Deception and Ambiguity in Othello - Essay Example

DECEPTION AND AMBIGUITY IN OTHELLO Most critics contend that in Shakespeare’s play Othello, Desdemona is the ultimate victim of an inevitable tragedyas women frequently fall victim to men’s offenses and it is always the men who determine social structures. The emphasis on the patriarchal society in this classic play, according to some critics, only exhibits that the social composition of that particular period tolerated the undignified treatment of women, handled as mere property, and their lowly status in society in which they fall as victims in the end (Hageman 56). However, a careful reevaluation of the play points to the fact that the ultimate victim in this classic play by Shakespeare is not Desdemona but Brabantio – Desdemona’s father. Brabantio, a Venetian Senator, awoke one night from a commotion brought about by Iago and Roderigo as they notify him that Desdemona has absconded with the "black ram" or "Barbary horse," or Othello. The two men tells the senator that the "lascivious Moor" has taken Desdemona and she has "made a gross revolt,/ Tying her duty, beauty, wit, and fortunes/ In an extravagant and wheeling stranger/ Of here and every where (1.1.126-137)." When sense that his daughter is not in her bed, he ensues to place the culpability on his daughter and likewise blames Othello. Most critics would argue that Brabantio should have blamed himself more that anyone else (Hageman 67). On the other hand, Brabantio is deceived by the two, eloping without his consent. Brabantio’s sensibilities are injured by this act as first, he is a respected senator in Venice, and second, he is the father of a girl who ran away with a person he considered friend. Embarrassed and furious, Brabantio anxiously cries out to Roderigo, "O unhappy girl!--/ With the Moor, sayst thou?--Who would be a father!--/ How didst thou know twas she?---O, she deceives me/ Past thought!......O treason of the blood!/ Fathers, from hence trust not your daughters minds/ By what you see them act (1.1.163-171)." Brabantio’s initial reaction demonstrates fury as he suffers betrayal from Desdemona, the daughter he adores. The words "treason of the blood" are particularly significant as they propose not only an act of unjustifiable trickery but also a profundity of fervor for his daughter – which in effect, a trickery he fails to grasp. Eventually, he illustrates Desdemonas temperament as "A maiden, never bold;/ Of spirit so still and quiet that her motion/ Blushd at herself (1.3.94-96)." Brabantio asks himself how the two are able to deceive him. Failing to bestow explanations for her daughter’s actions, Brabantio contends that Othello has performed sorcery on his daughter. "Is there not charms," he asks Roderigo, "by which the property of youth and maidhood/ May be abusd (1.1.171-173)?" Roderigo replies that such charms exist and Brabantio formulates a "theory of the case that the Moor has enchanted his daughter. In the next scene Brabantio confronts Othello, "O thou foul thief, where has thou stowd my daughter?/ Damnd as thou art, thou hast enchanted her,/ ....Thou has practicd on her with foul charms,/ Abusd her delicate youth with drugs or minerals/ That weakens motion [impulses or inclinations] (1.2.62-75)." This clearly shows the intensity of a father’s anger who cannot find enough explanations for his daughter’s misdeeds. As a respected man in his society, Brabantio loses face and refuses to yield. He then decides he will bring his private griefs to the most open medium, the Venetian Senate, and seek redress there for the Moor’s grievances against him. By the time the Senate assembles in its urgent middle-of-the-night gathering to discuss the issue of the Turkish menace to Cyprus and propelling Othello to overcome this threat (1.3), Brabantio makes his way to the meeting and proposes he be given time to speak. The prevailing mind of the senate at this very moment is preoccupied with the threat of war as the Duke welcomes Othello even before he gives recognition to Senator Brabantio. The Duke briefly greeting the latter by saying, "I did not not see you; welcome, gentle signior (1.3.50)," shows that Othello is the most significant character at this time. But Brabantio is relentless about this "particular grief/ Is of so flood-gate and oerbearing nature/ That it engluts and swallows other sorrows (1.3.55-57)." The Duke queries "Why? Whats the matter?" to which Brabantio answers, "My daughter! Oh, my daughter! (1.3.58-59)." His wretched eruption of immense sentiment suggests an undisputed show of alarm as all declare, "Dead?" To which Brabantio replies, "Ay, to me (1.3.59)." Brabantio tells the senate that his daughter is “is abusd, stoln from me, and corrupted/ By spells and medicines bought of mountebanks; For nature so prepostrously to err/ (Being not deficient, blind, or lame of sense)/ Sans witchcraft could not (1.3.60-64)." The depiction of this biased Senate only heightened Brabantio’s grief and humiliation and clearly illustrates that he is the real victim in this play. However, Othello speaks to defend himself saying that he and Desdemona first met not through late-night surreptitious meetings but because Brabantio has invited him openly. He says, "Her father lovd me, oft invited me;/ Still [continually] questiond me the story of my life/ From year to year (1.3.128-130)." Desdemona comes out and says that she and Othello really love each other, that she is not charmed and what Othello stated to the Senate was all true. As the humiliation intensifies as it becomes public during the Senate hearing, Brabantio’ "old thread" was "shorn in twain" and he died shortly thereafter (5.2.204-206)" Brabantio’s death in this play is the real tragedy – a tragedy of a father who tried to protect his daughter from the hands of a person he considered friend, a friend he trusted but betrays him in the end, thereby causing him grief and severe public humiliation. As he searches for justice for the wrong done to him by a supposed friend, he sought the help of the Senate he served well but was not given a fair deal. This caused the Senator’s surmise. Indeed, the tragedy of Brabantio illustrates that the critics were wrong in discerning the real and ultimate victim of this play as Shakepeare intentionally concealed each of his characters behind ambiguity and ambivalence. The truth about Shakespeare’s genuine victim in Othello may take longer to unfold as it is intricately nuanced. We see ourselves being carried away by the deception and the tumultuous passion erupting from each of his characters, and we see each one of them as unintended victim. However, Shakespeare devised his play as such - like a charade, a deceptive plot performed by characters who aimed to deceive. However, this is exactly what Shakespeare wished to imbue as he delineated the theme of appearance and reality in this play: What we see is not what they really are (Ronk 2005). But a reevaluation of Othello may lead us to finally take a closer glimpse of the whole truth - as the words from the play despondently foretell: "twill out, twill out (5.2.219)." Works Cited Hageman, Elizabeth. Women in the Renaissance: Selections from English Literary Renaissance . 1st. Boston: Univ of Massachusetts Pr , 1990. Ronk, Martha. Desdemonas Self-Presentation . 2nd. New York: Blackwell, 2001. Shakespeare, William. Othello, the Moor of Venice. The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Ed. David Bevington. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.1998 Read More