Explore the theme of reputation in Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’
In Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’, the theme of reputation is seen through the characters of
Brabantio, Iago, Cassio and Othello. Brabantio is concerned about his reputation after being
provoked by Iago whilst Cassio and Othello strive to preserve notable reputations. As the
play unfolds they get exceedingly desperate to defend their reputations, this obsession
ultimately leads to their downfall. Writing in the Jacobean era, the male characters would be
competing for honourable titles in order to be recognised in society, the female characters
however have little status other than ensuring that their male counterparts’ reputations are
preserved.
Firstly, Shakespeare effectively presents the theme of reputation in Act 1 when Iago and
Roderigo call for Brabantio to make him aware of Desdemona’s elopement. Iago tells
Brabantio to “Look to your house, your daughter, and your bags!” By contrasting Desdemona
with material items that build Brabantio’s reputation, like his grand house and expensive
items within his house, Desdemona is denoted as a passive character who is there to ensure
her fathers reputation- this is reinforced by how she is referred to as the property of her
father through the use of the third person (‘your daughter’). The Jacobean audience would
be shocked because a daughter’s role at the time was to be obedient to her father and to
marry who he chooses in order to keep the family reputation, Thomas Rymer reinforced this
and (being a critic from Shakespeare’s time) argues that Desdemona is “a woman without
sense because she married a blackamoor.” Brabantio’s reaction to Iago’s accusation shows
the impact of a crumbling reputation, he frantically states “Where didst thou see her? ... –
How didst thou know ‘twas she?...O treason of the blood!” His fragmented speech and
rhetorics here mimics that of Othello in act 5 when he has descended into mania after
believing that Desdemona was unfaithful, both Othello and Brabantio fall for Iago’s
manipulation due to his false dignity and false reputation he asserts, his speech is often in
iambic pentameter when talking to characters with good reputation to make them believe he
is of a similar status and by extension is trustworthy. Brabantio’s reaction reinforces Rymer’s
assertion that Desdemonda made a mistake because she committed a ‘treason of the blood’
by marrying outside of her race which was seen as a form of disloyalty to your family at the
time. More contemporary critics like Bradely would assert that Desdemona’s passion for love
over her father’s reputation made her “radiant with the heavenly purity of heart”, therefore we
can see that different critics would have differentiating views based on the context of their
evaluation. Brabantio and Iago, then, show the theme of reputation by conforming to
traditional Jacobean stereotypes about daughters being hitherto obedient to the men in their
lives and about reputation being equivalent to your social status/worth.
Moreover, Iago uses his (otherwise false) reputation as an ‘honest’ man to manipulate others
to satisfy his needs. He reminds other characters of his piety when attempting to convince
them of his trustworthiness to make his statements more believable, when comforting Cassio
after he lost his reputable position as Lieutenant Iago ironically states that, “As I am an
honest man... Reputation is an idle and most false imposition”. By comforting Cassio that
reputation is a ‘false imposition’, a sense of dramatic irony is created because the audience
is aware that Iago is manipulating Cassio by stating that he has an ‘honest’ reputation when
in reality he is deceptive and would like to take Cassio’s honourable position as Lieutenant.
This is seen in his various asides where he uses allegorical language to cover up his
manipulative intentions of ‘ensnaring a great fly as Michael Cassio”, Iago’s asides would be
, argued by critics like E. A. Honingham to give the audience 'dramatic perspective’ and the
use of meta-theatrical techniques makes the audience aware of how his honest reputation is
a hoax. Elizabethan and Jacobean playwrights used asides to share a character's intentions
without revealing them to the other characters. This in turn further develops the audience's
profile of Iago as the villain of the play, continuing to enact deceitful behaviour. As spiders
weave an inescapable web for flies, Iago plans to construct a web of lies to similarly trap
Cassio, and frame him for adultery to destroy his reputation. Cassio’s response to being fired
by Othello is similar to Brabantio and Othello’s response to finding out that Desdemona had
betrayed them, he states “Reputation, reputation, reputation! ... I have lost the immortal part
of / [myself]” By equating his reputation to something ‘immortal’, connotations of the religious
significance of the everlasting soul can be formed, the Jacobean chain of being would see
those with more status and good reputations to be more virtuous and religious, therefore it is
no surprise that Cassio’s repetition of ‘reputation’ show his fear and anxiety of plummeting to
the bottom of the hierarchy, or hell.
Finally, Othello’s reputation makes the largest plummet in the play with a stark contrast
between his representation in act 1 to that of in act 5. At the start of the play he is described
as ‘valiant’ and ‘noble’ which connotes his pious and religious reputation, however by the
end he is described as a ‘devil’ and ‘villain, the juxtaposition between heavenly and hellish
imagery drives the narrative forward because is shows the great fall Othello’s reputation has
made and puts him at the bottom of the Jacobean chain of being. This would startle the 17th
century audience and not only did Othello kill, but he also is equated with the devil making
him a symbol for the consequences of betraying God and being tempted by Iago. Critic John
E. Seaman argues that Othello’s temptation to the words of Iago is ‘a version of adam’s…
and an inversion of Eve’s’, this suggests that Othello's reputation plummeting may not have
been initially his fault but he was the one who believed the words of Iago without questioning
them enough. His staggered speech when being manipulated by Iago into believing that
Desdemona committed the sin of adultery shows the moment his reputation falls, "Lie with
her? Lie on her?...Handkerchief - confessions - handkerchiefs''. The fragmented speech
here is a contrast between his iambic pentameter at the start of the play which shows how
his status has fallen after giving into Iago’s deception, ironically the play on the etymology of
‘Lie’ by Othello mimics that of the clown in act 3, which forbade the fall in reputation to a
lower status (like a clown) to the audience. Whilst Othello’s reputation is visibily plummeting,
he attempts to cover up the damage to his reputation that he belives Desdemona had done
by committing an ‘honourable murder’ to make up for her accussed sin, due to Jacobean
social standards in which women had little reputation, Desdemona allows him to do so and is
complicit with his actions but requests him to ‘let me live tonight’. As a woman, Desdeona’s
reputation is much smaller than a man’s and by the end of the play her reputation is what
makes Emilia believe her and what ends up killing Othello.
Brabantio, Cassio, Othello, and Iago strive for notable reputations; Iago intends to use
reputation as a tool for manipulation, but Brabantio, Cassio and Othello want noteworthy
reputations for their own pride. The desperation of these characters, after they start losing
their reputations, leads to their demise. The status of women in the Jacobean era meant that
their reputations were based off of their male counterparts meaning their actions reflected
them, arguably it was the reputation of all the male characters which caused the demise of
Desdemona and the demise of their own statuses.
