the ending of Othello give no solace to the audience, it also arouses strong emotional reactions such as repulsion to those who must confront the taboo on stage. The Rovers, on the other hand, ends lightheartedly with the marriages of Florinda and Belvile, and Hellena and Willmore. However, before reaching such a conventional comic ending where the heroines are married off, the play is mainly motivated by female agency or the lack thereof. There are three attempted rapes of Florinda in the play. In Act IV, Florida is almost raped and then locked up by Frederick and Blunt, who harbors hatred for women after getting tricked by Lucetta. Florinda completely loses her agency in the last act as she is silenced and hidden from the stage, while other male characters plan to have their way with her. This runs contrary to her assertion at the very beginning of the play: “O imderstamd better wjat’s due to my beauty, birth and fortune, and more to my soul, than to obey those unjust commands” (159). Although Belvile realizes that the woman locked up is in fact his fiancée through her engagement ring, Florinda is reduced to a mere object that binds her to Belvile, a masculine power. When Florinda escapes, she is still masked and she does not want other characters to discover her identity as Don Pedro would not allow her to marry Belvile and is angry that she has previously tricked him with her disguise as a gypsy. Florinda uses the mask to evade her true self, and thus to avoid the harassment by her brother. However, her disguise has also led to the misunderstanding of Willmore and Blunt that she is a prostitute. Thus, it appears that disguise cannot help restore Florinda’s agency which is constantly challenged throughout the play. The unmasking in the last scene, however, seems to alleviate Florinda’s situation as it leads to a joyful marriage between her and Belvile. The disguise of Hellena, on the other hand, is more liberating as she is able to exercise freedom of a man through cross-dressing. Hellena and Angellica Bianca seem to be complete opposites: while Hellena swears to be a virgin nun so that no men could ever get her, Angellica is a prostitute who is objectified by the male characters, as shown in the fight between Antonio and Willmore over her portrait. However, both women want the love of Willmore and this conflict is brought to the last scene where Angellica enters with a pistol, threatening to kill Willmore for his infidelity. Although Angellica is a courtesan who makes a living out of men’s desire of her body, in this last act she is able to assert herself through a masculine weapon. She defies the conventional expectations of a prostitute as she fearlessly seeks Willmore’s loyalty to her. At this point, she is disillusioned that her power and agency stems only from men’s desire of her body, but once she falls in love, “the undeceiving glass/ Reflected all the weakness of my soul, and made me know/ My richest treasure being lost, my honour,/ All the remaining spoil could not be worth/ The conqueror’s care or value” (237). Here Angellica is painfully aware that she is in a powerless position which she as a person will not be valued by the one she loves. Willmore, however, continues to challenge her agency by suggesting to end his obligation to her by money. At that moment, it seems that the only way for Angellica to reassert her agency is to resort to violence and shoot Willmore. However, her act is halted by Antonio, who hates Willmore out of jealousy. Instead of allowing Angellica to kill his enemy, Antonio wants to take this act unto his own hand by offering to shoot Willmore for her. Angellica once again is stripped of her agency by a man. At the end, Angellica leaves the stage alone. Although Angellica’s character is not treated with the ferocity of most whores and passionate women in Renaissance drama, her appearance in the last act of the play forces the audience at the Elizabethan period to reevaluate prostitution in a corrupt society. Angellica’s exit is followed by Hellena’s entrance where she is still dressed as a boy. Hellena then banters with Willmore but unlike Angellica, she remains composed and eloquent which demonstrates that she is on an equal footing with her male counterpart. She explicitly claims that Willmore will only love her alone and that she does not need to use any flowery language to show him that she is worth his love. Willmore’s response to Hellena’s assertion is very similar than that to Angellica’s as he appreciates the strength of both women who fearlessly defend their value as persons. However, Willmore still attempts to escape the commitment Hellena looks for and seeks only to take her back to his chamber. Hellena takes his sexual desire to her own use and hurries the marriage. Although it appears that Hellena has full agency in the last scene and in her relationship with Willmore, the fact that Hellena uses Willmore’s desire for her body as a bargaining power takes away her agency as a female. The play, however, ends on a celebration of female agency as Willmore exclaims to Hellena that “thou’rt a brave girl, and I admire thy love and courage” (246). In conclusion, the final act of both Othello and The Rover both rely on the demonstration of female agency to assist the male characters in discovering the truth behind the main conflict and to bring the play to a resolution. However, such an agency is incomplete as most of the time the female characters are either silenced immediately after they assert themselves, or have to rely partly on the masculine power to achieve their goals. Works Cited Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko, The Rover, and Other Works. Ed. Janet Todd. New York: Penguin Classics, 1999. Print Othello. Dir. Stuart Burge. Perf. Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, and Frank Finalay. Shepperton Studios, 1965. Film. Read More