|
Desiring the security of his former identity as
a soldier while his current identity as a lover crap, Othello begins to
confuse one with the other. His expression of his jealousy is —“Farewell the
tranquil mind”—to the absurd:
Farewell the plumed 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!
(Act III, Scene iii, L353–359)
The Danger of Isolation — Once Othello, Iago, Desdemona,
Emilia, and Roderigo have come to Cyprus, they have nothing to do but
torture one another. Isolation enables many of the play's most important
effects: Iago frequently speaks in soliloquies; Othello stands apart while
Iago talks with Cassio in Act IV, Scene i, and is left alone onstage with
the bodies of Emilia and Desdemona for a few moments in Act V, Scene ii;
Roderigo seems attached to no one in the play except Iago. And, most
prominently, Othello is visibly isolated from the other characters by his
size and skin. Iago is an expert at separating characters, isolating his
victims. At the same time, Iago is separated from anyone in the play. The
characters cannot be islands, the play seems to say: self-isolation as an
act of self-preservation leads finally to self-destruction. Such
self-isolation leads to the deaths of Roderigo, Iago, Othello, and even
Emilia.
It is interesting to note that the tragedy mixes with
some comic elements. A little comedy is played out in Act II, Scene i, where
Desdemona and Othello meet each other again. First Roderigo is paying Iago
to persuade Desdemona that she should love Roderigo. Apparently Roderigo has
already failed to do this for himself, so he comes across as a fool. This
impression is mixed with the fact that Iago is taking Roderigo's money but
doing nothing in return. Next we are given the villain Iago and his own set
of frustrations. At this point in the play, we do not know how evil Iago is.
He seems to be an example of another comedic element familiar to Elizabethan
audiences: the Vice, one who caused damage but was actually a fool. Roderigo
and Iago carry their complaints to Desdemona's house, hoping to cause
trouble by telling her father, Brabanzio, of her elopement with Othello.
However, comedy appears as a precursor to tragedy. It presents the audience
with the expected comic conventions gone wrong.
When, in the first scene of the first act, Roderigo and Iago
refer ambiguously to Othello, they do not specify his name. Instead they do
so with racial epithets, such as Moor, the thick-lipped, and old black ram.
He does appear at the second scene, but his name is not heard till Act I,
Scene iii. So at the beginning of the story he remains as an outsider that
accounts well for the fact that he is an easy prey for Iago.
Although Othello is a cultural and racial outsider in Venice,
his skill as a soldier and leader is nevertheless valuable and necessary to
the Venetian state. The Venetian government trusts Othello enough to put him
in full martial and political command of Cyprus. Indeed, in his dying
speech, Othello reminds the Venetians of the service he has done to their
state.
Readers and characters are drawn to him usually because of
his exotic qualities. Othello admits as much when he tells the duke about
his friendship with Brabanzio. He says, “[Desdemona’s] father loved me, oft
invited me, / Still questioned me the story of my life / From year to year”
(Act I, Scene iii, L127-29). Othello is also able to captivate his peers
with his speech. The duke’s reply to Othello’s speech about how he wooed
Desdemona with his tales of adventure is: “I think this tale would win my
daughter too” (Act I, Scene iii, L170).
Othello sometimes makes a point of presenting himself as an
outsider, whether because he recognizes his exotic appeal or because he is
self-conscious of and defensive about his difference from other Venetians.
For example, in spite of his obvious eloquence in Act I, Scene iii, he
protests, “Rude am I in my speech, / And little blessed with the soft phrase
of peace” (L81-82). While Othello is never rude in his speech, he does allow
his eloquence to suffer as he is put under increasing strain by Iago’s
plots. In the final moments of the play, Othello regains his composure and,
once again, seduces both his onstage and offstage audiences with his words.
The speech that precedes his suicide is a tale that could woo almost anyone.
It is the tension between Othello’s victimization at the hands of a foreign
culture and his own willingness to torment himself that makes him a tragic
figure rather than simply Iago’s ridiculous puppet.
|
