Theme
Analysis
The Incompatibility of Military Heroism & Love
Before
and above all else, Othello is a soldier. From the earliest moments in the
play, his career affects his married life. Asking “fit disposition” for his
wife after being ordered to Cyprus (I.iii.234), Othello notes that “the tyrant
custom . . . / Hath made the flinty and steel couch of war / My thrice-driven
bed of down” (I.iii.227–229). While Desdemona is used to better
“accommodation,” she nevertheless accompanies her husband to Cyprus
(I.iii.236). Moreover, she is unperturbed by the tempest or Turks that
threatened their crossing, and genuinely curious rather than irate when she is
roused from bed by the drunken brawl in Act II, scene iii. She is, indeed,
Othello’s “fair warrior,” and he is happiest when he has her by his side in the
midst of military conflict or business (II.i.179). The military also provides
Othello with a means to gain acceptance in Venetian society. While the
Venetians in the play are generally fearful of the prospect of Othello’s social
entrance into white society through his marriage to Desdemona, all Venetians
respect and honor him as a soldier. Mercenary Moors were, in fact, commonplace
at the time.
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Othello
predicates his success in love on his success as a soldier, wooing Desdemona
with tales of his military travels and battles. Once the Turks are drowned—by
natural rather than military might—Othello is left without anything to do: the
last act of military administration we see him perform is the viewing of
fortifications in the extremely short second scene of Act III. No longer having
a means of proving his manhood or honor in a public setting such as the court
or the battlefield, Othello begins to feel uneasy with his footing in a private
setting, the bedroom. Iago capitalizes on this uneasiness, calling Othello’s
epileptic fit in Act IV, scene i, “[a] passion most unsuiting such a man.” In
other words, Iago is calling Othello unsoldierly. Iago also takes care to
mention that Cassio, whom Othello believes to be his competitor, saw him in his
emasculating trance (IV.i.75).
Desperate
to cling to the security of his former identity as a soldier while his current
identity as a lover crumbles, Othello begins to confuse the one with the other.
His expression of his jealousy quickly devolves from the conventional—“Farewell
the tranquil mind”—to the absurd:
Farewell the plum’d troops and the big wars
That make ambition virtue! O, farewell,
Farewell the neighing steed and the shrill
trump,
The spirit-stirring drum, th’ear piercing
fife,
The royal banner, and all quality,
Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious
war!”
(III.iii.353–359)
One
might well say that Othello is saying farewell to the wrong things—he is
entirely preoccupied with his identity as a soldier. But his way of thinking is
somewhat justified by its seductiveness to the audience as well. Critics and
audiences alike find comfort and nobility in Othello’s final speech and the
anecdote of the “malignant and . . . turbaned Turk” (V.ii.362), even though in
that speech, as in his speech in Act III, scene iii, Othello depends on his
identity as a soldier to glorify himself in the public’s memory, and to try to
make his audience forget his and Desdemona’s disastrous marital experiment.
Nature of WomenThere are two types of women in Othello: Desdemona represents the pure, blameless and faithful woman, and Emilia represents the woman who wishes to be given an equal footing to men, especially in regards to sexual matters. Ironically, both ladies end up dead at the play's end. Emilia's relaxed moral sensibility when she steals Desdemona's handkerchief is the primary cause that helps Iago to create the "Truth" of Cassio's adultery with Desdemona. However, Desdemona's respectful and submissive demeanor towards Othello also contributes to her death. A woman more willing to seek out the cause of her husband's anger may not have been killed.
Foolish Loyalty
From Iago's first lines in the play, Othello is established as someone who relies heavily on the advice of others. Iago was denied a promotion because Othello took the advice of others and chose young and untested Cassio. Iago, who Othello had seen tested in battle, was overlooked. Iago attacks this weakness in Othello, and manipulates Othello so that he trusts Iago with a blinding faith. Iago is even able to turn Othello's loyalty from Desdemona, whom Othello trusts in completely in the beginning of the play, when he asks her to testify that she married him of her own will.
The Other
Othello is a dark-skinned foreigner, and although he is a strong general, he is not accepted into mainstream Venetian society. Brabantio shows open prejudices towards him when he wishes that Roderigo would have married Desdemona rather than Othello, and Brabantio can not believe that Desdemona married Othello of her own will. Othello also has a different set of beliefs and customs, and is not very familiar with Venice customs. This is part of why Iago can manipulate him so easily.
Jealousy
Othello is the most famous literary work that focuses on the dangers of jealousy. The play is a study of how jealousy can be fueled by mere circumstantial evidence and can destroy lives. (In Othello, the hero succumbs to jealousy when Iago convinces him that Desdemona has been an unfaithful wife – in the end, Othello murders his wife and then kills himself.) It is interesting that Iago uses jealousy against Othello, yet jealousy is likely the source of Iago's hatred in the first place. In Othello, jealousy takes many forms, from sexual suspicion to professional competition, but it is, in all cases, destructiveRace
Othello is one of the first black heroes in English literature. A military general, he has risen to a position of power and influence. At the same time, however, his status as a black-skinned foreigner in Venice marks him as an outside and exposes him to some pretty overt racism, especially by his wife's father, who believes his daughter's interracial marriage can only be the result of Othello's trickery. Because the play portrays fears of miscegenation (the intermixing of races via marriage and/or sex), it's nearly impossible to talk about race in Othello without also discussing gender and sexuality.Gender
Gender relations are pretty antagonistic in Othello. Unmarried women are regarded as their fathers' property and the play's two marriages are marked by male jealousy and cruelty (both wives are murdered by their own husbands). Most male characters in Othello assume that all Venetian women are inherently promiscuous, which explains why female sexuality is a huge threat to men in the play. Othello is easily convinced his wife is cheating on him and feels emasculated and humiliated as a result.We should also note that it's impossible to discuss gender and sexuality without considering race – several characters in the play, including Othello, believe that black men sexually contaminate white women, which may partially explain why Othello sees his wife as soiled. See also our discussions of "Race" and "Sex" for more on this topic.
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