Gender, Identity, and Betrayal in Shakespeare's Othello

Introduction

Of the alleged chief tragedies penned by Shakespeare, Othello has led to a certain degree of critical embarrassment. This "domestic tragedy" lacks the dynastic and political consequences that characterize Macbeth, Hamlet, and King Lear. The protagonist, Othello, behaves like a blockhead, and readers are led to doubt his claims to greatness from the very start. Shakespeare is famous for his interest in identity issues: antagonists may cruelly impose themselves on other characters and assert their self-identity, while sensitive characters require external confirmation of their identity (Rees).

Othello's unique rawness stems from the way the playwright dramatizes the normal and ordinary, and exposes such normalcy as intrinsically cruel and horrific. A number of contemporary critics account for Othello's conduct by claiming it arose from the black Othello's insecure feelings in a white racist society. However, this play compellingly fights racism — a theory that hypothesizes an essential difference between whites and blacks — by depicting Othello as very much like all white husbands. Intriguingly, of all the jealous husbands Shakespeare ever introduced, the black Othello garners the greatest respect and empathy from both the play's characters and its readers, and his color in no way diminishes his authority over Desdemona. Ironically, society's prejudice against Othello makes Desdemona an outcast, placing her further at Othello's mercy. Being murdered by one's husband differs from being murdered by others, since the wife is utterly in the killer's power (Vanita).

This paper's thesis revolves around the play's male characters; however, an analysis of this tragic tale of faith and treachery is incomplete without Desdemona. To comprehensively appreciate Othello, one must consider it with respect to women, as the play constitutes a critical part of Shakespeare's sustained interest in women's role and nature.

Importance of Othello as a Play

Othello may be considered one of Shakespeare's greatest works for several key reasons. If one regards Much Ado About Nothing as accumulating earlier motifs and anticipating Othello, the latter play is itself a collection of the recurrent subjects of faith and treachery, female nature, and love — subjects on which the late romances offer decisive commentary. Examining Othello after reviewing these themes in other Shakespearean works allows one to take a fresh look at the long-standing discussion of Othello's jealousy (Rees).

Iago's lofty dream of confirming his self-view is shattered when Cassio is named Othello's lieutenant rather than Iago himself: "I know my price, I am worth no worse a place," Iago declares in fury (I.i.2). Othello's self-image, by contrast, is strangely clear and definite, allowing him to present his history before the Senate and Doge with evident confidence. He is assured by his awareness that his life and the image he projects are acceptable to the state, and by Desdemona's love and acceptance of him. He did not expect a white woman's love, but it grows into the most valuable confirmation of his self-image and his life's work. Selfhood and love become a "knot intrinsicate." Consequently, when he finds himself in fearful doubt, he experiences a harsh outburst, ranting unintelligibly at the dissolution of his identity and life into the "chaos" he himself had naively predicted. As Ludovico's incredulous question makes plain:

Is this the noble Moor whom our full senate / Call all in all sufficient? This the noble nature, / Whom passion could not shake? (IV.i.260–2)

Iago: The Character That Drives Others

Iago is undoubtedly the best-known of Shakespeare's villains. He is not merely a character; he functions simultaneously as a director dictating other characters' actions and, as a consequence, the course of the entire tale. He is both servant and master, confidante and enemy. Without any overt or clearly stated objective, Iago plans and executes his actions. His duality corroborates his complexity; he is no ordinary revenge-seeker. His malevolence is perceptible in his ambiguous reasons for revenge and his recurrent references to man's animalistic nature.

His careful scrutiny of Othello's qualities leads to the realization that Othello is honest, naive, and honorable — and can never discern deceit. Ever judging others' actions through his own principle of integrity, Othello would certainly not question the reasons behind Iago's actions. He is very different from Iago, who habitually looks beyond others' stated actions. Rather than appreciating this trait in Othello, Iago considers it a weakness to be exploited. His superior judgment of others' character makes executing his plan simple: he manipulates Othello and convinces him to trust everything he says. He reveals his plan, displays contempt toward Othello, and believes himself above the "ass" who accepts all his lies. Iago also voices suspicion of an illicit affair between his own wife, Emilia, and Othello, another motive he articulates on more than one occasion (Djundjung):

I hate the Moor; / And it is thought abroad that 'twixt my sheets / Has done my office. I know not if't be true; / But I, for mere suspicion in that kind, / Will do as if for surety. (1.3.387–91)

Conclusion

In Othello, Desdemona becomes an unfortunate victim of male supremacy. Before her tragic and wrongful death, she experiences verbal abuse, yet Othello is not punished by the state with a death penalty. Akin to Desdemona's fate, females — even in the modern world — continue to become victims of male ego and dominance, owing to the distinct roles that even contemporary society establishes for men and women. Countless women are still required to obey their spouses, remain subservient, and be content with performing domestic roles. These roles, established prior to the sixteenth century, persist to this day. Men make use of these roles to measure their wives against a fantasy ideal of domestic perfection, and any woman who fails to satisfy society's conditions of proper femininity risks becoming a target of victimization (Corbett).

The most heartrending element of Othello, as it affects Desdemona in particular, is the wrongful murder of an innocent and dutiful wife, compounded by the fact that even prior to her death, Desdemona's development into a mature and vibrant personality is miserably suppressed (Rees). The play endures as a powerful indictment of the systems — domestic, social, and patriarchal — that make such a fate possible.