Hello everyone
and welcome to my very first experiment on this particular field.
I am talking about literature analysis.
Today we start with an interesting analysis about “Othello, the moor of Venice”. This tragedy can be seen as a modern tragedy due to its topics: racism, patriarchal society, feminism, monsters and devils.
We will discover how Shakespeare conceived female characters and how he made the females counterpart balder and more courageous. Think about Giulietta, who killed herself with a dagger, instead Romeo just drank some poison. Loser. So think about the title “Othello, the Moor of Venice”. Despite the fact Othello is the general of the Venetian army, he was a foreigner. But why?
The Doge (aka the ruler of Venice during the Renaissance) didn’t want to put in charge some random guy belonged to a rich family of Venice.
Source:
He wanted to avoid any coup d’etat made by the upper classes. Venice hired foreign general to conduct the army and then send them back to their country. Easy peasy. Othello is one of them. Othello is not a conceived directly from Shakespeare’s mind, but is truly inspired by Abdel-Ouahed ben Messaoud ben Mohammed Anoun, Moorish Ambassador to Queen Elizabeth arrived to the isles in the year 1601.
We can admin that the realistic representation of Othello is not that black, because he probably came from a region called “Berber”, corresponding to the current Morocco and nort-west part of Africa. However, the word “moor” indicates a certain kind of blackness that is not mirrored by the colour of the skin but the one who belongs to the soul. We will figure out why, but let me anticipate that this tragedy is a journey towards to the primordial instincts of human mind. Othello at the beginning is a man guided by the ratio and logic. At the end of the tragedy his transformation turned him into… We will see!
Another important character is Iago. Iago is one of the meanest characters I ever read about. Since the beginning we will discover his devilish attitude and how he brainwash Othello’s mind, converting the general into a representation of himself, guided by fear, hatred and jealousy. Iago seems attracted by a devilish actions, as a matter of that we’ll read something on it.
And the third character is one of my favorites.
Desdemona, Othello’s wife. She’s the boldest character of the play. She rejected her status as Venetian citizen in order to follow her love. She’s the only one who didn’t describe Othello seeking adjectives that remands to his physical appearance. But I am taking too much into this topic and let’s find out what is going on.
1st act, 1 scene
The play of Othello begins on a street, in the middle of an argument between Iago and Roderigo, talking about the marriage of Desdemona and Othello. Iago looks to be really annoyed of Othello: his hatred is increased because, Iago expected a promotion to lieutenant. However Othello choose another guy called Cassio, with no experience in battle field. Roderigo instead was jealous of Othello, because of his role of pretendant of Desdemona’s hand.
His intentions are very clear: He’s looking for revenge, doesn’t considerate Othello a leader.
IAGO
O, sir, content you;
I follow him to serve my turn upon him:
We cannot all be masters, nor all masters
Cannot be truly follow'd. You shall mark
…
Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago:
In following him, I follow but myself;
He does a distinction between two kind of servants: the ones who follow without thinking on the orders, the other who pay homage to themselves. Iago belongs to the second kind.
In following him, I follow but myself;
The two men decide to go to Brabantio’s house, in the middle of the night, shouting “Thieves” in front of Brabantio's house. **Brabantio **is a senator of Venice and Desdemona’s father. At the beginning he though Roderigo was scheming in order to see Desdemona.
It also can see as “Shivery” when foreigners marry local women or there’s too much social differences, citizen can criticize the marriage, annoying under the window of the house of the couple. This complies can be shouted by pay an amount of money or punish the woman (eg. Timing of the Shrew).
However, Iago speaks in a very infamous way, revealing or guessing his daughter is having sex with Othello. We can recognize a racist use of word, comparing Othello to a “Devil” “black ram”, who is having sex with an innocent sheep. Othello is compared into something savage, with no rational mind, attached to hedonistic conception, instead of Desdemona who is innocent.
IAGO
'Zounds, sir, you are one of those that will not
serve God, if the devil bid you. Because we come to
do you service and you think we are ruffians, you'll
have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse;
you'll have your nephews neigh to you; you'll have
coursers for cousins and gennets for germans.
Iago and Roderigo played with senator’s fears: counting images, that describes Othello (which was never referred with his own name, but with epithets like “thick lips”, “barbary horse”, “the moor”, or just “he” or “him”.
IAGO
'Zounds, sir, you're robb'd; for shame, put on
your gown;
Your heart is burst, you have lost half your soul;
Even now, now, very now, an old black ram
Is topping your white ewe. Arise, arise;
Awake the snorting citizens with the bell,
Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you:
Arise, I say.
Iago is carrying out a process of dehumanization of his enemy.
The word “Thieves” is really important because women during renaissance are seen as an instrument of wealth, property of the father, and then of the husband, heritage status and rights (Desdemona is seen as Othello’s property, so alien despite she was born in Venice).
Iago embodies the part of the villain, the mind behind Othello foolishness, the one who modify Othello’s think and judgement. “I am not what I am” reveals us an evil aspect of his soul (Exodus 3.14 “I am what I am”)
(here's a black ram,lol)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/124442726@N06/25223107715
IAGO
Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago:
In following him, I follow but myself;
Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty,
But seeming so, for my peculiar end:
For when my outward action doth demonstrate
The native act and figure of my heart
In compliment extern, 'tis not long after
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.
So, here comes the end of the first scene, please let me know if you enjoyed, leave a comment!
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