Othello:
As typical of Shakespearian titular characters, Othello is at the centre of real-world conflicts as much as he is
at the centre of the play’s conflict.
The psychological battlefield Iago creates is analogous to the trauma inflicted by racism.
Initially, Othello believes in loves ability to conquer all hatred, however, ultimately, his insecurities and
desire for self-assurance win – he is as much a victim of his own selfishness and avarice as he is Iago’s
manipulations.
Shakespeare perhaps suggests that the true tragedy is the hierarchical, colonial society that urges the
sacrifice of love and liberty for the sake of conforming to succeed.
VALIENT VICIOUS: Shakespeare initially presents Othello as a prudent, level-headed individual who
seeks to resolve conflict rather than cause it – “keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them”
(act 1, scene 2) indicating that he doesn’t view violence as a solution, instead uses the strength of his voice
to assert himself. Suggests he is not influenced by the type of toxic masculinity (vain, impulsive, and
belligerent) that defines many heroes in Elizabethan literature and within his own military culture (e.g.
Iago). This is subverted by the end of the play as Othello is ultimately only able to see violence as a possible
answer: “first to be hanged and then to confess” (Act 4, Scene 1) – paradoxical statement shows the broken
state of his mind, no longer the eloquent warrior he once was, Othello has lost all sense of justice and fair
trial (ironic as this was granted to him in the first act) in wishing Cassio to first be “hanged” and then
“confess” Shakespeare suggests Othello now craves death before the truth, showcasing his broken mental
state as he morphs into the brutish “moor” everyone expected him to be, completely .
Othello’s attitude towards Desdemona devolves from worshipping her to completely despising her. Through
the powerful, auspicious, and opportune manipulation of the play’s protagonist Iago (who strives to
exacerbate the inevitable fall of the tragic hero for his own selfish gain) Othello’s jealousy is ultimately
proved to be far stronger that his love for Desdemona and thus he grows to resent her.
EQUALITY OF D+O: Within the opening acts Shakespeare evokes a sense of equality in the relationship
between Othello and Desdemona as Othello greets her as “my fair warrior”. This establishes that Othello
treats Desdemona as a partner rather than someone below himself. The address “warrior” has more
masculine connotations, which subverts the expectations of Elizabethan women to be subservient and
gentle, instead it portrays Desdemona as bold and courageous - given Othello’s found comfort in the military
sphere this depiction of his wife accentuates the solace he finds in Desdemona’s presence. In this sense,
Othello reveals an equal power balance which may insinuate that their relationship is based of true love,
rather than being a marriage of exchange or convenience that was typical of marriages in the Elizabethan
era.
O NAMECALLING D: This is a direct contrast to how he addresses her after he is convinced of her infidelity,
signifying his leap from worship to hatred. His repetition of words ‘whore’ and ‘strumpet’ throughout the
scene indicates how far he is removed from the noble general of the first two acts, even though he still
speaks poetically and with his customary measured tone at times his language has been polluted by his
jealousy, reflecting his new view of Desdemona as well as mirroring the crass, depraved language of Iago -
this now shared element of speech communicates Othello’s descent from lover to enemy as he is now
aligned with the villain of the play. This change is also dramatized through his use of contrasting images, the
most notable of which being ‘the fountain’ which becomes ‘a cistern for foul toads’ as these could be
argued to act as a metaphor for (what he perceives as) the progression of his and Desdemona’s love – once
natural and beautiful, now polluted by grotesque images of adultery and jealousy (this is heightened by the
fact that, contextually, ‘toads’ were often associated with demonic beings and hell thus suggesting the sin
that now runs parallel to their love).
O PROXIMITY TO D: Othello’s change is not only evident in his language surrounding Desdemona but also his
actions. In the first act, Othello concludes his speech by stating “Here comes the Lady. Let her witness it.” -
“Lady” = gentlemanly behaviour that was increasingly displayed throughout his introductory speech is
finally addressed directly to Desdemona. The strength of his love along with his assured demeanour are
further highlighted with his use of the imperative to end his speech as allowing Desdemona, a woman, to
interfere with court proceedings would be unheard of at this time considering the extremely patriarchal,
misogynistic society ‘Othello’ was set in. This line is important as 17th century women had to repress their
, voice; by allowing Desdemona to use her voice, Othello suggests that his love for Desdemona transcends all
social barriers thus showing his confidence in their relationship which in turn insinuates that his feelings for
her come from a place of genuine care. However, following this point in the play, Othello’s attitude to
Desdemona undergoes a great transformation as he completely denies her a voice in this extract
dominating conversation with lengthy speech while her responses are limited to an average of only 1 line
of speech. He also undermines her and attempts to dismiss her affection by ordering her ‘away, away,
away’; this is an extreme contrast to his attitude at the beginning of the play with his repetition conveying
the extreme extent of his aggravation and distain towards her.
DID O EVER TRULY LOVE D: The near immediate transition in Othello’s feelings towards his wife (happening
over the span of merely one scene) shows the lack of middle ground in their love-hate dynamic, perhaps
hinting at the extreme depth of what their love was as it didn’t wither but was instead converted to
resentment that is equally as strong, this interpretation enhances the overall tragedy of the play. However,
the swift change in his emotions could bring into question whether Othello truly loved her (given his
readiness to believe the single source of new of her infidelity) or whether he simply used her as a tool to
integrate himself further into the venetian society that rejected his skin colour so heavily.
HE LOVES HER AS HE HILLS HER: Shakespeare cleverly uses a soliloquy to open the final scene of the play,
allowing audience to understand Othello’s mental state as the tragedy of the play climaxes, oscillating
between two extremes – through this technique, the persistent nature of Othello’s love for Desdemona
becomes obvious (and thus does its intensity) however it is undermined by his twisted sense of divine justice
which ultimately reveals the change in where his loyalty now lies. The scene opens as Othello repeatedly
states that “it is the cause”, this repetition could be designed to demonstrate the depth of his love despite
his hatred as he must repeatedly remind himself of his justification for his actions, suggesting that if he
doesn’t focus on his rage, he will find himself unable to harm his wife. This is furthered as he continues his
speech to rationalize that “she must die, else she’ll betray more men” thus highlighting the switch in his
loyalties as now, rather than protecting his wife as a Jacobean husband would be expected to do, he
intends to harm her in order to protect the society that alienates criminalizes him because of his skin tone,
thus heightening the tragedy of the play as Othello’s fall from grace leaves audiences questioning the sanity
behind choosing those who keep him at arms-length over the wife whom he clearly loves. He then goes on
to detail how he must “put out the light” as a euphemism for strangling Desdemona – his decision to use a
euphemism suggests that his love prevents him from physically voicing his plan to murder her, while he can
admit that “she must die” the love he holds for her makes it too painful for him to confess that it will be by
his hands. Othello’s continual use of sinister language creates a dark tone however this is contrasted by his
eloquent manner of speaking that makes its return form the first half of the play, this could be done to
reflect his mental conflict of love vs the mixture of rage and grief over what their love once was.
O’S ELOQUENCE: Previously in the play, Othello’s eloquence was used as an indicator of his intelligence,
respectability and most importantly as a method of vividly communicating his love for Desdemona, its
return in the final scene of the play could be employed by Shakespeare to reflect how said love is not lost,
merely overshadowed by rage (hence the dark tone to contrast the lighter one from earlier). This perfectly
feeds into Othello’s role as a tragic hero, here audiences see the start of his redemption as his return to
heroic nobility is indicated by the cyclical structure of his speech throughout the play.
O BEING SAVAGE: When learning of Desdemona’s supposed infidelity, Othello continually uses hyperboles
to express his anger – an example of this is when he claims he “will chop her into messes!”. This particular
impression serves to illuminate his anger as “messes” are piece of food, this creates an animalistic image of
Othello, feeding the savage stereotypes of “moor[s]” – this illustrates Othello’s fall as a tragic hero, his
dramatic language serves to distort the previously valiant image the audience would have held of him into
one which mirrors Iago’s depraved view. The predatory image created here arguable reflect the similar
imagery used by Iago, highlighting his masterful manipulation as thus how his role as the classic
Machiavellian villain supports the structure of the play as an Aristotelian tragedy as the play centres around
the downfall of a tragic hero due to a fatal flaw, in this case Othello’s fatal flaw is his insecurity due to his
predetermined disadvantage which breeds jealousy, and thus is exploited by Iago, but also invokes
sympathy from the audience. Throughout this scene Shakespeare choses to use exclamation points for a
large portion of Othello’s speech to convey the passion and rage that these lines should be delivered with in
order to portray how he is unable to cope with the immense shame and injustice he feels.
