Alice Campbell 11EA1 BROOKS.

(minus 27 words from quote referencing)

When viewing Willam Shakespeare's 1603 play Othello from a modern perspective, Othello's

hamartia as a tragic hero – his susceptibility to extreme jealousy driven by loving too greatly – is a

significant contributor, however the tragedy that unfolds can be predominantly attributed to societal

prejudices, fuelled by the racism and gender roles of Elizabethan society.

From his first appearance, Othello is shown as a moral and confident man, in complete control of his

life; this makes his fall all the more tragic. As General of the Venetian Army, he is in a high-status

position,uncommon for foreigners at the time, and many characters speak of their confidence in

Othello's strong leadership; “'tis a worthy governor [...] As to throw out our eyes for brave Othello''

(1.2.30). This hyperbole suggests Montano holds Othello in such high regard that he would willingly

sacrifice his sight at Othello’s word. Similarly, Othello’s personal relationship is - at the outset - one of

mutual regard trust and affection. Othello says of Desdemona: "She loved me for the dangers I had

pass'd, / And I loved her that she did pity them" (1.3.167). This perfectly balanced, complementary

love evokes in the audience a sense of empathy and connection with Othello. A.C. Bradley, however,

rightly describes Othello as a romantic whose fatal flaw is loving too greatly: “Love, if he loves, must

be to him the heaven where either he must live or bear no life. If such a passion as jealousy seizes

him, it will swell into a well-nigh uncontrollable flood.” Iago exploits this “flaw” remorselessly, and

Othello’s mental state rapidly deteriorates. His language reflects this, deteriorating from refined verse

to erratic, disjointed prose: “Lie with her! lie on her! We say lie on her, when they belie her. Lie with

her! that's fulsome. – [...] – I tremble at it. [...] Pish! Noses, ears, and lips. – Is't possible? Confess –

handkerchief! – O devil! – ” (4.1.35). Shakespeare juxtaposes the phrase "lie with her" with "that's

fulsome," indicating Othello’s simultaneous desire for intimacy with Desdemona and repulsion at the

thought of her betrayal. His speech is filled with emotionally charged words ("tremble," "devil",

"passion"), which are in stark contrast to the cool-headed, noble, and good leader he has been. After

speaking these lines, Othello falls into an epileptic fit, a physical manifestation of the “poison” Iago

1
Alice Campbell 11EA1 BROOKS. (minus 27 words from quote referencing)
has poured into his ear. While A.C Bradley argues that the newness of his marriage makes Othello’s

jealousy credible, asserting that Othello doesn’t fall completely and at the play’s end, we (still) feel

‘admiration and love’ for the hero, the more conventional view is that Othello’s tragic flaw is

responsible for the tragedy of the play – but this can be nuanced by further consideration of

prevailing attitudes in Elizabethan society.

Iago’s manipulation of Othello exploits Othello’s fear of humiliation from breaking the strict patriarchal

gender roles of Elizabethan society, thereby coercing him to murder his wife, following her perceived

infidelity. That Othello feels empowered to do this is inextricably linked to the position of women as

“property” at this time, passed from father to husband. When Desdemona runs away from her father

to marry Othello, Iago thus tells Brabantio: “You’re robbed” (1.1.87). Othello himself compares his

marriage to a business transaction:“Come, my dear love, / The purchase made, the fruits are to

ensue; / That profit’s yet to come ‘tween me and you.” (2.3.9) Talking to his wife and Desdemona,

Iago derisively dismisses women as “wild-cats in your kitchens, [...] players in your housewifery, and

housewives’ in your beds.” (2.1.108). Ultimately, their responsibilities are housework and sex. Iago

reduces Desdemona’s worth to her perceived faithfulness to Othello, treating her as a pawn to be

manipulated and controlled, rather than an individual with her own desires, agency, and emotions.

Othello’s final speech reflects the misogyny of Elizabethan society: “Of one that loved not wisely, but

too well; / Of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought, / perplexed in the extreme;” (5.2.341). That

is, the extreme, emasculating shame experienced by cuckolded men justifies murder. As Farah

Karim-Cooper puts it simply in Women in Othello, “He must kill her because it has been determined

that she is a ‘whore’ and has dishonoured him and his family.” Today we might have more sympathy

with the view expressed by Derick. R.C Marsh in Othello Re-read – that Desdemona is “not merely to

be rehabilitated as an innocent victim but elevated to the status of the central tragic figure, who with

sturdy independence opposes the power of the patriarchy, but is in the end destroyed by it”. While the

2
Alice Campbell 11EA1 BROOKS. (minus 27 words from quote referencing)
tragedy of Othello can at least be partially explained by Othello’s internalisation and projection of

patriarchal social standards, it does not exclusively or adequately account for all aspects of the tragic

nature of this play.

Racial prejudice also serves as a central catalyst for the tragedy of Othello's downfall. Othello faces

constant prejudice and alienation due to his ethnicity. Throughout the play, racial stereotypes are

perpetuated that reinforce the portryal of Othello as an outsider, unable to fully assimilate into

Venetian society. For instance, when Iago speaks of Othello to Desdemona's father, he states “an old

black ram / Is tupping your white ewe [...] / Awake the snorting citizens with the bell, / Or else the devil

will make a grandsire of you” (1.1.89). This grotesque imagery serves not only to disgust the

audience at Othello's breach of racial boundaries but the bestial metaphor dehumanises Othello and

portrays his relationship with Desdemona as unnatural and perverse. Chiaroscuro is effectively

utilised to separate Othello’s dark and immoral actions, associated with his dark features from the

light, pure innocence of Desdemona. The biblical allusion further suggests Othello's connection to

dark, non-Christian forces, deepening the racial (and social) division Othello faces. Exploiting

Othello's fear of being perceived as an outsider, and fueling his jealousy, Iago cunningly plants seeds

of doubt in Othello's mind, suggesting that Desdemona's love for him is inherently unnatural and

insincere: Iago insinuates that Desdemona's defiance of societal expectations by marrying a Moor is

proof of her willingness to deceive others. Fuelled by Iago’s goading, he succumbs and acts on the

“typical” “primitive” instincts of a Moor – passion over reason. As Germaine Greer has commented,

"We no longer feel, as Shakespeare's contemporaries did, the ubiquity of Satan, but lago is still

serviceable to us, as an objective correlative of the mindless inventiveness of racist aggression”

Othello’s final monologue summarises his changed mindset: we can see his dissociation from his

identity, viewing himself as how others have categorised him. The bestial metaphor, “circumcised

dog” (5.2.351), shows Othello comparing himself not only to a beast but a circumcised one,

3
Alice Campbell 11EA1 BROOKS. (minus 27 words from quote referencing)
associating himself with Islam as he feels he is an “other”, not belonging to Venice nor true

Christianity.Othello's self-doubt and self-deprecation stem directly from the racial pressures imposed

upon him and contribute to his tragic downfall, driving him to commit the irrevocable act of murder.

In conclusion, in a conventional reading, it is Othello’s hamartia that is to blame for the tragedy

however, from a contemporary perspective, we can infer that societal prejudices of Elizabethan

England that enforced restrictive gender roles and racial bias shatter Othello, causing his downfall.

While the play undoubtedly continues to move readers and audiences even today, the standards of

our own time may make us question further a play that also implicitly endorses domestic violence in

the name of exploring the “hero’s” journey. This may be seen as an example of the way in which

Othello’s “timeless textual integrity” allows audiences throughout history to question and critique the

standards of their own time.