What is Othello like and what causes him to be fooled into jealousy by Iago, to kill his Venetian wife, Desdemona, and then to kill himself? Is he a hero, a savage, or a victim? My interpretation is that Othello is an outsider (Moor) who succeeds inside a very different culture (Venice). He wins and accepts the best in that culture, but is brought down because he cannot detect the operations of the worst of that culture. The icon for Othello represents the union in difference of Othello and Desdemona, man and woman, black and white--completing and complementing each other against a rich cultural background.
To understand this interpretation we must look at the nature of the outsider (Moor) and the nature of the society he enters (Venice) before we see Iago at work in a threatened island (Cyprus), which Othello rules under the authority of Venice.
I. Othello is a great man, a leader in battle, but new to Venetian culture. (Click on the underlined passage to go to this part of the lecture.)
II. Venice is a powerful, rich, highly sophisticated society.
III. Othello's speech is simple, powerful and poetic in sound and concept.
IV. In Cyprus, Othello is tested as a governor for Venice and the husband of Desdemona.
I. Othello, a great man and a leader in battle, is an alien new to Venetian culture.
A. Othello is a Moor by birth.
1. Moors come from North Africa. Although many Moors are Arabic, Othello is referred to as black in skin and features. (See Explorations: Staging 4 for a discussion of different casting and makeup for the part.)
3. Othello claims that he is of noble descent in his homeland: "I fetch my life and being/ From men of royal siege [rank]" (1.2.20-21).
B. Othello has survived many hardships and risen as a warrior to command.
1. He has been involved in fighting from the age of seven to the present, although he has seen no battle for the last nine months in Venice:
Rude am I in my speech,NOTE: In quoted passages, any wording in boldface is especially important to understand. At the end of the passage, the act, scene and line number are given. You can hear the passage if you click below the quotation.
And little bless'd with the soft phrase of peace;
For since these arms of mine had seven years' pith,
Till now some nine moons wasted, they have used
Their dearest action in the tented field(1.3.81-5) 319K
2. He has been sold into slavery and set free, and he has traveled widely and seen wonders:
Her father [Brabantio] loved me; oft invited me;3. Although Othello is modest about his achievements ("I have done the state some service, and they know 't," 5.2.135), his skill in battle is agreed upon by everyone:
Still question'd me the story of my life
From year to year, the battles, sieges, fortunes
That I have pass'd.
I ran it through, even from my boyish days
To the very moment that he bade me tell it;
Wherein I spake of most disastrous chances,
Of moving accidents by flood and field,
Of hair-breadth 'scapes i' the imminent deadly breach,
Of being taken by the insolent foe
And sold to slavery,of my redemption thence
And portance in my travels' history;
Wherein of antres [caves] vast and deserts idle,
Rough quarries,rocks and hills whose heads touch heaven,
It was my hint to speak,such was the process;
And of the Cannibals that each other eat,
The Anthropophagi,and men whose heads
Do grow beneath their shoulders.
Duke: The Turk with a most mighty preparation makes for Cyprus. Othello, the fortitude of the place is best known to you; and though we have there a substitute [viceroy] of most allowed sufficiency [namely, Montano], yet opinion, a sovereign mistress of effects, throws a more safer voice on you [says you are the best person for the job].And in Cyprus, Montano seems ready to give up his place to Othello:
Montano: I have served him, and the man commands/ Like a full soldier (2.1.35-6)4. Although Othello has probably worked as a mercenary in his travels (Roderigo calls him "an extravagant [wandering] and wheeling stranger/ Of here and everywhere" (1.1.133), he seems to have settled in Venice for love of Desdemona.
A. Othello tells Iago:
But that I love the gentle Desdemona,B. Othello has become a Christian. He appeals to the fighters at Cyprus: "For Christian shame put by this barbarous brawl" (2.3.171). And he gives Desdemona a chance to confess sins before she dies because, he says, "I would not kill thy soul."
I would not my unhoused free condition
Put into circumscription and confine
For the seas' worth.
5. Although Othello is honored and invited to the most noble households (such as Senator Brabantio's), his elopement shows that he is aware of Venetian perceptions of him as alien. But he expects that his merit will outweigh Brabantio's influence, as the following dialogue shows:
Iago: Are you fast married? Be assured of this,Return to Summary of Part One
That the magnifico [Brabantio] is much beloved,
And hath in his effect a voice potential
As double as the duke's; he will divorce you,
Or put upon you what restraint and grievance
The law, with all his might to enforce it on,
Will give him cable.
Othello: Let him do his spite:
My services which I have done the signiory
Shall out-tongue his complaints.
II. Venice is a powerful, rich, sophisticated Italian city-state whose
wealth and noble hierarchy rest on trade (as we also see in Shakespeare's
earlier play The Merchant of Venice).
A. As a city built on trade, Venice (in northern Italy) needs to defeat the Islamic Turks whose fleet threatens Venetian outposts (such as Rhodes and Cyprus) that guard Venetian access to the lucrative spice markets of Syria and Lebanon. It is interesting that there is no Italian as skillful as the alien Othello (formerly a Muslim) to lead their forces against the Turks.
B. In love, does sophistication mean civilized high ideals or corruption of ideals?
1. Before Othello arrives in Cyprus, Cassio shows sincere praise of Othello and Desdemona in graceful, poetic language:
Great Jove, Othello guard,But Iago, even on his best behavior before Desdemona, seems to expect the worst of women:
And swell his sail with thine own powerful breath,
That he may bless this bay with his tall ship,
Make love's quick pants in Desdemona's arms,
Give renew'd fire to our extincted spirits,
And bring all Cyprus comfort! [Desdemona enters] Oh, behold!
The riches of the ship is come on shore.
Ye men of Cyprus, let her have your knees.
Hail to thee, lady! and the grace of heaven,
Before, behind thee, and on every hand,
Enwheel thee round.
you [women] are pictures out of doors,2. Courtly Venetian behavior (kissing hands, flowery praise) is always sincere and honorable in Cassio, the man Desdemona says helped Othello in his wooing (3.3.96), yet he clearly adopts a double standard in his capricious disregard for the prostitute Bianca, who loves Cassio.
Bells in your parlours, wild cats in your kitchens,
Saints in your injuries, devils being offended,
Players in your housewifery, and housewives in your beds
3. Roderigo sheds light on Venetian customs when he gives money to Iago to further his suit with Desdemona, despite her father's dismissal of him . He feels no compunction about continuing his wooing after she is married, using jewels to win her regard and her consent in adultery. (She doesn't give in--and Iago probably never even approaches her, but keeps the jewels for himself--but Roderigo is probably doing what he considers to be standard operating procedure.)
C. Although the Duke seeks Othello as the most highly qualified commander of Venetian troops, does influence count more than experience in Venice?
Cassio, a militarily inexperienced nobleman, is made Othello's second in command over the experienced, but common (non-noble) Iago, even though Iago has been willing to play the game by having three big-shots ask Othello to make him his lieutenant: "Three great ones of the city,/ In personal suit to make me his [Othello's] lieutenant" pleaded Iago's case (1.1.7-8). Does Othello choose Cassio because of personal reasons (Cassio accompanied him as he wooed Desdemona), because he sees a finer nature in Cassio than in Iago or because he realizes he needs a second-in-command who knows the sophisticated culture of Venice? (Even though Cassio is from Florence, he is a gentleman by class.)
Notice that, once the Turkish fleet is dispersed (by weather rather than by Othello's generalship), the Venetian government relieves Othello of the governorship of Cyprus in favor of Cassio--even before they have heard of Othello's brutal behavior toward Desdemona.
D. Venetians are sensitive to Othello's difference in race, whether they support him or oppose him.
1. Brabantio, who welcomed Othello and his exotic stories to his home, finds him so loathesome as a son-in-law for his perfect Venetian daughter that he assumes Othello must have used magic or love potions to get Desdemona to love him.
2. Iago, in hiding as he informs Brabantio about Desdemona's elopement, speaks in bestial, racially-colored terms: "An old black ram is /Tupping your white ewe" (1.1.85); "you'll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse" (108).
3. When trying to cheer up Brabantio, the Duke says: "If virtue no delighted [delightful] beauty lack, /Your son-in-law is far more fair [beautiful] than black" (1.3.284-85). This pun presents a backhanded compliment, as a paraphrase on the wordplay contrasting "fair" and "black" shows: 'Othello is full of virtue (in our modern sense of 'high character' but also in the now obsolete meaning of 'strong') and as long as you find virtue attractive, then your son-in-law is more "fair" (meaning 'attractive' as well as 'light-skinned' or 'blonde') than "black" (meaning 'ugly' or 'dark-skinned').'
E. The staging of the trial scene calls for decisions about the strength of racism, trade and nobility in Venice. Each of the following questions has at least two answers. How would you stage the following parts of the scene and what implications do your decisions make about racism, trade and nobility?
1. Why does the Duke see Othello first though both are announced? Does Othello enter BEFORE the older man or is the Duke just eager to get Othello on the road (or sea!) against the Turks?
2. The Duke at first says he will act against the villain Brabantio complains of, even if it were his own son who had done the deed. Once he finds out the "villain" is the man he wants to command the troops, is he even-handed or trying to find a tactful way of clearing Othello?
3. When Othello asks for lodging and provision for his wife, why does the Duke suggest that she stay at Brabantio's house?
III. Othello's speech is simple and poetic in sound and concept, indicating his noble nature.
A. Othello's speech is powerful because of his romantic adventurousness and the simple, but principled ideals that underlie them.
1. Othello simply narrates his struggles and travels, and he concludes:
She loved me for the dangers I had passed,Desdemona prefers the man of action to "the curled darlings of her race" (1.2.67). Although Iago calls Othello's narration "bragging and telling her fantastical lies" (2.1.221), Desdemona confirms her love of Othello's character:
And I loved her that she did pity them.(3.1.166-7)
That I did love the Moor to live with him,Her speech is forthright and sincere in a way that matches Othello's. She wants to follow him into battle. Her elopement and willingness to speak up in the Duke's court, she says, announce to the world that she loves the Moor to live with him. 'My heart has fallen for his character and worth. I saw him not in a face but in his mind, and I have married my soul and fortunes to his honors and bravery.'
My downright violence and storm of fortunes
May trumpet to the world; my heart's subdued
Even to the very quality of my lord;
I saw Othello's visage in his mind,
And to his honours and his valiant parts
Did I my soul and fortunes consecrate.
B. Othello has a lofty rhythm in which he expresses his ease with command and authority. In 1.2, when Brabantio and his servants confront him with swords drawn on both sides, Othello says (with stressed syllables in capital letters):
Keep UP your bright SWORDS, or the DEW will RUST them.
With this rolling, slow line, he deflects attention from the quarrel with his father-in-law to the care of weapons. (Too bad Romeo didn't have this authority when Mercutio urged him to fight!)
C. Although Othello's thoughts become infected with Iago's suspicions, he never loses the nobility of his speech. In fact, I hear Othello as a duel between the busy buzzing of the stinging insect Iago against the loping baritone rhythms of the noble Othello.
IV. Cyprus is the testing ground for Othello, a Moor working for Venice, as warrior-governor and as husband.
A. Cyprus is under Venetian control, but it seems wilder--perhaps because it is closer to Turkey and Lebanon than to Venice and because it has been aroused by the recent threat of the Turkish fleet. When Othello comes as governor, he acts like a general to keep peace.
He fires Cassio, to make an example of him, berating him because he has failed to carry out guard duty and caused an alarm in a frightened community:
What? In a town of warOthello supports Montano, the Cypriot governor he has replaced, and this helps to keep the citizens from feeling "occupied."
Yet wild, the people's hearts brimful of fear,
To manage private and domestic quarrel?
B. Othello begins his married life in Cyprus--and he proclaims a celebration not only for deliverance from a Turkish threat, but also in celebration of his marriage (2.2).
C. Will Othello's love for Desdemona interfere with his duties in ruling Cyprus?
1. Everyone knows Desdemona has great influence with Othello. For example, Cassio, before Othello's arrival in Cyprus, calls Desdemona "our great captain's captain" (2.1.74).
2. Upon his arrival, Othello calls Desdemona "my
fair warrior!" (2.1.179). A Russian production of the play emphasizes
Desdemona's influence as Othello rushes up several flights of steps, in
full view of the waiting troops and citizens, and converses with her before
he announces to the multitude "Our wars are done" (2.1.200). Click
below to see a video clip (5700 K) from the Russian Othello, directed
by Sergei Yutkevich.
3. Iago counsels Cassio to regain his (justly) lost place by appealing to Desdemona to use her influence with Othello.
Acts 1 and 2 introduce us to Othello and Venice as well as Iago's plan to revenge himself on Othello, but it is not until Act 3 that we see Iago start to work on Othello directly. In the Othello Lecture Part Two, we will see how and why Iago's plan works and how easy or hard it is for him to make Othello jealous.