Othello is one of Shakespeares darkest tragedies Essay Example For Students

Othello is one of Shakespeares darkest tragedies Essay Othello is one of Shakespeares darkest tragedies. It explores the issue of race, particularly in terms of the implications of interracial marriage. Like any great work of art, Othello has many timeless qualities, but its treatment of the issue of race allows us to gain a perspective into Elizabethan attitudes. If Othello didnt begin as a play about race, history has made it one. Othello is, in one sense of the word, by far the most romantic figure among Shakespeares heroes; and he is so partly from the strange life of war and adventure, which he has lived from childhood. In addition, he is not a merely romantic figure; his own nature is romantic. He has not, indeed, the meditative or speculative imagination of Hamlet; but in the strictest sense of the word he is more poetic than Hamlet. Elizabethan audiences would not have reacted very kindly to Shakespeare making a black man one of the most romantic figures in his plays. They would not like the fact that Shakespeare has made a foreigner seem more ardent than the men back in their own country. The Venetian society that Othello is set in is representative of the writers context, and reveals some of the prevalent attitudes and values of Elizabethan society. In Shakespeares plays, settings were vital part. In the Cambridge Shakespeare Introduction it says, Italy had become almost the accepted site of the more sensational tragedies of the period. Therefore, the fact that that the beginning of the play is set in Venice, Italy symbolises that the play will be tragic. In the sixteenth century, Venice was a dominant colonial force in the Mediterranean. It was a thriving commercial centre and its empire was protected by powerful merchants with military strengths, including a mercenary force. After act one, the play is set in Cyprus. Cyprus was considered a valuable colony. However, it was also located between Venice and Turkey. Venice was a Christian state. Its Christian faith protected it from Turkish infidels. As the Turks attacked Cyprus, before Othello was written, Shakespeare exploits real political situation It can be said that Othello, might also argue that another theme that arose was order and chaos. This links in with the fact that Othello is a tragedy as in Steven Crofts book, Literature, Criticism and Style, it says that if a play is a tragedy the, chaos or disorder in society results. In Othello order is changed when Desdemona is stolen1.3.61 by Othello. From the opening scene, Othellos race defines his difference from others in Venice, Barbary horse, 1.1.111. This metaphor is particularly important as in 1600, sixteen members f the Barbary embassy, led by Abdel Ouahedben Messaoud visited London. Their cultural differences and dress caused disgrace and they were referred to as barbarians. The Cambridge Shakespeare informs us that Elizabethans distrusted foreigners and thought they were savage and uncivilized. This is ironic as in the first scene of the play the shouting is done by  Iago and Roderigo when they visit Brabantios house. From the heated discussion between Iago and Roderigo, we learn that the daughter of a highly respected Venetian senator, Brabantio, has eloped with Othello, referred as the Moor. He is a foreigner, black in colour and this is emphasized by the insults used by Roderigo and Iago. Only Iago voices an explicitly stereotypical view of Othello, depicting him from the beginning as an animalistic, barbarous, fo olish outsider. In presenting Othello like this, Shakespeare is exploring the inaccuracies of stereotypes in the 1600s. In act one scene three we discover that Othello has a past filled with tragic and exotic tales and has proved himself worthy of the title General in the Venetian army. Even before we, as an audience, have had a chance to meet Othello and Desdemona we learn that the match is considered as disgusting as it is outrageous. In act one scene three Brabantio highlights the social unease with interracial marriage, that it engluts and swallows other sorrows. 1.3.58 He is called an old black ram, 1.1.88 a devil, 1.1.91 and a Barbary horse, 1.1.111. Also, in act one scene one a vast amount of animalistic imagery is used to describe Othello. We learn that Othello is called a devil because in the seventeenth century, the devil was usually depicted as black, and was a demonstration of non-Christians. 'Sonnet 71' by William Shakespeare, 'Remember' by Christina Georgina Rossetti and 'I Am' by John Clare EssayAnother critic from the late 1990s Janet Adelman believes race functions in the play as a projection of Iagos envy toward Othello. At the beginning of the play, Othello is whole and blameless while Iago is an inwardly conflicted and dark character; by the end, Iago has succeeded in transferring his darkness and pain onto Othello. His is reflected through the subtle changes in the language used by Othello. He loses his articulacy and descends to the barbaric creature he was first described. The picture of Othello as hideously black and savage originates in Iagos poisonous mind.  Nevertheless, by the end of act three Othello has become savage and uncivilized. By pouring his poison into Othellos ear, Iago manages to turn Othello into the foul black thing Iago has imagined. The result is that Othello becomes assimilated to, and motivated by his racial type becomes the monstrous Moor easily made jealous. At the end of act three scene three his language descends gradually as he becomes more insecure and he starts repeating words and using very short sentences, O, blood, blood, blood!3.3.449. Berry had argued that the potential for self-doubt had existed in Othellos mind from the beginning; Adelman argues that Othello does not come to think of his blackness as a stain until he is tainted by Iagos poisonous words. Importantly, Othellos final speech articulates his inner turmoil in terms of opposing racial values and beliefs. it shows his process in change, from his articulate and eloquent to barbaric and out of control and back to his bombast self. This final speech allows him to regain his articulacy. His language goes from O, damn her, damn her 3.3.473 to speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate. 5.2.338 Here he regains former nobility and honour. Shakespeare also creates a bit of empathy for Othello by showing Othello in emotional chaos, perplexed in the extreme, 5.2.342. Othello also compares himself to base Indians 5.2.343 as they were thought not to value precious stones. In the same way, Othello believes Desdemona was his precious stone and did not distinguish he true value. Othellos sense of himself being a Christian throughout the play is emphasized when he talks about the base Indian throwing the pearl away. This is a biblical reference as it is a reference to Judas Iscariot, who in betraying Christ, threw away the pearl of great price, i.e. the kingdom of Heaven Matthew 13:46. Othellos feelings towards outsiders is shown when he wants to kill the turbaned Turk5.2.349 and he soon recognises himself as one of them. Also in his final sentence order is restored again as the closed couplet is romantic and a tragic climax. This also agrees with Steven Crofts ideas that in a tragedy, a climax is reached usually with the death of the main character before order is restored. Shakespeares tragic hero, Othello, was a man whose gifts far outnumbered his weaknesses. On the battlefield, he was accomplished; in his profession, he was highly ranked; and, in his life, he was blissfully married. Despite these great advantages, however, Othellos destiny was ruin. Everything he had so carefully made for himself would be destroyed by one fatal flaw: his fear of remaining an outsider. He feared this fate, yet he moaned on continuously, tearing himself between his identity as a foreigner and his desire to live as a normal citizen.