Beware My Lord\" -- Not of Jealousy,

¶ … Beware my lord" -- not of jealousy, but of self-hatred

Othello is often described as a tragic character because he is a great leader and military hero who is brought low by one, fatal personal flaw that he is otherwise unaware of-namely his jealousy. But really it seems as if Iago is the more jealous of the two men, jealous of the Moor's advancement in Venetian society, and of the promotion of Michael Cassio. One of the first things Iago says in the play, in Act 1, Scene 1 to Rodrigo is "Why, there's no remedy; 'tis the curse of service, / Preferment goes by letter and affection, / And not by old gradation, where each second/Stood heir to the first." (1.1) In other words, rather than merit and age, people who are pretty and preferred like Cassio get promoted -- a statement that seethes with jealousy. In contrast to Iago, Othello in fact seems to possess a free and open nature, and seldom jealously begrudges anyone of anything they are truly, fully owed. He leaps into service for the state immediately upon his wedding night when the city is threatened militarily. Instead, Othello's true tragic flaw is his sense of being an outsider. He is apt to be taken advantage of because he came to Venice as foreigner and he is Black. Even at his most eloquent he apologizes for his rudeness of speech. (1.3) It is this sense of not belonging, even though he now does hold a high position the Venetian military. Iago later exploits this in his manipulations of the general's too credulous and open mind.

Othello's sense of alienation, unlike his jealousy of his wife, is not without basis, as can be seen in Desdemona's father's comments, in Act 1, Scene 3, when he hears of the clandestine marriage. At first, when Othello was not a prospective in-law, the man "Her father loved me; oft invited me," to his home. (1.3) But, faced with Desdemona's impending marriage, her father states, "For I'll refer me to all things of sense, / If she in chains of magic were not bound," he'll be shocked. He states he cannot believe she would spurn, "The wealthy curled darlings of our nation," and instead, risk general disapproval and scorn -- "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." He states to Othello that "thou hast practised on her with foul charms,/Abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals," not with love, " That weaken motion: I'll have't disputed on;/'Tis probable and palpable to thinking. (1.2)

Only witchcraft, says Luciano, could cause Desdemona to love Othello, not this Blackman's own considerable merits. He calls Othello, despite the hospitality he showed to him before, old and ugly, and a figure of scorn. Yet the viewer of this scene soon learns that Othello wooed her with his words -- a powerful testimony to the power of the spoken language, that Iago will exploit in a negative fashion with the general. "She did deceive her father, marrying you;/And when she seem'd to shake and fear your looks, / She loved them most." (3.3) Iago perceives that Othello feels like an outsider, by stressing the identity of the man who most cruelly abused Othello's race, and stressing Desdemona's status as subtle, and a Venetian, in contrast to Othello's original national identity.

Othello leaves Desdemona to fight almost immediately after the ceremony, so strong is his sense of duty to the army, and also potentially highlighting an anxiety about seeming to be 'correct' and aboveboard because of his alien appearance, an appearance he seems to despise himself. Her name, that was as fresh/As Dian's visage, is now begrimed and black/As mine own face," he states, when convinced of her adultery. (3.3) This alien appearance will also give him anxiety about keeping his wife chaste: "Haply, for I am black / And have not those soft parts of conversation/That chamberers have, or for I am declined/Into the vale of years, --yet that's not much -- /She's gone. I am abused; and my relief/Must be to loathe her. (3.3)

A loss of chastity in one's wife becomes a loss of social position, in Othello's eyes, as this monologue seems to mix his fear about losing his wife's heart and body with a loss of respect in the eyes of his troops. He "had been happy, if the general camp,

Pioners and all, had tasted her sweet body, / So I had nothing known. O, now, for ever

Farewell the tranquil mind! farewell content! / Farewell the plumed troop, and the big wars, / That make ambition virtue! O, farewell! / Farewell the neighing steed, and the shrill trump, / The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife, / The royal banner, and all quality,

Pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious war! / And, O you mortal engines, whose rude throats/The immortal Jove's dead clamours counterfeit." (3.3)

Without the respect of his troops and his wife, Othello feels like he is nothing, only blackness remains, no pun intended. He thought Desdemona's father respected him, but he was wrong -- might not be wrong about her he wonders? "I am your own for ever," says Iago, the ultimate betrayer, when Othello is fully in his power. But Othello would never have been in Iago's power, had he had confidence to reject Iago's testimony and to go with his instincts about his wife's character. Instead he responded only to his insecurities and suffered a terrible price -- as does Desdemona, even though she is blameless.