Perhaps Othello Essay

Perhaps Othello substructure non be regarded as the greatest of William Shakespe bes tragedies, but m any lecturers and viewing audience puddle set it incredibly excite, logical, and just about intense of all in all of Shakespeares tactical maneuvers. When performed, Othello is implacable in its drive toward tragedy, draftsmanship spectators into the greatly shocking bend of a husband quickly pushed to carrying into swear out his blameless wife. Moreover, the Afro-American warrior Othello the alone fatal character in Shakespeare becomes a husband of a clear woman.Thus, the tragedy besides touches on alpha protrudes that need become pressing in present period racial prejudice and attraction to the a nonher(prenominal)wise (Othello Study Guide). Othello also allows com handstators to consider such important human issues as the nature of sexual jealousy and the hassle of feeling certain about anything or anyone in this world. This paper is designed, first, to dredge attention to these relevant issues in the looseness of the bowels.Second, it will attempt to analyze these issues by exploring their galore(postnominal) contexts so that it is possible to present various ways of grounds Othello from theoretical perspectives. Othello Shakespeares chief source for Othello was a story found in Giraldi Cinthio Hecatommithi, a collection of interesting tales where the major idea is married couple (Othello Study Guide). If one compares Italian story with Shakespeares, he or she can see English dramatists incredible skills in transforming an cut-and-dry story into logical and sound drama.Shakespeare modifies some eccentrics of the story to emphasize dramatic plot and make character presentation frequently sharper. Further, he makes momentous changes in the text, inserting and removing some parts, to dignify his protagonist and turn a melodramatic story into excellent tragedy. Othello is not created on such a huge scale as Shakespeares othe r famous tragedies. The range has neither the superhuman and magical dimensions of juncture and Macbeth, where the readers meet Ghost and Witches, nor queen regnant Lears unceasing feeling of doubt and uncertainty regarding Nature and the gods.Nevertheless, Othello is the only one of the four tragedies to present the reader with two separate countries as locations civilized world of Renaissance Venice and the island of Cyprus. A. C. Bradley (1962) describes Othello as the most masterly of Shakespeares tragedies in its construction (144). Bradley stresses the item that Shakespeare uses virtually no delaying tactics to thudding down the action in the play, as, for example, in Hamlet where the hero delays his revenge, and no subplot to develop complicating consequences, as the reader finds in King Lear.Acts from 2 to 5, victorious nursing home in Cyprus, form a persistent sequence without significant interruptions. Further, however, there are some variations in pace the slower tread of the willow scene in acts 4 and 3, where Desdemona and genus genus genus genus Emilia take memory board of the situation. In this regard, Ned B. altogetheren (1968) arrives at a conclusion that the instances of long time, for the most part in acts 3 and 4, are the result of Shakespeares sticking to Giraldi Cinthios slow-paced tale more densely there than the playwright does in acts 1 and 2 (13-29).Arguing that retroflex time is a skilful turn to heighten the credibility of the action, Ridley expresses admiration for Shakespeares astonishing skill in placing close together allusions to long time with a strong video of a thirty-three-hour time span on Cyprus (lxx). It is, Ridley believes, a literary proficiency of lulling the reader into thinking that more time has passed than the action declares. In this manner, the reader does not question why, logically, Othello would be killing his wife for her supposed infidelity the very night after he has brought to completion th eir spousal.Interestingly, among Shakespeares tragedies, Othello whitethorn be regarded as the least connected with social or policy- fashioning outgrowths and transformations. The play does not appear to have been written on the topic of a specific historical event or social gallery in the beginning of 1600s. Othello is a domestic tragedy. Thus, it exposes spring plays inside transaction mingled with representatives of patriarchal society in particular, in father- fille and husband-wife relationships.But not like King Lear, that constantly expresses uncertainty about received ascendance as the kings status is depreciated, Othello does not deal with the wider semipolitical branches of this social fountain. Nor does Othello take into consideration faults in state power that the reader can observe in Shakespeares history plays and Coriolanus. Although Othello is of aristocratic birth, he is not the actual or possible leader of his realm (while Lear, Macbeth, and Hamlet are all kings), upon whose decisions and thoughts depend the whole state and its people.At the alike(p) time, however, Othello is concerned with important cultural and social issues. Precisely, Othellos exact semblance has been much considered with references to racist issues (Shakespearean Criticism). What is important is that Othello is a black warrior, in all likelihood from North Africa, and now d tumefying in a median(a) European society. The issue of racial difference is deeply embedded in the tragedy and is very well obvious in capital punishment. How would the character have been considered by the Jacobean public, and how is he unders tood this day?Does Othello make social movement to incorporate or refuse to accept racist stereotypes of that time? How much does Desdemona, a clear top(prenominal)-class representative, breaks the moral rules of her society by making decision to marry a black warrior, and finally does Othello croak acclaim to or reject her open and b old resistance to antecedentity and power? Taking into consideration these questions, one can analyze ways in which Othello contributes to the discussion on two groups black African men and clean women that were often made seem unimportant in the beginning of ordinal century.Even though it cannot be equated with present day racial disagreement issues, garble prejudice appears to have developed in England under puff Elizabeth and King James. Black was associated with evil, Africans dark skins was considered to belong to the bait. Taking into account the racial prejudices of the time, it is unusual that Shakespeare decides to make his tragic hero an Afro-American and his villain the white Iago.Critic John Salway, for example, considers that Shakespeare introduces the general preconceptions regarding Africans by mover of the racist word of Iago and Brabantio Iago glibly utters slander about Othello as lusty Moor and discommode, while Brabantio, who lovd Othello as a warrio r, ascribes responsibility to him for winning his daughters love through damned witchcraft (30). John Salway considers that the playwright does so only to explode these prejudices in the course of the play. In this respect, Othellos mistake is a natural human weakness rather than a fault coming from his race.John Salway also acknowledges the long- ceremonious medieval tradition, literary and decorative, that connected the black man with lower flagrant in society and damnation. The author argues, at the same time, that a countercurrent of religious discourse and art, for example, the particular(prenominal) importance given to inner holiness over outward appearance and the description of Balthazar, one of the Magi bearing gifts for the infant Christ, as a black man, provided Shakespeare with an opportunity to develop Othello as a great Christian piece (45).Salway finds no prove in the tragedy that the character is really savage, since he gains his nobility again after his tragic l oss of faith in Desdemona (55-56). Martin Orkin (1987), a South African scholar keenly aware of how Shakespeares Othello gives occasion for racist responses, is in basic agreement with Salways statements. He believes that Shakespeare works consciously against the color prejudice that can be seen in the actors line of Iago, Roderigo, and Brabantio and denies such prejudices giving emphasis to the limitations of human judgment in general as the real cause of Othellos tragedy (170-181).All this is right from the one side Shakespeare creates his characterization of valiant Othello far beyond that of the handed-down stereotype. On the other side, however, there are situations in the play when Othellos actions do generate the sinful barbarian image. This is specifically the pillowcase in act 4, where the character loses his mind in a frantic mania of jealousy (savage madness is how Iago gives account of it), promises to chop Desdemona into messes after overhearing the dialogue that ta kes place between Iago and Cassio.Moreover, Othello behaves immorally by making a physical attack on Desdemona in public. Does Shakespeare try to demonstrate color prejudice by making Othello returning again and again to the handed-down image of black savage? One resistance against attack on Othellos behavior in the play is to claim that it is a conquest of Iagos hard-hearted intrigue with him, combined with the Moors dramatic ingenuity to consider as true the negative, oversimplified stereotype of himself. It seems that Othellos humiliating performance is almost destined to cause the audience to become unfriendly, both Jacobean and present.By the concluding part of the play, Othello is divided between the individual characteristics he has attempted to maintain as an honorary white in Venice where the Senate has allowed him army services and even more, in contrast to Brabantio, forgave his relationship with a white woman and his strong inner sense of himself as an African Othe r. In being fatally overwhelmed by jealousy and murdering his wife, Othello eventually describes himself as more related by blood to the ignoble Judean and the malicious Islamic Turk than to the civilized and noble Christian.Some readers and viewers may feel that Othello compensates his rank as an inspiring tragic hero in the culmination, while others may dissent in opinion. And while it is right to claim that Othello does not give approval to the deeply felt prejudices of an Iago, how does the audience feel about Emilias racist comments in the final part of the play? Emilia becomes the center of tragic attention when she reveals Othellos dreadful mistake and dismantles any just grounds for his believing that Desdemona committed sexual intercourse with other man.Preoccupied with her frank truth-telling, the spectators are encouraged to become accomplices of her views even though they are full of racial intense dislike. Emilia refers to Othello as the blacker devil describing his be havior as ignorant as dirt and feels sorry that Desdemona was too fond of her most filthy bargain. These examples demonstrate the difficulty of range an exact decision where the play stands regarding Othellos blackness and racial prejudice.Because of the fact that the balance of dramatic sympathies shifts from episode to episode, readers are likely to agree with Emilias angry release of prejudice while rejecting Iagos coldly malicious racialism, in spite of the close relationship he has established with the reader. In this regard, one can compare Othello with Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice. bonny as The Merchant of Venice may at the same time set down anti-Semitic prejudice (in Shylocks probing speech Hath not a Jew eyes? and support it (with Shylocks absurdly mismated behavior and wish that his daughter were hearsd at my foot, and the ducats in her lay ), it can be stated that Othello stimulates discourse regarding the racist stereotypes of the sixteenth-century life even though it supports them to some extent. It should be observed, however, that to be totally free of racism and any discrimination, the playwright would have to invent a new language with no words take holding a hidden implication, no unfair treatment of a color character, and no connection in the play between blackness and evil, whiteness and good.Expressing the same idea but differently, Othello cannot go beyond the language and traditions of its culture. According to Juliet Dusinberre (1976), if black-skinned men were considered as the Other in the sixteenth-century Europe, so women could be also called as a painful Other in patriarchal communities. The Reformation in England is at times thought as a period when attitudes and views toward female roles, at least inside marriage relations, were becoming more liberal and humanistic (Dusinberre 3-5).Puritans encouraged an equal marriage partnership, in contrast to the accredited without question subordination of wife to her husb and, and valued married chastity above celibacy. However, it can be supposed that this prime of the married relationships might have served as a method to contain womens uncontrollable intrust rather than to encourage a real self-dependence for them. It is easy to see that Desdemona is committed to the ideal of married chastity, but she is also a woman who tries to rebel.Obviously, her courageous rejection of her fathers wishes (and, globally, those of the Venetian upper class) so that it is possible to marry a black warrior and her honest desire to follow the rites for which she married Othello create behavior not conforming to accepted rules and standards in Venetia. The woman has stepped beyond the permitted boundaries of her race Against all rules of nature, as Brabantio describes this and the unobtrusiveness that most people expect of female sexual activity. Shakespeare, in spite of her faults, presents the disaffected and disobedient Desdemona as a character deserving admiration.Her powerful and effective language in explaining why she chose Othello despite her fathers unwillingness, her sturdy strong passion for the Moor, and her spirited and powerful (even though unreasonable) defense of Cassio are all probable to win the sympathies and admiration of the readers. Desdemonas boldness, as well as Othellos initial approval and praise of it (he describes her as his fair warrior when he comes to Cyprus), all say about a marriage with usual love and respect for each other.When living in Cyprus, however, Desdemona becomes more isolate and open to temptation and persuasion. Once Othello incorporates Iagos views, interpreting the meaning of Desdemonas behavior as unfaithful and indiscriminate actions, the woman has no means of opposing her husbands violent desire to control her life. It would seem, taking into consideration these issues, that there are contradictory messages present throughout the play about what behavior is right for women.The uncon trollable female who calls into question her place in the male-dominated community is given some capacity for independent action but ironically is then punished, primarily because Othello misinterprets her actions, but also, the drama may suggest, because of her desires going beyond acceptable boundaries of taste and convention of the time. Like with the issue of racism regarding Othellos personality, Emilias role emphasizes the contradictory treatment of women in the tragedy.Her passionate defense of wives in act 4 produces the double sexual standard by which relationships between men and women are decided And have not we affections? Desires for sport? and frailty? as men have? Then let them use us well else let them know, The ills we do, their ills memorize us so. Since Emilia expresses a convinced belief that women are mens equals in desire and have the full right to stand firm and act like their husbands, her declaration is potentially ungrounded in its denial of gender quali ties that work only to the advantage of men.At the same time, however, the meaning of the speech, as well as what the reader knows of Emilia so far, tends to decrease the power of the statement. Emilia has the similar gender of Desdemona but not social position. As a result, Shakespeares readers might make little of the sense of her statements, justifying them as fitting for serving women but not actual for upper-class women. Interestingly, Emilia has surrendered to her husbands fantasy herself. She subordinated herself to his fanciful idea and thus confirm the opposite of her philosophy of independence by presenting him the gift. ConclusionRegarded by many scholars as one of Shakespeare greatest tragedies, together with Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear, Othello has a traditional tragic plot, tracing the heros fall from splendor and combine together human qualities of nobility with actins and decisions that lead to unavoidable suffering and loss. Othello is, at the same time, one of Shakespeares most emotionally touching works. The hotheaded power with which the extremely effective but destructive series of events develops creates an exciting sense of chaotic violent and confused movement that captivates both readers and viewers almost as much as it drives the characters.Shakespeares character development and his incorporation of difficult issues in the play produced an incredibly complex play that considers a number of important moral and social questions. Works Cited Allen, Ned B. The ii Parts of Othello, ShS, 2, 1968, in Honigmann, E. A. J. Othello. Cengage Learning EMEA, 2001. Bradley, A. C. Shakespearean Tragedy. capital of the United Kingdom Macmillan, 1962. Dusinberre, J. Shakespeare and the Nature of Women. London and Basingstoke Macmillan, 1976. Orkin, M. Othello and the Plain Face of Racism, SQ, 38. 2, 1987.Othello Study Guide. Available from http//www. shakespearefest. org/Othello%20Study%20Guide. htm Othello. Shakespearean Criticism. Available fr om http//www. enotes. com/shakespearean-criticism/othello-vol-68 Salway, J. current Negroes and Circumcised Dogs Racial Disturbances in Shakespeare, in Lesley Aers and Nigel Wheale (eds. ), Shakespeare in the Changing Curriculum (London and tender York Routledge, 1991). Shakespeare, W. Othello, the Moore of Venice. Shakespeare Homepage. Available from http//shakespeare. mit. edu/othello/full. html