Othello - Themes and Character Studies

Othello - Character Study (3)

* OTHELLO AS A VILLAIN
* OTHELLO AS A VICTIM
* OTHELLO AS A TRAGIC HERO

Othello as a Villain

* The quick succession to which Othello becomes enraged at Desdemona is evident of his misogynistic thoughts. The fact he trusts Iago over her is damning.

==“Bloody thoughts, with violent pace, shall never look back.” (3.3).==

* He chooses to give up love.

==“Yield up, O love, thy crown and hearted throne, to tyrannous hate!” (3.3).==

==“I will chop her into messes! Cuckhold me!” (4.1)==

Othello as a Victim

* Is a victim of racial abuse. An outsider. Is not named until Act 3, known through racial epithets.

==‘An old black ram is tupping your white ewe’ (1.1) - Iago.==

==‘The Moor’. “Thicklips” (1.1) - Roderigo.==

* A victim of Iago’s manipulation, he is not the real villain. Othello becomes a pawn, a tool for Iago to use to exert his own anger.

==“The Moor already changes with my poison, dangerous conceits are in their natures poison.” - (3.3) - Iago.==

* His guilt proves his manipulation.

==“Whip me, ye devils … roast me in sulphur… liquid fire!” (5.2)==

Othello as a Tragic Hero

* Described as a great warrior, holds a high position. Typicality - Macbeth!


* Jealousy is his hamartia - due to years of racial abuse and feelings of inadequacy - jealousy forms into rage. He becomes exactly how a Jacobean audience would expect a black character.

==“Jealousy it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” (3.3) - Iago.==

* A victim of his own insecurities, a life lived in the shadow of white men. He cannot believe Desdemona choose him, now he is alone - betrayed. An allegory for colonialism of the time.

==‘Haply for I am black and have not those soft parts of conversation’ (3.3)==… ==‘Rude am I in my speech’ (1.1).==

* He didn’t kill Desdemona out of hate, but due to his jealousy and societal conventions of honour.

==“An honourable murderer if you will, for nought I did in hate, but all in honour.” (5.2).==

Iago - Character Study

* Iago as a man who doesn’t understand love.
* Iago as a spiteful villain.
* Iago as a jealous and racist character.

Iago as Unloved.

* He plays the role of jilted lover, believing Othello to have slept with Emilia. This has caused a hatred for women.

==“I am evened with him. Wife for wife.”== - bitterness. Rhymes with ‘Life for life’ - a grave warning.

==“We have reasons to cool our raging emotions… our unbitted lusts… I take this that you call love.” (1.3)==

==“Merely a lust of the blood and a permission of the will.” (1.3)==

* He fails to understand Desdemona and Othello’s love, believing it to be false. He hasn’t experienced such strong love.

==“His soul is so enfettered to her love that she may make, unmake, do what she list.” (2.3)==

Iago as a Villain.

* Religious connotations, comparisons to the Devil? Jacobean fascination with heaven/hell.

=="I am not what I am”== (1.1) contrasts God in the Bible ^^"I am that I am"^^ - Shakespeare directly contrasts Iago to God. Iago behaves like a serpent.

==“When devils will their blackest sins put on they do suggest at first with heavenly shows.” (2.3)==

* AN ATYPICAL VILLAIN - IS REWARDED WITH SILILOQUIES, AUDIENCE SUBJECT TO HIS DEEPEST THOUGHTS. We see the EXTENT of his evil. WE BECOME ACCOMPLICES - JACOBEAN SOCIETY - RACISM, JEALOUSY.

==“I’ll pour this pestilence in his ear.” (2.3)==

Iago as a Representation of Jacobean Racist Attitudes.

* He becomes the mouthpiece for Jacobean bigotry. Uses reductive language to place himself on a pedestal, to compensate for his own inadequacies.

==“Villainous whores.” (5.2)== ==“Lusty moor” (2.1)==

* Iago feels inadequate in the face of Michael Cassio, this makes him believe he has been wrong. Because he is white, Iago believes he deserves more.
* His manipulation of Othello is an allegory for Colonialism. A white man takes over Othello’s mind and robs it of its distinct voice.

==“Abuse Othello’s ear.” (1.3).==

==“A black ram is tupping your white ewe.” (1.1)==

Desdemona - Character Study.

* A representation of Innocence.
* A victim of all-consuming love.
* Desdemona is not a passive victim.

Desdemona as Innocence.

* Desdemona is a victim to the harsh patriarchal constructs of the Jacobean society.

==“A maiden never bold.” (1.3) - Brabantio.==

* Othello cherished her purity, and killed her because he believed she was no longer innocent.

==“Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow.” (5.1) - Othello.==

* The wedding sheets were an indication of virginity, as it was often where first sexual contact was had. This emphasises Desdemona’s innocence.

==“Lay on my bed my wedding sheets” (4.2)==

* The willow song - as in weeping willows. The song becomes a macabre reminder of her fate and produces a stark contrast between her innocence and the brutality of men.

==“Sing willow, willow, willow.” (4.3)==

Desdemona as a victim of all-consuming love.

* Her love is unstoppable.

==“The heavens forbid, but that our love and comforts should increase even as our days do grow.” (2.1)==

* She loves him despite his flaws.

==“My love doth approve him, that even in his stubbornness… his frowns… have grace and favour in them.” (4.3)==

* Aware of her potential death, this doesn’t bother her.

==“His unkindness may defeat my life, but never taint my love.” (4.2)==

Desdemona is not a passive victim.

* “She openly defies her father and betrays his orders. She does not hold her tongue.”

==“I challenge that I may profess / Due to the Moor my lord.” (1.3)==

* She maintains her innocence up until her death and pleads for death to be postponed.

==“A guiltless death I die.” (5.2)==

==“Kill me tomorrow, let me live tonight.” (5.2)==

Brabantio - Character Study

* As the typical patriarchal male.


* Brabantio as a loving father.
* A mouthpiece for Jacobean racism.

Brabantio as a loving father.

* Brabantio grieves for his daughter who has, for the first time, left his side.

==‘my particular grief/ Is of so flood-gate and o’erbearing nature/ That it engluts and swallows other sorrows’ (1.3)==

==“O treason of the blood!”==

* The grief of losing his daughter results in his death.

==“Pure grief / Shore his old thread in twain” (5.2) - Gratiano==

Brabantio as the Patriarchy.

* Brabantio feels wronged for Desdemona leaving. He believes she should have remained loyal to him. She believes she was his property.

==“O foul thief where hast you stowed my daughter?”==

==“She is abused, stolen from me and corrupted.”==

==“Where most you owe obedience?”==

Brabantio as a mouthpiece for Jacobean racism.

* His sense of betrayal manifests itself into racism.

==“To fall in love with what she fear’d to look on!”==

==“The Moor”==

* Used Othello as entertainment, disregarded him due to his race eventually.

==“Her father lov’d me, oft invited me”==

Emilia - Character Study

* A symbol of female loyalty and solidarity.
* A depiction of typical Jacobean love, from the female perspective.
* A martyr.

Emilia as a symbol of female loyalty and solidarity.

* Shakespeare sets out to depict the purest form of love, that between two friends, two women.

==“Lay me by my mistress side”==

She chooses Desdemona over her marriage every time.

* She educates Desdemona to the tendencies of men.

==“They are all but stomachs, and we all but food… they belch us.” (3.4)==

* She defends Desdemona against the baseless calling of her to be a whore.

==“Hath she forsook so many noble matches, Her father and her country and her friends, To be called “whore”?” (4.2)==

Emilia as a presentation of typical Jacobean love.

* Emilia is deeply unhappy, with husband Iago completely disinterested in her and her life. She is desperate to please him for his attention.

==“I nothing but to please his fantasy.” (3.3)==

* Her mistreatment will manifest into adultery if Iago doesn’t satisfy her.

==“Let husbands know their wives have sense like them.” (5.1)==

Emilia as a martyr.

* Emilia is eventually supressed because her speech is dangerous and she refuses to be silenced.

“I will not charm my tongue. I am bound to speak.” (5.2)

* She directly links her death to her truth-telling as she dies these become her last words.

“So speaking as I think, I die, I die.” (5.2)

* Her death becomes an act of atonement for giving Iago the handkerchief.

Cassio - Character Study

* A man liberal with his love, a womaniser.
* A man in love with himself - corrosive self love.
* His love is for his position and reputation.

Cassio as a womaniser.

* Cassio uses and discards of Bianca. He believes it is a joke to even consider marrying her. Also shows great classism, with Desdemona described awe, whereas Bianca is a joke to him.

==“I marry her! What? A customer? Prithee bear some charity to my wit… Ha,ha, ha!” (4.1)==

* Cassio refers to Desdemona in an objectifying manor. Referring to Desdemona as another material good in a capitalist society.

==“The riches of the ship.”==

Cassio as in love with himself.

* It is evident that Cassio is drunk, but tries to delude himself from this fact. He is trying to remain in control, but fails. He refers to Iago as his ‘ancient’ in order to prop himself up, as he knows he is more powerful than him.

==“Do not think, gentleman, I am drunk; this is my ancient, this is my right hand, and this is my left hand.”==

* Cassio thrives off of the love and approval of Othello. He feels as if nothing he can do could ever redeem him in the eyes of Cassio.

==If he had “as many mouths as hydra” - hydra being a destructive mythological creature.==

Cassio and his love is for his position and reputation.

* The only thing Cassio has is his reputation. It is the only part of himself he could carry boldly. He could conceal all his problems inside his reputation.

==“Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself!”==

* He feigns a love for Othello, as he is a person who can re-crown him with his reputation. He believes he is only worthy of love when he earns it.

==“Your virtuous means, I may again EXIST and be a member of his love.”==

Roderigo - Character Study

* A hopeless romantic.
* A pawn blinded by love.
* Wracked with jealousy that manifest itself in hatred.

Roderigo as a hopeless romantic.

* Roderigo is a pitiful character who believes death is going to be his only break from his endless love for Desdemona.

==“I will incontinently drown myself.” (1.3) without restraint==

* He believes its shameful how much he loves Desdemona.

==“I confess it’s my shame to be so fond.”==

Roderigo as a pawn blinded by love.

* In the highly stationary social hierarchy of the Jacobean period, Iago manages to convince Roderigo to sell all his land. Roderigo’s love is so great he doesn’t mind being a pawn.

“I’ll sell all my land.” (1.3)

* Roderigo even doubts his participation in the act.

“I have no great devotion to the deed.” (5.1)

Roderigo’s jealousy manifests itself into racial hatred.

* Refers to Othello through racial epithets.

“Thicklips” and “The Moor”.

* He compares Othello to a violent animal. An overtly sexual animal.

“The gross clasps of the lascivious moor.”

Theme: Jealousy

* **Jealousy as Othello’s fatal flaw.**

%%“Beware my lord of jealousy, its the green eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” (3.3)%%

Leads Othello into becoming the primitive man many expect of him. He becomes a violent, sick character.

%%“Let her rot, and perish… my heart is turned to stone; I strike it and it hurts my hand.” (4.1)%%

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* **Jealousy as a representation of patriarchal constructs.**

%%“Her name, that was as fresh as Dian’s visage is now begrimed and black.” (3.3)%%

Othello’s insecurity about his race comes out. He also believes Desdemona should be a perfect pure person - misogyny.

%%“I had rather be a toad…than keep a corner in the thing I love.” (3.3)%%

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* **The handkerchief as a symbol of souring love.**

%%“If she lost it… my father’s eye… should hunt after new fancies.” (3.4)%% - The handkerchief with a white background and red strawberries (symbol of female virginity). Handkerchief a sign of trust, if lost Othello will look elsewhere.

%%“I saw my handkerchief in’s hand. O perjured woman! Thou dost stone my heart.” (5.2)%%

Theme: Love

* Love is directly connected with hate.

==“I do love the gentle Desdemona” - an open display of love. (1.3)==

==“Yield up, O Love… to tyrannous hate!” (3.3)==

==“Of one that love not wisely, but too well.” (5.1)==

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* Love both outshines racial barriers and is obstructed by them.

==“An old black ram is tupping your white ewe.” - is ignored (1.3)==

==“She loved me for the dangers I had passed and I loved her that she did pity them… this is the only witchcraft I have used.” (1.3)==

==“Haply for I am black, And have not those soft parts of conversation.” - he believes his blackness is why D goes to Cassio (3.3)==

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* Female friendship is the purest form of love.

==“They are all but stomachs, and we all but food… they belch us.” (3.4)== - They have a shared experience of pigish men. They are bound in universal suffering.

==“Lay me by my mistress side”==

Theme: Marriage

* **Desdemona and Othello’s marriage as unconventional.**

==“I do love the gentle Desdemona.” (1.3)==

==“I saw Othello’s visage in my mind and to his honours and valiant parts did I my soul… consecrate.” (1.3)==

==“To fall in love with what she fear’d to look on.” (1.3)==

* **The marriage of convenience between Emilia and Iago.**

==When obeyed, he calls her “Good wench.” (3.3)==

==“I nothing but to please his fantasy.” (3.3)==

==“Villainous whore.” “Filth.” because she was not obedient. (5.2)==

* **Marriage and cuckoldery.**

==“O curse of marriage! That we can call these delicate creatures ours but not their appetites!” (3.3)==

==“They are not ever jealous for the cause, but jealous for they’re jealous.” (3.4)==

Theme: Proximity and Distance

* Proximity is essential to Desdemona and Othello’s continuing love.

Throughout, the pair occupy the same space. Isolation and the war creates a distance. Cyprus = Danger.

==“If I be left behind… the rights for which I love him are bereft me.” (1.3)==

==“I’d whistle her off, and let her down the wind to prey at fortune.” (3.3)== - She’d be totally alone.

Desdemona is an economic hostage to Othello. ==“beggarly divorcement.” (4.2)==

Soliloquies from Iago to the audience isolate them. Othello’s skin isolates him.

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* Isolation and distrust.

Emilia is isolated and roped into Iago’s plans. ==“I nothing but to please his fancy.” (3.3)== she distances herself from Desdemona as she steals the handkerchief.

Husband’s fatal flaws kill them - manipulation kills Emilia.

Sings the ==Willow Song, "She lov'd thee, cruel Moor" (5.2)==

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* Isolation leads the marginalised to monstrosity.

==‘An old black ram is tupping your white ewe’ (1.1) - Iago.==

==‘The Moor’. “Thicklips” (1.1) - Roderigo.==

==‘Haply for I am black and have not those soft parts of conversation’ (3.3)==… ==‘Rude am I in my speech’ (1.1).==

==“Bloody thoughts.” (3.3)==

Theme: Race

* Love defies racial barriers of Jacobean society.

==“She loved me for the dangers I had passed and I loved her that she did pity them… this is the only witchcraft I have used.” (1.3)==

==“Your son-in-law is far more fair than black” (1.3)== - Othello is a good man. However, this is conditional on his blackness - he’s good for a black person?

* Race is not a driving factor, it is instead Othello’s instincts as a man.

%%“I had rather be a toad…than keep a corner in the thing I love.” (3.3)%%

==“Strumpet!”==

* Race becomes the main insecurity for Othello’s love for Desdemona.

==“Haply for I am black and lack the soft parts of conversation.” (3.3)==

=="Her name, that was as fresh / As Dian's visage, is now begrimed and black / As mine own face" (3.3)==

Theme: Truth and Deception

* The binary between heaven and hell.

Iago wishes to appear heavenly.

=="I am not what I am”== (1.1) contrasts God in the Bible ^^"I am that I am"^^ - Shakespeare directly contrasts Iago to God. Iago behaves like a serpent.

==“When devils will their blackest sins put on they do suggest at first with heavenly shows.” (2.3)==

* Deception is used to mask patriarchal views.

“She deceived her father marrying you.” (3.3) Iago

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