MR OTHELLO The Ang Moor of Venice OBJECTIVES
MR. O(THELLO) The Ang Mo(or) of Venice
OBJECTIVES 1) Iago and his Motives 2) Iago: Success or Failure? 4) “The Bloody Book of Law” 5) Desdemona’s Murder 6) The ‘Noble’ Moor 3) Light and Darkness
IAGO AND HIS MOTIVES Or lack of them…
STRUCTURE • Shakespeare’s tragedies have deep structure: elements that we see in the beginning return later, so that we see parallels and sometimes inversions • What elements of Act V have you seen BEFORE? • How are they the same? How are they different? What has changed, and why?
HOW HAS IAGO CHANGED RODERIGO? • “I have no great devotion to the deed, / Yet he hath given me satisfying reasons. / ‘Tis but a man gone” (V. i. 9 -10) • Apparently Iago has convinced Roderigo with ‘satisfying reasons’ - but is that all he’s done? • How does the final line change our understanding of Roderigo’s frame of mind in this moment?
SUCCESS OR FAILURE • In the beginning of Act V Scene 1, Iago tells Roderigo: “It makes us, or it mars us; think on that” • The final words of the scene are also Iago’s: “This is the night/ That either makes me, or fordoes me quite. ” • This idea of imminent success or failure (‘make or mar’) raises the question: does Iago succeed
SORTING OUT IAGO’S MOTIVES • Why does Iago do what he does? What is his motivation? • He gives us possible motives, one by one: 1) He’s mad that Othello promoted Cassio over him (I. i. 10 -20) 2) It’s rumored that Othello slept with Emilia (‘And it is thought abroad that ‘twixt my sheets/ He’s done my office’ – I. iii. 385 -86) • But should we believe Iago? To use Roderigo’s words, have we been given “satisfying reasons? ”
“WATCH THE WORLD BURN” • There is another classic villain who tells the audience his motives in a way eerily similar to Iago: Heath Ledger’s Joker from The Dark Knight • Watch this clip, in which the Joker engages in what almost qualifies as soliloquy • Clip #1 http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=jr. Ic 1 Sl. A 7 O 8
CLIP #1 • After watching this clip, what do you think you know about the Joker? • Now watch the second clip • Clip #2 http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=jr. NI 8 GY 0 Qsc
CLIP #2 Mind blown – what just happened?
HOLD IT!!! • I am NOT NECESSARILY saying that Iago’s motives are false – how is Iago’s case different from the Joker’s? • But maybe – just maybe – could Iago’s reasons also be false, a smokescreen? • “I have told thee often, and I re-tell thee again and again, / I hate the Moor” (I. iii. 365)
A CLOSE READING • “I hate the Moor, / and it is thought abroad that ‘twixt my sheets/ He’s done my office” (I. iii. 385) • Why does Shakespeare use the word ‘and’ here? What might you have expected instead? • How is the sentence STRUCTURED? What does that structure SUGGEST?
MOTIVELESS MALIGNITY The poet and literary critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge said that all the times when Iago gives us reasons for his hatred only represent: “The motive-hunting of a motiveless malignity”
PERHAPS A HIDDEN MOTIVE? • Some argue that ‘motiveless malignity’ is too strong an argument – not enough support • So what are the alternatives? • Let’s try to sustain one alternative argument with evidence from Act V Scene 1
HIDDEN MOTIVE? • “If Cassio do remain/ He hath a daily beauty in his life/ That makes me ugly; and besides, the Moor/ May unfold me to him” • What are Iago’s REASONS? Is one more convincing than the other? • What is the STRUCTURE of this
BUT WAIT… • If Cassio has this ‘daily beauty, ’ wouldn’t Othello have it, too? • What is the implication if you accept that? • Is there any evidence for this argument?
BACK TO BATMAN • The argument I just made could be applied to the Joker as well • Compare this interpretation of Iago with the Joker’s claims in this next clip • Clip #3 http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=pfmk. Ri _tr 9 c
FOOD FOR THOUGHT • “I’m an agent of chaos” – does this apply to Iago? Why/why not? TWO-FACE: Heads you live; tails you die. JOKER: Now we’re talking. • Heads or tails; life or death; success or failure – can you almost hear the Joker thinking: “it makes us or it mars us” at this
IN SUMMARY • According to our current argument, Iago’s hatred is not his real motivation at all • Creating Two-Face is the Joker’s crowning achievement, while turning Othello into a roaring, murderous madman is Iago’s • Iago is an artist, and Othello’s
IAGO What you know…
THE PROBLEM OF IAGO • Back to the question I posed in the beginning of the lecture: does Iago succeed or fail? Did this night “make him, ” or did it “mar him? ” • What is his status at the end of the play? How do you think HE would define success?
IAGO VERSION ONE • His plot has been revealed – his failure is brought about by his own wife • The masterful plotter, brought low by a woman
IAGO VERSION ONE • He underestimated his wife, ignored her, and in the end she is his downfall • Society contains the threat that he poses, and he is silenced and unmasked
IAGO VERSION TWO • Iago has always managed to follow his own will as opposed to the will of society. Now, society means to torture him in order to make him speak • But Iago declares that he will not speak – he holds to his silence, and boldly declares that “from this moment forth I never will speak word”
IAGO VERSION TWO • His silence is his triumph, a symbol of his defiance in the face of society’s demands. Iago is the individual triumphant over society, resisting all efforts to make him give up his secrets
FINAL WORD ON IAGO • I’ve given you TWO interpretations – you can’t argue that both of them are “true, ” because they contradict each other. But one interpretation might be better suited for a different question • Also, neither of these interpretations have enough SUPPORT yet – if you wanted to use either in an essay, you’ll need more evidence
THE MOTIF OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS The Evolution of Effects
“O! A LIGHT!” • Act V Scene 1 is a whirlwind of violence carried out in the dark • The characters often talk of the difficulty of knowing who is speaking
“O! A LIGHT!” • Pay particular attention to who appears with light, as well as the number and placement of the repetitions of the word “light” in this scene • How does the presence or absence of light in this scene coincide with questions of identity, truth, and/or judgment?
DOUSING LIGHT • During and immediately after the murder, Othello seems preoccupied with light in various forms, particularly its symbolic significance • “Put out the light, and then put out the light” – douse the torch he’s carrying, then kill Desdemona (the symbolism is basically slapping you)
PROMETHEAN HEAT? • “once put out thy light, / Thou cunning’st pattern of excellent nature/ I know not where is that Promethean heat/ That can the light relume” • It’s not only light that’s important here, it’s the finality of dousing the light, of killing Desdemona – death is irreversible, inevitable, final
IF I WERE TO ARGUE… • Desdemona uses phrases like “heavenly light” (IV. iii. 62), suggesting that light can be related to sanctity, purity, and virtue • But Iago vows to “turn [Desdemona’s] virtue into pitch” (II. iii. 350), and as far as Othello is concerned, it’s true – Desdemona’s purity has been tainted, corrupted, or perhaps ‘doused’
WHAT DO YOU THINK? • In a way, then, one might argue that Desdomona’s ‘light’ (her purity and goodness), has already been doused, because Othello suspected her, and it cannot be relit – she cannot regain her purity in Othello’s eyes • For Othello, then, the murder is almost secondary, since Desdemona has already lost her radiance in his imagination – for me, that only makes the murder all the more repulsive
WHY AN ECLIPSE? • After strangling Desdemona, Othello says: “Methinks it should be now a huge eclipse/ Of sun and moon, and that affrighted globe/ Should yawn at alteration” (V. ii. 100 -02)
THE ECLIPSE • He began the scene by comparing Desdemona’s murder to the dousing of a torch – now his speech becomes more grandiose, conjuring the image of the moon blocking the sun – or, in other words, dousing all light • It’s as if, after killing Desdemona, Othello doesn’t see how there can be anything pure or good again – it’s a corruption of
KEEP TRACK OF MOTIFS • You don’t have to take my interpretation as the correct one • Trace out how each key quotation creates new effects, and try to sustain a convincing argument across multiple acts • The light motif (as with any motif) is not reducible to a list of quotations – it is the evolution of meaning as you see how each quotation sheds new light (sorry) on the concerns of the play
“THE BLOODY BOOK OF LAW” The Language of Justice and Judgment
THE FIRST TRIAL • Compare the scene in which Othello and Desdemona speak to the Duke and his court (Act I Scene 3) with Desdemona’s murder (Act V Scene 2) • “The bloody book of law”; “little shall I grace my cause”; “To vouch this is no proof”; “let your sentence even fall upon my life” (all Act I, Scene 3) • What is the outcome of the trial?
THE FINAL TRIAL • Now examine Othello before he murders Desdemona, when he draws on the language of the courtroom • “It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul” (V. ii. 1) – what are the TWO meanings of Othello’s first line? • SO: The very first line of the scene shows how Othello sees himself as carrying out a judicial sentence
DEMANDING CONFESSION • “If you bethink you of any crime/ Unreconciled as yet to heaven and grace/ Solicit for it straight” (V. ii. 25) • “Sweet soul, take heed, / Take heed of perjury; thou art on thy deathbed” (V. ii. 50) • “Therefore confess freely of thy sin”
A MOCKERY OF JUSTICE • Before, Othello was the accused who spoke up in his own defense, and summoned Desdemona to speak for herself – now he is judge, jury, and executioner all in one • He murders Desdemona and claims that it is justified – how does it feel as an audience, watching this one-man trial
APPROACH THE TEXT LIKE A LAWYER • You do not have to find the “truth” of Othello – smarter people than you or I have tried for centuries, and they don’t agree on central interpretations • But that DOES NOT MEAN you can’t sustain a convincing argument
AN ESSAY IS A CASE • Write your essay like a lawyer prepares a case: by assembling your evidence (key quotations) BEFOREHAND • If your argument isn’t based on evidence (the TEXT), you have NO CASE! Each paragraph should advance one main idea, and have textual support • Just be better than Othello, please, and don’t think your support is proof
DESDEMONA’S MURDER A Comparative Approach
PAPER 3 IS A COMPARISON PAPER • When you compare texts, keep in mind that every work of literature represents the intersection of form and content (or method and message) • A work can be structurally or formally similar to another, while having a very different message or thematic impact
“THE HEART ASKS PLEASURE – FIRST” by Emily Dickinson The heart asks pleasure first And then, excuse from pain. And then, those little anodynes That deaden suffering And then, to go to sleep; And then, if it should be The will of its Inquisitor, The liberty to die
WHAT DO WE SEE IN THE POEM? • The repetition of “and then” • The poem is structured as a series of requests • The “Inquisitor”
INCREASING DESPAIR ‘Pleasure first’ to enjoy life ‘Excuse from pain’ momentary relief from pain ‘Those little anodynes…’ artificial relief from pain ‘to go to sleep’ release from not just pain, but conscious thought too ‘the liberty to die’ the speaker cannot even die of her own free will
SUMMING UP • Do you see how carefully the poem is structured? • Who is ‘the Inquisitor? ’ • Can you sense how utterly powerless the speaker feels?
ON TO DESDEMONA’S MURDER… Desdemona: O banish me, my lord, but kill me not! Othello: Down strumpet! Desdemona: Kill me tomorrow: let me live tonight! Othello: Nay, if you strive. Desdemona: But half an hour. Othello: Being done, there is no pause. Desdemona: But while I say one prayer. Othello: It is too late. Desdemona: O Lord, Lord! [ He smothers her ]
DESDEMONA’S MURDER • Do you see the structural similarities between the Dickinson poem and Desdemona’s desperate pleas? ‘Kill me not’ ‘Kill me tomorrow’ ‘But half an hour’ ‘But while I say one prayer’ ‘Pleasure first’ ‘Excuse from pain’ ‘Anodynes’ ‘To go to sleep’ ‘The liberty to die’
COMPARISON • First, note the incremental lowering of expectations • Next, note how Othello is much like the Inquisitor of Dickinson’s poem • Desdemona’s declaration: “A guiltless death I die”
DESDEMONA’S FINAL WORDS • Why doesn’t Desdemona accuse Othello? EMILIA: O who hath done this deed? DESDEMONA: Nobody. I myself. Farewell. Commend me to my kind lord, O farewell. • Desdemona… what are you doing, girl? ! Why call Othello ‘kind? ’ Why not accuse the bastard?
EMILIA’S FINAL WORDS • Contrast Desdemona’s last words with Emilia’s, before Iago stabs her: IAGO: Zounds, hold your peace. EMILIA: ‘Twill out, ‘twill out. I peace? No, I will speak as liberal as the north. Let heaven, and men, and devils, let them all, All, all cry shame against me, yet I’ll speak. • I don’t know about you, but I’m giving Emilia a standing ovation here • But what is the EFFECT of showing us too such contrasting
DESDEMONA VS EMILIA • How do I craft an argument that moves from simple contrast to larger effects? SAMPLE: Desdemona’s choice not to name her killer reflects the sad but true fact that many women willingly subordinate themselves to men. Desdemona knows she is ‘guiltless, ’ but she is not willing to denounce her husband as ‘guilty. ’ Desdemona is the unfortunate product of a society where women are raised to be obedient to their fathers and husbands; “whate’er you be, I am obedient, ” she says to Emilia, and it is this very obedience that leads her to die a victim, faithful to the system that betrayed her. Her choices mirror those of many victims of domestic abuse, who won’t accuse their husbands even after being beaten. Emilia, on the other hand, denounces her own husband (‘I will speak’), even though he tries to silence her. By rejecting the silence imposed upon women by a patriarchal society, Emilia can be viewed as the true heroine of Othello.
INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY • I presented a reading of the play – is it right? I don’t know. There are certainly other readings you could make. But at the very least, this reading advances an argument that is supported by textual evidence (I quoted a lot) • I tried to look at Desdemona and Emilia through the lens of gender roles, just one of the many sub-categories of Individual and Society • CHALLENGE: Can you make a similar argument for Bianca’s purpose, looking through the lens of the position/status of women in the society of the play? Bianca barely speaks in Othello, but she certainly has a purpose.
THE NOBLE MOOR… Or ‘Noble No More? ’
EVOLUTION OF OTHELLO’S LANGUAGE • A strange speech, and one which leaves as many questions as it answers • You know already that the degeneration of Othello’s language represents the downward spiral of his mind into chaos – his eloquence in Act I is replaced by coarse, vulgar, broken language (‘goats and monkeys!’) • What does it mean, then, that Othello’s last speech marks a return to his earlier eloquence? The ‘Othello music’ comes back, marked by flowing, rhythmic sentences and exotic imagery (‘Arabian trees, ’ ‘a turbaned Turk’) • Does Othello regain his nobility, or is there another effect
CRITICAL DISAGREEMENT Here are two opposing interpretations from different critics: Wyndham Lewis: The “overwhelming truth and beauty” of Othello’s final speech represents “the clearest expression of the favor of Shakespeare’s heart and mind” T. S. Eliot: “Othello seems to be trying to cheer himself up” So… which convinces you more? Take a minute, find specific evidence from the speech to support for either critic, and make your case.
MR. O’S TWO CENTS • To me, it looks like Othello is trying to salvage his reputation • Reputation is what other people think of you, and Cassio has said it is the “immortal part of oneself” – Othello seems to share this view, since his last request is for people to “speak of me as I am” – after he dies • He asks Desdemona if she prayed (‘Have you prayed tonight? ’) before he kills her, and we know from Christian doctrine that the soul is supposed to be “the immortal part of oneself” • But for Othello, in a strange way it seems like salvation doesn’t come from God; rather, it comes from securing society’s approval
MY THESIS • I would argue that Othello’s final speech is a grotesque mockery of his former eloquence, just like his murder of Desdemona is a tragic parody of justice
SPLITTING IDENTITY THROUGH LANGUAGE • Consider this: “Set you down this; / And say besides, that in Aleppo once/ Where a malignant and a turbaned Turk/ Beat a Venetian and traduced the state, / I took by th’throat the circumcised dog, / And smote him, thus. ” • See how Othello separates out the guilty part of himself through his language? (‘I’ versus ‘malignant and turbaned Turk’) – Othello linguistically splits his identity into the criminal and the executioner, as if he could kill his own sin and make it so that only the good part of himself is remembered
BUT DOES HE SUCCEED? • The whole time Othello is giving his long-winded final speech, Desdemona’s corpse is staring up at him from the bed • What did he say to her when she asked for one last prayer? “It’s too late. ” • I think it’s too late for Othello, too. Gratiano says it best: “All that’s spoke is marred” • I don’t think Othello can save himself with words
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