A Nietzschean Analysis of Othello

Harrison Potts

The Apollonian Figure

• The Apollonian Figure is that of the tragic hero

• . Apollonian Figures are identified as those who assert themselves and attempt to rise above the chaos of existence

• kings, generals, warriors, and slayers of monsters

• act as an opposing force to the cacophonic darkness of the world

• an assertion of will and order, the Apollonian Figure also exists honestly, characterized as “simple, transparent, and beautiful”

• Apollonian Figure enacts his will by “drawing boundaries”; can be literal, like in the case of kings establishing kingdoms, or it can be metaphorical

The Dionysian Figure

• represents the chaos that the Apollonian Figure attempts to rise above

• Often understood as being more “natural” and “animalistic” than the Apollonian Figure

• more “base” human conditions such as lust, desire, rage, and frenzy

• the feelings associated with the Dionysian are those “terrors of nature” which the Apollonian Figure attempts to emerge from

• a force of nature and chaos, the Dionysian is also distinctly anti-individuation, acting as a force that levels those trying to rise above

• there’s no stable or true sense of “self” for the Dionysian Figure, as the Dionysian sees oneself as enmeshed in the continuous chaos of natural existence

• the Dionysian forces at play in tragedy are often the victors, as they “level” the world to its natural, chaotic state by evoking strong primal emotions

Othello

• he became a successful military leader, which of course portrays him as someone who confronts conflict and imposes order on the world

• Iago describes Othello in Act 1 Scene 3 as “of a free and open nature/ That thinks men honest that but seem to be so”

• As someone who lives as an authentic Apollonian individual, Othello seems to assume that those around him are similar in this respect

• This honest quality also makes itself apparent in the way Othello speaks, “Rude am I in speech/ And little blessed with the soft phrase of peace”

• The honesty and simplicity with which Othello tells Desdemona his life story is what seduces her, proving that Othello’s manner of speaking is “beautiful” in the Apollonian sense

• the assumption of honesty – that lead to Othello’s downfall at the hands of the Dionysian Figure, Iago

Monologues

• Apollonian almost uninteresting compared to the Dionysian

• as Iago is not the main character of the play despite having the majority of the monologues

• Othello, has such a straightforward and honest conduct that his monologues, though beautiful, don’t have the kind of intensity and awareness that Iago’s do

Iago as the Dionysian

• Iago’s existence as the Dionysian Figure is a bit more subtle, but it becomes apparent after deeper layers are examined

• Iago as the Dionysian = his lack of identity

• “Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago/ In following him, I follow but myself” and then later on when he says: “I am not what I am”

• opposition to the virtues of the Apollonian Figure. We have identified Othello as “honest, transparent, and beautiful,” so it makes sense that Iago is deceitful, opaque, and vile

• “But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve/ For daws to peck at.” Here he expresses his distaste for the characteristic of transparency, preferring instead to be inwardly drawn and unable to be truly identified

‘I am not what I am’

• Inversion of God’s statement in Exodus 3:14

• or paradoxical statement that embodies the lack of identity in the Dionysian Figure

• the idea of Iago as a “demonic” or “satanic” force makes perfect sense in this context - Biblical reading as the devil

• Nietzsche’s reading - psychoanalytical, disinterested in matters of God

  • perspective resists such blanket moralizations, as neither the Apollonian nor the Dionysian can be understood as fully good or evil

Dionysian figure - beautiful?

• Dionysian Figure is certainly not one of “ugly” features, but it rather contains more nuance than Apollonian beauty

• Iago’s monologues, though detailing immoral intentions, are nonetheless captivating and poetic in their own way

• he gives the play depth and conflict.

• propels the plot of the play

Motivation of Iago

• Dionysian Figure is a kind of anti-motivation

• Disproves his quoted motivations

• In opposition to the Apollonian Figure, whose motivation is often pure, honest, and noble, the Dionysian embodies a force of chaos and submergence

• Iago wishes to gain status as a consequence of Othello’s downfall → Contradicted by ‘twixt my sheets

  He has done my office’

  • If he truly believed that she’d slept with Othello, wouldn’t he also be scheming against her, as well

• Iago’s motivation, if anything, is a kind of frenzy: chaotic, unfixed, complicated, and delusional

  • Aligning with the frenzy as the base human emotion upon which the Dionysian character is formed

Othello’s downfall

• Iago pushes the deeper elements of Othello’s psyche to overcome the noble Apollonian virtues that he originally embodies

• As the Dionysian, Iago pierces the high-minded ideals of Othello, and he evokes powerful “lower” emotions that gradually possess him

  • he manipulates the very characteristics of the Apollonian against the Apollonian Figure

• Othello often assumes the honesty of others, and he accepts that Iago is honest in his reported “suspicions” of Cassio, even labelling Iago as “Honest Iago” throughout the play

• It is these characteristics of openness and honesty that the hidden and dishonest Dionysian uses to “level” the Apollonian and bring about a state of chaos

• Iago also uses the repressed, primal part of Othello’s psyche against him

• the emotions that Iago evokes in Othello are often described as animalistic and even monstrous → “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy/ It is the green-ey’d monster which doth mock/ The meat it feeds on”

Othello’s Frenzy

• in this frenzied state that Othello kills Desdemona. Consumed by this state, Othello is unable to even wait “But half an hour” to kill Desdemona

• Still committed to the virtues of Apollonian, Othello’s final speech displays his commitment to honesty and transparency, particularly with the phrase “Speak of me as I am”

• Iago’s final statement is that “From this time forth I will never speak word,” claiming to cement himself in a kind of anti-transparency, never to vocalize anything again

• Commitment to their roles as Apollonian and Dionysian