Othello The Moor of Venice

I love tragedies and I think Shakespeare's tragedies are the best in the whole world. In this post, I will focus on one of the tragedies that I like, Othello.

Othello is a wonderful play! It masterfully renders the darkness of the human heart and the menacing power of assumption. Further, it mightily delineates the danger of putting too much trust in the wrong person. Othello was doomed from the very beginning because he trusted the "honest Iago". However, it is important to note that everyone in Venice thought that Iago was a saint and incapable of the diabolical schemes which he created every time the opportunity presented itself. This is another major theme in the play, DECEPTION. People are not always who they appear to be, matter of fact, the master wordsmith of the sixteenth century is reminding us that we cannot judge a book by its cover. To effectively illustrate just how blanketed the truly villainous Iago was by his honest guise, Shakespeare characterizes Emilia as an ignorant woman who has no idea the man she married and was willing to hypothetically commit adultery in order to have the whole world for was a vile, treacherous snake.

Then there is the question of race which the play gives rise to. It is a very controversial topic, however, Shakespeare does deconstruct the Elizabethan stereotype of African men in this play. He both conforms and challenges the stereotype of the society. He uses animal imagery to depict the beastly sexual appetite of African men and Barbantio's accusations of witchcraft and the constant references of the Moor as "devil" clearly delineate the aversion towards the colour and all things black by the Elizabethan society since they associated the colour with Satan and all forms of evil. The Moor is degraded to a mere "Barbary horse" and "old black ram". Further, since the fair Desdemona has decided to marry the Moor, she too suffers degradation since she is rendered a "white ewe" and "guinea hen" by Iago. Further, he makes the black guy in the play lose self control at the end of the play and kills his wife which conforms to the beastly perception of African men. however, it is important to note that it was caused by a "seed of doubt" planted by the white guy, Iago in Othello's mind and to top it all off, Othello did not know the first thing about dealing with women. He even needed Cassio to act as a go-between for him when he was courting Desdemona. The argument goes both ways.

Desdemona is too pure and innocent in this play. But that was the plan to create the ideal wife who would faithful to death even if she was being killed by her husband. Cassio even claims that the grace of heaven "enwheels" her as if she was a saint even angelic. This saintly imagery is apt since Desdemona is absolutely virtuous. However, what is really important to notice is that a contrast is created in the play between Othello and his wife. Othello is a devil according to the Venetian perception but because of his military prowess he is saved from more overt racial prejudice. Desdemona, however, is a rebel and degrades herself by marrying Othello, thought she is virtuous (irony). However, Desdemona maintains her virtuous ways and is not misguided while Othello spirals into a maniacal state.

In this play there is a superb use of imagery and symbolism which makes this work priceless and timeless. Timelessness of this work is not only as a result of the imagery, symbols and other dramatic devices used in crafting the play but also the themes which tackled hit the core of human society. It addresses issues which are still prevalent in today's society and has important lessons which we can learn in the 21st century.