Jealousy is often symptomatic of deeper insecurities.In this post, I propose 3 key ideas of jealousy as presented in Othello, which are as follows: In fact, bar Desdemona, Emilia and Cassio, Othello is arguably the least jealous of the remaining bunch, with Iago, Roderigo, Brabantio and Bianca all exhibiting rather more ‘classic’ signs of jealous behaviour. Would a truly jealous man be content with ‘sharing’ his wife as long as he is kept in the dark? Hardly. Pioneers and all, had tasted her sweet body, Othello’s obsession, then, is with his place in the world and his reputation in the eyes of others, not really with gaining absolute control over his wife. He is not motivated by jealousy, but jealousy eggs him on in his quest for acceptance – both from himself and from those around him. The identity of Othello as an alien, however, is central to our interpretation of how hamartia works in this play, because everything the Moor does and says is tied to his self-perception.Īs such, his terrible actions are, to some extent, catalysed by a flawed sense of self (and subsequently, by the jealous sentiments this sense of self breeds).Īgain, self-perception is the cause jealousy is but the symptom. It’s perhaps ironic for a military man, but the less Othello acts, the clearer and more in control he is (as evidenced in his refusal to partake in the nighttime brawl at the start of the play) on the other hand, each concrete action he takes pushes him further down the tragic abyss (he dismisses Cassio and opens up room for Iago to plant suspicions about Desdemona and Cassio’s relationship he strikes Desdemona and regards her tears as signs of deceit he orders Iago to kill Cassio and the plan is botched he murders Desdemona and all hell breaks loose). In a way, Othello is one of Shakespeare’s most chameleonic characters: he is both man and beast protector and intruder lover and murderer captain and criminal and in the words of the Duke – “more fair than black”, but both fair and black.Īnd the speed with which Othello ‘switches on’ one identity or the other is a barometer of the clarity and control he has over a given situation. Like The Merchant of Venice, Othello is about an ethnic ‘Other’ who must find his way in a world of white Venetians and like the ‘Jewish play’, this ‘Moorish play’ is also based on an Italian source text – Cinthio’s Un Capitano Moro (‘A Moorish Captain’), in which a Moorish general falls victim to the evil orchestrations of his Venetian ensign. James VI and I’s reign), and with Shakespeare being so firmly attuned to the political rhythms of James I’s court, the Bard was likely inspired by these ‘foreign aliens’, at once close and distant, to construct the protagonist of Othello. Such relations continued into the Jacobean era (i.e. During this period, the presence of Moorish emissaries grew at the English court (‘Moor’ is a term which originally meant Muslim Arabs, but gradually expanded in scope to include sub-Saharan Africans).
Keen to form alliances as a bulwark against Spanish forces, Liz I reached out to the Moroccan Sultan and established the Barbary Company in 1585, which strengthened Anglo-Moroccan diplomatic and trading ties. The Anglo-Spanish War from 1585-1604 saw the continual erosion of English and Spanish relations, with Elizabeth I and Philip II of Spain at loggerheads with each other over everything from politics to trade.
To understand the intersections between Othello’s jealousy and his overall character, it’s important to look at the broader diplomatic currents in late Elizabethan England. With Othello, then, is jealousy really the hamartia that transforms him from a gracious and valiant general to a fallen and matricidal wreck? Or is jealousy merely the symptom of a more troubling character trait, from which Othello cannot escape and must contend with? And is jealousy necessarily a moral flaw, or just a complex emotion? The historical context of Othello : the Barbary Company and the Anglo-Moroccan Alliance In a similar vein, Hamlet’s ‘hamartia’ is his absolutism, but absolutism in the face of temptations could be the sign of a principled person. For example, most of us would agree that Macbeth’s ‘hamartia’ is his ambition, but ambition coupled with moderation and wisdom can be a very good thing.
0 kommentar(er)
