Desdemona’s handkerchief
The
handkerchief is a very convenient device within this theatrical
dynamic: a ‘feminine’ prop, and one that could signify the feminine
nature of the character in both its pure white unsoiled origins and its
sexual associations.
In some sense, we can see the development of Desdemona’s situation in the play in the development of the handkerchief ‘s significance. Whilst Desdemona speaks her mind freely in the opening of the play and acts to please herself, she later plays the role of wife, gradually begging to act less freely and react instead to the actions and accusations of men.
The handkerchief functions, at one level, like a character introduced to take the blame that Othello and Iago are quick to attach to its owner but are very slow to admit of themselves. Although the action of the play is dominant by the male characters, we can see that the ‘signifier’ of the handkerchief has a place within the visual symbolic framework of the play, and also has an impact on character development, and our understanding of the characters’ interactions and reactions.
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the inclusion of the speech does open up explicitly the whole question of ‘how historically wife’s behaviour was perceived in relation to her husband’s treatment to her’
Desdemona is the character about whom the other argues, around whom they plot and plan and whisper and desire, and who, ultimately, falls victim to the competition between men in the play.
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The visual sign system used in the play to designate the gender role that Desdemona seems to represent is her handkerchief. Desdemona is the least well developed of the three central characters: her lines rarely reveal her thoughts or ideas about herself – as Othello’s do – but rather her perceptions of what the man do and say.
Desdemona is an interesting character throughout the play, but her interest to modern readers and audiences arises in two ways:
At first, she is intriguing precisely because she is willful, proclaiming and displaying her love and sexual desire for Othello, despite all social conventions. Then, as the theme of sexual jealousy develops through the interaction of Othello and Iago, Desdemona fades as an individual character, becoming instead a stock figure for the wronged wife – pure, loyal, undeservedly punished.
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The designation of the play’s setting in Venice also ‘signalizes’ otherness, or ‘outsider’ status, for the character Othello.
With the semiotics in theatre, we consider two particular concerns of the play: race and gender, both of which can be analysed in terms of the visual sign systems used to designate them in performance.
The most obvious ‘sign’ of racial difference in the play is emphasized in performance when we see Othello played by a black actor. Conversely for many years black stage make-up or ‘blackface’ was used as a way of designating ‘blackness’ when the part of Othello was played by white actors.
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From the start of Act IV Scene 4, Othello is a changed man:
When he overhears Cassio’s conversation with Iago and then Bianca, he is fired further to kill Desdemona in bed by smothering her. From then the die is cast, in spite of Desdemona’s protestations of innocence. She knows the signs of extreme anger in Othello and tells him she fears he is ‘fatal ten/When your eyes roll so’ (V.2. 37-8).
In some sense, we can see the development of Desdemona’s situation in the play in the development of the handkerchief ‘s significance. Whilst Desdemona speaks her mind freely in the opening of the play and acts to please herself, she later plays the role of wife, gradually begging to act less freely and react instead to the actions and accusations of men.
The handkerchief functions, at one level, like a character introduced to take the blame that Othello and Iago are quick to attach to its owner but are very slow to admit of themselves. Although the action of the play is dominant by the male characters, we can see that the ‘signifier’ of the handkerchief has a place within the visual symbolic framework of the play, and also has an impact on character development, and our understanding of the characters’ interactions and reactions.
__________________________________________________ ______
the inclusion of the speech does open up explicitly the whole question of ‘how historically wife’s behaviour was perceived in relation to her husband’s treatment to her’
Desdemona is the character about whom the other argues, around whom they plot and plan and whisper and desire, and who, ultimately, falls victim to the competition between men in the play.
__________________________________________________ ___________________________
The visual sign system used in the play to designate the gender role that Desdemona seems to represent is her handkerchief. Desdemona is the least well developed of the three central characters: her lines rarely reveal her thoughts or ideas about herself – as Othello’s do – but rather her perceptions of what the man do and say.
Desdemona is an interesting character throughout the play, but her interest to modern readers and audiences arises in two ways:
At first, she is intriguing precisely because she is willful, proclaiming and displaying her love and sexual desire for Othello, despite all social conventions. Then, as the theme of sexual jealousy develops through the interaction of Othello and Iago, Desdemona fades as an individual character, becoming instead a stock figure for the wronged wife – pure, loyal, undeservedly punished.
__________________________________________________ __________________
The designation of the play’s setting in Venice also ‘signalizes’ otherness, or ‘outsider’ status, for the character Othello.
With the semiotics in theatre, we consider two particular concerns of the play: race and gender, both of which can be analysed in terms of the visual sign systems used to designate them in performance.
The most obvious ‘sign’ of racial difference in the play is emphasized in performance when we see Othello played by a black actor. Conversely for many years black stage make-up or ‘blackface’ was used as a way of designating ‘blackness’ when the part of Othello was played by white actors.
__________________________________________________ _______________________
From the start of Act IV Scene 4, Othello is a changed man:
When he overhears Cassio’s conversation with Iago and then Bianca, he is fired further to kill Desdemona in bed by smothering her. From then the die is cast, in spite of Desdemona’s protestations of innocence. She knows the signs of extreme anger in Othello and tells him she fears he is ‘fatal ten/When your eyes roll so’ (V.2. 37-8).
The
theme of displacement is a crucial factor in coming to an understanding
of Othello’s character. He is a general who is not a ‘native’ of the
land he must govern; his ‘outsider’ status burdens him with doubts,
making him feel anxious about his position in Venetian society. This
makes him over-sensitive to the possibility that he might lose his
power, or control, at any time. In this way, Othello can be seen not
only as an individual but also as a type – as an ‘outsider’ who has
gained entry into a culture but who remains concerned and aware of the
possibility of being rejected, excluded, cast back out.
In
all the accounts of Othello’s character and cultural status, it is
important to note that the character is described, not ‘the man’.
(Othello, the fictional character not a real person)
That
said, it is very interesting to consider Othello’s two main roles – as
general and as husband. For instance, had Othello not been such a proud
man, so concerned with matters of state, prestige and authority, he
might have been better husband. Conversely, had he loved his wife less,
he had not have been duped into believing ill of her, and his attention
might have been much more constructively focused on the larger political
situation, outside his marriage. Perhaps the greatest ‘tragedy’ of
Othello is Desdemona’s, for she is the character who suffers because of
her husband’s inability to distinguish between the true facts and the
backstage artifice, constructed and manipulated by Iago.
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Othello give us a lot of information about himself: he is of royal descent and values his freedom (I.2.21-8); he is self-possessed and confident that, in front of her father, his standing and his innocence will defend his action in marrying Desdemona (‘My arts, my title, and my perfect sol/Shall manifest me rightly’, I.231-2). When he appears before the Venetian Senate, we learn that he considers himself a plain-speaking, professional solider who has devoted most of his life to his profession, having been rescued from slavery in the course of his life of adventure.
Iago attests in a soliloquy that his General is ‘of a constant, loving, noble nature’(II.1.280). Othello is conscious of being an ‘outsider’ because of his race, colour and birth but feels accepted by the Venetian establishment because of his personal qualities and abilities.
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The word ‘honest’ in Othello
The word ‘honest’, or ‘honesty’, is used repeatedly throughout the play, almost to the point of obsession.
In general use, of persons, it gives the word as meaning ‘of moral good character, Virtuous, upright’, but for women it gives the specific meaning of ‘chaste’.
In general use, of persons, it gives the word as meaning ‘of moral good character, Virtuous, upright’, but for women it gives the specific meaning of ‘chaste’.
How Shakespeare employs the two usages of the word ‘honesty’ in a deliberate way?
The number of time ‘honest’ or ;honesty’ is spoken by the main characters in the play:
Iago is the first to use the term when telling Roderigo his view of masters and servants, dismissing those are faithful with the contemptuous phrase, ‘Whip me such honest knaves’ (I.1.49). This makes it especially ironic that the next usage is by Othello, describing Iago (his Ancient and therefore inferior) to the duce as ‘A ma he is of honesty and trust’ (I.3.282). From the outset, therefore, the term is inverted and devalued.
As a result, when Othello repeatedly uses it in Act III, Scene 3, the word brings to sound like a parody of itself. By this time, ‘honest’ is also being used in the gender-specific sense. When Othello, who is visibly disturbed, relies to Iago: ‘No, not much moved. I do not think but Desdemona’s honest’(III.3.222-3), he uses the word to mean ‘faithful’.
At this point, because it is correctly applied, the word ‘honest’ stabilizes for a moment in value before being plunged back into ironic loss of meaning by Othello’s frenzied description of Iago to Emilia as ‘thy husband, honest, honest Iago’ ( V.2.153).
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Iago is the first to use the term when telling Roderigo his view of masters and servants, dismissing those are faithful with the contemptuous phrase, ‘Whip me such honest knaves’ (I.1.49). This makes it especially ironic that the next usage is by Othello, describing Iago (his Ancient and therefore inferior) to the duce as ‘A ma he is of honesty and trust’ (I.3.282). From the outset, therefore, the term is inverted and devalued.
As a result, when Othello repeatedly uses it in Act III, Scene 3, the word brings to sound like a parody of itself. By this time, ‘honest’ is also being used in the gender-specific sense. When Othello, who is visibly disturbed, relies to Iago: ‘No, not much moved. I do not think but Desdemona’s honest’(III.3.222-3), he uses the word to mean ‘faithful’.
At this point, because it is correctly applied, the word ‘honest’ stabilizes for a moment in value before being plunged back into ironic loss of meaning by Othello’s frenzied description of Iago to Emilia as ‘thy husband, honest, honest Iago’ ( V.2.153).
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Understanding Iago
Although
Shakespeare’s play is entitled Othello, it would not be absurd if
someone claimed that Iago rather than Othello was the central character:
in fact, the play has sometimes been produced upon this assumption.
Iago has more lines than Othello. There are some important surprises in
the characterization of Othello, but there are even more surprises in
that of Iago, and it can hardly be said even by the end of the play that
we completely ‘know’ him. Moreover, the entire action of the play
derives from him. He succession of events and the dramatic action begin,
as we saw earlier, not with Desdemona’s elopement with Othello, but
with Iago’s decision to exploit this elopement for all the possible harm
he may do with it. Iago plans harm to his General, Othello, and – as an
incidental bonus – he also plans to revenge himself upon his crony
Roderigo, and to injure Desdemona.
Othello’s
and Desdemona’s qualities of character, turn the tables on Iago’s plans
completely. He will inject jealously into Othello’s and Desdemona’s
relationship, manipulating various other characters, including Roderigo,
Cassio, Emilia and Bianca, for the purpose. He manages to exploit the
personal weaknesses and vulnerabilities of Othello and Desdemona:
Othello’s guilelessness and credulity; Desdemona’s inexperience; and the
social pressure threatening any ‘mixed’ marriage. Iago can be said to
dominate the play, in the sense that he instigates or manipulates most
the play’s action.
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Othello as tragedy
The Greek philosopher Aristotle, in his Poetics,
gave a famous definition of tragedy. ‘Tragedy’, he wrote, ‘is an
imitation of some action that is important, entire, and of a proper
magnitude, embellished by language, effecting through pity and terror he
purgation of those emotions’.
According to Aristotle a tragedy must deal with people of high estate falling into misfortune, doing so because of some hamtaria or fatal error of judgement (of which hubris, or overweening pride, is one example), and its plot will feature one or more perpeteia (or surprising reversal of fortune) and an angorisis (r final recognition of some gravely unwelcome truth)
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What is the language doing here, and what does it suggest about Othello’s character? (I.2.17-28)
The way the language works is to give us a balanced yet mixed impression of Othello as a man. He ‘serves’ the state and knows his worth, yet, from modesty, he will not make his deeds known until ‘bossing’ becomes honorable. He comes from royal blood and e values his freedom which he s only giving up, willingly, because of his love foe Desdemona. The final four lines are deeply memorable. Hey start with a qualifying clause that leads the reader/listener/ viewer in expression to the main statement about his ‘free condition’, an idea that us amplified by the expansive notion of the ‘seas’ worth’ and set against the idea of enclosure, so powerfully embodied in the phrase
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What the opening scenes reveal to us about speakers and their characters
Iago, in the exposition of his ‘philosophy’ he uses for the first time the epithet ‘honest’, a word that is to recur frequently throughout the play. He despises, he says, ‘honest’ knaves, that is, those who are knaves but who do not look after their own interests properly. ‘Honest’ is a patronizing and contemptuous term here. Elsewhere, and with other characters, Iago will make much play of his own ‘honesty’ – his (supposed) plain speaking, feeling hear and hatred of all pretence. He ‘play-acts’ in all these senses in various degrees as the scene develops.
The exchanges between Iago and Roderigo tell us, by implication, a lot about their relatioshi. It would seem that Iago knows Roderigo is likely to be taken in by a show of intellectual cynicism because, as is becoming clear, he is rather easily duped. More importantly, Iago’s actions suggest a lack of respect for his ‘friend’ Roderigo. A few moments later, we learn that Iago gladly takes any opportunity to get his ‘friend’ into trouble. In making Roderigo act as his spokesman under Brabartio’s window, Iago is not only deliberately working off vindictive feelings against Othello, Desdemona and Brabartio, he is also taking the opportunity to do Roderigo harm.
The unpleasant relationship between Iago and Roderigo brings out an important issue in the play as a whole: that of Iago’s motivation. One interpretation suggest that Iago sees in Othello’s and Desdemona’s elopement a perfect opportunity to arouse racist prejudice and hysteria, partly for advantage to himself but perhaps also for its own sake. Roderigo describes Othello, insultingly, as ‘thick-lips’, an allusion to his race, and Iago goes on to exploit racist stereotypes even more crudely. In his speeches to Brabartio he refers to the marriage between Othello and Desdemona as a mating of two animals, describing Othello as ‘black ram’ and a ‘Barbary horse’, and also as ‘the devil’. By raising such a hue and cry beneath Brabartio’s windows, he manages, deliberately, to startle the bemused old man into similarly violent and instinctive racial prejudice. In the next scene Brabartio accuses Othello of having stolen Desdemona by sorcery. He thinks it is unlikely that she could have by her own volition ‘Run from her guardage to the sooty bosom/Of such a thing as thou’ (I.2.70-1).
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What is the language doing here, and what does it suggest about Othello’s character? (I.2.17-28)
The way the language works is to give us a balanced yet mixed impression of Othello as a man. He ‘serves’ the state and knows his worth, yet, from modesty, he will not make his deeds known until ‘bossing’ becomes honorable. He comes from royal blood and e values his freedom which he s only giving up, willingly, because of his love foe Desdemona. The final four lines are deeply memorable. Hey start with a qualifying clause that leads the reader/listener/ viewer in expression to the main statement about his ‘free condition’, an idea that us amplified by the expansive notion of the ‘seas’ worth’ and set against the idea of enclosure, so powerfully embodied in the phrase
______________________________-
What the opening scenes reveal to us about speakers and their characters
Iago, in the exposition of his ‘philosophy’ he uses for the first time the epithet ‘honest’, a word that is to recur frequently throughout the play. He despises, he says, ‘honest’ knaves, that is, those who are knaves but who do not look after their own interests properly. ‘Honest’ is a patronizing and contemptuous term here. Elsewhere, and with other characters, Iago will make much play of his own ‘honesty’ – his (supposed) plain speaking, feeling hear and hatred of all pretence. He ‘play-acts’ in all these senses in various degrees as the scene develops.
The exchanges between Iago and Roderigo tell us, by implication, a lot about their relatioshi. It would seem that Iago knows Roderigo is likely to be taken in by a show of intellectual cynicism because, as is becoming clear, he is rather easily duped. More importantly, Iago’s actions suggest a lack of respect for his ‘friend’ Roderigo. A few moments later, we learn that Iago gladly takes any opportunity to get his ‘friend’ into trouble. In making Roderigo act as his spokesman under Brabartio’s window, Iago is not only deliberately working off vindictive feelings against Othello, Desdemona and Brabartio, he is also taking the opportunity to do Roderigo harm.
The unpleasant relationship between Iago and Roderigo brings out an important issue in the play as a whole: that of Iago’s motivation. One interpretation suggest that Iago sees in Othello’s and Desdemona’s elopement a perfect opportunity to arouse racist prejudice and hysteria, partly for advantage to himself but perhaps also for its own sake. Roderigo describes Othello, insultingly, as ‘thick-lips’, an allusion to his race, and Iago goes on to exploit racist stereotypes even more crudely. In his speeches to Brabartio he refers to the marriage between Othello and Desdemona as a mating of two animals, describing Othello as ‘black ram’ and a ‘Barbary horse’, and also as ‘the devil’. By raising such a hue and cry beneath Brabartio’s windows, he manages, deliberately, to startle the bemused old man into similarly violent and instinctive racial prejudice. In the next scene Brabartio accuses Othello of having stolen Desdemona by sorcery. He thinks it is unlikely that she could have by her own volition ‘Run from her guardage to the sooty bosom/Of such a thing as thou’ (I.2.70-1).
