Course work theme: Visibility and essence in the tragedy Othello

Chapter II. content and essence of othello
2.1. violence and identity in Shakespeare's Othello
As a result, Othello and Desdemona find unleashed upon them, in the shape of Iago, the venomous rage of a society whose foundations are rocked by the mere fact of their marriage. ‘For if such actions may have passage free,’ Brabantio warns the Venetian Senate, ‘Bond-slaves and pagans shall our statesmen be’ (1.2.98-9). Brabantio perceives at once that there’s much more at stake in this interracial union than the violation of his honour as Desdemona’s father. If we turn a blind eye to this outrage, Brabantio argues in effect, we’re treating our inferiors as our equals, which means there’s nothing to stop the subhuman underclass or the heathen outcasts of society taking our place and having power over us. Shakespeare makes it plain from the start that it’s not just Iago the newly-weds are up against, but the status quo and a view of the world which Iago merely embodies in its most lethal form.
For it’s not just Iago whose speech is infected with contempt for ‘the Moor’ (as he repeatedly refers to Othello), though the intensity of his loathing is unrivalled. ‘Even now, now, very now, an old black ram / Is tupping your white ewe’ , he cries to Brabantio in the opening scene. Roderigo derides Othello too as ‘the thick-lips’ , while Brabantio, in his public confrontation with Othello, finds it inconceivable that his daughter should desire to ‘Run from her guardage to the sooty bosom / Of such a thing as thou’ without being drugged or bewitched. In a vain attempt to placate Brabantio, the Duke assures him that ‘If virtue no delighted beauty lack, / Your son-in-law is far more fair than black’ . So endemic to Venetian culture are such attitudes that Othello and Desdemona can’t help absorbing them too: ‘I saw Othello’s visage in his mind’ , Desdemona declares to the Senate, oblivious to the unintended insult that brave declaration implies. When Othello’s faith in Desdemona’s love for him begins to crumble, his complexion is the first thing he blames: ‘Haply, for I am black, / And have not those soft parts of conversation / That chamberers have’ . And he instinctively employs his own blackness as a metaphor for his wife’s alleged depravity: ‘Her name, that was as fresh / As Dian's visage, is now begrim'd and black / As mine own face’


I may argue that Othello’s first identity is self-created perfectly; his identity is not false, overly perfected, or pretended. Hollindale also agrees with this understanding of Othello’s identity and argues that Othello “knows himself, and he admires himself - his soldiership, his manliness, his age and experience, his race and colour – all” . Othello perceives himself as a middle-aged man, who despite his dark skin has gained the approval of sennet; he is proud of his manliness, his soldier status and his experiences. He feels at peace with his being, 29 his life, and his position in Venice. He, however, doubts his identity and begins reconsidering his concept of self while finding himself in the presence of Desdemona, a white Venetian lady. I notice that Othello begins a new and risky adventure of the self, an adventure that at time gives him breathless moments: Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul But I do love thee! And when I love thee not, Chaos is come again. . Othello’s speech reveals many important mysteries regarding his state of mind. Through these words, Othello unconsciously admits to his dark side of self, stating his life was in a state of chaos before meeting and falling in love with Desdemona, even though he seemed quite satisfied with his life. In addition, he sees his love for Desdemona as a remedy for his chaos and sees Desdemona as the one who rescues him from his former barbarousness. I argue that this is where Othello begins to doubt the reality and honesty of his previous self, life, and being. The truth is that some very deep part of Othello, so deeply rooted in his conscious, cannot accept his fortune. To him, marrying a young, white, courtly, native-born Venetian girl sounds quite unbelievable, so much so that he repeatedly tries to rationalize his marriage. He, for instance, explains to the Venetian senate: she swore, in faith 'twas strange, 'twas passing strange; 'Twas pitiful, 'twas wondrous pitiful. She wish'd she had not heard it, yet she wish'd That heaven had made her such a man. She thank'd me, And bade me, if I had a friend that lov'd her, 30 I should but teach him how to tell my story, And that would woo her. Upon this hint I spake: She lov'd me for the dangers I had pass'd, And I lov'd her that she did pity them. As Othello, himself, admits, he endeavors to find a reason for his “miraculous extension of his life and identity,” an explanation for his unusual luck, a fortune that he finds to be very difficult. For this reason, I argue that Othello’s main problem is his unbelief; he, similar to Venetians, cannot accept that Desdemona, a young beautiful Venetian girl, has fallen in love with him, since he is just a middle-aged, black Moor. I may also assert that Othello takes a big risk with a soldier's loyalties and friendship, with Venice, and mainly with himself. He has to move from his sense of identity as soldier, the comrade, and the man, to his newly formed world where he is a weak and insecure lover. Hollindale also recognizes this importance and asserts that Othello believes that Desdemona has fallen in love with what he is, and not who he is. In fact, Othello assumes that Desdemona loves him as “a romantic story, a biography, a reputation,” and not an un-courtly middle-aged black”. Using this weak notion of self, Iago, a typical Venetian man, is capable of further destroying the already confused mind of Othello—a mind which is convinced of its inferiorities because of its race, age, and culture. I see these elements together reminding Othello of his black origin: Haply, for I am black, 31 And have not those soft parts of conversation That chamberers have, or for I am declin'd Into the vale of years (yet that's not much), She's gone. I am abus'd, and my relief Must be to loathe her. O curse of marriage! In this scene, without really witnessing the truth, Othello sees Desdemona “gone” already, and with this imagined loss of Desdemona, I see the end of Othello’s perfected self, his positive perception, and his wise worldview. I believe that this imagined loss marks the beginning of Othello’s new self, perception and worldview. This transition from perfected self to defeated self guides Othello into a psychological chaos, where he comes to lose his perfected self: “O, now, for ever Farewell the tranquil mind! Farewell content! Farewell the plumd and troops and the big wars That make ambition virtue. O, farewell! Farewell! Othello's occupation's gone”. However, the past Othello is not dead forever. I believe that Othello’s former self is simply lost within his mind. This explains why Othello can revive his past self at the end of the play, where he has already murdered Desdemona’s self. In other words, with the death of Desdemona comes the revival of Othello’s past self. For this reason, I may argue that Othello’s immediate mourning over Desdemona’s death proves his sense of humanity and differentiates him from Iago, for he soon realizes the wrongness of his action. He declares that Desdemona is “Cold, cold, my girl, Even like thy chastity"
As mentioned earlier, Othello’s first identity is fully a construction of his own mind and will. Scholars might infer that Othello deliberately presents a different identity at different situations in order to fit within Venetion sociocultural identity. For instance, he constructs a new identity since he finds himself in Venice, a culturally different place. Jonathan P Sell refers to this construction of identity or self as “theatrical mask” . He further asserts that people come to “conceive of identity as a narrative constructed for the pragmatic purposes of social and cultural interaction and acceptance. And, as Goffman argued in Stigma, the pressure, the need to perform palatably, to produce acceptable identity narratives, to pass oneself off as "normal" is greater among those who are in some way or another marginalized by noticeable disparity . Therefore, in an attempt of portraying himself as “normal” Venetian citizen, Othello tries to assimilate himself within Venetian’s culture. Sell argues that Othello’s “narrative of identity is an allusive construction,” and the audience can witness this allusive construction in his narrative: Her father lov'd me, oft invited me; Still question'd me the story of my life From year to year—the [battles], sieges, [fortunes], That I have pass'd. I ran it through, even from my boyish days 33 To th' very moment that he bade me tell it; Wherein I spoke of most disastrous chances: Of moving accidents by flood and field, Of hair-breadth scapes i' th' imminent deadly breach, Of being taken by the insolent foe And sold to slavery, of my redemption thence And portance in my [travel's] history; Wherein of antres vast and deserts idle, Rough quarries, rocks, [and] hills whose [heads] touch heaven, It was my hint to speak—such was my process. Othello's narrative, as Sell asserts, shows how “he has come into contact with the exotic and codified or conceptualised his experiences of it in a manner proper to and therefore admissible by the host culture, in so far as his allusions are proper to that culture's conceptual framework as, in this case, inscribed in its literary heterocosm” (Sell 75). For this reason, I may assert that Othello is capable of defining and perceiving himself as “an Elizabethan traveler” . He sees himself as a traveler, and his fascinating stories are what provide him with a sense of 34 meaning. In fact, his tales are the only factors that help him to marry Desdemona, and this Venetian mask (story telling) persuades the Duke that he is “far more fair than black" . Using this allusive mask, Othello comes to woo Desdemona, and when Desdemona’s father accused Othello of stealing his daughter by witchcraft, Othello remarks that his tales were the only magic he used. However, I realized that Othello uses this identity, the story telling, quite differently. For example, he sometimes uses his tale not to fascinate Desdemona, but to “mock, shame, alienate, and terrorize her”. When Othello is fully convinced that Desdemona has lost the handkerchief, for instance, he still insists on getting the handkerchief back from her only to denigrate her. In this case, his tale Function to debase and destroy Desdemona. I notice that the way he asks for the handkerchief is also denigrating. He asserts, "I have a salt and sullen rheum offends me, / Lend me thy handkerchief,” and in this manner, Othello deliberately desecrates what he once held sacred, for he could have asked for the handkerchief in a different way. He dispossesses Desdemona of the handkerchief and further dispossesses Desdemona herself. In this way, Othello uses the handkerchief (the picture of his romantic ancestry) to humiliate Desdemona (a young Venetian girl), and he is fully conscious of his cruelty, and in this scene, he, once again, directly reveals one of his personal terrors by stating that the cloth "could almost read the thoughts of people,”for he believes others have thoughts that he cannot read and know. I believe that this is what pushes him to adopt a Venetian mask. I, however, see no surprise in the 35 way Othello functions and chooses another identity, for he lives in a period where people are greatly obsessed with having high reputation and honor. Kenneth Gross also recognizes this necessity for adopting a new identity since Venetians were obsessed with “the protean status of public identity and the uncertain lures of fame, reputation, and honor,” and of course, as a black Moor, Othello truly longs to know how other native Venetians think of him . For this reason, I argue that the identity that he illustrates in the play is not truly that of himself; it is the tale of him. This Venetian mask or identity differs from Othello’s original self. Sell sees this reality as “Othello's irremediable transculturality: neither fully Venetian nor any longer fully exotic, he is neither one of us nor one of them”. Since the identity that he presents is not truly his own, and is also loosely attached to him, he fails to maintain this constructed self. For this reason, towards the end of the play, his “repressed identity begins to rip through his Venetian mask” . I believe that Othello, himself, is aware of his elusive mask, and it is for this reason that at the end of the play, he addresses Lodovico, Gratiano and Cassio by stating: When you shall these unlucky deeds relate, Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice. Then must you speak Of one that lov'd not wisely but too well; Of one not easily jealious, but being wrought, Perplexed in the extreme; of one whose hand 36 (Like the base [Indian]) threw a pearl away Richer than all his tribe; of one whose subdu'd eyes, Albeit unused to the melting mood, Drops tears as fast as the Arabian trees. With these expressions, as Sell states, Othello suggests that identity is in essence narrative, which could be either extenuating or malicious . However, I may assert that with this expression, Othello wants to dictate his own, climactic identity narrative for Lodovico to write and take to other people. He begins his narrative by shortly illustrating his psychological self-description, asserting he is "not easily jealous" but easily misled when worked up). He distinguishes between his two identities and sees his Venetian self as responsible for his action. Sell also agrees with this statement and explains, “Othello the Turk, the exotic other, dies at the hands of Othello the Venetian” (Sell). As I may note, Othello finally recognizes the genuineness of his two identities, implying he is both a Venetian and the exotic other. However, the promise of transculturality, to transcend culture, has failed due to Othello himself. Through his own skepticism, I believe that Othello comes to destroy his dream of achieving transculturation. Sell asserts that Othello becomes “lost, a sad black man, first in a long line of so-called achievers who are too weak to yoke their past with their present; too naïve to insist on both; too foolish to realize that to supplant one with the other can only lead to catastrophe" . I argue that this 37 catastrophe comes as a result of Othello achieving neither complete assimilation in the Venetian culture, nor complete eradication of his original cultural imprint. In other words, Othello fails to fully acculturate to Venetian culture because he understands that he can never obtain the whiteness he desires, and also he can never shed the blackness he has learned to devalue. Othello’s problem is simple yet serious. He longs to maintain both cultures equally, and without knowing, in order to survive, he must yield to whichever culture exerts the stronger pull. For him, transculturation forces him to possess different identities, and this is what Othello cannot accept. Additionally, I may assert that Othello comes to construct his identity and wear his Venetian mask because of his need for secure standing in social space. For example, his chosen occupation, which signifies his strength and power, gives him inner peace. For this reason, I believe that Othello’s deepest identity is based on his occupation as a military man. He (wears) his mask because he believes that "men should be what they seem" and not what they truly are

2.2. Racism in Othello

Racism is prejudice toward or discrimination against a person of another race solely because they are of that race. It is a belief that people with another skin color or of another ethnic group have distinct qualities or characteristics that make them inherently "less than," even if this is not the truth.
In William Shakespeare's tragic play, The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice (usually referred to simply as Othello), racism takes center stage. In fact, one of the most common connections drawn by literary critics is between Othello and race. Most of the racism in Othello is directed at the titular character, who is described as a Moor in Europe. "Moor" is an antiquated word for people who hail from North Africa. It describes someone whose skin was black or very dark as opposed to the white skin of everyone else in this play.
Despite being from another country, Othello is serving as a general in the European military; his heart is in Venice with the woman he married there, Desdemona. Trouble brews, however, when Iago, an ensign in Othello's unit, fools Othello into believing that his wife and Othello's lieutenant, Cassio, are having an affair. Already self-conscious about his skin color and the fact that he is older than his young, lovely wife, Othello does not question it when he finds his wife's handkerchief in Cassio's possession. He does not realize that the wicked Iago planted that handkerchief just to enrage him, and this pushes him over the edge. In the end, he kills Desdemona in a fit of jealousy, all because of Iago's manipulation.
Iago and Racism
The manipulation carried out by Iago is, at times, racially charged. When he speaks to Desdemona's father, attempting to get him riled up about Othello marrying his daughter, he speaks in a vulgar manner about the two of them, likening Othello to a brutish, dirty farm animal. "An old black ram is tupping your white ewe," he tells him, knowing that the man is already prejudiced toward those who are not white like him. He wants him to visualize something crude violating his pristine, pure daughter, and his language has the desired effect. He takes this even further by telling him that Desdemona and Othello "are making the beast / with two backs." This is a very derogatory way of saying they are having sex by implying that the Black man is more comparable to an inhuman "beast" than to an upstanding man like Othello. This, too, is racist, as it was a stereotype at the time that those from Africa were more likely to give in to their sexual urges, which was seen as disgusting and uncouth by the European elites. In addition to referring to Othello as a "black ram," he also uses other terms like "a Barbary horse" (a type of horse from Africa) and even "the devil" throughout the play, which both have racist connotations.
There is something else hiding behind Iago's racism, however. While it is clear from the beginning of the play that he is already a hateful man at heart, his wickedness is kicked into high gear when Othello promotes Cassio to the position of lieutenant instead of Iago. He also seems to believe that Othello may have slept with his wife ("I do suspect the lusty Moor / Hath leap'd into my seat," he says at one point) but there is no proof of this in the rest of the play. It is unclear if this affair is something that really happened or if Iago is just being paranoid, but his hatred toward Othello as a person melds with his racism toward people of his skin color to produce a character that is even more despicable.
Brabantio and Racism
Brabantio, Desdemona's father, shares Iago's disdain for people of color. He, too, has another reason to hate Othello — he eloped with his daughter without his permission — but much of his attitude toward Othello is based on racial stereotypes and mistaken beliefs about other cultures. He asserts, for example, that the only reason that Desdemona married Othello was that Othello used potions and magic to steal her away. "She is abused," he says, "stol'n from me, and corrupted / By spells and medicines bought of mountebanks." Mountebanks, in this case, are sketchy swindlers, who he thinks are the type of shady characters someone like Othello would be associating with. He is certain that "sans witchcraft," there is no possible way his daughter could ever naturally love a man like Othello because he can't see past his skin color.
Racism and prejudice, two of the most devastating elements that is engraved into every society and civilization since the beginning of history are a topic of debate and discussion. Racism, a word that looks quite simple on paper, but holds so much more meaning when looking at the whole picture. Racism is something that appears in many shapes and forms directed at those of deemed inferior to those of the opposite race. Although the worlds society has progressed in the last couple of decades, racism still continues to exist as it has in the past. Most literature is inspired by the overall theme of being human and being able to make mistakes but, this does not exclude the theme of racism. The Elizabethan Era was the most obvious time period where the discrimination of race was very evident. The famous Shakespearean play, Othello, is an example of literature that displays the effects of racism. Therefore, Othello is a tragedy that deals with racial conflict rather than other works that deal with the feeling of jealousy that comes from being the opposite race, or the feeling of being outcasted due to being the minority. The play shows racism that places a restrain on love, and also destroys the happiness that one feels when faced with prejudice from fellow peers.
In Othello, the protagonist is a successful, brave soldier from Africa who is also given the title of supreme commander of the Venetian army. Although he is only a Moor, Othello is dedicated to serving his society. When it comes to serving his country, Othello can be seen as a significant and physically powerful figure respected by those around him. However, his deep rooted insecurity of his race makes it difficult to enjoy the sacrament of holy matrimony. Othello is surrounded by the countrymen who do not wish to see the interracial couple that is Othello and Desdemona.
The duration of the play consists of verbalized racism represented by the words ‘Moor’ and ‘Black’, these names are not associated with anyone other than Othello creating this divide and feeling of being an outsider. In the beginning of the play, Othello’s own name is not used when he is introduced, in fact he is instead called ‘thick-lips’ and ‘an old black man’. As the play develops the audience can see Iago’s growing hatred towards Othello’s race. In Iago’s mind a black soldier cannot be as successful as a white soldier, a black man is not worthy or deserving of marrying a white woman. When Iago hears the news of Othello and Desdemona’s marriage he becomes enraged, spitting out racist language in response. In the Elizabethan Era, marrying behind a father’s back was unacceptable, however when it is revealed that Desdemona married a black man, this aggravates the situation further. As Othello ‘steals’ Brabantio’s daughter from him he furiously says to Roderigo, ‘O, that you had had her!’. Brabantio would have been more pleased with a marriage to a man he did not approve of compared to a marriage to a black man.
Due to all of the damage that Othello caused, his reputation of being a good soldier is destroyed. Othello’s fellow soldiers were able to see pass his race in some aspects due to the respect of his kills, however when the truth of the secret marriage is revealed the respect Othello had once had is gone. Othello is angered by the idea of being judged merely by the color of his skin.
It remains clear that Brabantio will never accept the marriage between Desdemona and Othello. In Brabantio’s eyes nothing good can come from the Moor. Othello’s good soldier illusion is shattered due to him being another race. To him, if Othello is black then Desdemona and his love cannot be real and thus is questioned. Brabantio is so blinded by Othello’s skin color that he believes the only way that Desdemona could be in love with Othello is if she is bewitched. From this idea Brabinito proclaims:
O thou thief, where hast thou stow’d my daughter? Damn’d as thou art, thou hast enchanted her; For I’ll refer me to all things of sense,
Conclusion on chapter II
As a result, Othello and Desdemona find unleashed upon them, in the shape of Iago, the venomous rage of a society whose foundations are rocked by the mere fact of their marriage. ‘For if such actions may have passage free,’ Brabantio warns the Venetian Senate, ‘Bond-slaves and pagans shall our statesmen be’ (1.2.98-9). Brabantio perceives at once that there’s much more at stake in this interracial union than the violation of his honour as Desdemona’s father. If we turn a blind eye to this outrage, Brabantio argues in effect, we’re treating our inferiors as our equals, which means there’s nothing to stop the subhuman underclass or the heathen outcasts of society taking our place and having power over us. Shakespeare makes it plain from the start that it’s not just Iago the newly-weds are up against, but the status quo and a view of the world which Iago merely embodies in its most lethal form.
Despite being from another country, Othello is serving as a general in the European military; his heart is in Venice with the woman he married there, Desdemona. Trouble brews, however, when Iago, an ensign in Othello's unit, fools Othello into believing that his wife and Othello's lieutenant, Cassio, are having an affair. Already self-conscious about his skin color and the fact that he is older than his young, lovely wife, Othello does not question it when he finds his wife's handkerchief in Cassio's possession. He does not realize that the wicked Iago planted that handkerchief just to enrage him, and this pushes him over the edge. In the end, he kills Desdemona in a fit of jealousy, all because of Iago's manipulation.

CONCLUSION

Othello is a tragedy of perception, and in this thesis, I have sought to demonstrate that he is the one responsible for the horrifying event that takes place at the end of the play. Some critics may argue with my assertion and state that Iago, who is the most devilish character in all the Shakespearian plays, is the main root of tragedy, but I have illustrated that Othello was the one who submits his thoughts, mind, and will to that of Iago. Throughout the play, Othello goes through different thought patterns and tries to adopt different identities in order to fit himself 55 within Venetian social norms. Once he finds himself well-respected in Venice and married to Desdemona, he doubts his own perfect, self-constructed world, and this unbelief is what leads him to his uncontrollable jealousy and madness. I have illustrated how Shakespeare presents two Othellos within the play. The first is the “normal” Othello, who is a loyal, honest warrior, aware of the reality, a man who has control over his thoughts and emotions and shows respect for both others and himself. He is the "noble Moor whom our full Senate / Call all in all sufficient", the man "Whom passion could not shake" . There is also the Psychotic Othello, the abnormal Othello, a man who cannot distinguish the truth from falsehood and will easily lose his positive perception of the world. I have stated how the causes of tragedy in this play could be well understood through analyzing this duplication of Othello. Othello starts off by being a strong-minded character, who would not pay attention to racist and unfavorable attitudes of other Venetians toward him. He possessed a high opinion of himself and his world and positively viewed the world around him. However, as I stated earlier, Othello easily changed this newly formed worldview since he comes to believe that he cannot master what he has willed. He begins to doubt his noble thoughts, Venetian identity, and ideal life. The more he doubts his self-constructed world, the more he recognizes and highlights his unwanted black origin, and I have argued that Othello’s absolute sense of unbelief ultimately led to the destruction of his own self, the death of his wife, and the annihilation of his world. Though Othello tries to find the “ocular proof“ for his wife’s dishonesty, he, himself, eventually becomes the ocular proof for the audience and legitimizes their response to his blackness. I have illustrated how Othello comes to signify his blackness; he comes to fill in the 56 missing scene of his black self. At the end of the play, the audience remains incapable of any cultural or personal sympathy for the black Othello, for the play finally reaches a shocking realization, where Othello’s murderous deed gives life to all the metaphorical constructs of his blackness.