Day 42: What I Learned: Othello

Above: Laurence Fishburne and Kenneth Branagh in Othello (1995)

A lot of words and phrases that we use today have their origins (or earliest extant examples) in Shakespeare, and there are some great ones from Othello:

• "making the beast with two backs"
• "I will wear my heart upon my sleeve"
• "the green-eyed monster" (jealousy)
• "pomp and circumstance"
• "a foregone conclusion"
• "'tis neither here nor there"

I also learned that the difference between a Shakespearean comedy and a tragedy is the ending. If there's a lot of murder, it's probably a tragedy. All of the "relationship misunderstandings" that lead up to it are similar to the set ups of comedies, except fewer people die by the end of it. Othello is definitely a tragedy.



I was watching an interview with the cast of The Merchant of Venice recently and Joseph Fiennes was saying that as much as we like to imagine that we are always evolving culturally and intellectually, becoming more sophisticated with each generation, Shakespeare's plays reveal just how much the human condition remains the same. Politics and religion and technology may all change, but human emotions and motivations remain the same, ever and always. And few writers have captured those human traits quite like Shakespeare. His stories are so relevant to us today we use them as paradigms, archetypes even. Othello is a great example. We may not relate to squabbles in the Venetian armies but the themes of jealousy and betrayal ring true. 

Othello is not a terribly long play but Shakespeare packs a LOT of character development into it. When we first meet Othello he is the very picture of a calm, in control, and charming man. Everyone loves him, even those who don't want to. All hell could be breaking loose and as soon as Othello comes in, everyone calms down and feels better. Othello's swell and everyone knows it. Well, except Iago. Iago fucking HATES that guy. 

Iago is mad because everyone LOVES Othello and he's jealous. Plus he's a racist. So he wants everyone to see Othello as a sex-crazed, violent, jealous beast. Again, Iago is very racist. He doesn't like that a "Moor" (Othello is described throughout the play as "black," "thick-lipped," "like an Ethiope"...you get the idea) has risen in the ranks ahead of him and, like racists everywhere, is itching to "put him in his place," so to speak. In short, Iago is the worst. The absolute worst. 

The problem is that no one seems to know that Iago is the worst because he is also very charming in his own way. I mean, his wife Emilia suspects he's a giant douche, but no one listens to her until it's too late. Iago is able to manipulate Othello's downfall by planting seeds of doubt in his mind about his marriage, which ultimately grows into a jealous, murderous rage. And this wasn't easy because at the beginning of the play Othello was beyond calm, rational and secure. And he was in love with his new bride. Getting him to turn into a jealous monster took work and Iago used all his jerk-skills to bring it about. 

But it's not like Othello's blameless. I mean, he DID turn into a murderous monster. Really Desdemona is the only truly blameless character in the play, and she pays the highest price. I wish that wasn't so easy to relate to, even today, but of course it is. But when Othello descends into rage and violence, it's sad not just for him and for the people around him who are victims of his actions. It's sad because he was a racial minority who rose into power and was beloved by (almost) all, and who helped dispel racial stereotypes among the Venetians he knew. Only Iago saw him as a racist caricature of the way he thought a "Moor" should be, and he stopped at nothing to make sure everyone eventually saw that too. 

In other words, it's a deep play. There are no winners and no one has a happy ending, but it's a satisfyingly tragic ending, if that makes any sense. It's a play that makes me feel tragically sad.