A prominent theme in Othello is the idea of reputation, the varying levels of importance of it has to different people, and how it affects their actions. In Act 1, Iago tells Roderigo about his interpretation of what reputation is for. "Others there are who keep yet their hearts attending on themselves...and when they have lined their coats, do themselves homage" (I.i.53-59). To Iago, the point of having a good reputation is to get yourself into a position where you can serve yourself by taking from others. Knowing how much Othello cares about his reputation, Iago tries to enrage Othello to the point of doing something brash by telling him that Brabantio has spoken poorly of Othello for marrying Desdemona, but Othello is confident that his good reputation will refute any such accusations (page 21). This sets the tone for the remainder of the play; Iago uses his good reputation to manipulate others while Othello tries to preserve his reputation by any means possible.
The main conflict of Othello heavily involves reputation. When Cassio loses his self-restraint while on duty, it costs him his reputation. We see how important reputation is to Cassio by his famous lines to Iago: "Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial. My reputation, Iago, my reputation!" (II.iii.281-284). In fact, Cassio's reputation is so important to him that his main purpose for the remainder of the play becomes restoring his reputation. By listening to Iago's suggestion and working through Desdemona to have his position restored, Cassio fuels Othello's jealousy (and we all know what his jealousy causes him to do). During the play, Othello reveals that one of his primary motives for killing Desdemona is to protect his reputation and keep Desdemona from ruining anyone else's. After Othello has murdered her and the truth has been revealed, Lodovico asks Othello "O thou Othello, that wert once so good, fall'n in the practice of a damnèd slave, what shall be said to thee?" (V.ii.342-344). Othello responds by saying "Why, anything. An honorable murderer, if you will, for nought I did in hate, but all in honor" (V.ii.345-347). Even after learning that he murdered his wife for a crime she did not even commit, he is still concerned with his reputation. In my imagination, Othello would have taken all of the blame for killing Desdemona, proclaiming his misplaced jealousy and the horrible mistake he made. However, he is far too concerned with how people will think of him to cough up an apology. Instead, Othello proclaims himself one who "loved not wisely, but too well".... to the point that he "threw a pearl away richer than all his tribe" (V.ii.404-408). After his monologue, Othello kills himself, his version of retribution. Although he was the one who committed the horrible crime, he becomes the hero who deals justice by killing the criminal, himself. Even though his motives and actions were far from pure, he manages to be the hero in his own eyes by "saving his reputation."
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The lesson I learned while reading Othello was one that proved to be crucially important to comprehending and analyzing the centuries-old play: taking a mental trip to the place and age that the work was written. To do this, I had to do some background reading to get more accustomed to the dialogue and the social tendencies of the time.
One of the most difficult parts about understanding the play was the dialogue. The meaning of particular words and phrases has changed quite a bit over the past four hundred years. One such example comes from the first scene of Act II when Iago is "entertaining" Desdemona, Emilia, and Cassio with some banter about women. Desdemona asks "how if she be black and witty?" (II.i.146). Iago answers, "if she be black, and thereto have a wit, she'll find a white that shall her blackness hit" (II.i.147-148). Without any translation, I can imagine some of the comments this dialogue would receive. But when read with Shakespeare's diction in mind, the conversation becomes something more like... "what about a smart but ugly woman?"... "if she's smart but ugly, she'll still be able to find a guy that will hook up with her." In this case, "black" just meant "ugly" and "white" was a play on the words "wight," as in a man, and the "white," or bull's eye, of an archery target. "Hit" had the same kind of sexual connotation that "hook up" does today. There are a number of places in Othello where it might be necessary to open up an old thesaurus or go to google in order to understand what some dialogue means. As I said in another post, Othello wasn't very familiar with Venice. He had only been there a short time before marrying Desdemona and being sent off to Cyprus. When Iago tells Othello that “in Venice they [women] do let God see the pranks they dare not show their husbands,” Othello is inclined to believe this, and not just because they are best buds (III.iii.233-234). During the Elizabethan Age, Venice was commonly perceived to be a city filled with promiscuous and unfaithful women. Therefore, the jealous Moor did not need much convincing to believe that the woman he married fits the connotation. Reading with consideration for the time period also helped with what, at a glance, seemed to be racist remarks. While we now live in a time where the mere mention of black and white brings about immediate accusations of racism, people used to have thicker skin and enough common sense to realize that not everyone was overtly prejudiced in every way imaginable. In Othello, the Moor is undeniably the only black man in a predominantly white area. Shakespeare used the clash of white and black to visually separate Othello from others and show his inner nature. Black is frequently associated with power and elegance as well as evil and mystery. Othello is a commanding figure--a decorated general proven by battle--but has an evil side to him that comes out in the play. His jealousy and fixation on reputation and immediate retribution blind him. The choice for Othello to be externally black to symbolize his inner qualities. When you think about it, getting more familiar with what we're about to do, whether reading Shakespeare or playing a new board game, is always pretty important, isn't it? I mean, you (hopefully) don't go to a job interview without knowing the job you're applying for and a little bit about the company. If something comes with instructions, it's a good idea to take a minute to read them. There are countless resources for reading Shakespeare, many of which can be easily accessed and are almost always very helpful. As I learned, things turn out better when we have some knowledge going in. It’s time to play the blame game (everyone’s favorite, isn’t it?). Who was the most responsible for causing the tragic events to happen? While compelling arguments could certainly be made for a number of characters in the play (i.e. Othello, Iago, and even Desdemona), I think that the root cause of the play’s outcome was the part that Venetian society played in the characters’ lives.
Othello: A Modern Perspective by Susan Snyder attributes a significant portion of Iago’s motivation for bringing about Othello’s and Cassio’s destruction to “insecurity about his ‘place’ in the social hierarchy” (290). In conjunction with this point, Othello’s social insecurity is what makes him so susceptible to Iago’s manipulation. When Iago tells Othello that “in Venice they [women] do let God see the pranks they dare not show their husbands,” Othello does not have enough experience with Venice or with Desdemona to judge this opinion on (III.iii.233-234). Because of this unfamiliarity, Othello is much more likely to feel he has been taken advantage of. This, along with everything playing out just right, causes Othello’s tendency towards jealousy and aggression to culminate into a disastrous situation. Another cause of the play’s outcome is the overwhelming theme of possession and loss in the Venetian society. It lowers the level of humanity and compassion people have for others, resulting in easier justification for morally wrong and malicious acts. This theme is introduced from the very beginning of the play. For instance, Brabantio tells the court his daughter has been “stol’n from me” (I.iii.73). Othello affirms that he has married Desdemona by saying “I have ta’en away this old man’s daughter, it is most true; true I have married her” (I.iii.93-94). While there is no doubt that these two men have some degree of love and care for Desdemona, they refer to her as a mere object, using the terms “stolen” and “taken” when they speak of her. Roderigo is so passionate for Desdemona that Iago is easily able to convince him that manipulation and even murder are alright as long as he gets the girl in the end. As a fitting final example, Othello relates his act of murdering Desdemona to “[throwing] a pearl away richer than all his tribe” (V.ii.407-408). The picture he paints here is far too innocent and lacks the horrible human intimacy of his deed. |
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