Uncertain vision and perception

¶ … Vision

What is real and what is not real can be an important theme in literature. Mistaken intentions, beliefs, and deeds can be the basis of a story, and, depending upon the story, the results can be happy, comical, or even tragic. Within the realm of tragedy, the result of not being able to differentiate between what is real and what is not, sometimes referred to as "uncertain vision," is often death, or worse. Two stories, originating in two very different times, are Sophocles' Oedipus the King and William Shakespeare's Othello, and while both share the common literature devise "uncertain vision," there is a distinct difference in the underlying cause of the uncertain vision of the main characters. While Sophocles' main character, Oedipus, was the victim of uncertain vision as a result of fate, the main characters' uncertain vision in Shakespeare's Othello comes from the influence of humans. In other words, Uncertain vision is an important theme in both stories, but the source of this uncertain vision originates in two very different places.

Sophocles begins his play as Oedipus is the King of Thebes, but the city is currently suffering a catastrophic plague, and Oedipus sends to the priests of the Oracle of Delphi to ask the god Apollo how to end the suffering. Apollo response begins a series of events and revelations that will put an end to the uncertain vision that plagues many of the characters with catastrophic results. Apollo demanded that the murderers of the previous king of Thebes, Laius, be discovered and that then "Punish his takers-off, whoe'er they be." (Sophocles, I, i) Oedipus agrees to undertake the mission to discover the identity of the murderers, but unbeknownst to Oedipus, he is the murderer. Oedipus lived for many years without being able to see what was really happening; he killed his own father, then went on to become the king of Thebes and unknowingly marry and have children with his own mother. Oedipus and his wife/mother Jocasta are the victims of their uncertain vision, their inability to discover their true identities and the meaning of their past actions. This ultimately leads to tragic events, Jocasta's suicide and Oedipus' blinding and banishment.

While Oedipus and others are the victims of uncertain vision, it is fate that is the creator of this uncertain vision. Oedipus did not know the real identity of the man he killed at the crossroads, he did not know that Jocasta was really his mother, and when he announced that he would punish the murderer of Laius, he did not know that it was really him. It was "supernatural" forces which drove the characters' inability to discover the truth about themselves, and it was the god Apollo's oracle that set in motion the events that would ultimately expose the truth. Unlike the Shakespeare's Othello, there are no human machinations which set in motion a series of events that leads to uncertain vision, the uncertain vision is the result of fate and it is intervention by the gods which exposes the fact that the characters have been living in this state for some time.

On the other hand, like Sophocles' Oedipus the King, Shakespeare also used the concept of uncertain vision as a major theme in Othello; but unlike Sophocles, the source of this uncertain vision did not come from some unearthly source, but from the machinations of an evil character. It is deception and outright lies, told by Iago, which create the conditions for certain characters to become suspicious and sustain erroneous beliefs that ultimately leads to tragedy. In the second scene of the very first act, Iago demonstrates his power of deception and manipulation by provoking Branbanzio into becoming enraged at the idea of his daughter, Desdemona, sexually involved with the African, Othello. Shakespeare cleverly used a common slang term for intercourse by stating "…your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs." (Shakespeare, I, i) and it is Branbanzio's own racism that clouds his vision and brings about the belief that his daughter could not truly be in love with Othello without the use of magic and potions.

The main instigator, however, of most of the trouble caused by uncertain vision is, of course, the character of Iago. It is Iago who provokes Branbanzio, as well as deceives Roderigo into becoming a pawn in his deadly games. Iago deceives Roderigo into believing that his service is helping Roderigo gain favor with Desdemona, but instead Iago is simply using Roderigo's money in order to "make my fool my purse." (Shakespeare, I, iii) Roderigo is also deceived by Iago into making an unprovoked attack on the character of Cassio, which results in Cassio's dismissal from Othello's service. This in turn leads to Iago deceiving Cassio into contacting Desdemona for assistance in getting his job back. And Cassio's interaction with Desdemona is twisted by into a sexual affair that Iago convinces Othello that the two are having. In effect, Iago creates a number of situations in which the actions of various characters are misinterpreted and misunderstood in order to provoke a tragic reaction. It is Iago who is the cause of the uncertain vision that afflicts so many of Shakespeare's characters, but most tragically Othello.