Othello by William Shakespeare

✨🎭“Trifles light as air are to the jealous confirmations strong as proofs of holy writ.”✨🎭

Othello is a revenge tragedy encompassing most elements of the genre which are: a cunning villain, a malcontent, soliloquies, murders, physical torments and sudden plot twists. It deals with the themes of jealousy and possessiveness, gullibility and blind passion, and the dangers that can arise from a failure to see beyond the surface appearances. The play is so gripping because of the contradictions and tensions it contains: a black soldier marries the daughter of a white nobleman, an evil ensign corrupts a great soldier, and passionate love is turned to overwhelming jealousy. The play gives equal focus to the two main characters, Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army and Iago, his unfaithful ensign.

Othello, the protagonist of the tragedy, is a tragic figure because he is a man of great character and some virtues but brings about his own doom due to a tragic flaw. He is a man who has a stern sense of morality, and he even has the gentleness of behaviour and the powers of speech and understanding but he is also an outsider who is intelligent and confident in military matters but socially insecure. He is different from those around him, due to his origins and his life history, but he shares their religion, values, and patriotism to Venice. More importantly, he is visibly different due to the colour of his skin, so he lives constantly among, but separated from, other people. Whenever they look at his black face, however brilliant a general he is, he knows the others are thinking "Yes, but he is not really one of us." When other characters call him "black," they refer to his face but also to the concept of colour symbolism in Elizabethan morality: White is an honour, black is wickedness; white is innocence, black is guilt.

In the beginning, Othello is depicted as reasonable, patient and noble. He faces the anger of Brabantio calmly like a general. He ignores when Iago provokes him against Desdemona's father. He has been experienced in war and adventure, and that is how he wins her. He is triumphant in war and in love, the hero at his greatest moment. Othello is aware of the precarious nature of success and happiness.

Love for Othello means order, peace, and happiness that brings him mental stability, which would otherwise lapse back into chaos. But although he has won love, he does not know how to manage it due to his inexperience. Othello believes that there is only one kind of love and that is the kind that he and Desdemona share. These two reasons make it easy for the villain Iago to execute his plans to destroy Othello. Iago finds it easy to drive Othello to jealousy and think that Desdemona loves another man because he already feels that her love for him is too good to be true. Using a simple object, such as a handkerchief, Iago ensues chaos with the intentions of rising above the ranks.

The female characters in this play are depicted as dreamers and have a strong set of morals and values. Desdemona, who has always been in the shackles of her father, dreams of travelling the world as Othello has been. Emilia, Iago’s wife, has the courage to stand up against her husband and call him out for his evilness and Bianca, a harlot, although used as a pawn in Iago’s schemes, displays her emotions instead of being shy.

Well ahead of his time, Shakespeare’s Othello highlights the human psyche and challenges the racist notions of the Elizabethan court and era. Although people find his works overrated, there is a reason as to why he is regarded as one of the greats in English Literature- his plays were not only just for entertainment, his plays reflected the society of his time and it is still relevant because, in one way or another, the characters are relatable.

🧡If one feels like reading any Shakespearean play, do get the Penguin Classics version or from the Folger Shakespeare Library because they have footnotes and notes that make the reading easy.🧡