Introduction
Othello is a tragedy about heavy and terrible trials that the sublime and deep love of two beautiful people underwent. The noble Moor – Othello – who absorbed the culture of the Italian Renaissance, an experienced warrior, wounded by years and suffering, turns out to be powerless before the intrigue of a vile slanderer. According to O’Neil and Waugaman (2018), “knowledge of the true author’s life experiences with the extremes of pathological jealousy will deepen our understanding and appreciation of this unsettling play” (115). He loses faith in Desdemona and, tormented by jealousy, kills her; on the contrary, the love of young Desdemona withstands all trials, and Desdemona forgives her husband even after her death. To some critics, Desdemona seems too meek and naive, just a submissive victim. These judgments are not consistent with Shakespeare’s intent. Two themes dominate the plot of Othello – jealousy, and racism, both of which this paper will explore.
Main body
Othello, as the author develops his character, is pictured as a man who loves and values his freedom above everything. However, the epithet “free” is especially often used by Othello in relation to Desdemona. They are two free people, as opposed to those around them who are internally “connected.” Subsequently, Iago, the main antagonist, will entangle Othello; the “green-eyed monster” – jealousy – will bind a man of a free soul. Still, this future Othello is the exact opposite of what the reader sees at the beginning of the play. It is a wonderful example of the evolution of the image in Shakespeare.
From Brabantio, the reader learns about Desdemona’s timid shyness, seeing in his story “a maid so tender, fair and happy, So opposite to marriage that she shunned The wealthy curled darlings of our nation” (Shakespeare, 2005, p. 9). However, this image is a sharp contrast to that of Desdemona, who declares in the face of the entire Senate “that [she] did love the Moor to live with him” (Shakespeare, 2005, p. 35). She displays uncanny bravery in her open violation of her father’s will. Desdemona does not want to remain a “moth of peace” and asks to be taken to war. This does not mean that Desdemona is deprived of that tender and even fragile femininity, which Cassio especially appreciates in her. The versatile image of Desdemona is one of Shakespeare’s finest female heroines. Black Othello and white Desdemona rose to that high freedom of human feelings and relationships that the great humanists of the Renaissance dreamed of. They are ready to share together the joys of a peaceful life and the severe trials of war. However, the dark forces embodied in the person of Iago are already preparing intrigues for them.
Iago is opposed to Othello in various ways, which makes him a believable antagonist in the story. He often speaks of his jealousy of Othello, whom he suspects in connection with his wife, Emilia. This is the second motive for his jealousy of the general, while the first motive is how Othello chose Cassio for service over Iago. All in all, Othello is not naturally jealous; on the contrary, he is trusting. Iago, on the other hand, is naturally jealous; he appears incredulous and suspicious throughout the story. Iago is jealous not because he loves but because he is afraid of losing what belongs to him – his jealousy is the jealousy of the owner. He decides to catch Othello on his gullibility, stating that he is open and trusting by nature.
Iago slanders Desdemona both in front of Rodrigo, from whom he deceives money, and in front of Cassio, in order to awaken impure desires, speaking of Desdemona’s alleged sensuality. Cassio does not support these hints; on the contrary, he admires her modesty, tenderness, and sophistication. Othello reacts reasonably to the first hint thrown, claiming that her good traits are not a cause for distrust. However, later, already convinced of his wife’s betrayal, Othello recalls her merits to Iago with a feeling of deep sorrow. The latter, feeling that love can still prevail in Othello’s heart, exclaims that these traits only make her betrayal worse and again revives anger and hatred in Othello’s soul.
The nature of Othello’s jealousy prompted conflicting comments in the various analyses of the play. Özturk and Özdemir (2019) state that “Othello has been predominantly a subject of racist and colonial studies as the tragic hero in the play is of Moorish origins” (64). Authors who followed racial prejudices distorted Shakespeare’s plan beyond recognition, arguing that in the very nature of Othello is hidden a barbarian, a savage. They claimed that civilization is only an outer shell that quickly collapses, revealing instincts that cannot be eliminated by upbringing.
Indeed, in the play, Othello is referred to by many different names, including “Moor,” which refers to black people, “African,” and “Negro”. Iago displays the impression that Blacks behave like animals. Moghari (2021) emphasizes how “black and white is a binary opposition in which black African are marginalized, humiliated, and othered because of their skin color” (25). In one particular scene, Iago explains to Brabantio that Othello, an elderly black man, escaped with his daughter Desdemona. Iago purposefully uses words that contrast – black for Othello, suggesting dark, gloomy, and bad, and for Desdemona, he uses white, suggesting purity and innocence. He also calls Othello the devil, as blackness, from his perspective, seems to be associated with wrongdoing and negative connotations.
During the second act, there is a scene where for the first time in front of the reader, is a flash of Othello’s passion. “My blood begins my safer guides to rule; And passion, having my best judgment collied,” says Othello (Shakespeare, 2005, p. 77). These words misled many scholars who studied the play, as they understood the word “blood” to mean African blood – the nature of a savage. It is unlikely that Shakespeare put this meaning into the word “blood,” which is generally very often found in his works as a synonym for passion, the emotional principle, as opposed to reason. Before, the reader is not a mad savage, a “child of nature” or a “fierce tiger,” an African with the whites of his eyes sparkling, but simply a very hotheaded and passionate person.
Conclusion
All these racial speculations are refuted by the text of the tragedy. First, the fact that Othello is a Moor is not the most significant factor in the development of events. Shakespeare follows the source, for in the novel by Giraldi Chintio the hero is a Moor, but ennobles the hero, makes him a man of the Renaissance. The Elizabethan era in which the events of the play take place was a long time ago, but the issues of racism, tied closely with the concept of jealousy, was actual even then. In the play, jealousy that stems from racial prejudices causes people to act recklessly, however, their desire for revenge does not work for them, and they all suffer the consequences.
Works Cited
Moghari, Shaghayegh. “Racism, Ethnic Discrimination, and Otherness in Shakespeare’s Othello and the Merchant of Venice.” International Journal of English and Comparative Literary Studies, vol. 2, no. 4, 2021, pp. 25–41., Web.
O’Neil, Mary Kay, and Richard Waugaman. Jealousy: Developmental, Cultural, and Clinical Realms, Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon, UK, 2018, pp. 115–128.
Shakespeare, William. Othello: The Moor of Venice. EMC/Paradigm, 2005.
Özturk, Abdul Serdar, and Ömer Özdemir. “The Scale of Jealousy in Shakespeare’s Othello: The Moor of Venice.” Eurasian Journal of English Language and Literature, vol. 1, no. 2, 2019, pp. 64–69.