Shakespeare’s Othello unfortunately remains a little too relevant for a modern audience. It explores the tragedies and atrocities that exists in society, many aspects unfortunately still relevant today.
The mastermind behind the entire book, the green eyed monster. Jealousy was the main driving force of Iago; to undermine Othello for promoting Cassio to lieutenant, contrary to Iago’s longing for the rank which he was promised. To this, Iago reacted in a less than desirable manner as he convinced his friend, Roderigo, to help him with his schemes.
“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
Many a duteous and knee-crooking knave,
That, doting on his own obsequious bondage,
Wears out his time, much like his master’s ass,
For nought but provender, and when he’s old, cashier’d:
Whip me such honest knaves. Others there are
Who, trimm’d in forms and visages of duty,
Keep yet their hearts attending on themselves,
And, throwing but shows of service on their lords,
Do well thrive by them and when they have lined
their coats
Do themselves homage: these fellows have some soul;
And such a one do I profess myself. For, sir,
It is as sure as you are Roderigo,
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.”
Iago revealing his intentions to Roderigo
Iago’s quote emphasises his hatred towards Othello, yet it also shows what kind of relationship Iago had with Othello. Iago, instead of being a reasonable person, who should’ve talked to and negotiated with Othello, instead his dogmatic thought process lead him to plot against Othello. This conveyed the weak and petty relationship Iago had with Othello. Iago did not follow Othello, he followed the prospect of promotion, he followed the rank, and in order to do that, he followed Othello like a sly fox.
Iago’s actions causes the relationship between Othello, Cassio and Desdemona to deteriorate, eventually leading to the death of the couple and Iago copped himself time behind bars.
Jealously is a major part of every human, and blinds us to the point of unreasonable assumptions of others. This is considerably prominent in modern society. A typical example would in relationships. Say, for instance the woman who one man liked started dating another man. The man who got ‘dogged’ would feel jealousy, yet would need to act appropriately, as in the socially acceptable ways. However, certain cases would have the man plotting to deteriorate the relationship. This, unfortunately, does tend to happen in society, with jealous people trying to ruin the reputation of their romantic rival through social media and social interaction. These affairs will result in bullying, disputes and in worse case scenario, suicide of the victim, similarly to Othello.
Racism is another conspicuous atrocity , both prevalent in the play and society. It has plagued the world since the start of civilisation. The play illustrates unjust prejudice against blacks and how they are seen as inferior, in the Elizabethan era. Othello, a black general, was disapproved and deemed unfit to become Desdemona’s husband, not because of his achievements, but because of race.
“Even now, now, very now, an old black ram
Is tupping your white ewe.”
This was how Iago described Othello, using racist slang, which seemed to be accepted by Brabantio. Brabantio, deceived by Iago and Roderigo, started using less than ideal terms when regarding Othello in the council.
“ O thou foul thief, where hast thou stow’d my daughter?
Damn’d as thou art, thou hast enchanted her;
For I’ll refer me to all things of sense,
If she in chains of magic were not bound,
Whether a maid so tender, fair and happy,
So opposite to marriage that she shunned
The wealthy curled darlings of our nation,
Would ever have, to incur a general mock,
Run from her guardage to the sooty bosom
Of such a thing as thou, to fear, not to delight.
Judge me the world, if ’tis not gross in sense
That thou hast practised on her with foul charms,
Abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals
That weaken motion: I’ll have’t disputed on;
’Tis probable and palpable to thinking.
I therefore apprehend and do attach thee
For an abuser of the world, a practiser
Of arts inhibited and out of warrant.
Lay hold upon him: if he do resist,
Subdue him at his peril.”
This quote insinuates Brabantio’s disbelief in Othello’s ability to charm his daughter as Othello is black, and for that reason he must’ve used “ chains of magic” and other preposterous things. Racism and prejudice against blacks, especially regarding marriage is an unceasing occurrence, not as common as pre 20th century, but there are still portions of the population that disagree with interracial marriage. This is more common in Asian culture, such as China, Korea and Japan than in western countries. I know as I come from a Chinese background, and most Asian parents only approve marriages from highly educated and successful families, white people are also desired by Asian parents.
Manipulation is a big part of Othello. Everything was a result of manipulation. Iago’s poisonous words infected Othello’s brain. Iago let his words misguided and deceived Othello. Despite being an intelligent general, one unyielding in the field of battle, he let his human nature get the better of him.
“The Moor is of a free and open nature,
That thinks men honest that but seem to be so,”
Taking advantage of Othello’s open-mindedness, Iago was able to intrude Othello’s mind with lies.
“ Come, lieutenant, I have
a bottle of wine; and here outside are a number of
Cyprus gents that would happily drink a round to the
health of black Othello.”
Iago uses peer pressure to force Cassio into making a mistake, and to his satisfaction, Cassio took the bait.
“She deceived her father by marrying you;”
Iago using Othello’s current situation against him in a crafty way.
Iago’s successful manipulation is credited towards his observation of his surroundings and adaptability to that certain situation. Insinuating Desdemona and Cassio having an affair as a leverage to get his “medicine” across to Othello. By slowly and gradually manipulating Othello, each lie is like a gene. By itself, it’s useless, but join them together, it forms a chromosome. What this entails is how each individual lie is insignificant, however when accumulated, can cause significant amounts of damage.
Occurrences like this are commonplace in our unscrupulous society. Politics, the economy, and many other aspects of modern society all possess aspects of manipulation. Politicians rely on propaganda, unfulfilled promises and manipulation to obtain a status they desire. Through lies and deception they are able to manipulate the public and their followers to believe what they spew, and because of the politician’s pre-established position within society, they are deemed reputable and authoritative, which enables them to address the public with confidence. This was the same tactic Iago used, he was seen as “Honest Iago”, honest and reputable, this allowed him to address Othello with full confidence in success. Likewise, the economy contains aspects of manipulation. Corrupt businesses will do anything to earn more income, trying to become the richest while deceiving people to invest in them. Iago went around to different people, basically ‘making deals’ through manipulation, and then ultimately using the assimilated lies and consequences of people’s actions to set Othello up. The environment surrounding Othello, is much like society, built upon and supported by lies and misunderstandings, which ultimately resulted in his demise.
Perhaps one of the most prominent themes in Othello is gender equality. The play exhibits how women were treated during the Elizabethan era, particularly through the interactions between Othello, Iago and their wives. Othello treats Desdemona, decently, yet occasionally treats her as less, or as a belonging. Othello does not trust Desdemona the same way she trusts him. Desdemona fully trusts Othello, and never showed a sign of doubt towards him. Othello on the other hand, as allowed arrogance and lies to severe the love between him and his spouse, which leads to the question, did he actually love her? Undoubtedly, all relationships are built using trust as scaffolding. What was perceived here was Othello displaying arrogance and misplaced his trust. If only he had trusted his spouse instead of one of his officers, he would’ve soon realised the truth.
Iago, on the other hand, treats his wife as a servant.
“IAGO
To have a foolish wife.
EMILIA
O, is that all? What will you give me now
For the same handkerchief?
IAGO
What handkerchief?
EMILIA
What handkerchief?
Why, that the Moor first gave to Desdemona;
That which so often you did bid me steal.
IAGO
Hast stol’n it from her?
EMILIA
No, ‘faith; she let it drop by negligence.
And, to the advantage, I, being here, took’t up.
Look, here it is.
IAGO
A good wench; give it me.
EMILIA
What will you do with ‘t, that you have been
so earnest
To have me filch it?
IAGO
[Snatching it] Why, what’s that to you?
EMILIA
If it be not for some purpose of import,
Give’t me again: poor lady, she’ll run mad
When she shall lack it.
IAGO
Be not acknown on ‘t; I have use for it.
Go, leave me.”
From this conversation we can deduce the type of relationship Iago has with his wife. He uses her to benefit himself, and Emilia really has nothing to say about it. She simply submits to Iago asserting himself as the dominant figure in this relationship, and because of this Iago can use Emilia to get close to Desdemona and Othello. This was also the pinnacle of his plan, the handkerchief, was equivalent to Stalingrad. It was the final effort to crush the relationship between Othello and Desdemona, much like the Soviets crushing the German forces on the Eastern front.
Relationships like this are common in our current society, especially in arranged marriages. These relationships usually are rugged, because neither the husband nor wife chose each other, this results in the dominant figure of the relationship to kind of ‘rule’ the other. This just goes to show how unjust society is, in Elizabethan times, and in modern time. This said, society is not perfect, and to neutralise gender inequality is not plausible, at all.
Othello can be related to many other modern texts, because they share similar ideas and themes, which is probably why we spend hours upon hours at school studying it. The play Othello, or any Shakespeare play, is relevant in the way that it allows us to become aware of our surroundings. It furthers our understanding of society, and of human nature. Shakespeare plays are just magnifying glasses, used to exaggerate social events and interactions to better understand the nitty-gritty of it all. Despite this being relevant. Despite being studied across the globe, harsh truth is, becoming aware is not enough, action is needed for change. Unfortunately in our current society, no one is very aware (including me). Studying social interactions and maintaining healthy relationships are the least of everyone’s worries. People are too caught up maintaining their image and reputation, and sometimes through some less-than-ethical ways. This ‘awareness’ is dissipating, no matter how much we study Shakespeare texts, because truth be told people just don’t care enough.
A speech by David Foster Wallace called “This is water”, given at the graduation ceremony of Kenyon College in 2005, addresses this issue of awareness.
When I first read this speech it immediately allowed me to relate it to Othello in the way that it explores the depths of society, down to the minuscule individuals that we are in a complex web of interactions. It objectively discusses the current standing of society, and obviously ‘awareness’. In the beginning of the speech, David Foster Wallace gave an anecdote,
“There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys, how’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the hell is water?””
The young fish depicts Othello. Othello was not aware of his surroundings, which Iago was able to take advantage of.
Contrary to what I said at the start of the year, I genuinely have learnt something about Othello. Society is cruel, and those closest to you may just be using you for their own benefit, that is if you aren’t aware. Only when being aware and conscious of events surrounding you, can you establish a ‘safe haven’ for yourself. Othello did not do this. He tried to interact with everyone, without being aware, and trusting everyone.
Othello, is a simple play, yet it’s complex in the way that it depicts human interaction in a way which reveals how dreadful something can end up if you don’t play your cards right. It’s a boring, yet insightful read that allows people to realise how delicate and complicated simple interactions are, this is especially relevant as currently we’re in an era of communicating digitally, face to face interaction is usually a secondary form of communication. Othello, being a good representation of human interaction within a modern society, still remains relevant as it teaches us how to be more aware, and operating on our “default settings” (refer to This is Water speech), is just a burden on an already strained society.